Mineola Village Board Notebook: Aug. 3

The Mineola  held a meeting on Wednesday, July 13. Here are some of the things you may have missed.

Wellington Road Parking Meters

• The board approved a request for the installation of one hour parking meters on Wellington Road north of Jericho for a trial period of 90 days to replace the existing 15 minute meters at the request of businesses in the area.
• These meters are just north of the intersection of Wellington and Jericho with two meters on the east side and one on west side in front of the businesses.
• “They’re looking for a little relief,” Superintendent of Public Works Rini said of the businesses. “(There’s) not enough time for some of the people who come for a haircut or things like that.”
• Business owners had requested a change in July to two-hour meters.
• “It would still encourage that turnover for businesses rather than the two-hour where people can go out and continue to feed the meter and occupy those spots,” Deputy Mayor Paul Pereira said.
• Two-hour meters currently exist on Jericho Turnpike. There is no cost to replace the meters since they are owned by the village, only a matter of changing internal codes.

Verizon Cell Tower

• A request for a 180-day extension of a building permit for the cellular towers located at Betty Lane and Jericho Turnpike from Verizon was postponed to the August 10 meeting.
• Building Department Supervisor Dan Whalen indicated it was the practice of the village to only issue 90-day permits, extending them due to weather or other extenuating circumstances.
• The work has not reportedly commenced yet on the site.
• The original permit was granted in July 2010.
• According to Whalen, the company is experiencing “financial difficulties” with LIPA. “They’re having some difficulties with powering down for LIPA to access the site, which is not uncommon,” he said. “Additionally they’re citing their own difficulties in their upgrade work, which is supposed to be the first part of this job.”
• Trustee Lawrence Werther said that he was “not inclined to grant any more extensions” unless representatives from Verizon were present at the August 10 meeting. “If they can’t accommodate us on that, I’m all for rejecting this,” Werther said.

Financial Reports

During the month of July, the village justice court heard and collected the following fines for the number of cases listed:

• 107 moving violations for $8,790
• 14 village ordinances exclusive to motor vehicles for $1,090
• eight housing violations for $4,000
• 2,240 parking violations for $123,735
• 13 suspensions appearance fees for $835
• Total of $139,230.

The financial reports for the village for the month of July are as follows:

• 27 residential permits issued for $16,477
• 39 commercial permits for $6,105
• one rental registration for $250
• 17 plumbing permits for $3,370
• 17 electrical permits for $1,550
• 23 title searches for $2,330
• 19 certificates of occupancy for $1,685
• 26 licenses for new businesses for $5,690
• subtotal of $37,460
• There were court dispositions in the amount of $13,200 for a grand total of $50,660.

Other Board News

• The following candidates were approved as new members of company 1 of the : Robert Collier, Sixto Santamaria and Charles Attard.
• The Birchwood Court Owners, Inc. were granted use of the auditorium for a shareholders informational meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 6 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
• Construction work on the roofs of the village hall and the fire department will continue until about August 24. Crews will be moving back and forth between the two buildings during that time. The community center roof will be a full replacement with construction anticipated to start about Aug. 15.
• The board accepted a bid for the unisex handicap bathroom project to Ultimate Design and Construction at a cost of $13,808. The village had since that bidder failed to meet the community development grant criteria, which funded the project.