Near the end of the monthly Williston Park Village Board meeting almost the entire staff of the Williston Park pool filed into village hall and stood on the sides and in the back, appointing head lifeguard Michael Yatco, who is an elementary school teacher, as spokesperson.

The bottom line of the complaints seemed to stem from the fact that the staff does not feel they were being treated "fairly." One young woman said she was asked to do a task at the pool that she said was, "Not my job." Which prompted audience member Rudy Rosenberg, to say, "As an employer, a boss, I always tell my employees I never want to hear you say 'it's not my job.' When you are hired someplace it is because you want to do the job that you are hired for and never say, 'it's not my job.' Sometimes you have to do things that you don't like. When you are in the military you have to do a lot of things that you don't like and sometimes you find you do things more often than other people do, but it comes with the territory. When you are hired, you are pleased to have the job and then a little later on you say I really don't want to do this, this is not my job. If it's not your job you shouldn't have applied for it in the first place."

However, this did not deter the complaints of the various other pool staffers including a parent who also complained that her child was being asked to do more than expected as a lifeguard.

One audience member pointed out that the board meeting was not the venue for this discussion but rather the complaints should have been brought to the members of the pool committee.

The Illustrated News spoke to Williston Park Mayor Ludwig Odierna, a few days after the meeting, and he said that the members of the board met with the pool manager and some of the members of the pool staff and members of the pool committee and will meet with them again next month in an effort to resolve any differences they may still have.

At the outset of the meeting a series of policy codes were reviewed and updated including the volunteer firefighter tax exemption afforded to members of the Williston Park Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance members.

The change of water department payments was also addressed. Mayor Odierna said it would not be such a burden, especially on senior citizens, to divide the payments of the water rates from two payments a year to four payments a year. It was then established that water payments will be due on the 15th of Sept., Dec., March and June and the board approved the motion.

It was also suggested that it would be helpful if a return, unstamped envelope could be included in the bill.

It was further announced that the Williston Water Board has approved a 5 percent increase in water rates for the year. Deputy Mayor Ronald Saporita said, "This increase was a first step to put the water district on a sound footing, since increase in water rates over the years have been rare."

A policy code adjustment was proposed for Senior Citizen Exemptions. Plus, the veteran's exemption was made "portable" within the village. All the code updates were approved by the board and may be read in full at Williston Park Village Hall, 494 Willis Avenue, Williston Park.

The board then opened its regular meeting with the mayor reading off the amount of bills to be paid. The list was approved and there was a motion to pay the bills.

The reports were then presented starting with Mayor Ludwig Odierna.

The mayor then announced that NYCOM, the New York State Conference of Mayors asked, for a name of someone who has given time to the village in an excess of 25 years in an official capacity and the mayor said the board nominated Village Court Justice Alan Reardon for the award.

He also announced that the village received a $5,000 grant from New York State Assemblyman Thomas McKevitt for record retention. Odierna added, "We thank Assemblyman McKevitt for that grant."

Petitions for block parties approved included one on Collins Avenue between Lafayette and Center Street on Aug. 4 between 12 noon and 11 p.m. The second one is on Marcellius between Prospect and Hillside for Aug. 11 with a raindate of Aug. 12.

Mayor Odierna also announced that the playground renovation at Henninger was made possible from a grant from the county in the amount of $45,000 so that the children would have a nicer play area. He added, "This should be completed shortly."

The mayor also announced that Richard and Walter Frame, former owners of Frame Chevrolet, donated $1,500 for a flagpole for the little league field. He particularly thanked Peter Owens for his part in seeing this project to fruition.

Village Clerk Walter Molughney announced there was a request for the court clerk to attend a conference on Oct. 3 and a request from the Boy Scouts to hold a flea market on Williston Park parking field No. 5 on Oct. 13. Both requests were granted.

Deputy Mayor Saporita announced that the Finance Committee and the Long Term Planning Committee met recently to finalize the plan that will be presented to the public in the near future. The plan will describe all the various participants, the activities and the volunteers that make up the village. It will also list the goals of the various departments and the plans that are proposed along with the costs to achieve those goals. Trustee Dunn gave the court report for the month of June and announced that Judge Alan Reardon heard 194 cases, with fines of $17, 775 along with the New York State mandatory surcharge of $1,550. Judge Edward Emanuel heard 69 with fines of $2,615, along with the surcharge of $220. Williston Park Moonlight Cruise is set for July 27 leaving Point Lookout at 7:30 p.m. Trustee Smith said there were only 20 spots left. For further information, please call Bill Casey at 248-5908. She also announced that 219 tickets were issued by the code enforcement officers for the month of June. During the month of June there was a burglary on Lafayette Avenue and an attempted burglary on Hillside Avenue. She further said the police department issued 16 parking violations, 46 moving violations, 17 auto accidents with 6 auto injuries. Trustee Mills said that there is still work in progress to hire a librarian. The candidate in mind has been working part-time and her name is Donna McKenna. Mills also announced that the pool, which is up and running, did well on new membership and the gazebo concerts are ongoing. Building Inspector Kerry Collins announced that from June 1 to July 13 was as follows: residential building permits 8, commercial building permits 3, residential plumbing 6, commercial plumbing 8, electrical licenses 2, landscape licenses 1, oil tank permits 1, sidewalk sales permits 2, sidewalk aprons 1. Board of Appeals applications were 6 and one other permit with a grand total of $14, 292.

He announced that he and his crew have been working very hard to finish Henninger Park playground. In the meantime he said there was a new sweeper schedule and for now it will be:

Tuesday: Hillside Avenue, Willis Avenue and all the streets south of Willis Avenue;

Wednesday, Hillside and Willis again, the highway section including Broad Street and all the college streets.

Thursday will be Hillside and Willis again including Park Avenue and Capital, Cross, Mahr, Winthrop and around village hall.

Friday the remainder will be all the C streets. Burnell said his list for now was a tentative schedule. He said he would announce next month if they have to switch anything around.

He said, "Other than that we are making progress on the trees we have to cut down. Just be patient, we'll get there."

Third Precinct POP Officer Bill Handworth was at the meeting and introduced himself in case anyone had any questions for him. He said by being present at the board meeting he felt it would help to eliminate the "middle man" that very often has to issue complaints to him.

The meeting ended announcing that the next village board meeting was set for Aug. 23, at 8 p.m. at Williston Park Village Hall, Williston Park.