Mayor’s Message: New Terms, Construction and Gas Leak

The following are the opening remarks of Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss made during the public meeting of the Mineola Village Board on August 7, 2013:

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I hope everyone’s enjoying their summer. The chamber of commerce held another successful movie night in the park last month; it was a great time relaxing with our friends and neighbors and enjoying a movie under the stars. I want to thank the chamber president Bill Greene and the rest of the chamber committee for a job well done.

A few weeks ago the Nassau Pops held their second concert in Memorial Park; again, the weather cooperated and allowing us all another wonderful evening.
I would also like to thank the Mineola Auxiliary Police for all they do for us all year round. Their securing intersections during emergencies, parades and our street fairs and are present at every village function such as our concerts and movie nights. If anyone wishes to join the ranks of the auxiliary police, you can contact them at 746-2448. They’re a group of hard-working individuals looking out for the betterment of the community.

A few weeks ago during the height of the heat wave, the Mineola Fire Department was called to the intersection of Sheridan Boulevard and Dow Avenue for a gas leak. One of the construction crews inadvertently clipped a gas main, causing a serious leak. As they always do, our firefighters stopped what they were doing, left their homes, left their families, for some of us, our jobs, and responded. Under the direction of chiefs Clark and Santosus and with the cooperation of the Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corps. and our neighboring fire departments as well as National Grid, the situation was brought under control and secured. Thank you to all involved in preventing what could have been a major disaster.

The next several months will be extremely busy for the village. Construction at the Winthrop-University Hospital research center is well underway and so is the Winston-Churchill projects. Construction at 250 Old Country Road will be also starting soon. Please be careful as you navigate around those areas and thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as we move through this phase of the village’s master plan.

A little over a month ago, our longtime village clerk to the court, Valerie Pasarella, retired as did Pat Woods. They both have served the village for a combined total of over 50 years. We thank them for their dedication and wish them nothing but the best that life has to offer in their retirement. Subsequently after a search and numerous interviews, we have selected Elizabeth Bernardes as the new clerk of the court. She has been with the village for several years and we are confident she will be extremely beneficial to us in the new role. Congratulations, Liz.

Finally, at the community forums I hold in the spring and fall, I floated the idea of changing our current configuration of village elections from two years to four years. It has been very well received by those in attendance. There are many benefits to this, to making this move. To make this change, the only thing the board, my fellow board members need to do is take a simple vote. No public input or vote is required. However, all of us want to know the feelings of our fellow residents. So instead of just voting on it, we’ve decided to hold a hearing on the topic. Since the normal hearing night in September falls on 9/11, we have decided to move the hearing to September 18 so we can get your input.

With that being said, we’ll be having our annual September 11 ceremony in Memorial Park on the evening of Wednesday, September 11 beginning at 7 p.m. Please make every effort to attend this ceremony of remembrance.

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