While approving the past two meetings' minutes in the opening few moments of the Jan. 24 Farmingdale Village Trustees meeting, dissensíon among board members brewed over whether they had approved the purchase of new holiday decorations for Main Street.

Trustee Dr. Benjamin Giminaro stated nothing was voted on in previous meetings, while Mayor George Graf and Deputy Mayor Joe Rachiele contended they had approved allowing up to $15,000 on the purchase.

" I don't see how atheists, Jews or Muslims are going to get anything out of it," Dr. Giminaro said.

Rachiele wrote to the New York Conference of Mayors to inquire about the purchase of secular holiday decorations, such as snowflakes.

"The simple answer is yes," Rachiele read from a letter addressed to the board. "Governments must remain secular. As long they do not violate the establishment clause."

Rachiele said he would like to purchase these decorations before Jan. 31 because of a 30 percent discount that is available.

In addition to the initial cost, the village also incurs a $10,000 yearly fee to install, maintain, remove and store the lighted holiday decorations along Main Street. Some residents questioned this amount. Department of Public Works Supervisor Fred Zamparelle said he questioned what he thought to be an "exorbitant amount" when he first was hired, and did some investigative work.

"This is a past practice, which has been going on," Zamparelle said. "These are two certified union electricians that come in with a bucket truck. "Believe me, the $10,000 that we, Amityville, Lindenhurst and other villages paid these electricians is far cheaper than we could do it ourselves."

The current ones are over 20 years old and were purchased by the Chamber of Commerce.

"What we have hanging on Main Street are pretty well worn," Mayor Graf said. "This will only enhance our holiday spirit next year."

Rachiele made a motion to purchase the decorations "for clarification purposes" he said. The motion passed.

Public hearing dates were then set for various reasons. At the Feb. 21 meeting, applicants will be heard for a special use (catering) permit for 190 Main St., where The Downtown was located. According to Buildings Department Superintendent Ron Craig, the same owners are interested in reopening as a catering facility and want to make a presentation to the board.

"The general proposal was 50 percent of the occupant load, operating 50 percent of the time," Craig said.

A Commercial Vehicle law revision hearing will also be held that night. At the previous trustees meeting, some residents complained about neighbors idling, and parking commercial vehicles on residential streets and properties.

Setting a public hearing for eminent domain of 130 Secatogue Ave. was tabled, as was a special permit use (restaurant) for 191 Main St.

Zamparelle offered a brief update on the Road Bond Phase IV.

"I contacted the village's engineering firm and put them on notice that the mayor and the board would like to proceed with the road reconstruction project in the village," Zamparelle. "I am going to initially get some engineers involved to walk with me, ride with me and survey the roads in the village and determine what roads are going to be replaced going forward."

In regard to the previous meeting's public hearing about street and sidewalk obstructions, which includes dumpsters on residential streets and merchandising along Main Street, Rachiele said, "we need to reserve decision until we get a proper legal interpretation."

Although Craig's previous recommendation of one row along the side of the building still stands, George "Butch" Starkie suggested speaking to the individual store owners about these encroachment issues before "passing legislation."

At a November Trustees' meeting, Zamparelle opened dialogue on a fixed-based radio-read water-monitoring system. At this meeting he brought in the lowest bidder for the project, Sensus. The group began by showing a brief PowerPoint presentation about a sample fictional community.

"This video looks into the benefits to the village for converting to this system," Brad, the Sensus representative began. "If you are not correctly measuring the water being used, that is literally money down the drain. In the end, it is about getting that accurate bill each and every month."

While the Pennsylvania-based company's bid came in the lowest - $450,000 - for converting the village to their a fixed-based radio-read water-monitoring system, a more local companion company, Friendly Bytes Software, would be the project manager.

Currently, the village and surrounding areas maintained a touch-read system where a representative would visit each household, accessing a meter on the outside of the residence. Information from the meter is electronically downloaded into a handheld computer and then brought to Village Hall and entered into the system. Annual water bills are then issued from that information.

"The current system of recording and billing is decades old," Mayor Graf said. "It is very labor intensive."

The new system, which was unanimously approved by the village board at the November board meeting, will include a radio-monitoring device where in place of the touch read meter it sends a radio signal to the water tower. That information will then be radioed to the Village Hall computer and bills will be generated.

According to Zamparelle, over the next three years, each household in the village will receive this new meter, which will be read four times each day.

The $450,000 cost includes labor, meters and transmitting units on the outside of houses. There would also be an extra $2,000 software maintenance fee for the system. Previously, Zamparelle stated that the cost will be "about $220 per household for the new meters," however, it will be incurred by the Water Department.

"Based on that $450,000, we assume that that would put us pretty much up-to-date on a three-year swapout," Zamparelle said.

"Fourteen to 16 percent of the swapout has already been completed," Zamparelle added. "The meter life of most water meters are approximately 20 years. We have in the Village of Farmingdale some meters pushing 30 and 35 years old. We don't know their accuracy and we don't know how much water is being wasted."

Mayor Graf added that if there is a pipe leakage or burst in a home the system would be able to detect that spike in water usage and the village could notify the resident immediately.

Starkie contested the figures used by Sensus on the fictional community because "it is not similar to Farmingdale." He added, "The problem I have is that the numbers are hypothetical."

Zamparelle contended that South Farmingdale converted to a Sensus touch pad reading system 11 years ago and "saved a considerable amount in labor. This system, in a three- to five-year period, will pay back the $450,000 initially invested in labor-saving prices alone."

Eric Alexander, the president of the nonprofit company, Vision Long Island, handed out fliers and addressed residents about an upcoming series of "visioning meetings to plan Farmingdale's future."

"You need an updated village master plan," Alexander said. "A master plan is only as good as the citizen involved. The purpose of a master plan is to think forward 20 or 30 years."

Alexander first addressed the village board and residents at a June trustees meeting. He made a presentation on smart growth and explained options to revitalize some of the village's more blighted areas. Vision Long Island's solutions involve community participation and working together in groups to create a mix of uses for areas.

The first in a series of visioning meetings will be an opening presentation on Thursday, Feb. 9 from 7-9 p.m. at Howitt Middle School. The second will be on Saturday, Feb. 11 from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. and will involve walking tours, question-and-answer sessions and table designs. The closing presentation will be on Wednesday, Feb. 15 from 7-8:30 p.m.

"We then try to work those ideas in and lay out some different scenarios that work or do not," Alexander said.

The next meeting of the Farmingdale Village Trustees will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. at Village Hall. For more information call 249-0093 or visit www.farmingdalevillage.org.