Mineola Village Board Notebook: Feb. 1

The Mineola  held a meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 1. Here are some of the things you may have missed.

Station Plaza Flood Mitigation

• According to superintendent of public works Tom Rini, all of the topographical surveying for the station plaza drainage project “is just about completed” and will be ready to go out to bid “very shortly.”
• The village is currently working with National Grid, which is conducting a pole replacement project for the LIRR “and as part of that have to do an underground line replacement in our parking lot from pole to pole that is a redundant feeder for their electric trains,” Rini said.
• The village coordinated with the National Grid engineers and is trying to determine a construction schedule which would allow for the installation and protection of the conduit line.
• There has been discussions about “shifting” the line to fit in between two of the drainage pools the village is looking to install to alleviate flooding in the area.
• National Grid’s project is estimated to be completed in mid to late-April, with the village’s portion out to bid when they are halfway completed “and we might be able to come around the other way and work in different areas and then coordinate at the end,” Rini said.

Building Department

•  in prepping the village’s roads with the and plow drivers. Rini reported that before the predicted storm the department did a “shake down” on the brine equipment. “It was something that we needed to adjust and go out so it gave us the opportunity to fiddle with that and shake out some of the issues and problems with that,” Rini said, noting that as crews finished preparations the storm changed over to frozen rain “and we ended up having to drop plows and push some of that material off so it didn’t freeze.”
• The project at 210 Old Country Rd, known as the Raines Building and the accompanying is now complete. According to village building superintendent Dan Whalen, some of the 28 apartments are already occupied and the owners have finalized the moneys owed the village as part of the incentive bonus agreement.
• The building department has begun this year’s rental registration on all rental properties filing inspections on the village’s numerous apartment units. “These are biannual rental inspections for safety inspections, fire inspections and the like,” Whalen said.
• Following a number of meetings with officials, contractors, engineers and architects, ground is soon set to be broken on the . The buildings are reportedly empty with asbestos abatement currently underway. Demolition will occur within 60-90 days “and at that point things will probably start to happen very quickly,” Whalen said.

Records Grant

• The board also authorized village clerk Joseph Scalero to submit a request for a Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF) Grant.
• The annual grant is administered by the state archives and records administration.
• According the the village clerk it allows the village to microfilm and “ultimately digitize” the village’s paper records.
• “This is a program that started probably 10 or 15 years ago to be done over a multiyear phase before the grant program dried up,” Scalero said, adding that the state has “shrunk” the amount of funds available, estimating that there would be approximately $2 million available to all municipalities across the state.
• The village would be asking between $26,000 and $30,000 in grand funds.
• “They are desperately trying to get villages to apply to this apply for this money,” Scalero said, adding “I didn’t want to not get the funds for lack of asking for them.”

Other Board News

• The financial reports for the village for the month of January is as follows: nine residential permits issued for $10,180; 14 commercial permits for $9,800; one application for the board of zoning appeals for $500; one amended permit for $165; 15 plumbing permits for $2,545; 20 electrical permits for $1,700; 21 title searches for $1,868.75; 25 certificates of occupancy for $625; 27 licenses for new businesses for  $6,140; for a subtotal of $33,523.75. There were court dispositions in the amount of $1,950 for a grand total of $35,473.75.
• The responded to 42 calls during the month of January, bringing the total number of calls responded to up to 521 since April 1. The department’s annual fund drive is also now in progress with letters sent to residents and business owners. All donations are being done through the mail.
• Mayor Strauss and deputy mayor Paul Pereira attended the Long Island Portuguese Lions Club 21st anniversary fundraiser on Jan. 29. The group does work with patients afflicted with diabetes and blindness. “They do a great job giving out to any number of community organizations, local organizations, local individuals as well as national and international,” Pereira said.
• The board approved a request from the Nassau Pops Symphony Orchestra for the use of on Friday, July 6, 2012 and Friday, July 27, 2012 for the village’s .
• A recommendation from the Mineola Library Board to hire Anne Ressa for the position of clerk with a starting salary in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement was approved. According to Mineola Village Clerk Joseph Scalero, the position is a “basic” clerk’s position and is intended to fill which was vacated.
• A length of service award program (LOSAP) point certification as set forth by the Mineola Fire Department was accepted by the board.
• A request for the installation of a handicapped parking space at 120 Beebe Rd. was approved by the board.
• A hearing for a special use permit for an ice-cream take-out store at 254 Mineola Blvd., the former location, will be held on March 14.