Mineola board honors two before holiday

Jed Hendrixson
Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss and the board at a previous meeting (Photo courtesy of Rebecca Klar)

Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss and the village of Board of Trustees honored two residents at their last board meeting before Christmas and the New Year last Wednesday.

Patricia Santosus was acknowledged by the board for 50 years of service in the Fire Department’s Ladies’ Auxiliary service. Santosus was also presented with a proclamation from the board congratulating her on the tenure at a Fire Department holiday party.

Santosus is the wife of former fire Chief Louis Santosus and the mother of current fire Chief Brian Santosus.

Bill Urianek, a lifelong village resident, received a proclamation from the board alongside 19-year-old J.P. Iacona for achieving one million bottles and cans recycled over nearly a decade. Urianek started collecting the bottles and cans to donate money to wounded veterans, and Iacona joined him soon after seeing him on public access television.

Since starting his collections, Urianek has now raised over $68,000 to donate to those wounded in combat and veterans services.

The effort from Urianek, Iacona and the support from surrounding communities is amazing and a testament to the holiday spirit, Strauss said.

Also at the meeting, the village board resolved to amend parking regulations on Beebe Road as the result of a parking study. The study came as a result of a petition from residents.

As a result parking regulations have been changed. There will now be no parking from 9 a.m. to noon on both sides of the road on Fridays, according to village officials.

The board authorized a payment to match that of a disbursement from a state Emerging Contaminant Grant. Totaling $6,000, a 20 percent match for the $30,000 grant allocation, the payment goes toward water treatment and emergency response to water clarity issues.

In October, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced $200 million in grant funding for emerging contaminants and a water quality rapid response team for technical assistance for communities.

Department of Public Works Highway Division employees Gabriel Fernandes and Peter Ferreira were authorized by the board to attend an ACRT Line Clearance class in Stowe, Ohio. Line clearance certification is a five-day course with a minimum of 40 hours of training.

The training is for working within the 10-foot safety zone around energized wires for managing vegetation. Both employees will be reimbursed for flights, lodging, meals and a rental car according to the village’s travel reimbursement policy.

The board’s next meeting will be Wednesday, Jan. 2, at 7:30 p.m.

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