Low~Cost Power Assured For 22 Years
Freeport Electric Utilities General Manager William Cominos, speaking in his role as
President of the State Municipal Electric Utilities (MEUA), has announced that the
New York Power Authority has amended contracts with the state's 51 municipal and
rural cooperative electric systems.
The new agreements extend the local utilities' contracts for 547.200KW of hydropower
from 2001 to 2013, subject to the renewal of the federal license by 2007 to operate
the Niagara power project. Power Authority Chairman Richard Flynn called the revised
contracts "a major new job-development initiative...it gives the municipal systems a
valuable new tool to attract and hold industry—and the jobs and payrolls those industries
provide."
Power for economic development will come from a block of 108.000KW, composed
of 54.000KW reserved from the hydropower allocation and an additional 54.000KW from
other economical state sources.
Noting the many court battles of the past involving allocations to municipal systems,
Mayor Dorothy Storm congratulated Cominos and the MEUA on the new agreement
which assures low-cost power to Freeport up to 2013. "The challenge now is to develop
the facilities capable of receiving all of this power. We do not have that capacity at
present. The longer it takes to resolve the controversy concerning our electric system's
expansion, the more of this low-cost power is lost to us. We must move forward."
Invitation From Fire Department
On Sunday, October 13, the Freeport Volunteer Fire Department will present its 3rd
Annual Fire Prevention Exhibition at the Recreation Center.
The Exhibition will feature' displays and demonstrations of firefighting and rescue
equipment and procedures, and will teach you how to prevent fire in/your home or
workplace, and what to do should a fire occur. Many of the day's activities are intended
for children and there will be gifts for them including the popular Toy Fire Helmets,
balloons, Junior firefighter badges and coloring books.
Door prizes, including fire extinguishers and smoke detectors, will be raffled off hourly.
You can have your blood pressure checked while the youngsters practice "Stop, Drop
and Roll" and calling the Fire Department in an emergency. Kids can have their pictures
taken in firefighting gear, so bring your camera or the Department will take one at a
charge of $1.
Admission is free to the Exhibition and all activities. It is a fun, very inexpensive, and
educational way for your family to spend a Sunday afternoon together.
Keep Curbs Clear
Residents and businesses having curb-side
collection of refuse and recyclables,
are reminded that it is illegal to place items
at the curb any earlier than 6pm on the
evening before scheduled collection. This
local law is in effect to avoid unsightly
conditions including the spread of refuse
by animals.
Violators can be summoned to appear
in Village Court where they may be fined
up to $250 per offense.
Housing Waitlist
Closed
Due to a waiting list of over 1000
applicants, the Freeport Housing Author-ity
has announced that as of August 1, they
will no longer be accepting applications
for Senior and Family Housing.
All those who have applied in the past
will remain on the waiting list and informed
when an availability occurs.
>
ONLY Villa
News
A Public Information Bulletin
of The Village of Freeport
. . 46 North Ocean Avenue
telephone: FReeport 8-4000
. Dorothy Storm, Mayor
Meet with Mayor:
.m. -4:00 p.m., every Friday
?? • J ""jfetjc Meetings: 8:00 p.m.,
s Qnst ancUsfd Mondays of the Month
'^L* - September 1991 -
MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR
/
n the advent of the hurricane season we were given a "dress rehearsal" during our
brush with Hurricane Bob last month. We published information on what residents
should do when a hurricane is pending in the July newsletter. It bears repeating! Listen
to WGBB (1240 AM), WHLI (1100 AM) or Cablevision's Channel 12 for declaration
of an emergency in Freeport and the procedures to follow. If you are to evacuate, this
information will include evacuation sites. In addition, public safety vehicles will be used
to notify residents in flood prone streets. Disregard information from the County and
Town which may not pertain to Freeport. If you wish to report electric outages and/
or downed wires and cannot get through the Village's main number, 378-4000, please
call the Electric Department's normal after hours' emergency number, 378-0146. You
may also call the Police Department at 378-0700. If you have a medical emergency during
a hurricane, blizzard, etc. and experience difficulty in reaching the Village police, call
911. The County will relay the information to Freeport. (It is recommended that you
make a record of these phone numbers now for future use.)
In addition to our low cost electricity, Freeporters should be forever grateful that we
retain the capacity to generate our own electricity. We did have storm related outages
but they were minimal compared to those experienced by LILCO consumers. The morning
of the storm the two LILCO transmission lines bringing hydopower from the NYS Power
Authority into the Village failed, blacking us out for some 20 minutes. Fortunately we
were able to generate our own electricity despite the fact that one engine went down
the night before at Power Plant #1, reducing the capacity of that facility by 50%. One
of the two LILCO lines was restored only to fail against in the afternoon, but between
Power Plant #1 and the more modern and efficient Power Plant #2, we were able to
supply our customers' needs from our own in-house generators. Localized outages were
caused by downed trees and limbs. Electric Department crews were "dispatched to restore
power swiftly. At LILCO's request, Freeport crews later went to assist in the restoration
, of power elsewhere on the Island.
A casualty of the storm was the air-supported "bubble" enclosing the Recreation Center's
ice rink. High winds and its age of 10 years probably caused its collapse. It is too soon,
at this writing, to know whether or not the structure can be repaired.
