At the last meeting of the Williston Park Village Board, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of the Williston's, Maura Clancy, said that the Williston Park Fire Department Co. No. 1 Valentine Rose sale resulted in the loss of Valentine's sales for florist shops in the village. She asked that perhaps the village board could please check, in the future, with the chamber before approving any other such sales that might impact the merchants.

She pointed out that the florists in the village depend on Valentine's Day sales for 20 to 25 percent of their annual revenue and when it's cut, it makes a big difference. She said now the florists in the village are left with refrigerators filled with dying flowers.

Mayor Odierna said that the village board had nothing to do with the Fire Department Company No. 1 rose sale. He added, "However, because I did want to support the fire department, I did buy roses for my wife, which I ordinarily would not have done. We will take your suggestion under advisement and I am sure the fire department will as well."

Williston Park Board attorney Richard Reers announced that Curves has moved its location from Hillside Avenue to Albertson. That prompted the owners of John's Variety Store, in attendance at the meeting, to say that things have "never been better" at their store, which is located next to Curves, since Curves has moved. Reers also announced that Verizon will meet again with the village and the results of that meeting will be announced to the public. Reers also said that the village is also proposing sex offender legislation and the public will have an opportunity to comment on that sometime in March. The mayor then called on the reports from the village starting off with his own report.

311 System in Town of North Hempstead

Williston Park Mayor Lud Odierna reported on the use of the 311 system in the Town of North Hempstead. He reported that there had been, on Feb. 13, prior to the snow, a total of 2,631 calls. Of those calls 1,150 went to answering machines and 1,115 were actually answered. He said that the village, one of the first, to utilize this system, will continue to use this number for emergencies and for snow days. He added, "It's a quick and successful way to get to everyone."

The mayor also announced that there has been a Collective Bargaining Agreement for the employees of the village. He said, "The board sometime ago voted that the raises for the employees would be on a 3/4/4 scale (three percent the first year, four percent the next year and four percent thereafter) and the union just accepted the board's numbers for the employees."

Zoning Code Book

Moloughney proposed that the village increase the cost of obtaining the zoning section of the village codebook, which he said has become very popular, from $50 to $100. The board unanimously approved the increased cost.

He added the Village Green will be coming out shortly and it will include the budget and information about the pool, which will open in 113 days.

Deputy Mayor Saporita gave an update on Congressman Gary Ackerman's grant regarding the road reconstruction. He said, "The village is in the process of sending out an advertisement requesting qualifications for bidders to do the design of the roads that have been identified in the grant. They include the worst roads in Congressman Ackerman's district north of Hillside Avenue. There are roads in worse shape, south of Hillside, but they have not, as yet, been funded by Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy. We will be discussing those as part of the long-term planning process."

Committee Members and Volunteers Invited On March 1 to Village Hall

The purpose of the committee meeting is to discuss the pressing issues that should be included in long term planning. Saporita said that the next step will be to bring the suggestions to the Finance Committee to finalize the draft and then the entire plan will be brought to the residents for their input, which will probably be sometime in May or June.

Saporita also announced that an Architectural Review Committee has been established in the village. He said they met on Feb. 5 and three plans were approved and two plans were reviewed and being discussed.

Trustee Crista Mills read the report of trustee Kevin Dunn who was unable to attend.

The first item on his report was an application for membership to the fire department of John Williams and his membership was approved by the board.

Chief James Smith, of the fire department, issued the following statement to be read at the meeting regarding "no second on second call for ambulance."

To Whom It May Concern:

"There has not been any statistics taken or currently being taken on second alerts for ambulance calls. The current computer system at Fire Communications, which dispatches the Williston Park Fire Department, does not have the capability to track this; neither does the Williston Park Fire Department. However, there is no noticeable difference in responses. Everything is automated with Fire Communications and mutual aid is based on time factors."

Mills reported that the senior citizens had a wonderful time at the Valentine's Day Dance. She thanked King Kullen and commented that they are very generous in their contributions. Steve Griffin provided the DJs and they were great.

The board has approved the hiring of a full-time Children's Librarian.

She then added, again, that the pool opens in 113 days.

Trustee Ann Marie Smith read the January Court Report:

Honorable Alan Reardon heard 328 cases collecting fines of $15,565, with a surcharge of $840. Honorable Emanuel heard no cases.

Recreation Committee

Trustee Smith said that last year's concert was such a success that they will have it again this year on April 1, Palm Sunday, with a rain date of Holy Saturday, April 7.

The Moonlight Cruise is set for July 27, rain or shine and National Night Out will be Aug. 7.She also reported that the village is in the process of hiring two code enforcers to help out with summons in the village and they are being trained.

Smith also reported that 243 tickets were issued by the code enforcers in January and there were no burglaries or robberies in the village, but there were 15 moving violations issued by the Third Precinct. Eleven auto accidents were reported with two injuries.

Smith also reported that the village officials met with the DOT regarding Hillside Avenue. She said, "We are still in the process. There is a lot of smoothing out we have to do, but we are talking with them."

She announced that the Third Precinct Police Forum, which she did not attend, was apparently very successful. Smith said, "One thing that was strongly urged by the Third Precinct, of everyone in the village, if you have a complaint of any kind, just pick up the phone and dial 911. If you call the precinct directly, they will only tell you to please dial 911. So save yourself the trouble and dial 911 directly."

Collins reported that the board is not only looking at raising the fee for zoning code book, but at raising the fees of all permits since they are so antiquated.He also reported that Williston House would like to revisit the existing cell system. He said that they have been informed in order to do so they will have to go before the Board of Appeals and the board of trustees.

Chase Bank Lights

He said that some weeks back he addressed the fact that the lights around the new Chase Bank building are blinding. He said, "They were made that way so that when the awnings were up they could be seen, but it didn't work. It has been discussed with the architect and they are revisiting the problem. They are going to drop the wattage on the bulbs. The reason it has not been done as yet is because the lead architect has cancer and has been ill for several months. So some change will be made shortly. If that does not work they will then change all the bulbs."

The meeting was adjourned and the next meeting will be held on March 19 at 8 p.m. at the Williston Park Village Hall, Willis Avenue, Williston Park.