During the village's annual capital budget analysis, Garden City department heads revealed their requests to trustees and residents. Many scaled them down, like the Department of Public Works, while others, like the Garden City Police Department, urged the replacement of outdated equipment, specifically officers' firearms.

Trustee John Watras, the village's finance officer, said, "We believe in the budget process. It is of great importance and deserves everybody's attention." He welcomed the Citizen's Budget Review Committee, which, Watras said, was a great help during the review process. "Their insights and observations have been extremely helpful." He thanked village staff and especially, Village Auditor Jim Olivo. "I'm Jim's biggest fan and I'm also his biggest pain in the neck," Watras admitted.

Village Auditor Olivo noted that one thing Garden City is good at is managing its debt. The average debt in the past 10 years has been just over $1.5 million because of several outstanding projects, including the Franklin Avenue Beautification Streetscape Plan, which the village will finish paying for in 2009.

There are some projects coming down the pike: building modifications at the Water Works building and Garden City Village Hall, a non-ADA compliant building, Garden City Public Library renovations, Community Park renovations, which are going on now, and parking area and road reconstruction. "The budget is very early in its development," Olivo said.

Technology "czar" Jim Olivo said $138,000 of constant dollars is being requested every year for the next five years to keep up with a network with more than 120 devices, including networks for the village yard, Water Works, recreation department, village hall and the police department.

The village hopes to majorly invest in mobile computers for police vehicles. "We are seeing more and more usage of hand-held devices for law enforcement applications and also for code enforcement application," Olivo said. After an accident this past summer with a police car, in which a vehicle computer became a projectile, the village became concerned for officer safety. "What is most interesting about this particular project is that these are voice activated computers. It does not require the officer to take his hands off the wheel. He/she will request the data, the machine will have learned his/her language and will respond back. This is a project we've seen in a couple of counties in Connecticut. I believe it will work quite well. We're going to put one in one of our units to test it and see how it goes. We do test before we implement and we don't pay until it works. This particular project is quite interesting because it will really result in better safety, and really result in better productivity."

Captain Frank noted that the fire department just took delivery of a 2007 Suburban SUV, which will replace a 1999 Suburban that will become a spare. The 2007 model, purchased in December 2006, must respond to all calls; it was expected to be in service this past weekend.

Further, Captain Frank noted that the department follows a fire apparatus replacement schedule: engine apparatus every 15 years, ladder apparatus every 25 years, heavy rescue apparatus every 15 years, personnel carrier every 10 years, the chief's SUV every eight years and the duty lieutenant command vehicle every four years.

The fire department is also requesting funds to install natural gas fuel generators at Stations 2 and 3, located at 148 Stewart Avenue and 27 St. James Street North respectively. The department has budgeted $30,000 for the Station 2 installation and $40,000 for the Station 3 installation.

According to Captain Frank, presently, during extended power interruptions, both stations have only a small gasoline powered portable generator available. Further, dispatch telephones and fire ground radio frequency are inoperable when Stations 2 and 3 sustain a loss of electricity. "If it is determined that power will not be restored in a timely manner due to a weather related event or other large scale emergency, the apparatus and crews from both stations are relocated to Fire Headquarters where the building is supplied with emergency power," Captain Frank explained. "Installation of generators at both Stations 2 and 3 will allow apparatus and crews to remain in their assigned quarters to provide local fire protection to their assigned response area."

Moreover, the department is hoping to replace its apparatus doors at Station 2 and re-point the brickwork above the doors. Although the doors were scraped and repainted this past summer, the corners are showing rot and numerous cracks and wind and rain leak is evident. "Water is seeping through the front wall and causing damage to the concrete ceiling," Captain Frank noted. The re-pointing at Station 2 is budgeted for $17,500 while the replacement of the apparatus doors is slated to cost $16,500.

According to Commissioner Ernest Cipullo, "Historically, the Garden City Police Department doesn't have too many capital projects, which is a good thing."

The department's current fleet consists of 26 vehicles, all purchased through a state contract: nine marked cars, nine unmarked cars, two marked Suburbans, one unmarked Expedition and five marked Blazers.

The department is also requesting not only that they receive new guns but that they replace the current Smith & Wesson 9mm firearms officers have been using since 1990.

According to Commissioner Cipullo, an average 500 rounds are fired during training, which officers undergo three times a year, more than any other police officers in Nassau County. "More than 7,500 rounds have been fired through these guns," the commissioner said, adding that 16 years have gone by since the department requested money for the purchase of new guns.

