facing of the basketball courts. At
Randall Park, new dugouts were
added to the baseball field while the
infields were resodded and the out-fields
reseeded. We added a new
sprinkler system to keep Randall Park's
frequently used ball fields in good
condition. We hope to add lighting to
all four ballfields over the next two
years.
Freeport is continuing its program
of curb tree protection and replace-ment
program. Unfortunately, for
safety considerations, many of the
older trees had to be trimmed or
removed completely. However, for
every tree that was removed, it has
been replaced with a new tree as part
of the '1,000 Trees a Year' program. By
the time you read this report, we will
have planted nearly 5,000 new curb
trees in five years. —__ .._
In December of 2000, the Board of
Trustees approved the Main Street
Mews project, which will be built by
Time Equities Corp. on vacant land on
the west side of South Main Street in
the heart of the Central Business
District. The project represents the
first new construction in that area in
nearly fifty years, and construction is
scheduled to begin sometime in the
spring of 2002. The project calls for
the construction of a three-story
building with a restaurant/retail use
on the ground floor and professional
offices and artists' live/work space on
the second and third floors. I believe
that this project will serve as the cata-lyst
for the revitalization of our entire
downtown.
In January of 2001, after an exten-sive_
competjtion and review process.
Time Equities Corp. was selected to be
025 1 1 AN %iodaajd
QlVd
ais
the developer of the
Plaza West project.
The $36.8 million
project calls for the
restoration of the old
Meadowbrook Bank
Building, and the
development of two
hundred apartment
units above twenty-five
thousand square
feet of new retail
space and under-ground
parking on
the vacant land adja-cent
to the bank
building. Contractual
negotiations should be concluded very
shortly, and construction of this excit-ing
new project should begin some-
Time Equities, Inc., CEO Francis Greenburger and Mayor Bill Glacken in front of the site of the $36.8 million
Ploza West project.
groundbreaking to complete.
As you can see, we are moving for-ward
in the revitalization of Freeport
following two impor-tant
mandates: first tp^
update, upgrade and
innovate our village
infrastructure and sec-ond,
to preserve its
traditional waterfront
atmosphere while
maintaining its historic
heritage. I believe we
are accomplishing
both.
I would like to wish
you and your family a
healthy, happy New
Year. The newly completed Esplanade, on Woodcleft Ave., the 'Nautical Mile.' The Esplanade will provide dock space
for visiting historic and educational vessels.
time during the summer of 2002. The
project itself represents a major step
forward in our efforts to revitalize our
traditional downtown area, and is
expected to take_approximately_eigh-teen
(18) months from the date of
025 L LAN '
JANUARY, 2002 www.FreeportNY.com THE HOME OF CHAMPIONS
The Winter Wonderland at Freeport's Recreation
Center Featured the News 12 Morning Program
News 12's morning anchors, Doug Geed
and Carol Silva, broadcast a pre-holiday news
program from the Freeport Recreation Center
and dedicated the show to the heroes of the
World Trade Center disaster and the Toys for
Tots program sponsored by the U. S."Marines.
The Recreation Center proved an excellent back-drop
for the newscast, which featured Santa's
workshop, the many decorated holiday trees, as
well as the model train displays, and Freeport's
volunteer firefighters who were involved in the
World Trade Center rescue effort. The volun-teers
brought along their own children who had
a chance to meet with Santa Claus. The Toys for
Tots program in Freeport collected a truckload
of toys that were donated to the Marines' distri-bution
center with the assistance of the
Freeport Volunteer Fire Department and the
Chamber of Commerce.
Among the Freeporters surrounding Santa Claus, and News 12's Bonnie Schneider, Carol Silva, Doug Geed, and Ken Grimbal, are the Fire Department's Second
Assistant Fire Chief James Butler, Fire Chief Paul Russer, Rre Department Executive Director Ray Maguire, Ex-Chief Julius Ellison, Ex-Captain Joe Stallone, Rre
Medic Kay Franklin, Rre Rghter Darren Eberbart, Police Officer and PDA president Mike Flood and U.S. Marine Major Chuck Kilbride, and a cluster of youngsters.
Next Group of House Elevations Gets Underway
Work begins on 161 Westside Ave., which wffl eventually be elevated 3 feet above the base flood level.
J.O
Residents of the two houses in the process of being elevated, one on
Arthur Street and the other on Westside Ave., are thrilled to see their days
of flooding during high tides and new moons come to an end. The houses
are two of an additional group of eight homes to be elevated as part of the
Hazard Flood Mitigation Grant Program sponsored by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Under the program, by the year 2000, Freeport had completed the ele-vation
of 22 houses in low-lying flood zones, which had sustained frequent
water damage. This year, work has begun on the next group of houses to
be elevated through this program, eventually bringing the total number to
30 homes.
