Observer_1989-04-26; East Rockaway/Lynbrook Observer

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VOL. 46 NO. 14 WednesdaY, April 26, 1989 35c PER COPY
Shaw
LYNBROOK LODGE NO. 1515. On Saturday, April 1st
Lynbrook Elks Lodge #1515 installed its officers for the
1989-1990 Lodge year. Pictured sitting (L to R) are: Donald
Conway, Lecturing Knight; Francis Becker, Loyal Knight;
William Bock, Esquire; Philip GerafTo, Exalted Ruler; Bruce
Bregman, Leading Knight; Michael Soscia, Chaplin; Arthur
Chimenti, Inner Gurard. Standing (L to R) A1 Gresser, Tiler;
James Brady, Treasurer; Peter Mafucci, Chairman of
Trustees; Murray Levitt and Ralph DePaola, Trustees. Not
shown. Dr. Robert Thoma, Secretary; Edward Nasierowski,
and Thomas Kaszunba, Trustees.
Controversy Continues
In Lynbrook
by Annette Ling
At the Lynbrook Village
Board Meeting of April 10,
1989 the village budget was
on the agenda but adjourned
for April 17, 1989 in a
continuation of the budget
hearing.
Village Hall was crowded
with representatives from
the Independent Party and
representatives from the
defeated Good Government
Party.
Trustee Mary Colway
stated that she and Trustee
Bill Hendrick were meeting
with various department
heads of the village and
trying to discuss possible
cuts to the proposed budget
of the village. They will be
meeting with department
heads on Wednesday and
Thursday of this week and
therefore need more time to
thoroughly study the pro-posed
village budget. (They
had made a campaign pledge
to cut taxes and to fulfill
their promises.) Mary Col-way
further stated, "We need
more time and as much
information as possible as
we can get so that we can
go ahead and work on the
budget." Wt will be working
very diligently."
The Budget Hearing was
formally postponed until the
Board Meeting of April 17,
1989.
Trustee Bill Hendrick
asked for a resolution desig-nating
him as Co-Chairman
of the Lynbrook Week
Committee along with Trus-tee
Norman Dreyer and the
opinion of Village Attorney
Jay Korth was requested as
to the legality of naming one
trustee and one former trus-tee
to the position of co-chairman
of Lynbrook
Week. Hendrick stated that
a representative of the Inde-pendent
Party should be co-chairman.
The three new
trustees moved and
seconded the motion that
Hendrick be designated co-chairman
of Lynbrook
Week instead of former
Trustee Steve Grogan who
had served as chairman since
1985 and he stated, "Under
the previous administration
the chairman of Lynbrook
Week was appointed by the
Mayor. Now, it seems that
the Independent trustees are
playing politics." Trustee
Hendrick stated "The idea is
to have the most successful
Lynbrook Week as
possible."
Former Trustee Steve
Grogan took the floor and
stated that he had received
notice this past Friday at his
office to return the keys to
Village Hall and the Village
Code Book as well or the
locks to Village Hall would
be changed and he would be
billed for $95 if they were not
returned immediately. He
received a telephone call
from one of the ladies in
Village Hall demanding that
(Continued on Page 12)
Board of Trade Formed
At 8 P.M. on April 10th
a group of spirited mer-chants
got together at the
Commuters Club, East
Rockaway, to form the East
Rockaway Board of Trade,
whose aim will be to put the
town "on the map".
To do this Guy Donza,
temporary chairman, sug-gested
an organization in
which merchants help each
other and work together, "A
Miracle on Main Street",
where Macy's does tell Gim-bels.
The big problem he said
was in identifying the town.
Jim Groark thought it might
be a good idea to make East
Rockaway known as possi-bly
a "seaport." Lanterns,
tree lights and banners along
Main Street were also
suggested.
It is hoped that by
expanding this organization
it will make East Rockaway
known for its friendly shops
and merchants where citi-zens
can shop for all their
needs without the city hus-sle.
All merchants in town
are asked to join becuase it
is not only important to
speak out but to take action.
As put by former Mayor
Arnold White, "A good core
of 8 or 10 is all that is needed
and others will follow."
The next meeting is set for
May 8th, at 7:30 P.M., at
the East Rockaway Com-muters
Club. Bring a neigh-boring
merchant along, and
take action! Get involved!
Coffee and cake will
follow.
Proposes 16% Village
Tax Hike
by Emma Tolmach
East Rockaway Mayor
Irving Shaw submitted for
the Board's review a tenta-tive
budget for fiscal year
1989-1990 that calls for a tax
rate increase of more than
16% over last year.
The announcement came
at a public hearing held at
the Village Hall on Wednes-day,
April 10, 1989.
The tentative budget calls
for expenditures of
$3,702,575, with $2,163,945
to be raised by real property
taxes. The tax rate increase
is estimated at approxi-mately
$7.75 per hundred of
assessed valuation. An aver-age
homeowner with a house
assessed at $5,000 would
experience a Village tax
increase of approximately
$387 next year. The Board
expressed its hope that the
size of the Mayor's proposed
budget and tax increase
could be reduced from cur-rent
projections.
