Saturday, May 19, 2012
A weekly look-in at the news of Nassau County.
The Nassau Interim Finance Authority (NIFA) on Thursday rejected County Executive Ed Mangano's proposed contract with Morgan Stanley to broker a deal for a privatized sewer system. The deal would have paid the financial service firm at least $5 million to broker a deal for the county with a private operator for the sewer system and an investor who would fund the transaction. According to Long Island Business News: The contract, approved by the Nassau Legislature April 16, would have retained Morgan Stanley to find an investor that would lend the county upward of $750 million in exchange for making a profit from running the county’s failing sewer system. "The NIFA board is clearly confused about the potential public-private partnership for …
Friday, May 18, 2012
State Assemblyman Brian Curran stopped by the Lynbrook FD Installation Dinner and a ribbon cutting ceremony in Lynbrook this week.
Town of Hempstead Senior Councilman Anthony J. Santino and Assemblyman Brian Curran stopped by Lynbrook multiple times this week for various ceremonies. On May 11, Santino and Curran, joined by Lynbrook Mayor William Hendrick and Deputy Mayor Alan Beach, saluted the incoming and outgoing officers of the Lynbrook Fire Department at their annual installation dinner. On May 12, Santino and Curran joined members of the Lynbrook Chamber of Commerce at the grand opening of J. Mags Downtown Grill on Atlantic Avenue. Have a photo you want to submit to Lynbrook Patch? Email Matthew.Hogan@Patch.com!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
A weekly look-in at news from around the Town of Hempstead.
Seniors Present Works From The Creative Writers' Workshop Hempstead Town has announced that members of the Department of Senior Enrichment’s Creative Writers' Workshop are holding a reading of their original works on Wednesday, June 13. The presentation will be held at 1 p.m. at the Merrick Theatre and Center for the Arts, located at 2222 Hewlett Ave. in Merrick. The public is invited to attend the annual event and admission is free. The readings will be followed by an informal coffee hour. The short stories, poems and memoirs produced by seniors in workshop sessions will be published by the town this fall in an annual compilation entitled "Musings of Maturity XXIV." The Creative Writers' Workshop is partially funded through a grant from …
Saturday, May 12, 2012
A weekly look-in at the news of Nassau County.
Republicans Rip Democrats Over Voting The following is a joint statement from County Executive Ed Mangano, Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt and the Republican Legislative Caucus: "During the decade in which the Democrats controlled the County Legislature, Republicans put politics aside and provided the responsible votes necessary to run county government. Unfortunately for Nassau's taxpayers, the Democrat minority on the legislature is now refusing to implement a plan that forever ends borrowing for tax refunds while cleaning up debt created over the past decade. If the Democrats do not provide the votes needed to pay residents their rightfully owed property tax refunds, judgments will be executed against the County’s bank accounts — …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The county also currently operates the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant in East Rockaway and Glen Cove Sewage Plant.
Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano made the case for his proposed sewage system public-private partnership Wednesday night during an informational meeting at the Cedar Creek Water Pollution Control Plant in Wantagh. Mangano touted his plan to eliminate $750 million, or 25 percent, of the county's $3 billion debt before a packed audience of around 100 people Wednesday night six days after Harrington Park, N.J. -based United Water was selected as a potential operator for the county’s sewage treatment system for at least 20 years. In addition to Cedar Creek, the county also currently operates the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant in East Rockaway and Glen Cove Sewage Plant. Mangano emphasized that the plan, which still needs to be approved by …
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Concerns over a potential auto body repair shop on Marshall Avenue addressed by Mayor Hendrick.
Along with the 2012-13 village budget adoption, another big issue covered at Monday's board meeting was a rezoning/sub-division application for the properties at 11 Marshall Ave. and 601 Merrick Road. The application calls for an increase to the commercial parking area, as the current owner seeks to sell the properties, which includes business space on Merrick Road and a residence on Marshall Avenue. According to Alan Stein, lawyer for the property's current owner, the rezoning will actually be beneficial to the residents of Marshall Avenue. "It will create more commercial space on Ocean Avenue while lessening it on Marshall Avenue," he said. "The only thing left on the Marshall Avenue property after the rezoning will be a house and a …
The budget was adopted on April 27 and was finalized at a lower number than initial figures showed.
This week, Lynbrook Mayor William Hendrick addressed the recent April 27 adoption of the village's 2012-13 budget, which comes in at $34,067,420, whittled down $1,352,296 from the initial tentative budget presented in early April. According to the village at this Monday's board meeting, statewide premiums for employee and police pensions and health insurance are accounting for the inflated 2012-2013 budget. The village's 2011-12 budget came in at $33.4 million, which puts this year's budget at 2 percent increase over last year. However, Village Administrator John Giordano said during the meeting that the 2012-13 tax levy increase has not yet been calculated. Initial figures about this year's budget had residents concerned about the amount …
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
A letter to the editor from the President of the Long Island Federation of Labor.
The following is from John R. Durso, President of the Long Island Federation of Labor: It is the bedrock of American democracy that every citizen's vote carries equal importance. Whether or not one's vote truly finds expression in the final count is largely impacted by redistricting, a process we go through every 10 years. While the subject typically fails to garner much public attention, insiders know there's a lot at stake. The way that voters are segregated into districts has an enormous influence on who our representatives are, and can ultimately shape public policies for the next decade. Historically, the task of redrawing district lines has been left to the hands of the very politicians whose political futures will be impacted. Too …
Sunday, May 6, 2012
A weekly look-in at news from around the Town of Hempstead.
TOH Places Relocation of Bellmore Cat Colony on Hold Earlier this week, the Town of Hempstead placed the relocation of the Newbridge Road Park cat colony in Bellmore, originally scheduled for Tuesday, on hold. The town will work with the Humane Society to assess the colony at the park and to explore options concerning the habitat where the cats have settled. No action will be taken until the Humane Society looks at the situation, consults the town and offers its recommendations. Click here to read more on the postponed relocation. Town Receives US EPA Award At an April 27 ceremony, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) presented its 2012 Environmental Quality Award to Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray. The award was …
Saturday, May 5, 2012
A weekly look-in at the news of Nassau County.
On Thursday, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano announced a Debt Reduction and Sewer Stabilization Plan to eliminate $750 million -- 25 percent -- of the county's $3 billion debt. The plan also aims to stabilize Nassau County's Sewer Authority, which is set to face bankruptcy in 2014, as warned by the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority (NIFA) in its October 2009 report. The Debt Reduction and Sewer Stabilization Plan includes the implementation of a public-private partnership to operate and maintain Nassau's three wastewater treatment plants, which have fallen into a dangerous state of disrepair over the past decade, according to the county. The sewage treatment plants have racked up more than $1 million in Department of Environmental…
An tUasal Airgead
9:22 am on Saturday, May 19, 2012
According to Long Island Business News: “Potential financial investors who invest money to a public-private partnership expect annual returns of 10 to 15 percent,” NIFA Board Member George Marlin said. “To suggest that a private operator will achieve enough efficiencies to cover most of that cost, and that assessment or user fees will increase no more than the rate of inflation – well, anyone who… more ›