1973-02-08

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MBICNGDALS; NEW YORK
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OBSERVER
TRIBUNE
FARMINGDALE
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AN OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE VILLAGE OF FARMINGDALE
SERVING THE GREATER FARMINGDALE AREA, BETHPAGE AND MELVILLE
VOL. 10 No. 25 Second Class Postage has been paid at Farmingdale, N. Y. 11735
Published by THE OBSERVER, Inc., Box 146. Farmingdale, N. Y. Thursday, February 8, 1973 « 15c
School Board Sets
Early Voting Dcrfe
The vacancy on the Farmingdale School Board
resulting from the death of Trustee Roy Spinetta will
not be filled until the voters elect their trustees in the
regular election. Primarily to make this as early as
possible, the district budget vote and elections will be
held on May 2.
THEIR NIGHT: The Farmingdale Football Team was honored by the community for its out­standing
performance during last season during a banquet at Huntington Town House last week.
Seen above are the three co captains George Caraberis, holding the coveted Rutgers Cup, Joe
Patrovich and Jim Teatom. Also seen is Hugh Clinton, president of Farmingdaie's Dads' Club.
( Stories and pictures on pages 5 and 8). Photo: Scott Armstrong
Cable TV Eyes Village Business
ULCO Plans 90 Ft High Wires
Posts and poles, cables and
wires occupied the attention of
the Farmingdale Village Board
of Trustees lor a considerable
time at last Monday night's
village board meeting. The posts,
poles, cables and wires hold the
promise to broaden the television
screens tor village residents on
one hand, and to drastically
affect the village skyline on the
other.
The broadened television
screen, figuratively speaking,
would come about if Sterling
Nassau Cable Television would
be granted a franchise to serve
the Village of Farmingdale. To
this end Irwin B. Polinsky,
general counsel of the cable tv
firm's parent, Sterling Com­munications,
Inc., appeared
before the village board.
Polinsky's company is in­terested
in bringing cable tv into
Farmingdale, utilizing existing
telephone poles under an
agreement with the phone
company. Residents could then
hook up to this service for a one­time
installation fee, which most
likely would be waived as a
promotional offer by the com­pany,
and for a basic service fee
of $ 5.00 or $ 0.00 per month.
Basic cable tv service would
consist of reception of all
channels on the VHF band
( channels 2- 13), all existing VHF
channels, a so- called " public
access" channel, an educational
channel, a local government
channel, and Sterling's own
channel.
Sterling's own channel is
presently transmitting programs
which are otherwise blacked- out
in the New York area, such as the
Knicks' and the Rangers' games
at Madison Square Garden, as
well as movies. The educational
and the governmental channels
have to be made available to the
appropriate local bodies for their
own use under federal regulation
and the public access channel,
also required under federal
regulations, would be available to
the citizenry to voice its views
and opinions much in the same
manner as a newspaper through
its Letter to the Editor columns
provides a public forum.
The appearance of Irwin
Polinsky before the village board
was preparatory to an eventual
application for a franchise, which
could not come before April 1.
This is when the present
moratorium on the issuance of
such franchises expires. Sterling
Communications is already
iranchised in the towns of North
Hempstead, Hempstead and
Oyster Bay and is already
providing service, via some 50
miles of transmission lines, in the
( Continued on Page 2)
Monday evening's board
meeting began with a few
minutes of silence to honor
Spinetta. The board also
unanimously passed a resolution
of respect and appreciation for
him. Copies will be presented to
Mrs. Spinetta and their children.
Trustee Frank Ranieri ob­jected
to the early date for the
budget vote. He said he did not
think a realistic budget could be
presented by then, particularly in
regard to teachers' salaries. " I
think it is more important to
present as complete a budget as
possible to the voters than to fill
the vacant spot on the board," he
said. Trustee Terry Weathers
replied that separating the
election and the budget vote
would lead to additional cost as
well as inconvenience to the
voters. He also said that other
than salaries the budget would be
complete and the salaries could
not be changed by public vote
anyway. The board has already
done work on the budget and
there is a possibility of a com­plete
budget by May according to
trustee Robert Weiss.
In addition to the vacancy there
will be three other seats up for
election this year which means
that a majority of the board will
be selected on May 2.