A major portion of the
budget increase is due to an
increase in tipping fees, the
charge assessed for garbage
and rubbish disposal. Health
insurance costs are expected
to rise between 12 and 16%,
and Village employees will
see their salaries increase by
7% as provided by CSEA
contract. Mayor Shaw's
salary has been set at $6,000
per year, while Trustees will
continue to receive $4,000.
Regular Meeting
Trustee Anthony Santino
reported that the Board has
met with several department
heads concerning the pro-posed
1989/90 budget, and
assured those present that
ihe Board will do everything
possible to keep the tax rate
at a minimum.
Newly installed Trustees
Robert McTague and Kevin
McNulty expressed their
thanks to the residents of
East Rockaway for the
opportunity to serve on the
Board, and stated that they
would begin scheduling
appointments with the heads
of departments with whom
they will each serve as Board
Liaison.
Lieutenant Britt of the
Fourth Precinct reported
that for the month of March,
there were 9 arrests, includ-ing
5 DWI, 1 harassment, 1
tampering with a witness/
intimidation of victim, 1
resisting arrest, and 1 non
support warrant. In addi-tion,
there were 98 moving
summonses with 1143 park-ing
summonses issued, 19
accidents with 6 injuries, and
2 residential burglaries.
Trustee McNulty asked that
accident reports contain the
time of the incident to see
if there is any connections
between the number of acci-dents
and speeding. Trustee
McTague inquired about the
shooting that occurred on
Friday, April 7 on Grant
Avenue. Lt. Britt stated that
no arrest had been made and
that the victim was in stable
condition.
The Board welcomed
newly-elected William Chief
Gibson of the East Rocka-way
Fire Department, who
reported the following for
the month of March: 8
general alarms, 8 still
alarms, 46 rescue calls, and
1 mutual aid rescue. Chief
Gibson then introduced his
fellow officers: 1st Asst.
Chief James McCartney,
2nd Asst. Chief Joseph
Mihalich, and 3rd Asst.
Chief Frank Cerasoli.
Lt. Gewanter of the Aux-iliary
Police reported that
the Department served more
than 173 man-hours in
March and travelled 308
miles of roadway. Superin-tendent
Gene Torborg of the
Department of Public
Works reported that more
than 669 tons of garbage and
37 tons of rubbish were
collected, with approxi-mately
225 miles of street
swept. He also noted that 4
new park benches have bpen
installed, that 62 tons of
newspapers were collected,
and that the refurbishment
of the baseball field at the
complex has been started.
The Grist Mill Committee
reported that Veronica
Sympson will be the Chair-man
of the 1989 Huckleb-erry
Frolic, which will be
held on Saturday, June 17.
The Commuter's Club has
been contacted to explore
the possibility of a pig roast,
and other preparations are
being made to construct
stands, arrange for enter-tainment
and have a float for
the parade.
The Board took the fol-lowing
action:
* Granted a request from
St. Raymond's CYO to hold
its annual Spring Flea
Market on Saturday, April
29 at St. Raymond's cafete-ria
and gymnasium,
* Allowed the Kiwanis
Club of East Rockaway to
erect a sign on the northwest
corner of Atlantic and
Rhame Avenues (Foodtown
parking lot) announcing its
annual Health Fair, which
will be held on Saturday,
May 6 in St. Raymond's
cafeteria. In addition, .M^y
6th was proclaimed "East
Rockaway Kiwanis Health
Fair Day" in East
Rockaway.
* Accepted the resigna-tion
of Edward Mulligan as
a member of the Board of
Assessors.
* Set the date of Thurs-day,
April 27 at 5:00 pm for
a special meeting at Village
Hall to adopt the 1989/90
budget.
* Scheduled a public
hearing for Monday, May 8
at 8 pm for a discussion of
the issuance of non-resident
parking permits for commu-ter
parking purposes.
The meeting adjourned at
9:20 PM.
Voter Registration
Days
The East Rockaway
Board of Education has
announced that voter regis-tration
for new residents and
new voters, regarding the
Budget Vote and Trustee
Election, will take place in
the District Office, East
Rockaw«y High School on
the following days;
Tuesday, May 2, 1989 -
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Wednesday, May 3, 1989
- 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Thursday, Mary 4, 1989 -
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Friday, May 5,1989^9:00
a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Any East Rockaway res-ident
who has moved from
one address to another
within the district must re-register
on these days.
New voters and new res-idents
must be Citizens of
the USA, 18 years of age,
and residents of the district
for 30 days.
In addition, registration
m^ be completed on voting
,day. May 16th from 6:00
a.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the
gymnasium for persons not
registered with the school
district but who have voted
in the National, State or
County elections in the past
four years. Resident of the
school district for 30 days
still applies.
Absentee Ballot applica-tions
for registered residents
who will be unable to vote
in person on May 16, 1989,
are available in the District
Office, East Rockaway High
School.