To show their appreciation for the attention officer Harry Reddan of the Third Precinct's Problem Orienting Policing (POP) has given Mineola, the Mineola Civic Association has circulated petitions to have newly promoted Sergeant Reddan stay in the Third Precinct.

Reddan had been the POP officer assigned to Mineola. However, when it came time for his promotion, Mineola Civic Association President Bill Urianek and the rest of the members started a campaign, collecting signatures and letters, to petition the Nassau County Police Department to let Reddan be a sergeant in the Third Precinct.

Whether the Civic Association was successful remains to be seen. Sergeant Reddan is currently in the academy where he is receiving additional training. After he is done with the academy, he will be assigned to a precinct.

The Civic Association may be facing an uphill battle. Officers who are promoted to sergeant are customarily transferred to a different precinct than the one they worked in. However, to show Sergeant Reddan their support, the Civic Association presented him with the letter they collected from various members of the community.

"Every time I made a call and had a problem, he helped me out and he helped the neighborhood out," Urianek said.

Civic Association Member Linda Doell also said that Sergeant Reddan has been instrumental in working with the schools.

Because of Sergeant Reddan's promotion, Mineola was assigned a new POP officer. Officer John Larson was introduced by Reddan as Mineola's new man.

The Civic Association also discussed additional funds bonded for to finish the renovation of the Mineola Memorial Library, Mineola Firehouse, replacement of sanitary sewers and drainage system at Elm Place and Jefferson Avenue and the improvement of Village Water Wells #'s 1, 5, and 7.

On September 11, 1998, residents of Mineola voted in favor of a $3.994 million bond referendum to renovate the Mineola Memorial Library. In addition, the village voted on Jan. 5, 2000 to renovate and rehabilitate various fire department and municipal buildings and premises at a cost of $1,716,000. Also, the village voted to replace and rehabilitate the sanitary sewers and drainage system on Oct. 21, 1998 at an estimated cost of $355,000. On Nov. 17, 1999, the village voted to adopt a $1,700,000 bond referendum for the improvement of village water wells 1, 5, and 7.

The civic association voiced its concern that the village recently approved additional bonding for funds to complete these projects - $677,000 for the library; $567,000 for the firehouse and premises; $250,000 for the sewage and drainage system at Elm Place and Jefferson Avenue and $350,000 for the improvement of water wells 1, 5, and 7.

Civic Association members are concerned that additional bonding for these projects are going to cause taxes to rise, causing residents on fixed incomes to further struggle to stay in the community. Some civic association members also argue that, in the case of the library, residents approved the referendum to spend $3,994,000 to renovate the library, but they didn't approve the additional $677,000.

The village approved the bonds since the projects needed additional work to complete. At the most recent village board meeting (Sept. 5), Deputy Mayor Lou Santosus said the village board voted unanimously to approve the additional bonds only as a cap on the amount that can be spent to finish the projects. The figures ($677,000 for the library; $567,000 for the firehouse; $250,000 for the sewage and drainage system and $350,000 for the improvement of the water wells) represent only what the village can spend to finish those projects and not necessarily the amount the village will spend.

According to Village Treasurer Richard Dwyer, those figures represent the money that might be spent. It's more likely, however, that the village won't spend those amounts to complete those projects. However, it was not known as of Friday what additional funds the village has spent to complete those projects.

The village has maintained that it is harder to predict the cost to renovate an existing structure than it is to build a new structure because problems arise during construction that could not be foreseen. The project cannot be left incomplete and so additional funds may be needed to finish the projects.

Members of the civic association said they want to be made aware when the village is spending additional funds. The village is legally bound to post a public notice if more bonding is approved as it did in the Sept. 5 edition of the Mineola American in the Legal Notices section.