The Aug. 7 meeting of the Farmingdale Village Board of Trustees began with a discussion on the 2006 Roadway and Drainage Improvements Program and resolution on the Road Construction Bond.

"This is the first step in a number of years towards the completion of the roadways and drains," Mayor George Graf said.

The road improvement project began in 2001 with the previous administration and was halted halfway through completion due to lack of funds.

"The original bond was supposed to cover all of the roads and it did not," Mayor Graf added. "We are all paying our fair share for this. We feel we have sufficient funds for it."

In 2001 the state created a pavement condition manual, which all department of public works superintendents in Nassau County follow. In a March 21, 2003 recommendation letter, the village's engineering firm, H2M, the following streets were on a prioritized list to be completed: Quaker Lane, Merokee Place, Cobb Place, Gwynne Lane, Doud Street, Prospect Street, Puritan, Heisser Court, Walter Place, Laurelton Street, Weiden Street, Clinton Street, Iroquois Place, Elsie Lane, West Street, Bernard Street, Circle Drive and Powell Street.

"Needless to say we didn't have all of the money to do all of those roads at that time, but based upon Nassau County Board of Health requirements of an upgrade on a water main in and around the Prospect Street area, and on my recommendation to the mayor and the board, we decided to do that particular area of the roads," said Department of Public Works Superintendent Fred Zamparelle.

The road bond will be for $2.6 million and will be repaid over 15 years.

While Trustee Butch Starkie said he doesn't see an issue with starting the road project, he "wishes this could be put off for a vote because I do not have a comfort level with borrowing $2.6 million."

"I know we need to get the roads done, I just want to know how we're going to pay for it," he added.

Mayor Graf contended that these discussions have been ongoing for a number of months and "we will digest this piece and in two years or so, we can take care of the next part."

"This is the right thing to do and we just can't sit and wait," Trustee Tom Langon added.

Trustee Pat Christiansen prefaced her yes vote by stating "I am concerned in the long term of borrowing this amount of money, but the holes have already been dug and it needs to be finished."

The board voted 4-1 in favor of advertising a bid for the 2006 Roadway and Drainage Improvements Program. Trustee Starkie voted against the resolution.

In addition to the road project, the village will commence a traffic calming project on Prospect Street.

"We have received a $180,000 grant courtesy of Senator Kemp Hannon to install state of the art traffic calming that will slow the cars down," Mayor Graf said. "We're one of the few municipalities that will have these traffic calming features."

"There is a multilateral approach to it [traffic calming]," Zamparelle added. "What we've come up with is known as speed tables and throating. Throating, or bottlenecking, brings the curbs in on a slow, gradual throating effect that narrows the width of the road, thereby slowing traffic down. Traffic tables are a slow, gradual inclination, then put on a flat, then put on a decline and are delineated that people will see them. Rumble strips will be put in front of the schools to let people know they are approaching a speed table or throating area. We plan to landscape these areas to also let the residents know the village is into the beautification end of it, not just the traffic calming."

Normandy Drive resident Steve Wilson suggested making residents aware of what is going on prior to commencing.

"This is all the community wants," he added. "They appreciate everything you guys are doing and have done and all the efficiencies you've put into place, they just want information. I think it would be appreciated by the people on Prospect Street to understand a design as to what is going to happen to their street."

"We've been talking about this traffic calming for three years now and we just got the grant this year," Deputy Mayor Joe Rachiele responded. "We also had a presentation on it eight months ago."

Trustee Christiansen suggested that once plans are finalized, all the residents affected receive an explanatory letter.

"They should get a detailed sketch of what is going to be done," she added.

Two requests for relief from the moratorium were unanimously denied. TJR Development, represented by attorney Anthony Sabino, sought to subdivide a Prince Street lot into three parcels. Sabino said the applicant began this process in November of 2005 and should be exempt form Local Law No. 2 because of several hardships.

"This is a very unique property in that it is surrounded by industrial property," Trustee Starkie said. "There is a significant amount of trucks and semis going in and out of that block."

"These homes are going to be bought by young families with kids and I see an accident happening," Trustee Langon added.

Starkie added that moratoriums are "never popular and there are always people caught in them."

"It might be a matter of right because you have the zoning, but that doesn't make it right," he stated.

Michael Martino, a tenant at 120 Secatogue Ave., was caught up in zoning issues as the building he was fixing up for future office space use is zoned for warehouse use.

"The area was illegally converted from warehouse space to office use," Building Superintendent Ron Craig explained. "The intensity of the use has been modified and that has been part of this moratorium. The board is considering what the intensity of use is."

Mayor Graf said the village is going to institute more columns by the board and safety information as well as a projects update page in the upcoming newsletters.

"This board has always been about accountability and this will be about 8-10 projects we are currently working on," Mayor Graf said.

The village newsletter is published 11 times a year and costs $39,350 to print. According to Trustee Starkie, this amount is $12,250 less than the previous administration spent and theirs was published quarterly.

Starkie said this is still too much money to be spending on a newsletter.

"I think it should be quarterly," he added.

Trustee Christiansen agreed with Starkie and mentioned the redundancy of having the same information in the Farmingdale Observer that appears in the newsletter.

The mayor contested that he is interested in "giving an opportunity to every single resident to be informed."

"Only one-third of Farmingdale residents subscribe to the Observer," he added.

"I think a monthly newsletter is great," said Trustee Langon. "It's a celebration of what we're doing. The more people read about what's going on in the village, the more they come down to meetings."

A Farmingdale fire commissioner said a paper published 11 times a year is good if it supplies information.

"To see everybody's picture all the time; I know who you all are already," he added.

Village resident Terri Morrison agreed with Trustees Christiansen and Starkie and suggested decreasing the quality of paper or compromising by publishing it only six time a year.

The next board meeting will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at Village Hall. The next board of trustees work session will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 22 at 6 p.m. For more information contact Village Hall at 249-0093 or visit www.vfarmingdalevillage.com