The Village of Plandome Heights Board of Trustees meeting held Nov. 3 at Plandome Village Hall had a widely varied agenda. Councilwoman Judi Bosworth was recognized by Mayor Diana Merenda as was village resident Marion Endrizzi. Sgt. William Ward of the 6th precinct discussed recent vandalism of street signs, provided home safety tips, and parental tips as well. Following the general business meeting residents were invited to offer their comments.

The first order of business was expressing thanks to Nassau County Legislator Judi Bosworth for her continued advocacy for the community. Recent actions cited included: work to find common ground for school districts to share "back office" services reducing costs for taxpayers; sponsor legislation to ensure that Nassau County government "goes green" when purchasing ordinary supplies and materials; sponsor legislation so villages are informed in advance of a health initiative by Nassau County, such as when rabies vaccine pellets were recently air-dropped and no one informed the village office, causing some residents to panic; conduct emergency management and FEMA workshops this summer in preparation for the hurricane season; and, in future, will host a workshop on how to challenge your property tax assessment in February at the Manhasset Public Library.

Trustee Maryann Grieco then reported on the $50,000 Legislative Aid for Street and Curb Beautification for Village of Plandome Heights that Bosworth helped acquire. Grieco complimented her staff who will be helpful to fine-tune the grant-Cindy Cardinal, Manhasset school board president is a part-timer on Bosworth's staff.

Next Mayor Merenda acknowledged Marion Endrizzi's contributions to the village representing thousands of hours of time, effort and guidance including: representing the village at great Civic Associations monthly meetings; founder of the village's Alliance Party and ran several successful campaigns for candidates she identified or mentored; village clerk; found first fully rented village office in 1998 and introduced computers to the village office; chaired the 70th anniversary party and co-chair of the upcoming 80th next year; West Nile virus comes to Long Island in the late '90s and Marion still takes care of monitoring testing for our Village every month from April to October to this day; steadfastly and tenaciously working with Nassau County and now the Town of North Hempstead to beautify and upgrade safety for Plandome Pond Park; founded the Village Tree Planting Program, still going strong; appointed the first Emergency Management Coordinator and critically engaged with the other four Mayors of incorporated villages within Manhasset to form an inter-municipal aid agreement for emergency purposes; chair of the Planning Committee, whose recent work on Plandome Pond Park successfully helped to transition this park from Nassau County to the Town of North Hempstead.

After listing her accomplishments Merenda said, "Marion Endrizzi is and will always be the Mayor of Plandome Heights." She then presented her with the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials - NYCOM -recognizing her achievement for 25 years of community service. The village trustees additionally prepared their own Proclamation in recognition of the outstanding award from NYCOM. Mayor Merenda noted that Endrizzi is the first recipient the NYCOM award in the history of the village. Legislator Bosworth found the event noteworthy as well and presented Endrizzi with a citation from Nassau County commemorating her achievement.

Sgt. William Ward was introduced noting his jurisdiction encompasses from the city line to C.W. Post and from Northern State Parkway to the water. Ward has been with the 6th Precinct since 2005 and with the Nassau County Police since1990. An evening for awards, it was noted he had received the Liberty Award, a major award given for an act of bravery, awarded only by the Senate. Ward has three children, relaxes by gardening and his favorite assignment was seven years as a pyro-technician with Gucci fireworks.

He was invited to speak because there has been a 100 percent increase over 2007 in street sign vandalism costing the village $2,000 and it is not yet the end of November. "That is the cost of two street sweepings," interjected Merenda.

Two street signs were broken on N. Bourndale Road at intersections with Brookwald Drive and Winthrop Avenue. A witness saw 20-30 youths milling about on the evening of the damage. Sgt. Ward said teens attend a party, it gets out of control, neighbors call police and when police arrive the kids disperse. "It is vandalism fueled by alcohol," Ward said, "and their parents should know where they are." At these big parties the students arrive from all over, never just one area, he said, and you have to talk to your children. The police are grateful, they need information from parents to help protect their kids. His message that night was, "Parents have to do their part."

In Nassau County you have to be 16 to be out after dark, not 14. The police are reverting to the old school approach the Sgt. Said and if out at night police can assume you are a runaway, take you to the precinct and call your parents.

At times when that procedure has been followed Sgt Ward said parents arrive and are angry and annoyed for the treatment their children received. The officer said, "If we didn't care we could have left them out there."

Police also do "field interviews" and ask kids on the street their name and why they are there. It helps them establish patterns, he said.

Sgt. Ward said there are 20 villages in the town and he do not differentiate. He can redeploy manpower as needed. There has been an up-tick in criminal mischief here. "When you see something, call" he encouraged the crowd, "You pay a ton in taxes and it's our job."

The seargent advised not calling the station house, rather call 911 immediately, because, he explained, calling the police just adds another step as they turn around and put out the call to 911. He added if you see anything suspicious call them. It is not a bother. They need and appreciate the populace being their eyes and ears.

A Vacant Premises Report is filled out when you plan to be absent from your home-the police will drive by and check the premises each day. He advised making sure the house number is visible from the street. If you call 911 and the responding police cannot find your house, that is a problem. The officer recalled at times with a car in the driveway they have run the license plate to determine the address.

Do not have a message on your answering machine that says "We are not home."

The Sgt. said Plandome Heights is fortunate there are not a lot of roads in and out of their area making it harder for thieves to operate. And they are not close to the LI Expressway making a get-a-way that much easier, especially from thieves with their base in the city.

After conducting village business the mayor solicited comments from the residents and a brief discussion ensued on the transfer of a strip of property, referred to as Lot 30, located at the Preserve, from the town to the village.