DEPUTY MAYOR FRIERSON-DAVIS HONORED
BYHOFSTRA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Freeport Deputy Mayor Renaire Frierson-Davis was among the
recipients of the 1999 George M. Estabrook Distinguished Service
Award from Hofstra University's Alumni Association.
Ms. Frierson-Davis was cited by the Alumni Association for her
achievements in government and in her community, having served
first as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan and later as the
first female, African-American, full-time Deputy Village Attorney.
In March 1997, she was elected to a four-year term as a member of
the Freeport Board of Trustees and was appointed to the Deputy
Mayor position by Mayor Bill Glacken, a fellow Hofstra graduate
and Estabrook Service Award recipient. Ms. Frierson-Davis is an
active member of the Nassau Council of Girl Scouts, the Nassau
County Bar Association Speaker's Bureau and a member of the
Greater Second Baptist Church, where she serves on the Women's
Committee.
Deputy Mayor Renaire Frierson-Davis surrounded by her family and friends. Her
parents Elon and Evelyn Frierson, her sister, Deirdre Frierson-Evans, her cousin,
Angelin Allen, Ms. Frierson-Davis, Mayor William Glacken, Ms. Frierson-Davis'
daughter, Ashley Renaire Davis, her nieces, Amariss and Darenae Evans, and her
son, Eric Austin Davis.
MAYOR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES
CONGRATULATE HERO FIREFIGHTERS
Freeport firefighters Jerry Festa and Lieutenant Darren Eberhart were hon-ored
as the recipients of the 1998 Arthur Kuss Jr., Firefighter of the Year
Award. It is the highest honor for heroism that can be awarded to a member
of the 2nd Battalion which includes the Baldwin, Freeport, Island Park, Long
Beach, Oceanside and Point Lookout-Lido Beach fire departments in Nassau
County. Both firefighters received the award for their efforts in attempting to
save the life of a woman trapped in a burning attic in a house on Grand Ave.
in Freeport.
Congratulating Lt. Eberhart and Firefighter Festa are Fire Chief John Wensley, Trustees Don
Miller and Don Mauersberger, Lt. Eberhart, Chief Olin, firefighter Festa, Mayor Bill Glacken,
Chief Paul Hashagen, Chief Paul Russer.
FREEPORT'S ANNUAL HOLIDAY LIGHTS
EVENT OFFERED SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
There were youngsters singing, a Christmas Tree, a
Menorah, a Creche, a Kwanzaa display, Frosty the Snowman,
and Santa Claus arriving by fire truck. Freeport, a village that
celebrates its diversified cultural traditions, provided some-thing
for everyone at its annual Holiday Lights Celebration at
the Cannon Triangle on Sunrise Highway.
The fourth graders from the New Visions school
sang a medley of traditional songs to welcome the Holiday
Season. The tree and displays will be lit up every night
through New Year's for visitors and residents to enjoy.
Seen viewing the lights on the Tree were Mayor Bill Glacken,
Chamber of Commerce Official John Molinari, Trustee Bill White, Jr., and his
two daughters, Lauren and Jennifer,
Trustees Don Mauersberger and Don Miller, and of course, Frosty.
www.FreeportNY.com
FREEPORT BEGINS THE NEXT MILLENNIUM
WITH A FRESH LOOK AND BIG PLANS
Much has changed in Freeport in the almost three
years since the Glacken Administration came into
office, and those changes are apparent all around
the village. In our waterfront area, Woodcleft Ave.
has undergone a major renovation, and visitors to
the 'Nautical Mile' are commenting on the imprpve-ments7TBe?
6ad was"rais'ed"By"as~much ds'two feet
in some sections, all but eliminating the constant
flooding problem restaurants and shopkeepers
experienced during every moon tide for decades.
