Mineola Mayor’s Message: Heavy Rains and 9-11 Ceremony

The following are the opening remarks of Mineola made during the public meeting of the on Sept. 5, 2012:

A few Saturdays ago, Trustee Werther and I attended an award ceremony recognizing women of distinction for 2012, hosted by New York State . Three of the women honored are Mineola residents.

Ms. Berta Gauto was recognized for making meaningful and important contributions to increase relations between Paraguay and the United States. Lucy Gaglione was recognized for her many years of volunteer service as an EMS provider and for her work with our veterans through the Operation: Wounded Warrior project. Lastly, Yurika Saito Karasz was recognized for her service in the Army. Ms Karasz is a West Point graduate, has received several medals and ribbons including the parachutists’ badge and is qualified as an expert in M16 riflery. Ms. Karaz has taught at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Sienna Institute, SUNY Albany and West Point and is the . To those ladies, thank you for your service; those awards are certainly well deserved.

Congratulations also to Kevin Mulder, who is Troop 45’s newest Eagle Scout.

Last month the hosted a at . Although a passing thunderstorm postponed the movie to the next night, all who attended had an enjoyable time.

The Bruce Terrace project is moving forward as is the and the construction has begun at the . Although the repaving should be done in a matter of weeks, the research center will take a little bit longer. I ask that you be cautious when traveling in those areas and give yourself extra time to get to where you need to go if you happen to be going through those areas.

Last month the village and our surrounding communities – as well as today – were hit with heavy rainstorms. August 2 saw one inch of rainfall in an hour and on August 15 we had two inches of rain fall in an hour. These record rains caused flooding and devastation throughout many areas of Mineola. Many homes, businesses and vehicles were ruined or severely damaged. The storms – especially the – weren’t like any I’ve ever seen. The amount of water dumped on us in a short timeframe was an incredible thing to witness. Since the storm water basins are maintained by the county, I reached out to Nassau County for assistance. He immediately contacted Nassau County Department of Public Works and asked them to review the engineering plans for the interconnection between the Coolidge Avenue and Saville Road areas as well as the basin in . We’re also looking at the basin south of the railroad tracks in Garden City.

You may recall in 2008 with Legislator Nicolello’s assistance, the county dredged the basin in Memorial Park. This was the first time it had been done in decades. The county removed 8,500 cubic yards of material at a cost of over $250,000. I know this doesn’t give much comfort to those affected by these heavy and record-breaking storms, but I want you to know that we and the county are looking into the situation and seeing what avenues we can take to remedy them.

This coming Tuesday we’ll be having a solemn 9-11 remembrance ceremony in Memorial Park. The ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. Please come out and show our support for those who were lost, the rescuers and the families they left behind.

On Sunday, September 30 is hosting the Mineola Street Fair in the downtown area and encompassing Main Street and Mineola Boulevard with many businesses participating. Please head down there with your friends and family between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. and take in all that Mineola has to offer.

Finally, this month the Jewish community will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. To all of our friends and neighbors of the Jewish faith, I say “L’shanah tovah!”

Thank you very much.