This year's annual organizational meeting of the Village of Flower Hill was one of tradition and new beginnings. It began with a moment of silence to commemorate the passing of Ray Tekverk, a former mayor and respected resident of the village, and continued in traditional fashion with the installation of the newly re-elected officials. In possibly the largest voter turnout by village residents in a non-contested election, Mayor Jim Damascus and Trustees William Clemency, Ann Frankel and Tab Hauser were all returned to office. Acting Village Justice Francis J. Hone presided over the swearing-in.

Although traditional in its annual approval, some new beginnings were evident in the budget the committee put forth for approval by the trustees. Citing a study commissioned from the village engineer, Mayor Damascus announced that this year's budget will include a small tax increase to cover an estimated $1.5 million needed for village road work, identified in the study. The cost of the projected repair, rebuilding and maintenance upkeep of the targeted roads will be spread over a two year fiscal period. The specifics of the study will be discussed at next month's meeting.

The board approved the budget that will take the tax rate from $4.23 per $100 of assessed value to $4.30. The mayor noted that those residents in the Port Washington and Roslyn sections of the village will see a slightly higher rate in their tax base due to the fire contracts from those areas. He went on to say that the village also receives an annual bill from the Town of North Hempstead for the Lakeville Fire Department, and the village will be looking into how that cost is allocated as well. The only question on the budget came from a resident who complained at not being able to review it well in advance of the meeting. The mayor apologized, explaining that the effort was genuine and the resident did have opportunity before the meeting to go over the figures.

* The New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (NYSEFC) recently passed a Financial Assistance for Businesses program that would allow individual service stations that do motor vehicle inspections to receive grant money. Under the auspices of the Clean Water/Air Act, the owner can receive the grant to help comply with directives set forth by the legislation. The board adopted the measure as part of village law, and also approved an application from a service station that is located on the corner of Port Boulevard and Northern Boulevard. The owner's request will now be submitted to the state agency.

* The mayor reported that St. Francis Hospital has begun to clean up the buffer zone between the hospital and the residences. They have removed some trees, but have put forth plans to replant those areas.

* Village employees and elected officials have been coming forth to have their pictures taken as part of a newly instituted photo-id program. The mayor proffered his new identification card for inspection by other board members while noting it was "like most other photo I.D.s - I don't like my picture, but it will identify me to others."

* A resident form Dogwood Lane appeared before the board to complain about the continuing "slovenly" and "shocking" appearance of a home that has been under construction for nearly two years. Asking the board for its assistance, the neighbor noted that she and her husband have had a "port-a-lav" outside their window since construction began, and while they "have been good neighbors," they feel there has been no reciprocation on the part of the builder. They also had some concerns about the tree plan submitted for the developed property, stating the they "would like this builder to carry the financial burden of planting large trees to camouflage his home and return some bit of privacy back to us." Since the topic was not part of the meeting's agenda, the mayor asked the resident to allow the board "to do our homework on this matter." The board did ask the village clerk to send out the building inspector to review the premises.

* Another resident came forth to ask the village to do something about the "obstructive parking" along Port Washington Boulevard. The board asked the compliance officer, Dr. Milton Parker, to see if summonses could be issued along the route the resident described.

The next meeting of the Village of Flower Hill will take place on Monday, May 4, 8 p.m. at the village hall, One Bonnie Heights Road.