The sidewalk is now a brick promenade complete
with new antique-style streetlights, planters, benches
and litter receptacles. By early next year, the over-head
wires running on the west side of Woodcleft
Ave. will be installed in underground conduits, and
Elevated-and repaved-Woodcleft ave. with-new-lightsrplantersr
benches and litter receptacles
the wood poles will be removed, greatly enhancing •
the view from the top of Woodcleft Ave: straight
down to the Scenic Pier at the foot of the 'Nautical
Mile.' Road repair is an ongoing project all around
the village, as residents can see from the improve-ments
taking place in their own neighborhoods.
The Glacken Administration began its "Five
Worst Streets" program in 1997, during its first
year in office, by repaving five streets in the
Northwest which intersected at Brookside Ave.,
all of which-were in dire need of repair:
Meadowbrook, Mayflower, Mayfair, Milburn, and
Maxson Courts. In the northeast that same year,
large sections of Rutland Road and Sagamore St.
were reconstructed. In 1998, repaving work was
completed on several additional streets in the
Northeast, including Commercial St. and Lakeview
Ave. from Rutland Road to Grand Ave., as well as
a portion of Parsons Ave. Also in 1998, the eleva-tion
and repaving of several streets in the southern
portion of the village took place. We began by
elevating and repaving sections of Miller Ave.,
south of Hamilton Ave., down to Manhattan Ave.,
where residents had experienced frequent flooding
problems foFyearsTWork also began in late 1998"
on the upgrading work for Woodcleft Ave. In
1999, we were able to elevate and repave major
sections of the Meister Beach area including
Meister Blvd., Florence Ave., and Brunella Street.
This past fall, repair work on North Long Beach
Ave., long a problem due to lack of paved gutters,
which lead to persistent water accumulation in
front of.residents' homes, was completed. The con-struction
work included a new
roadbed, driveways, and drainage
improvements, much to the satisfaction
of the people living on that street. Two
other streets in the Northwest that were
in need of repair for years, Brooklyn
Ave. running just north of the Long
Island Railroad station, and Maxson
Ave. between North Long Beach and
Pennsylvania Avenues, were repaved
at the same time. Also completed this
year was the repaving of Colonial Ave.
in the northeast section of the village,
from North Main Street to~Babylcn:
Turnpike. Future plans in the southern
section of the village include repaving Southside
Ave., from South Long Beach Ave. to Guy
Lombardo Ave., and South Ocean Ave. from
Archer St. to Atlantic Ave. The good news for resi-dents
of Stirling and Lester Avenues is that work on
their streets will begin by the beginning of the new
year. In the northwest, repaving work on Wilson
Place from Pennsylvania Ave. west to North
Bayview Ave. is in the planning stages. In the
northeast, preliminary design work has begun for
the repaving of Willow Ave., from Lakeview Ave.
to Frederick Ave. Also in the northeast, reconstruc-tion
work is in the planning stages for Lillian Ave.
from North Main St. to Union Ave., and Charlick
Place from Forrest Ave. to Woodside Ave.
Ultimately, the Glacken Administration anticipates
a time when there no longer are potholes or flood-ing
problems on the streets and roads in our vil-
Brunella St. and Florence Ave. in the Meister Beach area
lage. Freeport's outstanding efforts by its
Emergency Management Team in developing a
proactive response to storm and hurricane related
disasters earned the village the designation of a
Project Impact community by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency. The designation
recognized the combined efforts of the village's
Public Works, Building, Police and Fire depart-ments,
along with the Water and Electric Utilities, all
of which are represented on the Emergency
Management Team. Under the Project Impact
program, Freeport qualified for federal funding to
assist 23 residents with homes in low-lying flood
~ z6nes,"which~h~ad sustained frequehfwatef'a'am-"
age. Construction work to elevate these houses
(continued on page 3)
A house on Cedar Street elevated several feet
with the help of FEMA funding to end frequent flooding
Dear Neighbor,
Last year at this time when discus-sions
of the Y2K bug came up, it seemed
like a distant problem. It's hard to
b e l i e v e t h a t we a r e o n
the eve of the m i l l e n n i u m .
