Plandome Manor Trustees unanimously adopted a new local law to amend road opening regulations during a public hearing Tuesday.
The law was enacted to amend the village code as it relates to street opening permits required for underground construction work.
The law raised the safety deposit required to obtain a permit from $2,500 to $3,500, as well as requiring any openings to be restored to the midpoint of the road.
Trustee Patricia O’Neill said that when the board “viewed this we were bringing our code similar to other villages. What we’re proposing isn’t something so outrageous, it’s sort of the typical.”
Prior to the public hearing, the trustees received a letter from the Manhasset-Lakeville Water District which requested to have the meeting postponed to a later date, until the district can provide input on the proposed changes. The letter stated that the district was just now becoming aware of the changes.
The board agreed to decline the request, and Mayor Barbara Donno said the code changes have been in the works and are not something brand new.
“We don’t present a code or a code change one time, and then vote on it,” she said. “We go through it three times, this has been on our agenda for at least four months. So we do give everybody the opportunity to look at the codes.”
Deputy Mayor Matthew Clinton said he thought the impediment was not the change to the fee, but rather the second change that would require road restoration to the midpoint of the road after any openings.
“Of course road repairs cost the village a great deal of money,” Clinton said. “The letter is insufficient in that it raises the issue of the impact upon the [Manhasset-Lakeville Water District] and its tax payers but does not provide any evidence of such.”
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 15.
