Five Mineola streets will soon be repaved, but have lost some trees along the way, village officials said last Wednesday.
Mineola-based Valente Contracting Corp. will likely start within the next month a full reconstruction of Wisteria, Violet, Holly, Juniper and Geranium avenues between Old Country Road and Albertson Place as part of the village’s road repavement program, Public Works Superintendent Thomas Rini said.
The village will replace several overgrown trees it removed that were interfering with utility lines and smaller trees that were “in bad shape” along all the streets except Violet Avenue, Rini said.
“Obviously we can’t replace the size that was there, but it will allow for some of the reconstruction work in there,” he said.
Plans are still being finalized for the road project, which will redo the curbs and road surface on the five streets, Rini said, which total about half a mile in length.
The village plans to adjust curbs on Violet Avenue to avoid removing trees, Rini said.
Residents praised Valente last year for making sure residents could get in and out of their homes while road repairs were underway, Rini said.
The firm is working under a $1.1 million contract for repaving the five streets and other repairs and maintenance in the village, Village Clerk Joseph Scalero said.
Mineola’s “very aggressive” tree planting program, for which the Village Board authorized bids Wednesday, will replace trees throughout the village, Mayor Scott Strauss said.
The village has spent about $50,000 in the past year on the program, which usually plants around 200 trees each year, Scalero said.
“We don’t take down trees because we like taking down trees,” Strauss said. “We take down trees only because we have to, and I can tell you that for every tree that does come down there’s 10 more that people want down that we don’t take down because they don’t need to come down.”
The village repaves roads annually, Scalero said.
In May, trustees approved a $112,000 contract with the Woodbury-based engineering firm Dvirka & Bartilucci to plan a road improvement project for 2016.
Reach reporter Noah Manskar by e-mail at nmanskar@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @noahmanskar and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
