Mineola Mayor’s Message: Jericho Repaving Delays and Bruce Terrace Bids

The following are the opening remarks of Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss made during the public meeting of the Mineola Village Board on Oct. 17, 2012:

The bids for the flood mitigation project have been opened; we’re currently vetting companies, Mr. Rini is doing a tremendous job on that to ensure that the project continues to go smoothly. A proposal to the water contract will be presented to the board the first week of November and we’re looking to start this as soon as possible after that.

We’ve won the lawsuit regarding the 7-Eleven case, the first round, anyway. They have 30 days to file an appeal. Obviously we hope they don’t appeal it. If they do, we are confident that our decision will be upheld in the courts.

The Jericho Turnpike repaving project has again been delayed. The contractor for the state in in a backlog. Sen. Martins and I are doing everything we possibly can to keep this going and on the burner before the weather changes on us and puts it off until next year. We’ve had meetings, made phone calls, even made offers to find another contractor that will help to take care of doing the work. I’ll keep everybody informed of any developments but right now it’s been delayed again.

Last Saturday Trustee (George) Durham and I attended an event at the Knights of Columbus where Sam and Dolores Donato were selected as Italian couple of the year. They were recognized for their many contributions to the community, we congratulate both of them for everything they’ve done and continue to do for Mineola.

Tomorrow night, ex-Captain Joseph Tartaglia of Company No. 3 of the Mineola Fire Department is being honored by the Town of Hempstead as their firefighter of the year. Joe has been a tremendous asset to the Mineola Fire Department, he’s an extremely active member and we want to give him congratulations, that honor is certainly well deserved.

This month at the library there’s a display of paintings that were done by our very own senior citizens. The Golden Age group had an artist come in and work with the senior citizens and the artist unleashed many talents and those talents are on display in the library for the month of October. They’ve got talents they themselves didn’t think they had so they were shocked themselves about how good they can paint. So please stop by the library, see what our seniors have done and the great artists that we have cornered away here in the community center a couple of days a week.

Lastly I want to remind everybody the village’s Halloween party on October 26 here at the community center at 7 o’clock. Please bring your children, wear your costumes and certainly enjoy the fun.