Bethpage-Tribune_1984-02-09

              "v^
BETHPAGE
mi Piiif) \MWi
OLD BETHPAGE PLAINVIEW
bT 4C0PICS
B£ T H P A O e LIBRARY
47 POWElL AVC
B E T H P A O C NY I I 7 I 4
ISLAND TREES PLAINEDGE SEAFORD
VOL. 14 NO. 44 Week'of February 9-15,1984 20 cents per copy
Nassau Needs FireCom Center
' The Nassau County Board of Supervisors will
rhoye at its next meeting to place a proposal on
the'November ballot to create a public utility
agency for the purpose of bidding on .low-cost
hydropower from the New York * Power
Authority.
Hempstead Town Presiding Supervisor
Thomas S. Gulotta, vice chairman of the county
board, said that without the "paper corporation"
in place the county would not have the authority
to buy hydropower from the Power Authority.
The authority presently has contracts with a
number of municipal power companies for the
Niagara and Saint Lawrence hydropower. Those
contracts will expire next year.
"Nassau County wants to be in a position,
along with other downstate counties, to buy
hydropower at lower cost than current LILCO
rates," Gulotta said. "The Nassau agency would
then sell the power to LILCO which would dis­tribute
the power to its residential users at lower
cost."
Gulotta said it is uncertain how much residen-tal
users would be able to save, but "there cer­tainly
would be a. cost reduc.tion since hydro-power
is produced cheaper than power produced
byoil."
Gulotta, with the concurrence of Oyster Bay
Town Supervisor Joseph Colby and North
Hempstead SupervisoTr John Kiernan, said resi­dents
of the county should have the opportunity
to voice their opinion on this issue. The measure
also has the backing of County Executive Francis
Purcell.
"At this point, Nassau's ratepayers need and
deserve every break they can obtain on their elec­tric
bills," Gulotta stated.
On a separate but related issue, the Board of
Supervisors also announced its support for the
State Power Authority's "Marcy-South" pro­posal
to increase the amount of cheap Canadian
hydropower available to Long Island.
Gulotta praised the "Marcy-South" plan as "a
project offering tangible relief for Long Islanders
\yho pay among the highest electric bills in the
nation." He said the increased availability of
Canadian power could reduce LILGO's generat­ing
costs by as much as 20 per cent.
"It would decrease the company's dependency
on foreign oil as an energy source and make
LILCO less vulnerable to price increases imposed-by
foreign oil countries," he stated.
• Under the State Power Authority's proposal,
an existing power transmission line which now
carries electricity from Quebec, Canada, to.
Marcy, New York, near Utica, would be extended
200 miles south to Fishkill in Dutchess County.
(Continued on Page 8)
County Executive Francis T. Purcell has for­mally
cut the ribbon opening the county's Fire
Communications Center.
One of the largest and most comprehensive
communications centers for volunteer fire
departments anywhere in the nation, Nassau's
center dispatches 32 of the county's 71 volunteer
fire departments and provides backup dispatch­ing
for another 16. It also coordinates dispatching
the 56 ambulances operated by the fire depart­ments
and the 20 operated by the Nassau County
Police Department.
The center also operates the National Attack
Warning System for national emergencies and
natural disasters.
"The sophisticated equipnient and well^trained
personnel at the fire communications center ena­ble
fire departments to respond almost instan­taneously
to alarms," Purcell said. "The center
immeasurably enhances the protection enjoyed
by Nassau County residents."
Membership in the fire communications system
is open to any volunteer fire departments which
choose to join.
The fire alarm number publicized in the com­munities
served by the 32 fire departments in the
system is 742-3300. Calls to that number come to
one of three computerized consoles in the fire
communications center and are routed to opera­tors
at thefour dispatching consoles. Thecompu-ter
assisted dispatch system incltides a street and
landmark locator file with more than 80,000
entries.
Calls made to 911, the police department emer­gency
number, are automatically referred to the
(Continued on Page 5) A Pride Of Lions
A Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Colby (center) presents a citation to Philip Cohen, District Governor of the New
York-Long Island District 20 K-2 of the International Lions Oub andu member of the Plainview-Bethpage Lioni^ Club,
in recognition of the many civic contributions made by Lions Clubs. Colby was on hand for the District's mid-winter
conference, at which Shamir Ally (right), Deputy. District Governor and President of the Woodbury Lions Club, was
nominated for District Governor. Also on hand were District Treasurer Bob Labbe (left), Past International Director
William Leibensperger (second from left) with his wife, Ruth, and Chairman Paul Fletcher.