Recreation Department – Trustee Lynn Pombonyo
With October comes the arrival of three exciting sports seasons. First, pickleball is expanding with greater numbers of players, opportunities to play and now, a rec program pickleball class starting this Friday, October 8th, 11am to noon. Register Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm at the pool building. Check out this very enjoyable, popular paddleball-type sport that combines elements of badminton, table tennis and tennis as players hit balls much like wiffle balls over a net. More to follow.
Also starting the week of October 12th will be our great Screaming Eagles roller hockey program and, later this month, exciting Youth Council touch football. Spend some time this fall cheering on our awesome local teams here at the park!
Chambers of Commerce and Our Businesses – Trustee Lynn Pombonyo
This evening, the Board retained the services of an independent structural engineer. He/she will evaluate the remaining structures on the Covert Avenue fire damaged properties and address fencing specifications that will be required during any demolition of the remaining walls and other structures.
And coming to Firefighters’ Hall, here in Village Hall, will be the Floral Park Chamber of Commerce Small Business Expo next Wednesday, October 13th starting at 6pm. The Chamber is welcoming all Floral Park residents and businesses, and inviting all to get to know some of the local businesses that take pride in building a better community. Shopping, food samples, discounts, giveaways and more! Information on employment opportunities will even be available. See the floralparkchamber.org website events calendar for details. So come out and join the Floral Park community to learn more about and celebrate our small businesses. And remember to SHOP, DINE AND ENJOY LIFE LOCAL, here in Floral Park and Stewart Manor!
Department of Public Works – Trustee Lynn Pombonyo
As our DPW begins the fall leaf season preparations, all are also looking ahead to winter. You may have noticed the construction activities in the rec center parking lot. Coming soon will be a new, modular, hoop canvas salt shed to replace the smaller, aging and damaged shed with one that is larger (requiring fewer salt deliveries), safer and more functional.
The LED electrical lighting installation is continuing in the West End. The Village has been informed that there may be upcoming delays due to decreased trucking and supply availability. DPW Superintendent Kevin Ginnane will stay on top of this issue to insure the greatest continuity possible for the remainder of the West End, business district, and outer Centennial Gardens/Floral Parkway installations.
Conservation Society – Trustee Lynn Pombonyo
Centennial Gardens is open for all to enjoy, 12-5pm daily. Coming soon on Saturday, October 23rd, 1-4pm will be the second Fairie Forest Festival, a Village favorite for young and old. There you will see miniature hand-painted fairies and their tiny surroundings, miniature forests, villages, houses, stores and amazing treasures. Visitors will be invited to follow the fairie trail and collect special tokens. Proceeds will go to the maintenance and enhancement of Centennial Gardens. See the awesome Floral Park Centennial Gardens facebook page for the magnificent photos and details. October 23rd at the Gardens, save the date, and see you there!
Third Track Project – Trustee Archie Cheng
Ballast continues to be set on the main line between Plainfield and Covert Avenues. A new utility pole is to be installed within the Nassau County basin near Tunnel Street. Additional conduit is scheduled within the next two weeks to be installed at Tulip Avenue and underneath the Plainfield Avenue Bridge. There may be traffic diversions while this work is done.
There will be a double track outage on the Main Line of the LIRR during the Oct. 23rd and Oct. 30th weekends.
Fire Department – Trustee Archie Cheng
October is Fire Prevention Month. The Department has scheduled school fire Drills on Friday, October 22nd. School tours of the various Fire Houses as well as Fire Safety Lectures have been planned.
In light of Fire Prevention Month and especially due to the loss of a young girls’ life this past week due to a house fire in Floral Park Crest, please make sure that a smoke detector is installed in each bedroom and a smoke and carbon detector is installed on each floor of your home. If you have already installed these devices, please change the batteries or change the unit if you hear chirping and can’t change the battery.
As I have said in prior reports, the Fire Department is not doing a house to house donation drive this year. If you can, please make a donation to the Fire Department and support our volunteers.
Fire calls for the month of September: Rescue -78; Rest of Department – 25.
Floral Park Police Department – Trustee Frank Chiara
The Floral Park Police Department will be wearing a special design pink patch on their uniforms in support of October Breast Cancer Awareness month. It is a symbol of their support, with the hope to help raise awareness of breast cancer so that individuals may consider taking the necessary steps to monitor themselves and to increase aid to prevent this type of cancer.
With the anticipated opening of the UBS Arena, the Police Department and the Village Board have been meeting to strategize about efforts to keep our community safe during events at the arena. Our Police Department will be enforcing traffic violations to ensure that our streets are kept safe and clear for emergency traffic. Residents should be aware that enforcement is currently occurring and will continue. Parking enforcement will be monitored and enforced during events at the arena.
Also, with the recent reconstruction of Floral Boulevard, residents are reminded to obey the Village speed limit. This road is a major thoroughfare to one of our elementary schools where many children attend. So, please drive carefully!
