At the last Williston Park Village Board meeting, the village board voted to pass a resolution in the amount of a $2 million bond, for 20 years, for the purchase of one street sweeper, two garbage trucks, village vehicles for road repairs, and repairs and improvements to the water department infrastructure.

At the outset of the meeting Mayor Ludwig Odierna called on village clerk/treasurer Walter Moloughney to explain the need for the bond.

Moloughney said, "As you know, Deputy Mayor Ronald Saporita and his committee, not long ago proposed a five-year plan for the village and this bond resolution is an attempt to make a portion of that plan a reality. In order to do that it costs money and the question is what type of money and we came up with a $2 million amount."

Moloughney continued, "In order to have a $2 million bond, at a rate of 4 percent that translates, for property assessed at $5,000, at approximately about $52 per year. That payment would include principal and amortization.

"The areas of concern are as follows: We need new garbage trucks. We have two 1996 garbage trucks that were funded via bonds and we have a 1984 garbage truck. There comes a time when the maintenance of vehicles exceeds their reasonable cost and that is why we need new garbage trucks.

"The next is a new sweeper. We have sweepers which find it extremely difficult to get down a block. So, we are looking at an Elgin sweeper. I'm going to ask Superintendent of Public Works Keith Bunnell to give you the cost of the garbage trucks and the Elgin Sweeper."

Bunnell said, "For the two garbage trucks, we will be buying the chassis on what we call state bid price, which is a low price to buy equipment. Those two chassis will be roughly about $100,000 a piece. The back of the trucks will have to go out to bid and they will run about $55,000 a piece. That will put the price of each garbage truck in the $150,000 or $160,000 neighborhood."

Bunnell went on, "The sweeper, an Elgin Pelican Sweeper, anybody who has been around the village for any length of time will remember, years ago we had the three-wheel sweeper that made the real sharp turns and we will be going back to that style specially for the sharp turns and dead ends. It comes with a five-year bumper-to-bumper warranty, which takes us out of the maintenance business. The sweeper is approximately $140,000.

"We are also looking into a state body truck which will be used to pick up heavy metal such as refrigerators, washing machines, etc. Right now they go into the back of the old garbage trucks and the garbage trucks are not made for that type of service and we will get better life out of the garbage trucks.

Mologhney continued, "I don't think it comes as a surprise to anyone who lives in the village especially south of Hillside Avenue, that roads need some tender loving care. We had hoped to get some funding from Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, but that money, as yet, has not been forthcoming. We will continue our efforts to get that money, but some roads need care. We are talking about a process called, 'mix in place.' This method is done in place and saves money."

He then turned the description of 'mix in place' over once again to Bunnell.

Bunnell said, "'mix in place' is basically a process where a huge milling machine comes in and turns the road over in place and that becomes the new sub base for the road and when that becomes compacted that becomes the final layer of asphalt that goes on top of that. The process can only be done on non-concrete based roads. The advantage of mix in place is that we don't have to get rid of the old materials. That is what we did, a couple of years ago, on Pennsylvania Avenue."

Mologhney said, "'Mix and place' makes more money go further. To tell you that I know what it is going to cost per square foot would be an out-and-out lie and I'm not in that business. Therefore, we are going to go out for bids to see just how much this will cost.

"The water facilities need care. We are mandated by the health department for their rules and regulations. We have a storage tank that is 1.5 million gallons that is deteriorating externally and internally. We cannot have contaminants inside that tank and contaminants means rust. So we need a specialist in tanks to come in and tell us what is needed. That we estimate will cost anywhere from $35,000 to $55,000. Depending on the analysis of our engineers, D'Virka and Bartilucci have indicated the price to rehabilitate and maintain that facility could run anywhere from $600,000 to $1.2 million. We are hoping it will be on the low side. We would like to monitor the water production in our water facility and that would be anywhere from $75,000 to $100,000 per location.

Mologhney continued, "All of these are items that we are considering and we want to find out what the real numbers are so that we can improve this village. If it comes down to $1.10 on a house that's assessed at approximately $5,000 it's better to do something ahead than to wait because then the cost of rehabilitation becomes greater and greater. The purpose of this is, hopefully, we will have hungry contractors that might be interested in doing the work for a lesser price that would have a year ago. That is the nature of what we need to do. We don't have firm numbers as yet because we haven't gone out to bid. We want to hear from you and get your input."

One resident wanted to have the bond go out for 40 years rather than 20 years.

Mologhney said that some of the items, such as the mix and place would only be good for 20 years. He said the guidelines are not the guidelines of the village, but rather the guidelines of the New York State Comptroller.

The same resident said she is thinking of how to manage a home and that is to prioritize and not to have a 'wish list.'

Mologhney said, "The problem with the garbage trucks is that you are paying $95 an hour to repair. They are out-of-service and you can't give ultimate service to residents. We are getting hit twice. This entire bond is not exploratory, but it is necessary."

Joseph Heery said, "I guess we have to put our trust in the board. My only concern is that these monies are not open-ended."

Mologhney assured him that this is not the case.

Other residents had a chance to question the bond and how it would be used and to what extent and Moloughney walked each one through the process again.

One resident said he thought the village had already had a new garbage truck, but Bunnell explained that they did have a truck from the manufacturer to test for an amount of time, so it just looked like the village had a new truck.

At the end of the extensive discussion, the board approved the $2 million.

Williston Park Mayor Ludwig Odierna called on attorney Richard Reers to comment on the local law presented to the board.

The law was an erosion and sediment control for the health, safety and welfare of the community. This law will require all local developers to prepare and submit to the village plans, for review, to evaluate the environmental and predicted impact on the affected area. The law will take effect immediately on filing with the secretary of state. Copies of the law are available for review at the village hall during normal village hours. Since the requirements of this law pertain to an acre or more of land, attorney Richard Reers said that it would probably never apply to this village. Since there were no comments either by the board or the public, the law was passed.

POP officer Bill Handworth said there were no immediate police concerns in the village, but that if anyone had any problems they were to call 911.

Mayor Odierna announced that the date for village elections has been set for March 18, 2008 and all voting will take place at the American Legion Hall on Willis Avenue. Deputy Mayor Ron Saporita and trustee Crista Mills will be ending their term of office in March and he thanked them both for their service.

Mayor Odierna reviewed all of the improvements made during the past year including: a new playground at Henniger Park; upgrading Kelleher Park to include handicapped access, 45 wire-friendly trees planted, the roads are being prepared for new road projects; plus a commitment from the New York State Department of Traffic to install a traffic light at the corner of Hillside Avenue and Broad Street.

Mayor Odierna thanked New York State Senator Craig Johnson for all of his help in having traffic countdown devices installed along Hillside Avenue making a safer crossing possible.

The mayor also announced that applications for the 2008 season at the pool are not available at village hall.