The Village of Russell Gardens wants to buckle down on illegal parking.
The village’s board of trustees addressed the problem of unregistered parked cars at their May 2 meeting after Village of Russell Gardens Deputy Mayor David Miller noticed a series of questionable parked vehicles near the village’s Northern Boulevard border.
Miller said he walked down Northern Boulevard and counted 17 unregistered vehicles and six illegally parked vehicles, as well as some parked on the sidewalk, in front of Luxury Autos of Great Neck and Masters Auto Mall.
Village of Russell Gardens Mayor Steven Kirschner said the village notified the two car dealerships that they are in violation of the law.
Kirschner said he was meeting with state Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) and the regional director for the Department of Transportation on Friday, May 3 to walk up Northern Boulevard and talk about the problem of unregistered parked vehicles.
“I will explain to [Martins and the Department of Transportation representative] my concerns regarding unregistered vehicles parked on Northern,” Kirschner said. “Let me see if I can make some headway with DOT and then I will report back to the board.
Kirschner also announced the date for the village’s takeover of park land from the Russell Gardens Association. The village approved the purchase of the land and nearby tennis courts from the homeowners’ association in March, replacing an $85,000 per year lease by which the village had previously supported park operations.
“We’re hopeful that we will take title to the park on October 1,” Kirschner said.
Russel Gardens Association president Larry Chaleff said at the March meeting that the association was selling the land to raise money needed to improve its pool facility. The village expected to pay $925,000 over six years. The village budgeted $150,000 for the purchase this year, $175,000 is projected to be paid during 2014 and the estimated $600,000 that will remain will be covered by an anticipated four-year, $600,000 municipal bond, then Village of Russell Gardens Mayor Matthew Bloomfield said in March.
“We’ve maintained this park – we consider it, as you’ve heard in the past, the jewel or Russell Gardens,” Bloomfield said at the March meeting.
The board also made a number of announcements in their village maintenance report.
The village will be adding fill dirt, topsoil and seeding in the 11 locations where village trees were removed due to damage from Superstorm Sandy. Kirschner said that there is no timetable for when the trees will be replanted but the board agreed it would be done in season, before the winter.
Kirschner said the trees can’t be immediately replaced because the village only has a two-man crew and needs to hire two more department of public works employees to do the work. He added that arborists have said it might not be possible to plant new trees in the same places as the old ones because of the existing root systems, forcing the village to consider alternative locations for replanting.
Kirschner also announced the authorization of $5,000 for the purchase of over-the-tire tracks for the village’s skid loader.
The system, which resembles tank treads, will be used to help with the cleanup of the park. The tracks are necessary because they spread the weight of the loader and without them the loader would sink into the soft ground in the park, Kirschner said.
