The members of the New Hyde Park Village Board passed a resolution at its last meeting calling on the New York State Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Long Island Rail Road to conduct a study of the at-grade crossings in the New Hyde Park Village in order to develop a plan for the elimination of the at-grade crossings and to secure the financing necessary to accomplish grade separations at the crossings.

This resolution was prompted by the fact that it has been reported that the railroad is planning to construct a third track, on the southside of the railroad in New Hyde Park, presumably to move freight which would result in major tie-ups at all railroad crossings through the village of New Hyde Park.

Further, there was another resolution passed, at the request of the merchants on the turnpike, that eliminates the use of vouchers on Saturday, Sunday and holidays in the village. The resolution reads: "Voucher parking shall be deemed to be in force and effect for the purpose of this chapter, in all on-street voucher parking zones designated under Section 191-2 herein above, between the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. prevailing time of every day except Saturdays and Sundays and legal holidays."

This resolution will make parking on the turnpike easier for resident and consumer parking.

The village also announced that it has accepted the lowest bid from Inter-County Paving Association of Hacketstown, N. J. for Phase One Road Improvements in the amount of $328,000. The streets involved for Phase One construction include: Sixth Avenue (from village line to Covert Avenue) 1810 feet; Seventh Avenue (from Premier to the dead end) 960 feet; (Tenth Avenue from Premier to Covert Avenue) 680 feet.

Hopefully the work will start on or about Aug. 1 to be completed in 60 days.

The village is also about to put out bids for Phase Two road construction. The Phase Two construction includes the following streets:

Lowell Avenue (from N. 1st to Hillside Blvd.) 760 feet; Whittier Avenue (from Lakeville Road to N. 10th) 450 feet; Park Avenue (from N. 10th to N. 12th) 250 feet (with drainage)

Park Avenue (from N. 10th to N. 12th) 250 feet (with drainage)

Park Avenue (from Terrace Blvd. to Village Line) 550 feet

Broadway (from Terrace Blvd to Village Line) 500 feet

Washington Avenue (from Terrace Blvd to NHP Road) 600 feet

Jasmine Avenue (from Terrace Blvd to NHP Road) 600 feet

North 2nd (from Jericho to Lowell) 720 feet

North 5th (from Brooklyn Ave to Bryant) 1640 feet

North 10th (from Jericho to Park Avenue) 470 feet

Brooklyn Avenue (from Lakeville to N. 6th Street.) 510 feet

Brooklyn Avenue (from Hillside Blvd to N. 6th Street) 560 feet

South 5th (from Jericho to 1st Avenue) 400 feet

South 9th (from Jericho to 2nd Avenue) 400 feet.

The bids for this work went out to bid on July 20 and it is hoped they will be returned and opened by Aug. 3

The gentleman who had a serious flooding problem on his street and who mentioned it at the last meeting wanted to know if the village had a chance to review his case. Mayor Daniel Petruccio said that the village was trying to determine what part of his problem will be addressed by the Town of North Hempstead and the resident said he heard from Councilman Angelo Ferrara who reported that work was due to begin in a few weeks. Trustee Robert Lofaro said that when there was a heavy rainfall he went down in front of the gentleman's house to watch the flow of water to try to determine where the problem was originating. The resident wanted to know what the village planned for the drywell and Lofaro said that the village engineer has not recommended anything at this point. Superintendent of Public Works James McCloat said that he would call the town and see exactly what they planned for the area because it was feared that the town has not planned to do much to rehabilitate the street except to change the sewer plates. Another resident complained about a flooring company's trucks that block the street on Second Avenue. Trustee Lofaro explained that the village created a new loading zone for that building to avoid the trucks blocking the street. He said, "If trucks are still parked in the middle of the street blocking traffic then it is an issue that will have to be addressed because obviously the loading zone did not solve the problem."

A resident complained about the vandalism to the new planters on Jericho Turnpike as well as the graffiti on the planters. Lofaro explained that the plants were not being stolen rather just yanked from the pots and thrown in different areas, some in mail slots, etc. just to be destructive. In some cases the plants have been recovered and replanted.