The 40-caliber Smith & Wesson firearm has more stopping power, Commissioner Cipullo said, featuring reversible magazine release, an enlarged trigger guard to accommodate gloves, adjustable grip sizes, an ambidextrous slide stop and more. The department has asked for approximately $55,000 to replace the 9mm with the 40-caliber firearms.

Further, the department is requesting $170,000 to renovate the front desk area; this project, the commissioner noted, was pushed back one year.

Garden City Public Library Director Alan Roeckel noted there is really only one item in the library's budget: the Local Area Network which will replace outdated PCs, provide new drives and improve cabling. Like the police vehicles, these items are also purchased through a state contract at much lower cost.

According to Public Works Superintendent Robert Mangan, the department "really scaled down" its requests this year. The backbone of any Public Works Department is equipment, Mangan said, noting that Garden City Public Works services more than 100 pieces of equipment plus all the police and fire vehicles as well. Its original request was well over $600,000 but after some careful review, the department scaled their requested budget down to $520,000.

Most of the sewers in the village date back to 1910; the department has re-lined approximately 20 percent of the sewer line and has almost 40 percent left to do. With 70 miles of sewer line in the village, the department is asking for $250,000 to continue the program. According to Mangan, with three major sewer collapses last year, steam can heat the plastic liners and provide the village with another 50 to 60 years of service.

Road repairs account for $800,000. The department hopes to re-pave Newmarket Road, which just last year received a new water main, and mill and resurface Edgemere Road this year. Further, $300,000 has been requested for sidewalk repairs ($225,000 by which residents will fund and $75,000 the village will fund).

Monies for the continuation of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce's Franklin Avenue streetscape beautification plan - between 11th and 15th Streets, toward the county seat, and to the east of Seventh Street - has been pushed to 2008-09 to the dismay of some, including Chamber President Roger Eltringham, who said that although he is aware of budget constraints time is of the essence. "We are very excited about this and we hope it could be done in a phased way," he said. Rus Matthews of the Albanese Organization added that the project remains half finished even though the Business Planning Commission presented its vision to the village 10 years ago. "This is not due to the reluctance of the chamber or business community," Matthews said. "I'm disappointed it's been delayed ... It's so much more than just pavers and lighting, lay by parking is a very important component."

Village Administrator Robert Schoelle welcomed the opportunity to sit down with chamber members to get their input. He also assured Matthews that lay by parking has not been eliminated.

The Water Department hopes to replace water meters and 75 fire hydrants this year and add 10-20 new valves to the system. Further, and perhaps more important to several Garden City residents, the water mains near the Franklin Court/Meadow Street area are projected to cost $760,000. Residents, particularly in the Franklin Court area, have been suffering from discolored, rusty water since October. Garden City Life spoke to several of those residents, who although they know none of this is carved in stone yet, appeared hopeful the problem will be corrected once and for all.

"We lost wells at Second and Hilton due to a Freon spill," Mangan explained, adding that the village has asked federal, state and Nassau County health departments to investigate. The wells are currently out of service and will cost the village more than $2 million for an air stripping system. "If the responsible party is found, we will go after them to get a reimbursement," Mangan assured.

Recreation Director Kevin Ocker shared with residents the numerous projects completed during 2006-07, including much-needed bleacher replacement, a new playground and resurfacing at Nassau Haven Park, the much anticipated new playground and support building at the St. Paul's recreation complex, a new playground and surfacing at Hemlock Park, service area resurfacing at Tullamore and Hemlock Parks, reconditioning of the tennis court at Edgemere Park and a new drainage system was installed at Community Park, which was actually in the village' operating budget and therefore was not considered a capital project.

New projects coming down the pike include parking lot resurfacing at the senior recreation center, a fence replacement for the backstop at Community Park's Field #4, playground and surface replacement at Edgemere Park and perhaps the most exciting proposed project, an indoor sports center and complex.

According to Ocker, the complex would result in no taxpayer burden but would be self-sufficient. "We've had a successful experience with the pool and tennis enterprises," Ocker explained. Preliminary construction and operations costs include $1,923,000 for the building, support building, foundations, utilities, HVAC unit, site work, synthetic turf field and contingency; $350,000 for debt service averaged over 10 years; $260,026 for operations and maintenance staffing based on 68 hours/week; $78,000 for utilities (gas, electric, water); and $688,026 in estimated annual expenses.

The potential revenue generation breaks down as follows: approximate net/year $1,095,000 minus $688,026 in annual expenses leaves the village with $406,974. The indoor complex could be open Monday through Friday from 2 to 11 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

"The Recreation Commission and myself have been bouncing around the idea of an indoor sports complex," Ocker said. "A tremendous resource that would keep us at the forefront of recreational facilities."