Fortunately, the Glacken administra-tion
began early last year to plan its
response to the widespread misgivings
about the effect changing the date on
every computer from 1999 to 2000 will
have on village operations. We are
grateful to all those employees who
have spent so much time and energ'y
over the past year ensuring that New
Year's Eve and the following day will be
a pleasant event in Freeport and that
village services will continue without any
disruption well into the new year.
I'm sure by now you are familiar
with the problem. The clocks in
computers and the accompanying
programs were not originally designed
to read past the year 1999. There was
a very real possibility that with the
change of date from December 31,1999,
to January 1, 2000, computer systems
around the world would be unable
to read the new date and the stored
information would be lost.
To avoid these and any other
problems, the Glacken Administration
converted the Village's computer systems
earlier this year. We successfully upgraded
the main computer in Village Hall and
updated our employees' desktop comput-ers,
along with providing extensive train-ing
on the new programs. We also over-hauled
and updated the billing system at
the Electric Department.
Our vendors and suppliers, as well as
the banks and other institutions where
we maintain accounts, were notified of
our compliance efforts and have been
assured that the village has completed
its conversion to year 2000-compatible
equipment. We have also received docu-mentation
from these organizations
indicating that they are Y2K compatible.
Our strategy for greeting the millen-nium
free of Y2K computer problems
has provided us with a sense of assur-ance
that the village will be operating as
usual into the new year. However, in the
event that other local governments,
businesses, or social agencies are not as
well prepared as Freeport, we plan to
have sufficient personnel covering from
the police and fire departments, as well
as our water and electric utilities over
the critical New Year's Eve weekend.
And, of course, the Village's Emergency
Management Team will also be on deck.
Have a happy and healthy
holiday season.
LOCAL TESTING SCHEDULED FOR CENSUS JOBS
Persons interested in applying for full or part-time field positions with Census.2000 may take the qualifying test at several dif-ferent
sites in Freeport. In order to be hired for one of the field positions, which pay:between $14.00 and $15.50 per hour and include
a mileage reimbursement, you must call 516-228-9650 and request admission to the test.
The Bureau of the Census 2000 field positions are available to applicants over 18 years of age, who pass a written test of basic
skills and provide proper identification at the test site such as a passport or social security card and at least one of the following: dri-vers
license, student photo identification, voter registration card, U.S. Military Card, employee photo identification, or an identifica-tion
card issued by a federal, state, or local government agencies.
THE IMMEDIATE TEST DATES IN FREEPORT ARE:
Rev. John J. Madden Housing Complex Jan. 7 10:00 a.m.
Dr. E. Mitchell Housing Complex Jan. 1 1 1:00 P.M.
Moxie Rigby Housing Complex Jan. 18 6:30 p.m.
(continued from page 1)
began in early spring of 1999 and will be complet-ed
shortly. In all sections of the village, particularly
the northwest, we have grown accustomed to
enjoying the cooling shade trees. Keeping those
stately, older trees healthy and thriving has
required a major commitment on the part of the vil-lage.
We hired a certified arborist to examine the
trees and make recommendations on how best to
preserve these valuable assets, while protecting
local homes and vehicles in the event of storms that
threatened to topple them. Unfortunately, many
had to be trimmed or, in severe cases, removed.
But for every tree that was removed, we have
replaced it with a new tree as part of our "1,000
Trees A Year" program. By the time you read this
report, we will have planted 3,000 new curb trees
in three years.