Along with providing assistance with the house elevation projects,
FEMA named Freeport a Project Impact community in recognition of the vil-lage's
outstanding efforts in developing organized mitigation efforts to
reduce damages from natural hazards. The designation recognized the com-bined
efforts of the village's Public Works, Building, Police and Fire depart-ments,
along with the Water and Electric Utilities, all of which are repre-sented
on the Emergency Management Team. Freeport was the first com-munity
on Long Island to receive the designation and has done such an out-standing
job, both as a Project Impact community and in utilizing the
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, that the village was selected to serve as
"a role model for similar projects in East Rockaway and Bayville.
A MESSAGE FROM THE MATOR
J2ear Neighbor,
2001 has been an eventful year in
the Village of Freeport. Regrettably, it
will remain associated in our memo-ries
with the tragic events of
September 11, when we saw the
United States attacked by terrorists.
But it will also be a time when we wit-nessed
the most heroic efforts on the
part of Americans faced with unspeak-able
horror. Freeport's firefighters and
emergency management workers
were among the volunteers on the
scene of the World Trade Center disas-ter
almost immediately in response to
calls for assistance from the New York
City Fire, Police and Emergency
Management departments.
It was during the days and weeks
that followed that others learned
what Freeporters have always known,
the extraordinary heroism of our vol-unteer
firefighters and emergency
workers. The outstanding efforts of
our volunteers led to recognition from
a "sister" community in Langford,
British Columbia, Canada. Langford is
a waterfront community with a volun-teer
fire and emergency management
department similar to our own, and
this tragedy inspired its residents to
donate $20,000 to Freeport's World
Trade Center Memorial Fund to help in
the relief effort.
We are endeavoring now to
return to a spirit of optimism in recog-nition
of the heroic efforts Americans
are capable of in a time of struggle,
and we hope once again to look for-ward
toward the future of our village
with many new projects scheduled for
2002, while reviewing the accomplish-ments
we have been able to achieve
over the past several years.
In our waterfront area, Woodcleft
Ave., 'the Nautical Mile', has under-gone
major renovations. The project
began in October of 1998, and was
completed in May of 2000. The road
was raised by as much as two feet in
some sections, all but eliminating the
constant flooding problem restaurants
and shopkeepers experienced during
every moon tide for decades. The side-walk
is now a brick promenade com-plete
with new antique-style street-lights,
planters, benches and litter
receptacles. The overhead wires run-ning
on the west side of Woodcleft
Ave. have been installed in under-ground
conduits, and the wood poles
have been removed, greatly enhanc-ing
the view from the top of
Woodcleft Ave. straight down to the
Scenic Pier at the foot of the 'Nautical
Mile.1 In October of 2001, another
major milestone in the renovation, of_
the Nautical Mile was reached with
the completion of the Esplanade,
which provides 200 feet of dock space
for visiting historic vessels, a historic
display dedicated to baymen from
Freeport and other south shore com-munities
who helped to rescue sur-vivors
of ships, which sank off the
coast during the 1800's and 1900's,
and a fountain with a three-tiered
dolphin sculpture dedicated to the
environmental organization SPLASH.
Road repair is an ongoing project
all around the village. The Glacken
Administration began its "Five Worst
Streets" program in 1997, 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 sec-tions
of Rutland Road and Sagamore
St. were reconstructed.
In 1998, repaving work was com-pleted
on several additional streets in
the Northeast, including Commercial
St. and Lakeview Ave. from Rutland
Road to Grand Ave., as well as a por-tion
of Parsons Ave. Also in 1998, the
elevation and repaving of several
streets in the southern portion of the
village took place. We began by ele-vating
and repaving sections of Miller
Ave., south of Hamilton St., down to
Manhattan St., where residents had
experienced frequent flooding prob-lems
for years. Work 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. The year 2000 saw the comple-tion
of the elevation of Lester and
Stirling Avenues in the Meister Beach
area, together with the repaving of
the other streets in that neighbor-hood,
including Jeanette Ave. and
William Place.
During the fall of 1999, work on
North Long Beach Ave., long a prob-lem
due to the lack of paved gutters,
which led to persistent water accumu-lation
in front of residents' homes,
was completed. The construction 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 sta-tion,
and Maxson Ave. between North
.Long ..^Beach^ and, ._Pen,nsylvanja
Avenues, were repaved" at the same
time. Also completed that year was
the repaving of Colonial Ave. in the
northeast section of the village, from
North Main Street to Babylon
Turnpike.
