Six weeks ago, Floral Park sounded the alarm about radioactive waste being shipped through the local communities without the same benefit of notification being extended to New York City as well as Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

The next day, I appeared on Channel 12 Cable News strongly voicing my objections about the MTA/LIRR's code of silence over local villages.

In a previous mayor's message I criticized the railroad for using a double standard in their notification procedures regarding radioactive waste. While I was careful to point out that the radioactivity emanating from the shipped waste was low and that the railroad was taking appropriate precautions, I also noted that derailments, while rare, have occurred.

Moreover, it just seemed sensible to enact a policy to inform local communities about these shipments so that first responders could act accordingly in the event of a mishap. One phone call to communities along the corridor where these materials are being shipped through would hardly be a burdensome task for a massive entity such as the MTA/LIRR.

Others soon picked up the gauntlet we had thrown down and this past weekend our local school officials, members of the Floral Park Chamber of Commerce and Trustee Tweedy and myself joined other elected officials and community leaders for a press conference at the New Hyde Park train Station.

There Senator Kemp Hannon and Assemblyman Tom Alfano announced legislation mandating that freight companies give 24-hour notice to the MTA and local officials before they transport hazardous waste. Senator Hannon introduced the Senate version this past Friday and Assemblyman Alfano will introduce his bill this week. To their credit, the LIRR stated, through their spokesman, that they support the idea of community notification.

It seems then, does it not, that we are all agreed. We will be closely monitoring compliance with the new bill.

Allow me to express my appreciation to the Floral Park community for their extraordinary response to the petition drive to get our congresswoman, Carolyn McCarthy, on board with her constituents to derail the third track. Over this past month our village, acting in concert with other communities along the corridor of the proposed third track, has been working hard to obtain signatures of residents 18 years and older.

This petition drive has been a dramatic demonstration of our implacable determination. Petitions were mailed to every household twice; nearly 100 volunteers scoured assigned streets to reach out to their neighbors and friends; at every major community event right up to the Jan. 1 opening celebration at the recreation center petitions were circulated.

Robert Rouge, president of the Floral Park Chamber of Commerce, orchestrated a large-scale effort to get petitions signed by patrons of our local business establishments. Most conspicuous in these heroic efforts was Dr. Frederic Cogan who continually stoked the fire underneath the commercial community to get petitions signed. The results speak for themselves. Congratulations to all.

In short, no stone was left unturned, no sector of the population ignored. We even went, with much fanfare and success, into the local bars on New Year's Eve to tap that loyal constituency.

The result is that our village alone has accumulated nearly 5,000 signatures and still counting. If you haven't signed a petition, they are available at Village Hall. With the help of our sister communities we hope to have more than 10,000 signatures to submit to Congresswoman McCarthy.

That's what I call teamwork! We have proven once again that we, in Floral Park, are the cardiovascular system that pumps blood and life into the vast body of opposition that has emerged against the Third Track.

As many of you know, the Dec. 31 deadline to award a franchise has been (as I alluded that it might in my previous messages) extended to Jan. 23. I won't venture any predictions on who it will be awarded to or even if there will be another extension. Whatever the eventuality might be Floral Park is ready and willing to work with whoever will be managing Belmont Racetrack.

I am deeply saddened over the news of the unexpected death of Pat Rhatigan, wife of Trustee Jim Rhatigan. When you serve on the village board, you not only get to know your colleagues but their spouses who are the unsung heroes putting up with the long hours the job demands. These obligations often took us to village events where we could all sit down and socialize a little bit.

During these cozy evenings, my wife Sonia became especially fond of Pat, entertained by her open-hearted friendliness, her wry wit and the way her blue eyes sparkled with delight when sharing with her some charmed irreverence about their supposedly dignified husbands.

Though Pat had struggled with illness in recent years and was often in chronic pain, she was a dedicated employee in our Building Department. But even more importantly, Pat was a devoted wife and mother deservingly proud of their three beautiful daughters.

Then there is Jim. To know him is to grasp the depth of his grief. Yet I could not help but be touched, as I have countless times before, by his innate grace and natural piety. Pat and I, he whispered over the phone only a few hours after she died, have a lot of faith. I suppose that is why in going to console I found, as so many have in Jim's company, consolation.

During this very difficult time please keep Jim and his family in your thoughts and prayers.