The officials at the New Hyde Park Village Board voted on a law imposing a moratorium for any building application that seeks meeting the subdivision of any plot or parcel of land within the village, effective immediately.

The action was taken, as explained by New Hyde Park Mayor Warren Tackenberg, to preserve the status quo while he and the board considers further local legislation regarding the subdivision of land and the various zoning relations that apply to that land. The moratorium will be in effect up to and including Jan. 31, 2001.

Realtors and builders were in the audience to protest the move stating that it would greatly hamper their livelihood. One commented, "Time is money and if we can't develop property we lose money."

One lawyer stated that it would prevent his client from developing his property. A resident asked one of the builders if he, in fact, lived in New Hyde Park and it was established that he did not.

Mayor Tackenberg explained that the measure was enacted because builders have been taking down houses and then replacing them with two houses on the same property, which has been a cause of great distress to many residents and they appealed to the village to take steps to correct the situation.

However, Trustee Florence Lisanti said that there was nothing to prevent the board, after it had investigated the laws thoroughly, from rescinding the moratorium sooner than announced.

A prominent entertainment personality/resident, Tony Jackson, commended the board for taking such an action "to preserve the quality of life in New Hyde Park."

The board also passed a Retirement Incentive Program for eligible employees of the Village of New Hyde Park and named Village Clerk Roy Biehayn and Assistant Superintendent of Public Works Don Morrish as the two employees of the village who have applied for the incentive.

The Retirement Incentive is a result of a law, No. 86, 2000 passed by Governor George Pataki on June 23 to allow municipalities to take advantage of an early retirement law. In order to be eligible for the first tier retirement an employee must be at least 50 years old with 10 years of service and that tier would apply to Morrish In the case of Biehayn he is 62 years old and has more than 20 years of service in municipal government, having worked with the Town of North Hempstead before joining the Village of New Hyde Park.

The law states that the municipality must be able to show a 50 percent savings to the village over a two year period. However, in the case of Morrish his position will be eliminated and his duties distributed among other employees and that will result in a large savings to the village.

In the case of Village Clerk Biehayn, the position of village treasurer will be combined with that of village clerk resulting in another immediate savings to the village.

However, Trustee Robert Lofaro abstained from voting because he wanted to discuss the law further and its long-term effect on the village, but Mayor Tackenberg and trustees Florence Lisanti and Frank Komornick all voted to pass the law. Trustee Rich Coppola was not present at the meeting.

In other matters:

A resident wanted to know what was being done to clean up Jericho Turnpike for the upcoming street fair set for Sept. 9. Mayor Tackenberg assured her that the street sweeper would go up and down the Turnpike well before the fair started and it is expected that there will be new trash cans placed on Jericho Turnpike, thanks to the efforts of trustee Lofaro, to accommodate the large volume of trash generated by the street

fair.

There was a discussion about the U-turn signs erected on Belmont Avenue during the recent summer school at the New Hyde Park Road School. Residents on the block complained because there were too many signs on that road so the board voted to have them removed. However, trustee Lisanti wanted to wait until school started but the other board members voted to have them removed.

Because of the rain on Friday the show, A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to the Forum, was rescheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 22.

All the board members reminded residents to please come out and support the New Hyde Park Street Fair on Sept. 9 from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Reminder: Jericho Turnpike from New Hyde Park Road to Lakeville Road will be closed on that day during fair hours.