The Williston Park Village Hall meeting room was jampacked at the outset of the last meeting. Just prior to the start of the meeting a gentleman handed out a typewritten sheet of paper stating, "How could the current village administration be considering installing cellular antennas on our water tower?"

As soon as the board started its regular meeting Williston Park Village Mayor Lud Odierna said, "I know that many of you are here because of a rumor regarding the installation of cellular antennas. However, we have no specific information regarding this as we are still in the investigative stage. Prior to any decisions by this board we will hold a public hearing and at that time everyone will have a chance to comment. The reason we are looking into the possibility is that we are looking for ways to defer the costs in the village to try and keep the taxes down. Please be assured we will get the word out to you when we plan a public hearing."

At that point many of the people in the audience did leave, but not before insisting that they all be notified in some way of any cellular antennas hearings.

Prior to the beginning of the meeting, however, there was a hearing to divide an existing business at 56 Hillside Avenue into two businesses. Currently at that location is a Bridal Boutique, which is a bridal store that sells only accessories, such as veils, shoes and pillows, no wedding gowns.

The plan, as outlined by attorney Michael Holland, of 421 Willis Avenue, Williston Park, is to divide the store, and on the other side would be a dog grooming business to be known as K-Nine Salon and Boutique.

Robert Rogoff is the president of the corporation that holds the lease and his daughter runs the bridal section.

Half of the store would remain the bridal accessory store and the other half would be used for a dog grooming business.

The front portion of the dog grooming section would be used for pet supplies such as toys, shampoos and food snacks. The dog grooming would take place at the back of the store.

Dogs will only be groomed by appointment. There will be two, possibly three grooming tables and two tubs. On the back wall will be several cages for dogs that are not picked up on time.

No dogs will be stored on the premises and there will be facilities for a dog day care type of facility.

Working with Rogoff will be Fernando Lopez, who is licensed by the State of New York to bathe and groom dogs.

When questioned about the noise of the dogs, attorney Holland said that he had been told that when a dog is being bathed and groomed they do not bark.

The refuse was discussed, such as nail clippings, hair clippings and any waste excreted by the dogs. Holland said he was checking with the Department of Health to see what regulations they had regarding such waste and that his client would conform to that regulation. If they require a special container with a special pickup it will be done that way.

The back of the store was discussed since it faces a residential section and the board stated that the door to the grooming area must be closed at all times and that all dogs would enter the store through the front door.

The hours of operation will be from 9 a..m. to 5 p.m. six days a week and the shop will be closed on Sunday.

Village attorney Richard Reers said that the application for the special permit was not complete because the owner of the building had not submitted a written document stating that the dog grooming business would be acceptable to him as the landlord. Holland disputed that fact stating that the code does not specify that a landlord has to approve of a tenant's business in a sublease situation. Holland said that the landlord did know of the intentions of dividing the building and had no objections.

Further, Reers said that the Health Department regulation was important and that Holland needed to get back to the village with that information.

Holland was questioned regarding parking and he said that there was plenty of parking available in the lot across the street plus, he stressed, that drop off and pick up of the dogs would only take, at the most, ten minutes.

A lawyer, who has his office right next to the proposed dog-grooming store, said that he is a true animal lover, but the thought of holding various legal conferences with the background noise of dogs barking was not something he looked forward to. Further, he felt that the area in front of the building would be destroyed by the dog's elimination before and after the grooming process.

Holland once again said that dogs being groomed do not bark.

Another resident said that usually a dog-grooming establishment is placed in a stand-alone building so that the dogs do not annoy anyone in the vicinity. He said that he figures there will be anywhere from 8 to 16 dogs a day in the building and the dogs barking will be an issue. Further, he felt that the waste would be a problem if it wasn't contained in a special container and there should be some way to insulate the premises so that it is soundproof.

Still another resident felt that the village should not allow the special exception application to split a store and make it into two different stores. He said if this becomes a precedent it would be very bad for the village. He added, "Don't forget the trouble the village had with John's store and Curves and this could be a similar situation, only worse."

The hearing ended and the board reserved decision on the application.

The board then went back to the regular meeting and heard a report from the Williston Park Assistant Fire Chief William Shannon regarding the fire signals in the village.

Some of the residents who spoke said that the decibel level was so high when the fire sirens go off that it's offensive. Others wanted to follow the same system that is followed in Mineola and Albertson which is to turn off the sirens from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. and just depend on pagers carried by individual volunteers.

Shannon said that would be great if the pagers always worked. However, he explained that not all firefighters have them and if you are in certain areas of a home, especially in the basement of a home, the pagers do not work.

Another resident said that as far as safety is concerned it is better to be a little inconvenienced and to make sure the residents in the village are safe. He said that the sirens don't ring for that long and most residents have become very used to living with them.

Another resident wanted to know if something could be done to reduce the noise.

Chief Shannon said that Homeland Security and FEMA are both looking into just this type of safety issue and in the long run may mandate that all municipalities have working sirens.

He then ended his talk but not before several firefighters at the meeting stressed the importance of using the sirens.

Mayor Lud Odierna announced that the DOT is a little behind schedule on the repaving of Willis Avenue project and asks that residents be patient for a little while longer.

Further the mayor complimented attorney Reers for alleviating the problem at Tuscany Marble by bringing the lawsuit to closure.

He added that it looks like the situation at LaPalma may be resolved as well.

Village Clerk Walter Moloughney announced that the financial audit will be ready at the end of the week. Further he said that they are looking into hiring help for Building Inspector Kerry Collins.

Regarding the fire department pagers he said that one-third of the fire department will be supplied with new pagers thanks to a grant by New York State Senator Michael Balboni.

An inquiry was made regarding a website and Mologhney said that the village is very close to having a web page that will list all of the activities that are taking place in the village.

Deputy Mayor Ron Saporita said that the Financial Audit Committee has submitted the audit to typing and the two key groups to be featured will be the Williston Water Board and the Finance Committee.

He announced that somewhere along the line the paperwork for the grant of $1 million from Congressman Gary Ackerman has been lost by the DOT and they are looking into the loss because the money allocated was to be used for the repair of Williston Park roads.

Saporita also announced that the Master Plan was received last month. Further, he said that at the next meeing there will be a Riverbay Restaurant update on the parking situation at that facility.

Trustee Ann Marie Smith announced that the Halloween Ragamuffin parade will change its route. The children will meet on Oct. 31 at the Legion Hall at 6:30 p.m. and will proceed south to Charles Street, to Park Avenue and go east on Lafayette to village hall.

Tristee Kevin Dunn reported that Justice Alan Reardon heard 225 cases in the amount of $10,722 and Justice Emanual heard no cases.

Trustee Crista Mills announced that the Senior Valentine Party will be held on Feb. 11.

She also reminded residents of the senior citizen flu shot that will be given on Oct. 26. The coverage of the flu shot program, run by Nassau County Clerk Maureen O'Connell in conjunction with the Villages of Williston Park and East Williston will be covered in the next issue of The Illustrated.

Attorney Reers announced that illegal real estate signs have been removed around the village and summonses have been issued.

The village finally ended its meeting close to 11 p.m., but not before residents registered various complaints about cars going through parking signs; the extension of the bus stop at National Jeans on Hillside Avenue and landscapers piling the leaves for the village to remove when they should be the ones to remove them.

The next village board meeting will be held on Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. at Williston Park Village Hall.