Village Gives Alexandra Spirakis Holiday Gift

By Amy Edel

Six months ago Garden City Life brought you the story of a woman who asked the Village to grant her family a third parking permit, despite the two permit-per-household limit, because she is struggling with a physical challenge that makes it more difficult for her to park too far from her house. The Trustees were sympathetic to her case and despite the precedent some feared it might set, the majority of the trustees voted to allow her to have a temporary six-month permit to help her until other arrangements could be made. At the Dec. 18 Village Board meeting Alexandra Spirakis came before the board again and asked for six more months. The item was removed from the consent calendar and was open for discussion among the trustees after the public had an opportunity to speak on the matter.

Spirakis explained that she was still in the same position that she was in six months ago and that she was working to get her "life in order," but she needed more time. She said that she knew of no complaints from her neighbors and said that in the Franklin Court West area there is no shortage of spaces and that she was not creating a parking problem there. One of Spirakis' neighbors told the board that he knew that her father had endeavored to ensure that none of the neighbors were bothered by his daughter's permit by going to each of them and talking with them. No one to his knowledge had any problem with the Spirakis family holding three permits. He agreed with Spirakis that there were enough spaces for everyone there and also added that he had recently purchased a garage and was in the process of negotiating with the Spirakis family for a space in the garage for them. The paperwork was in the midst of being settled and soon they would not be using the temporary permit.

Despite the concern that they had denied extra permits to other families and that some trustees felt the parents should sacrifice one of their permits for their daughter, they all voted to make the exception for Spirakis and grant her the help she asked for until she could secure the garage spot. The extra permit will last for six months. The Spirakis family all expressed their thanks to the board after the meeting and assured the trustees that they were diligently working to obtain the garage spot.

Also at the meeting the board unanimously approved the appointment of Robert G. Rumsey to assume Beautification Consultant Kuhl's unexpired position on the Architectural Design Review Board. The term does not expire until April 3, 2000. The board also all thanked Kuhl for his years of service and thanked him for his new role in the Village's beautification project.

Trustee Hecken announced that the Environmental Advisory Board had written a list of their concerns which the mayor has signed and has been sent to the LIRR. This was the next step outlined in the agreement between the Village and the RR. The document consists of ten pages of environmental concerns the Village has about freight operations on the Hempstead line. Sue Davis informed the board that a string of flags indicating electrical cable and yellow flags indicating gas run along the tracks and Village Administrator Schoelle promised to look into the matter.

Joseph Calamari asked when the Village might see some of the County's sales tax revenue to be shared with villages thanks to the efforts of the NCVOA. The mayor explained that negotiations are still going on and that he could not speculate on when or how much the Village might actually see. He did explain that the sharing will be per capita and not by how many businesses are in the Village and Trustee Hecken stated that Nassau County Comptroller Parolla will release a financial release stating that most, if not all, of the deficit has been absorbed, which will help the shared sales tax revenue. Calamari also urged the board to follow the example of other municipalities and prosecute illegal apartments in the Village.

Happy Holidays was wished to all residents of the Village by the Village staff, trustees, and mayor. The next meeting will be Jan. 8 in Village Hall.