At the Glen Cove City Council meeting of Tuesday, Sept. 23 Mayor Ralph V. Souzzi and the council voted to approve a new contract between the city and the Glen Cove PBA. The police department contract expired on Dec. 31, 2007 and the two entities have been in negotiations since that time. The new contract is for five years, to expire Dec. 31, 2012, with a pay increase of 3.9 percent per year. All new hires will be frozen at the 2007 rate of pay. The resolution was passed unanimously, with Councilwoman Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, wife of Police Chief William Whitton, abstaining. Each council member, as well as the mayor, expressed gratitude to Sgt. Pat Hall, PBA president, for negotiating in good faith, and thanked all members of the police department for their exemplary work.

The council also voted to approve the hiring of a director of Public Works, Glen Cove resident William Archambault, at a salary of $110,000 per year. According to Mayor Suozzi, Mr. Archambault comes with excellent credentials and wide range experience. Mr. Archambault has worked with the city on projects over the years, said the mayor, including working with the former DPW director, James DeKoenig. Paul Meli asked the mayor for further information on Mr. Archambault's credentials. The mayor said he did not have the specific information with him, but he provided it to the Record Pilot at press time.

Mr. Archambault holds a bachelor of science in civil engineering, with additional graduate level coursework in applied engineering, economy, and water resources management from Polytechnic University; a management certificate in management skills development from Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations and has done graduate coursework toward a masters of science in environmental engineering at Manhattan College. His most recent position was with Gannett Fleming Engineers & Architects, a firm that does work for the city of Glen Cove, where he served as senior project engineer/project manager for municipal infrastructure projects; served as team leader for multidiscipline, multibillion dollar construction, planning and design; and as project manager for general municipal engineering projects including roadway design, drainage systems, parking facilities, environmental compliance, site plan review, steep slope and SEQRA.

Mr. Meli also addressed the waterfront development and its correlation with the city's master plan, currently in the works. Mr. Meli stated that the latest draft of the master plan did not include the waterfront and he expressed concern that the mayor might now expect the master plan task force to "rubber stamp" the development, as it has been approved by the IDA and CDA and referred to the planning board. Mr. Meli pointed out that the proposed development contains the same number of residential units as it had prior to this administration, and stated that Mayor Suozzi, when running for office, had said he was looking to establish lower residential density. He added, "You told the citizens that you expected concessions to come with the inclusion of RexCorp [into the development team]," adding that the mayor did not ask for said concessions. "Why not?" asked Mr. Meli. The mayor responded that the number of units (860) was part of the contract already signed when he took office and said that concessions were made by the developers in the height of the proposed buildings as well as in a change in the footprint and an expansion of open space and view corridors. "We now have a totally different relationship [with the developers]," said Mayor Suozzi, and a "more robust area of study." When Mr. Meli posed the question of a traffic study on the area, the mayor said that the study, as well as all site plans, will now be vetted through the SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act) process, the planning board and public hearings.

A subject that was not raised by either the mayor or the public was that of the city budget. The last two meetings of the city council included public hearings on a proposed charter revision in regard to dates for the budget to be approved. Currently, the city charter requires that the budget be presented to the city council on Oct. 1, with a vote on Oct. 10. Mayor Suozzi had asked the council to consider moving the vote date to the last meeting in October in order to give the city time to hold a public hearing by Oct. 15 and more time for the public to study the proposed budget. The next Glen Cove City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 14.