Some of the students who have
won awards in Music were
honored at Monday evening's
board meeting. Four of the seven
students, John Achenbach,
Margaret Sisti, Kevin O'Connell
and Tim Harrington; who had
participated at NYSSMA All
State Students in Rochester were
introduced. The other par­ticipants
Tom McCarthy, Fred
Fehleisen, and Susan Rappaport
were unable to come to the
meeting because of conflicting
committments. The selection was
based on a difficult competition. .
The Driver Education
Program of which the simulator
is a basic part was explained by
Edward Armbruster and George
Shinnina, Using the simulator the
department has been able to
increase enrollment, eliminate
after school instruction and
decrease the summer school
staff. Driver Ed is now available
to all students sometime between
Come to the Show
At Levittown Hall
A special Levittown Home
Show supplement has been
included in the five Observer-
Tribune papers this week. The
Levittown Home Show is an
annual affair in which
builders, contractors and
businessmen participate to
aid homeowners working to
improve their homes and
communities. The ninth an­nual
Home Improvement
Show will be held at the
Levittown Hall on Saturday,
February 10 from 1: 30 to 6
p. m. and Sunday, February 11
from 11 a. m. to 6 p. m.
Gas Station Saga Continues
A new chapter has been written in the continuing
saga of the proposed gasoline service station at
Merritts Road and Motor Avenue . Now the Town
of Oyster Bay Board, which at one time was sued
for having granted and then allegedly illegally
extended the required special use permit, has now
denied another extension of this permit and thus
wound up on the side of the litigant by whom it was
opposed.
When we left our readers we had reported that
Nassau County Supreme Court Judge Manuel
Levine had found for the plaintiff Jack Zeldin, who
operates the Camp Monchatea adjoining the
property in question, and against the Town of
Oyster Bay and Humble Oil & Refining Co.
Zeldin s attorney Joseph Stern had claimed that
the required special use permit granted to Humble
by the Town of Oyster Bay bore no resemblance to
the permit actually granted. It gave the petitioner
more than he actually asked, which in Stern's
opinion constituted an unlawful overstepping of
the Town's jurisdictional rights.
The Town claimed that plaintiffs ( Zeldin's)
argument came too late because he did not appeal
within the prescribed 30 days after the decision
was rendered by the Town Board. Lawyer Stern
argued that this was not simply an administrative
act by the Town Board but a question of
jurisdictional powers for which there is no appeal
time limit. It was this argument that was upheld in
Nassau County Supreme Court. The question of
whether or not the Town Board did actually ex­ceed
its jurisdictional powers remained to be
answered.
As matters stand now it may never be answered.
A petition by Humble Oil & Refining Co.. to again
extend the special use permit was denied by the
Town of Oyster Bay Board, thus uniting Zeldin and
its erstwhile foe in a community of interests* if
Humble feels it was wronged it can, of course,
appeal and, if the appeal is rejected, seek redress
in the courts. As of last Tuesday indications that
Humble would do so were not followed up with the
necessary legal action. Thus everybody will have
to wait some more to find out whether or not still
another chapter will be added to the saga ot the
gas station on Merritts Road and Motor Avenue
in Farmingdale.
the end of their junior year and
the August after the senior year.
In addition to providing in­struction
for more students, the
simulator provides a safer en­vironment
and gives students
exposure to different types of
situations including hazards,
expressway driving, and in­clement
weather.
The retirement of Marion
Stratton, teacher for the mentally
retarded, was approved by the
board with a resolution of
commendation.
The first round of budget
hearings, local ones, will be held
at 8: 30 p. m. on Feb. 27 at Nor-thside
and Woodward Parkway.
February 28 at Parkway Oaks,
Albany Ave., and East Memorial
and on March 7 at the High School
and the Jr. Highs.
Another date of note is
February 26. At 8: 30 p. m. that
evening the Middle Atlantic
States Evaluation will be
discussed. MarilyHametz
Street Closings
The Department of Public
Works has released anticipated
street closings for February 9 to
16 in the Farmingdale area as a
result of sewer construction
work. Two interceptors are in
volved: Crest wood Boulevard
between Grant and Lincoln and
Kent from Spielman to Fa 11 wood.