I would like to express my appreciation to our Village employees—certainly the members
of the Electric Department—but also to others who reported in from vacation or stayed
late to answer the phones. Also to be singled out are the Police Department where I
was at the command center and witnessed their incredible response, and the Fire Department
which had volunteers stationed at each fire house. My appreciation also goes to you,
the residents, for your patience and support during those hectic hours. Let us all hope
that we will not be put to the test again this hurricane season. Dorothy Storm
Trustees: Ralph Smith, Victor Cohen, Vincent P. Campion, Catherine Collins: Village Justice: Michael Solomon
Village Clerk: Karen A. Navin; Counsel: William Glacken; Treasurer: Michael Haran
Bagged Leaves Collection
The special Highway Department pick
up of bagged leaves for the 1991
season will begin Monday, October 28 and
will end Friday, December 27. •
Property owners must adhere to the
proper schedule if the program is to be
successful. Plastic bags holding leaves are
not to be placed on the curb for pick up
except on the day set aside. Unlike trash
days, there is no limit as to the number
of bags of leaves which may be set at the
curb on the scheduled collection day. The
schedule is as follows:
MONDAY- Northwest; Sunrise High-way
north to the Village line,
North Main Street west to
the Village line.
TUESDAY - Southeast; Sunrise Highway
south to the Village line,
South Long Beach Avenue,
including South Long
Beach Ave., east to the
Village line.
THURSDAY - Northeast; Sunrise Highway
north to the Village line,
North Main Street east to
the Village.
FRIDAY - Southwest; Sunrise High-way
south to the Village line,
All streets west of South
Long Beach Ave. (but not
including South Long
Beach Ave.) west to the
Village line.
This program will be carried out by the
Highway- Department personnel using
packer trucks. The private carters will not
pick up bagged leaves on trash days.
NOTE: Residents are reminded that it is
against State law to burn leaves and
against the Village's littering ordinance to
rake them into the gutter. That practice
presents a fire hazard as well as a danger
to young children who may play in piles
of leaves unseen by motorists.
Safe Boating Course Recycling Reminder
Through the fall-winter season, the US
Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 13-6 offers
a free, 12 sessions, course in boating safety
at Freeport High School on Monday nights.
A text book and course paraphernalia is
supplied at a nominal fee. Those who pass
the test at the end of the course receive
a graduation certificate which many
insurance companies recognize with a 10%
deduction on boat coverage.
Registration for the first sessions will be
at 7:00 pm on Monday, September 23, with
the course to begin at 8 pm. For further
information and dates of subsequent
registrations, call 379-7286 or 747-8130.
Bottles, jars and cans placed at the curb
for recycling must be rinsed and cleaned
of contents if they are to be collected.
Newspapers are to be tied with cord or
placed in a heavy brown bag. PLASTIC
BAGS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE.
The Town of Hempstead will not accept
contaminated recyclables and the Village
carter has been instructed not to collect
recycling that does NOT CONFORM to the
Village's recycling regulations.
Holiday Schedule
All Village offices will be closed on
Monday, October 14 in observance of
Columbus Day.
The Board of Trustees will not meet that
evening and there will be no collection of
refuse and recyclables.
Grant For Local Records
Mayor Dorothy Storm has recently received a letter from the New York State Education
Department indicating that the Village will receive a $24,392 Local Government
Records Management Improvement Fund grant.
Under the grant, the Village will undertake a records inventory and planning project
of its departments under a to-be-designated Project Coordinator who will direct and
supervise all aspects of the inventory.
Mayor Storm noted that the inventory of records is to be completed next year which
is the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of Freeport. "At present the Village has
approximately 11,645 cubic feet of records, many of archival worth. Dating back to 1853,
these records contain court papers, various maps, blueprints, surveys, ledgers,
photographs and other documents. Currently they are dispersed among many storage
areas making them difficult to locate. We need an extensive records management program
to protect these items from environmental problems while making them more accessible.
Our'centennial' is an appros time-to gather the records of the past and assure their
availability in the future."
Record Power
Demand
General Manager of Electric Utilities,
William Cominos, has reported to Mayor
Dorothy Storm and the Board of Trustees
that on July 23, the Village established a
record high demand for electric power of
50,900 kilowatts. Last year's highest
demand was 43,000 kilowatts on July 20.
The Village's total generating capacity is
50,000 kilowatts.
Cominos pointed out that because of the
record-setting demand, the Village's utility
had to generate power which represented
50% of the supply necessary to serve
Freeport consumers.
The General Manager also pointed out
that the demand this summer had
exceeded the forecasted 48,300 kilowatts.
"The importance of going forward with
improving our power facilities, both from
a reliability standpoint and financial one,
is crystal clear. Further delay will only
prove very costly to our customer."
Canine Unit
Freeport Police Chief Joseph King has
announced that Police Officers Richard
Murray and Christopher Wilson, and the
Department's two German Shepherds,
have graduated from the Suffolk County
Police Academy Canine Accreditation
School.
The officers and their dogs completed
an intense 16-week program in which the
officers were trained in dog handling and
utilizing their dogs in all aspects of
tracking, searching and assisting the
police in apprehension of criminals.
According to the Chief, the officers and
their dogs are on patrol throughout the
Village on a regular basis to provide further
quality police service. The new Canine
Unit is funded through a state Department
of Criminal Justice Services' anti-drug
COMBAT grant.
When not on duty, Max will live with the
Murray family and Justice with the Wilson
family.
