The Board of Trustees of the Village of Munsey Park has analyzed the conditions of all the village roads, and its engineer has proposed an extensive road repair and reconstruction program to upgrade village roads that are now, or soon will be, in need of repair. At its Jan. 12 meeting, the board interviewed in executive session four financial consultants who specialize in assisting municipalities in developing options to finance municipal projects, such as road repairs. Collectively, these advisors represent counties, towns, villages and special districts throughout Long Island and the New York City Metropolitan area. They presented their credentials and explained what professional services they could offer the village in analyzing its financial options and in preparing financial reports required for the issuance of bonds or notes, if the village board decides to finance the road repair and reconstruction program in that manner. Historically, the village has been very conservative in its financial affairs and has never issued bonds or notes to pay for any municipal work. All of the financial advisors agreed that although the village has no experience in the bond market, because of the high value of its residential properties and its strong tax base, the village should have no difficulty in obtaining a high credit rating. After over two hours of interviews and discussion, the village board deferred the selection of a financial advisor to the next Board meeting, pending a check of their references.

Dvirka and Bartilucci, the village's engineers, presented a proposal for professional technical services to fulfill the village's obligations under the New York State Phase II/Storm Water Regulations to control storm water run off. That firm has assisted approximately fifteen other municipalities on Long Island in developing their Phase II programs. The board retained Dvirka and Bartilucci to provide these services for the upcoming year at a cost of $4,000.

For procedural reasons, the village board is re-codifying its construction standards for wiring and for walls and ceilings. Public hearings on two proposed local laws to accomplish this purpose will be held at the February board meeting.

The Nassau County Police reported that sixty VTL violations and 46 parking violations were issued in December 2004. Also, there were five auto accidents, five aided cases, one burglary but no robberies in that month. The village has purchased a speed measuring laser device for use by the Nassau County Police in the village, in order to control speeding. Other local villages follow this same practice.

The village election is scheduled for Mar. 15, and the board appointed four inspectors of election in accordance with the Election Law of the State of New York.

The street lighting and refuse removal contracts are both scheduled to expire on May 31. The board members will identify their business issues with respect to each contract and forward their comments shortly to the Village attorney, who will then prepare contract drafts to be reviewed by the board. The village board anticipates approving the form of these contracts and letting out the requests for bids at its February meeting. Also, the village is contacting the Manhasset Peninsula Village Association, an informal organization of all Manhasset villages, to explore if the Manhasset villages could consolidate their bids into one to obtain better prices and service. This possibility of consolidation will be discussed at the next board meeting.

The board also awarded the contract for pruning and removal of village trees to Harder, the lowest responsible bidder

The next board meeting will be on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 8 p.m.