Mineola Mayor's Message: Debris Cleanup and Happy Thanksgiving

The following are the opening remarks of Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss made during the public meeting of the Mineola Village Board on Nov. 14, 2012:

I want to remind you that we are waiving the building permit fees for storm-related damages to any houses or buildings that we have here in the village.

The Bruce Terrace bids have not been forgotten about. We’re coordinating with the county and will formalize this and have it set to go in three weeks.

Debris cleaning form the two storms is still ongoing. We’ve lost from the tropical storm, which was a hurricane prior to hitting us, we’ve lost 302 trees from that storm alone and 75 so far and counting from the Nor’Easter. We’re anticipating a total loss of well over 400 trees in these last two storms. And when I say still counting, because we’re still going through the village and identifying trees that need to come down. But we’ll get to it.

As I mentioned last week, we’re going to remove the curbs that have been damaged and the sidewalks that have been damaged. We have a process in place to repair those and we are going forward with that and we’re getting back to normalcy, almost; we’re almost there.

I appreciate everybody’s patience in dealing with the debris from the Nor’Easter. The challenge this time was that trees came down in many peoples’ backyards and they finally got a chance to get to it and they put everything out to the curb and we’re going through the village in sections and the DPW’s doing a tremendous job in doing everything they can to clear the streets so we can get back to normal operations as well.

I want to wish, on behalf of my other fellow board members, I’d also like to extend the Thanksgiving wishes to you and your families. Please be careful cooking, please take a moment to reflect on what we have to be thankful for and I encourage you all to do something for someone who’s less fortunate than we are, whether it’s a charity of your choice or the many, many families who’ve lost lives and belongings down on the south shore. Keep them in your thoughts, do something for somebody, enjoy the Thanksgiving season and we’ll see you in December.