After a 17-day delay caused by the death of his son, Roslyn Estates Mayor-elect Paul Peters was sworn in on April 21. Days later, last Wednesday, he convened a special Board of Trustees meeting to approve an $839,537 bid for a road improvement project.
“Getting back is probably going to be therapeutic for me,” he said. “It has been so far.”
The day before he was set to lead his first Board of Trustees meeting on April 4, Peters found his 37-year-old son, Jaime Peters, dead.
The cause of death is unknown.
“I’ve been all over the map,” Peters said on Thursday. “I do feel capable and the last couple meetings I’ve had have been very productive.”
“I’m still looking forward to taking on the responsibility and doing a good job with the residents,” he added.
The roadwork bid was awarded to United Paving Corp., which will begin repairing streets within the next two weeks, Roslyn Estates Clerk-Treasurer Brian Rivera said.
The project comprises 15,000 linear feet, which amounts to almost three miles of the total 7.8 miles of village roadway, Rivera said.
Due to weather damage over the winter, the scope of the project increased by 50 percent in recent months, Peters said.
“The road project itself is a huge thing,” Peters said. “We actually expanded it for a relatively modest increase in what it’s going to cost us.”
The roadwork will come in $94,463 under the $934,000 budget raised for the project, which included $650,000 from a bond, $184,000 from the New York State Department of Transportation Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program, or CHIPS, and $100,000 from a grant by state Sen. Jack Martins, who has since left office.
The project should take six to eight weeks and be completed by July 1, Rivera said.
Asked how the transition to Mayor Peters has gone, Rivera said, “So far, so good.”