In the fall of 2000, work began on
the reconstruction of South Brookside
Avenue from Sigmond Street to
Southside Avenue, and of South
Bayview Avenue from Casino Street to
the southern end of Bayview, with the
installation of new drains. Bryant
Avenue and Noon Place were also
included. The repaving of those streets
was completed by the end of spring of
2001. Also in 2001, Garfield Street was
elevated and reconstructed, as was
West Second Street. 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.
Jnthe_ spring of 2002, we will
begin the next "phase of our flood
elimination program, the largest in
the Village's history, with the eleva-tion
and reconstruction of those
streets situated in the so-called "flood
bowl", where flooding regularly
occurs. It is an area in the south-cen-tral
portion of the Village that is
roughly bounded by Atlantic Avenue
on the north, Westside Avenue on the
west. Long Beach Avenue on the east,
and Casino Street on the south. It also
includes that portion of Roosevelt
Avenue from Casino Street to South
Long Beach Avenue. The project is
estimated to take approximately six-teen
(16) months to complete, at an
estimated cost of $3.8 million. Of said
amount, $l.l million will be paid for by
a grant from FEMA, with the balance
to be bonded by the Village. With the
completion of that project, we will
have eliminated approximately ninety
(90%) percent of the flooding in
the Village. In 2003, we will be
returning to the southeast corner of
the Village to reconstruct Ann
Drive, Laurette Lane, Jeffrey Court
and Gladys Lane.
In the northwest, repaving
work on Wilson Place from
Pennsylvania Ave. west to North
Bayview Ave. will be completed by
the summer of 2002. In 2003, we
will be repaving Willowbrook Lane,
Tanglewood Lane, the upper por-tion
of Delaware Avenue, Moore
Circle and Delaware Circle.
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., Charlick Place from
Forrest Ave. to Woodside Ave. and
all of Pershing Place. The actual
paving work will be completed in
2002. In 2004, we will be returning
to the northeast to reconstruct
Stevens Street, Independence
Avenue, East Dean Street,
Weberfield Avenue, and a portion
of North Columbus Avenue.
U l t i m a t e l y , t h e G l a c k e n
Administration anticipates a time
when there no longer are potholes
or flooding problems on the streets
and roads in our village.
Freeport's outstanding efforts
by its Emergency Management
Team in developing a pro-active
response to storm and hurricane
related disasters earned the Village
the designation of a Project Impact
community by the F e d e r a l
Emergency Management Agency.
The designation recognized the
combined ,efforts, of the village's
Public Works, Building, Police and Fire
departments, along with the Water
and Electric Utilities, all of which are
represented on the Emergency
Management Team. Under the FEMA
program, Freeport qualified for feder-al
funding to assist 22 residents with
homes in low-lying flood zones, which
had sustained frequent water dam-age.
Construction work to elevate
these houses began in early spring of
1999 and was=completed in the fall of
2000. Recently, the Village received an
additional grant of approximately
$600,000.00, which will be used to
assist in elevating another eight
homes during the coming year. FEMA
funds were also used to pay for most
of the cost of the Lester and Stirling
Ave., elevation project.
Freeport's Recreation Center con-tinues
to be updated and improved
The new sign and refurbished regulation baseball field at North East Park.
The very latest in playground equipment was installed in the children's playground at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park.
with a new air _conditioning system
installed in the center's program wing
and four new roof-mounted units
added to ensure that the gymnasium,
along with the rest of the building,
remains comfortable year round. The
final installation of the four units is
expected to take place by the end of
this year. In the spring of 2002, the
roofs over the gymnasium, lobby and
lounge will be replaced. In addition,
we have replaced the entrance doors
to the Recreation Center with doors
easily accessible to individuals with
physical disabilities.
Much has been accomplished in
the village parks during the past five
years. In 1999, the baseball field in
North East Park, once in a terrible
state of disrepair, was refurbished
with a new homerun fence, a new
backstop and player dugouts, a sprin-kler
system was installed and the
infield was completely resodded. The
playground and picnic areas, along
with the basketball courts, all have
new modern lighting, making them
accessible to our young people for
evening activities. In addition, the bas-ketball
court was resurfaced. In the
year 2000, a Scoreboard was installed,
and in the spring of 2001, lighting for
the baseball field was added. In 2002,
the tennis courts will be completely
rebuilt, and new lighting installed.
At Martin Luther King Park, addi-tional
lighting was added to the
handball, and basketball courts while
the basketball court was resurfaced
and new playground equipment has
been installed. At Glacken Park, the
baseball field has been completely
restored, and a new Scoreboard
installed. We have also upgraded the
lighting on the basketball and hand-ball
courts and completed the resur-
