I am referring to the Jan. 25, 2013 Williston Times article “Mineola eyes bond for capital needs.”
I already wrote about keeping the Network Operations Center operating in a power emergency for about 5 percent of the figure given though solar panels with backup batteries would be smarter.
I have not been able to attend any Mineola School Board meetings and have seen nothing else in the news about these matters but I will attend May 9 to see what they are up to.
However, I have a powerful wildlife telescope and I am able while sitting in my car on public streets see the school buildings in minute detail including reading the writing on the children’s art that is stuck on the windows. I am able to see that all of the buildings are quite pristine. The article mentions that the brick work on the seven buildings need re-pointing.
Certainly not the new Willis Avenue building.
Of course, being that the buildings are built on sand there is an occasional crack in the mortar and some is missing here and there but it is not much and not urgent.
Certainly, before anything is done it has to be determined what materials need be used and where to get them. The work that has been done in the past is shabby and frankly, quite ugly. At least the colors should match. There are also spots where paint or something has been applied and has bled down the bricks. As I said, they are quite pristine and not all that much is needed.
Windows and doors are mentioned. The doors are all beautiful as are. Many were recently replaced. I see nothing wrong with the windows except cleaning up some of the frames. The windows where I live are of wood and around eighty years old. Storm windows were added sometime in the past.
There is nothing wrong with them that some felt or fuzzy strips wouldn’t fix. They don’t belong to me so I collect these heavy paper glossy fliers such as the ones [Nassau County Legislator] Richard J. Nicolello is always sending me, probably at taxpayer expense. In autumn I cut them in length-wise strips two inches wide and fold them length-wise. They are springy and slip in any cracks. My winters are cozy.
Five years ago or so x number of dollars was wanted for windows for the Mineola High School. I counted that the building has about 500 individual windows which came to about $3,000 per window.
The stores I checked had Marvin and Andersen windows of comparable size retail to the public for $300 to $500 each. I guess it is do the job and keep the change.
I should not need to be a public defender but I can’t let it ride without having my say.
Charles Samek
Mineola
