Flower Hill considers new garbage service

Luke Torrance

The Flower Hill Board of Trustees has grown frustrated with garbage service in the village and discussed making a change during its monthly meeting on Monday night.

“We had a strike, then we had two weeks where our regular guys were on vacation and the garbage was not being picked up in a timely manner,” village Administrator Ronnie Shatzkamer said. “Dealing with this company, I’m just disgusted.”

The trustees nodded in agreement. Meadow Carting Co. of Westbury currently provides garbage service to the village’s residents.

The village is currently paying $64,000 a month for garbage service. Shatzkamer said when she spoke to other villages like Great Neck, they were surprised how much Flower Hill was paying.

Bidding will begin for the garbage contract in April and the contract will be awarded in June, but Shatzkamer said the same two companies always bid: Meadow Carting and Winters Bros.

“We’re almost being held hostage by them,” she said.

She suggested that the village buy its own trucks, hire a crew and collect the garbage instead of hiring an outside company. Some trustees said the idea might save money in the long run.

“This is just something to think about; it is not happening tomorrow,” Mayor Bob McNamara said.

Efforts to reach Meadow Carting were unavailing.

The Board of Trustees had two laws up for adoption, but only one passed. The trustees approved an amendment to the zoning code that would reduce contractor hours on Saturday. Any construction, excavation, demolition, alteration or repair that creates a noise disturbance is permitted on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Previously, noise disturbances on Saturday were permitted until 6 p.m.

The second law would add a chapter to the village code entitled “Prohibitive Surveillance.” The law was spurred by a complaint at last month’s board meeting from a Flower Hill resident who said his home was being monitored by his neighbor’s surveillance cameras. Under the new law, it would be illegal to have a camera record or view people where those people “would reasonably have an expectation of privacy.” Village Attorney Jeffery Blinkoff said there was little precedent for this issue.

“This is a fairly new area of law,” he said. “This is new technology, I don’t believe from my research that any of the surrounding municipalities have something like this on their books.”

The trustees decided they needed more time to look at the matter. The law will be brought up again during November’s meeting.

The board also approved a resolution opposing the elimination of state and local tax deductions for federal taxpayers who itemize. The statement that Congress was considering dropping the deduction drew a groan from the trustees.

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