By JOHN NUGENT
The East Williston Board of Trustees welcomed eight local 10th to 12th grade students to its new Junior Recreation Commission at the opening of its meeting on Monday.
Mayor Bonnie Parente administered the oath of office to the students whose mission will be to encourage teens to be active in the community, to develop ideas for programs and activities that will appeal to young people, and to discourage acts of teenage vandalism that have become more frequent in recent years.
In her opening remarks about the new commission, Parente invited its members to step before the board to be sworn in and stated that “both kids and adults need ideas on what else to do.”
Village Trustee Raffaela Dunne said that groups of young people, some from other communities, often gather at night in and around the area of Devlin Park. Unfortunately, there have been times when these groups have left behind debris that has included items such as beer cans and vaping materials on the playing fields, she said.
The board will collaborate with the new commission to create and implement many recreational activities for young people of all ages throughout the village.
Commission member Jacquelyn Dunne made a brief presentation to the board in which she outlined some of the ideas that she and her young colleagues are currently discussing. “Movies Under the Stars” in the summer months and sports clinics for young children are two items on their agenda.
The new commission is in the process of developing a business plan for its overall goals and objectives.
In an unrelated matter, some residents in the audience complained about the unsightly appearance of the property caused by the construction of the controversial fence around the North Side School.
They contend that since the School Board lost the lawsuit against the village in which it sought to build the fence without zoning code permits, the village should force them to clean up the construction site.
The mayor responded that since the matter is being appealed by the school board, the village cannot require a cleanup of the area.
She added that the village attorney has made a cleanup request to the school board attorney but no enforcement action can be taken until all litigation in the matter has been
exhausted.
Another resident expressed concern that National Grid has not made any repairs to the roadway that has been torn up by its project along Roslyn Road.
The mayor stated that the village has no authority over Roslyn Road as it is a county road. Also, National Grid will not initiate any road repair until their project is
completed which could take another two years, she said.