Trustee Lofaro, when it was said that the graffiti on the railroad is also a problem, explained that it is believed that two different factions are involved. He said that it is believed that the railroad graffiti is done by vandals riding on the railroad. They get off at various stops and do the graffiti then get back and go to the next stop. However, with graffiti in the village proper there is a $1,000 reward offered and if anyone is caught they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. As soon as graffiti is discovered the volunteers of the G-Force (graffiti) spring into action and remove it as quickly as possible. If anyone sees vandals doing graffiti they are asked to call 911 and the Third Precinct will take over. However, anyone wishing to join the G-Force volunteers is asked to call village hall at 354-0022.

The meeting was brought back to the board table and the trustees then gave their reports.

Trustee Coppola said that the summer program is running very successfully at Memorial Park from Monday through Thursday. Three Adelphi students and one high school student are in charge. Included are crafts, sports and the program is excellent. There are still openings and resident's children are urged to sign up if they have not already done so.

Nuzzi Field: The plans are being reviewed by the architect so more information will be forthcoming on the upgrade of Nuzzi Field.

The New Hyde Park Fire Department has requested that residents be careful with both gas and coal grills and further do not leave children unattended at pools.

Little League: An awards breakfast is scheduled for Sept. 16 at the New Hyde Park Inn.

Chamber of Commerce is not meeting during the summer.

Civilian Patrol: National Night Out for Safety is planned for Aug. 7. All are invited to come to Park Circle to attend this annual event.

Trustee Lofaro announced that the village board has instituted a new system for garbage pickup the day after a holiday. On those days the entire village will have its garbage picked-up so as not to inconvenience the residents.

The village has received many compliments on the planters that have been installed on Jericho Turnpike commenting that they really do dress up the area. Other beautification projects are planned in the future.

Facilities: The upper portion of the walls at the New Hyde Park Village Hall have been repaired and painted which enhances the historic village hall building.

Long Island Rail Road: Trustee Lofaro talked about the resolution proposed and mentioned earlier as well as the resolution eliminating vouchers on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

Parking spaces have been added; 10 parking spaces on Third Avenue and 10 additional spaces have been added to the Central Boulevard Parking facility. Flyers will be put on residents cars letting them know of the additional parking spaces.

At the outset of his report trustee Barbieri asked the audience to please take notice of the fact that most people driving through the streets of the village do not stop at the stop signs. He said they just "roll right through them. Maybe we should take the responsibility and mention it to the person who lives two houses down from who you know does not stop at the stop signs by pointing out that there are a lot of children in every neighborhood. It's really the responsibility of each and every one of us."

The next program at Memorial Park will be for children, "The Singing School Bus Driver " to be held on Aug. 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Mayor Petruccio announced that a voice mail system will be installed at village hall. He said it will not replace a "live" person answering the phone during the day, but callers will be able to direct their calls to either a member of the board or to the staff and leave a message for that person. Mayor Petruccio said this will undoubtedly increase the village services.

Mayor Petruccio said that the village should consider doing some beautification at the entrance of the village and Deputy Mayor Lofaro said that the Beautification Committee is looking into what can be done at each entrance point of the village to beautify perhaps with additional planters at that particular point of entry.

Mayor Petruccio said he had a request from a resident on Sixth Avenue for a handicapped parking spot. He requested that the other trustees inspect the area before granting the request since it is a residence that has a three-car driveway with no garage.

Mayor Petruccio said he met with Mrs. Florence Lisanti and Tony Cuffio to discuss the Street Fair to be held on Jericho Turnpike on Sept. 22 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Since many of the vendors feel that this fair is the first of the season on their calendar most of the spots are filling up very quickly. However, there are still some vendor spots available. Further the mayor requested that the trustees look over the expenses from last year and try to figure a way to have larger profits and less expenses than last year if that is possible.

A business survey will be taken of all the empty stores on Jericho Turnpike. He also requested that residents try to think of what type of business would do well in this area that is not already in the village but would be utilized by residents. Anyone with any ideas please contact the mayor at village hall 354-0022.

The meeting was turned over to the public again. One resident was concerned about where to park cars during the roadwork and it was determined that the construction company will do one side of the street and then the other so that there will be space to park cars. In addition drainage problems will be addressed to alleviate the severe flooding that occurs on some roads.

The meeting closed as the board adjourned and went into executive session. The next New Hyde Park Village Board meeting will be held on Aug. 21 at 8 p.m. at village hall, corner of New Hyde Park Road and Jericho Turnpike.