New Residents Committee – Trustee Frank Chiara
The New Residents Committee will be participating in the Floral Park Chamber of Commerce Business Expo on Oct 13th from 6pm to 8pm in Floral Park Firemen’s Hall. All residents are welcome to attend. It will be a good opportunity to learn about what our local businesses have to offer to our community.
The New Residents Committee will be there to share information that will highlight Village services and activities offered to our residents. As Lynn mentioned, it should be a really good event.
CREW Committee – Trustee Frank Chiara
The Coalition Resources of Education and Wellness (CREW) Committee had a couple of upcoming events. The CREW Jam Session Music Workshop will be returning to the Rec Center on Wednesday, October 13th from 7pm to 8:30pm. All are welcome to attend and share their musical talents with Marco Conelli and Company. It is a great opportunity to have some fun while learning some helpful information about writing music and performing in public.
The Floral Park Police Department, CREW and the Floral park Lions Club will be participating in the Drug Enforcement Agency “Drug Take Back Day” on Saturday, October 23rd from 10am to 2pm. Residents will be able to dispose of any unwanted and expired medicines safely by a “drive-by, drop-off” at Police Headquarters during that time. Please save the date for this event.
Building Department – Trustee Frank Chiara
I am happy to report that the Village has recently contracted with Johnson Controls to provide an evaluation of the inventory of Village-owned buildings and properties with the hopes to enter into a full Energy Savings Performance Contract. An Energy Savings Performance Contracting is a budget-neutral approach to making building improvement that reduce energy and water use and increase operational efficiency. By partnering with an energy service company such as Johnson Controls, the Village can use the measures to pay for today’s facility upgrades with tomorrow’s energy savings without tapping into capital budgets.
Measures under evaluation include possible LED interior and exterior lighting replacement, solar panels, building and pipe insulation, and the replacement of inefficient heating and air conditioning equipment. The evaluation phase is expected to be completed by early next year. A representative from Johnson Controls will share the information gathered at a public meeting, date to be determined.
Thank You – Trustee Jennifer Stewart
I’d like to start by thanking the Floral Park Fire Department (FPFD) for all they do, in particular, providing mutual aid to Elmont this past Saturday morning at approximately 6:15 am, where a terrible house fire hospitalized two Sewanhaka HS students. These children and their families are in our thoughts and prayers. And as always we are grateful for the members of our all-volunteer FPFD for always answering the call.
Also, it was my pleasure to meet with some members of the Floral Park Chamber of Commerce at their luncheon in Belmont Park. Small businesses are so important to our vital community. Please remember to shop and dine locally!
Floral Park Library – Trustee Jennifer Stewart
With the start of fall comes the inevitable pumpkin mania and that is also true for many events at our FPPL, for example, via ZOOM The Baking Coach kicks off the season of everything pumpkin with a make along/bake along pumpkin bread pudding. Register online (floralparklibrary.org), at the Reference Desk, or call 516 326-6330 beginning August 30th. Residents need to be sure to include a valid email for the ZOOM link.
Popularity for all the library’s many exciting and informative programs continues to grow, so when you check out the library’s website and you see something that catches your eye, – and you most certainly will find something that interests you – register! Many activities such as the in-person teen suncatcher make and take fill up quickly and have waiting lists!
The Floral Park Library was awarded a Proclamation from the Town of Hempstead in recognition of our library’s service to the community. Thank you to Don Clavin, Town Supervisor, Kate Murray, Town Clerk, and especially Thomas E. Muscarella, Councilman, and Jeanine C. Driscoll, Receiver of Taxes who delivered the proclamation personally.
Mayor Kevin Fitzgerald – Mayor’s Report
Obviously, there is a lot going on in the Village of Floral Park. This afternoon, Administrator Bambrick and I received a phone call from Senator Anna Kaplan to discuss and get some information on what we now call the Triangle, a piece land that is open space at the perimeter of the Belmont Redevelopment Project that abuts the dead ends of Crocus Ave and Hazel Place and extends down to Mayfair Ave in the West End. There was a lot of discussion going back and forth on this piece of property. Over the past seven to eight months, the affected residents have expressed their concerns to Senator Kaplan’s and Councilwoman Michaelle Solage’s offices to keep the Triangle an open green space to act as buffer to the residential area within the Village of Floral Park. There were also many phone calls and correspondence by the Board and Administrator Bambrick with the elected officials and the developers during this same time. I am happy to report that Senator Kaplan informed us today that the developer was ordered to cease any further development on the Triangle and it will remain a buffer area very much desired by the residents and the Village with very little impact to the project. This is very good news. I would like to thank Senator Kaplan, her Chief-of-Staff Rebecca Sheehan, Councilwoman Solages and Administrator Bambrick for their efforts these many months. Thank you.
Thank you to Felix Procaccia of ‘Just the Facts Media’ for being here this evening.
