It’s been a hectic two weeks and as a result it, has been difficult to put together an article. I apologize for not keeping up with passing along village information.
A few weeks back, Evelyn Atanas, a local realtor, who grew up in Williston Park was awarded placement on the North Hempstead Woman Honor Roll.
Congratulations to Evelyn for receiving this honor. Evelyn has been actively involved in community life for many years. Currently she is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce of the Willistons, as well as an active member of Neighborhood Watch.
In my last article, I mentioned my concerns with traffic congestion and safety concerns with Cross Street School reopening as a private school.
Although this appeared to be moving under the radar, at my direction the village took action to review this process to ensure the safety of our residents.
As noted previously, in this paper, a meeting was held at Village Hall on March 21st.
Approximately two hundred people attended this meeting to review concerns they might have with Mineola School District leasing Cross Street School to Solomon Schechter Day School. The results of this meeting have been covered elsewhere in this paper.
However, I would look to take this opportunity to reiterate my position as your mayor and that of the village board. It is our belief that a traffic study must be completed prior to the implementation of this lease arrangement.
This past Thursday, the Mineola School Board approved such a plan.
From a village stand point this decision was welcomed but long overdue. The results of this study should be available in approximately three weeks.
There is disagreement between Williston Park and the Mineola School District as per site-plan review.
The school district believes that the village lacks jurisdiction while the village maintains it has that review capability. This position has been made clear by the village and will be pursued upon completion of the traffic, study if not sooner.
A secondary issue of field usage by CYO and Williston Park Little League has also been a focal point of discussion.
While past use of the fields by these groups has been fairly regular this appears to be changing.
With the proposed lease to Solomon Schechter a middle school/high School, field availability most likely be reduced which is a major concerns of the local residents.
Schools officials have been attempting to resolve these issues, but to date a satisfactory agreement has not been reached.
There have been requests for the village to either take ownership of the property or lease the property from the Mineola School District.
As I’ve noted in past articles, the building is not for sale and for the village to attempt to obtain the property through legal maneuvers would be extremely costly without guarantee of success.
To lease this facility would, once again be expensive for the village . For the village to involve large sums of money in a leased property that could be returned to Mineola, if their enrollment changes, makes no sense.
Having been involved with the Herricks School District and the Herricks Community Fund ( a non-for profit) maintaining both a building the size of Cross Street and running various community programs is once again extremely expensive.
For the village to assume such costs would require a large tax increase at a time when government assistance is basically non existence( i.e. Craig Johnson grants).
As your mayor I have engaged in conversation with many of our various officials involved in the community, hopefully to ensure a review process that will protect the safety and well being of all in our community.
I have been disturbed by the tone of comments made by some. I’m surprised with the outcry of those who don’t live in either the village or Mineola School District but are looking for either or both to spend taxpayers dollars.
As a community we must avoid hysteria and look at this situation with an objective critical eye. I will continue to remain in involved as this matter continues to progress.