Many people believe that you can tell a great
dealjjbout a community by the condition of its
tion project. The Health Wing now offers
state-of-the-art exercise equipment including
Universal weight machines, Landice treadmills
and Aero bicycles. Players on the basketball, vol-leyball
and handball courts are enjoying the new
gym floor. Last summer, we upgraded the HVAC
system with additional air conditioners installed in
the Program Wing and new roof-mounted units to
ensure that the gymnasium, along with the entire
building, remains comfortable year round. Our
refurbished pool complex opens at 6:15 a.m.
weekdays to accommodate almost everyone's
busy schedule. Residents who have visited Village
Hall in the last year have seen major renovations
to our historic building and grounds. Modeled
after Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Village
Hall has a proud history, and the building should
reflect its heritage. The Village Court and Main
Conference Room have been replastered and
repainted Busing authentic .colors in keeping with the
Northeast Park with a fresh, new outlook
parks. Residents in the neighborhood surrounding
Northeast Park say the renovations there have
made an incredible difference. The baseball field,
once in a terrible state of disrepair, has been refur-bished
with a new homerun fence, a new backstop
and player dugouts. A sprinkler system was
installed and the infield was completely resodded.
The playground and picnic areas, along with the
tennis and basketball courts, all have new, modern
lighting, making them accessible for our young
people for evening activities. In addition, the bas-ketball
court was resurfaced. Additional lighting
was added to Martin Luther King Park's handball
and basketball courts, and the basketball court at
MLK was also resurfaced. Glacken Park has
become a showplace with upgraded lighting on the
basketball and handball courts. Resurfacing was
also completed on the basketball courts at Glacken
Park. A few weeks ago, at Randall Park, a sprin-kler
system was installed to keep its frequently used
ball fields in good condition. Our village residents
heavily depend on the parks for recreation, sports
and relaxation, and we are determined to make
them the best on Long Island.
Freeport's Recreation Center is one of the vil-lage's
most valuable assets. Under the Glacken
Administration, it has undergone a major renova-federal
architecture of the building
while the benches in both rooms were
sanded, stained and polished. New
carpeting was installed in the Main
Conference Room and new flooring
was installed in the Village Court.
Finally, the Grand Rotunda has been
repainted, restoring the main entrance
to its original grandeur. Our Village
Hall courtyard, located on North
Grove Street, was another area that
had fallen into disrepair over the
years. The old fountain, which had not
been working for a decade, was
turned into a trellised seasonal gar-den.
A new irrigation system was installed and the
slate surrounding the flowerbeds was replaced
with brick pavers, while sod was added to com-plete
the grassy area.
The Community Development Agency acquired
the former Freeport hospital property for a net
purchase price of approximately $650,000 as a
result of the bankruptcy action against the former
owners of the site. The Village will benefit from the
collection of back property taxes due and the real
estate taxes generated once the property is
returned to the tax rolls. Included in the possible
uses for the property are: a health related facili-ty/
medical office, a senior citizen assisted living
facility, residential development, office use, or a
mix of those possibilities. One of the first projects
we began after taking office was to overhaul the
500,000-gallon water tank in the Northeast.
Along with repairing and repainting the tank, we
added the address of our website www.
FreeportNY.com. It is important to recognize that
while we are a village that honors and respects its
past and the vast diversity of its residents represent-ing
64 distinct cultures, we are also focused on the
future and eager to enter the next millennium fluent
in all the technological advances it has to offer.
One final reminder. The year 2000 is a census
The refurbished Grand Rotunda at Village Hall
year, which means that the federal government will
'erideavdHo get ds'accurate a couhrohhe'populd-'
tion of the United States as possible. Counting the
residents of every state, town, city, and village is
one of the ways the government determines what is
needed in terms of hospitals, schools, and repre-sentatives
in Congress. Its important to remember
that the census is also used in the calculation of
federal aid to local governments and communities,
helps determine fair market rents, and is needed to
enforce fair lending practices. It also helps the fed-eral
government to forecast future housing needs
for all segments of the population, and to estimate
the number of people displaced when a natural
disaster strikes. The Census Bureau has an obliga-tion
to get an accurate count of the population and
Children playing in the courtyard behind Village Hall
a legal requirement to keep that information confi-dential.
It's important that everyone fill out the
questionnaire when it arrives in the mail next
March, or answer the census-takers' questions hon-estly
when they come to your home in April or
May.
Much has been accomplished in less than
three years, but there is so much more to do.
Working together, Freeport will get it done.
