Greg Yatzyshyn, a trustee with the NorthWest Civic Association of Hicksville, has been toying with the idea of a feasibility study for the incorporation of Hicksville for quite some time. It was on April 6, 2005 that we sat together to map out a plan for the study. A flow chart was created to accomplish this project.

On Aug. 4, 2005 the second of many anticipated meetings was held. Members of the Hicksville Community Council, Knights of Columbus Joseph Barry Council, Hicksville Gardens Civic Association, Hicksville Water District, NorthWest Civic Association and concerned individual residents attended.

The guest speaker was the Honorable Warren Tackenberg, former mayor of New Hyde Park and executive director of the Nassau County Village Officials Association. He gave us some insight into how an incorporated village operates. He also spoke in detail about some of the levels of government that come under village control. Village taxes, zoning, code enforcement, road maintenance, sanitation collection, building department, energy management, board of assessment and housing to name a few. Mr. Tackenberg also mentioned that state aid, community block grants and federal grants might also be available.

Mr. Tackenberg emphasized the seriousness of this undertaking and although he is for small government and local control, incorporation may not be for everyone. This is a very complex issue and will require many meetings and an investment of many man-hours to arrive at a decision. Hicksville is a very large community, outreach and input from our community is a top priority and partial incorporation is also a possibility.

I want to be clear that at present we have no position for or against incorporation. This is what we intentdto find out from the Hicksville community. We will be making many announcements for future meetings. We request that all the Hicksville community participate in this brainstorming. Please do not let someone else decide the future of the area in which you have chosen to live and raise your family. Please come and join us to give your opinion.

Subodh Batra,

Chairman, Incorporation Committee