In his effort to get more police coverage in the Village of Mineola, Mayor Jack Martins and members of his staff have been meeting with Captain Rick Capece on a monthly basis to coordinate the efforts of the Third Precinct in Mineola. Last Wednesday, Captain Capece attended the village board meeting to answer any questions that residents had.

Captain Capece was promoted and sent to the Third Precinct in May. His previous post was in the First Precinct, where he was in charge of the gang unit.

Captain Capece talked about the police coverage in Mineola. Currently, there are three and a half cars that cover the village, meaning there are three full-time cars, each of which is assigned a particular sector, and another car that splits time between Mineola and another community. The Third Precinct has a total of 25 cars.

At times, in cases where coverage is needed elsewhere, cars can be pulled from Mineola to respond to other areas. However, Captain Capece pointed out that cars can be pulled from other areas into Mineola if needed.

The Third Precinct also employs a Tactical Enforcement Team (TET) Unit, which is sometimes in plainclothes and sometimes in uniform and covers Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola and New Hyde Park. Captain Capece said the TET unit handles quality of life issues.

The captain said the police have initiated several things to try to facilitate better coverage and a better exchange of information in Mineola. Captain Capece also talked about a pilot program that was started in the Third Precinct whereby if officers observe an illegal apartment that is a hazardous situation, they will fill out a form and submit it to the village's building department.

Although the population of Mineola is just over 20,000, statistics show that during the day, Mineola almost doubles its population in terms of workers and people who come into the area.

Captain Capece said if residents have a quality of life issue, they can call the Problem Oriented Policing (POP) Unit at 573-6370. He also offered his phone number, which is 573-6343.

One issue that can be thought of as a quality of life issue is traffic enforcement. Captain Capece said the precinct has 87 locations that need traffic enforcement. "I have very few people to do that. We're trying the best we can. We'll try to accommodate anyone we can," he said.

The captain also mentioned that the Third Precinct has a new commanding officer. Lorraine Hannon succeeds former Third Precinct Inspector Vincent Muscanera. Hannon will be meeting with Mayor Martins sometime in the future to discuss the concerns of Mineola.

The subject of gangs in Mineola did surface as some residents questioned the presence of gang members and whether Mineola is a "hot spot" for gang activity. Captain Capece said there is some gang activity in Mineola, but it is not extensive. "Is it at a level we think is a crisis? I would say no," he said.

* Thoughts and prayers go out to village attorney John Spellman. Mr. Spellman recently underwent surgery to treat thyroid cancer. He is recovering at home. We wish him a speedy recovery.

* The village board unanimously voted to give AT&T permission to replace cell phone antennas on the tower on Maple Place. There will be no additional antennas placed. However, there is one piece of equipment that will be installed inside the structure.

* The village has some tax certiorari payments coming up. However, the money the village is expected to pay out is budgeted for. The last budget passed by the village board calls for $700,000 in funding for tax certiorari payments.

* The village board awarded the bid for the rehabilitation of Well #4 to Eagle Control Corp for $74,070.

* The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will be taking over the investigation and remediation of the Koeppel Ford site. The site was found to have contamination after a review of the site done because Chaminade High School was interested in purchasing the property.

The remediation plan Koeppel proposed was insufficient so the DEC will be taking over. The DEC sent a letter to the owners of Koeppel Ford indicating that Koeppel did not complete the investigation and remediation as required by the DEC.

"The remediation plan they came back to us with only included the Koeppel property and didn't include any plan to address issues off site," said Mayor Martins.

The mayor and the village board had passed a resolution to commence legal action against Koeppel Ford. "If they are only going to care for themselves, then we have to make sure we take care of the rest of the mess they left there and hold somebody responsible for it," the mayor said

Mayor Martins said the purpose of the lawsuit is to make sure the village's properties are protected. According to the mayor, the contamination, which is said to include MTBE, is under the Koeppel property and then the plume flows southwest from there.

Mayor Martins also said that since the contamination came from the Koeppel Ford property and has now traveled to an adjoining area, and since the Koeppel remediation plan only calls for the cleanup of the Koeppel property, the village is taking steps to protect its residents.

* Water department superintendent Fred Booher reported that the hydrant flushing program is going very well. The entire northwest section of the village is done and the rest of the west end of Mineola from Willis Avenue west to Herricks Road and then Old Country Road to Jericho Turnpike.

* The village board voted unanimously to appoint Marta Hines as the village's new activities coordinator. The former activities coordinator was Kyle Teemsma.

* The village will be resurfacing Raff Avenue from Roslyn Road to Sheridan Boulevard as well as McKinley Parkway and Columbus Parkway from Raff Avenue to Jericho Turnpike.

* Leaf removal will continue to take place. Superintendent of public works Tom Rini asks everyone to be patient since there are more leaves on the ground for this time of year than normal. The department will be working its way around the village on the sweeper routes. DPW will be cleaning the roads but residents are reminded not to sweep leaves into the streets. Residents are encouraged to bag the leaves on their property and the sanitation department will pick up the bags on each of the garbage days, Monday compost days and Wednesday rubbish days.

* The village will again begin its tree planting program. Anyone who is interested in having a tree planted should contact the Department of Public Works at 746-0753.

* In 1997, the Village of Mineola gave the NYS Department of Transportation a temporary easement for the Mineola grade crossing at 200 Third street. The village charged a fee of $45,000 for the easement. The fee was not paid. The board authorized the mayor to sign on behalf of the village to collect $45,000 from the NYS Department of Transportation.

* The village has a current contract with the company LES regarding the collection of fines for parking tickets. At the time the village entered into the contract, there was a tremendous backlog in the justice court. The backlog has now been remedied so the justice court and village prosecutors recommended to the board to cancel the contract so that the justice court can do the parking ticket collection in-house. The board passed the resolution unanimously to cancel the contract with LES.

* Walter Crosby of Maple Place spoke about the traffic conditions on Maple Place between Washington Avenue and Jericho Turnpike in which some motorists ignore the one-way sign.

* Vincent Lupernachi inquired about the abandoned Shell Station on the corner of Jericho Turnpike and Roslyn Road. So far, there are no plans for the property. One potential problem is said to be that the owner prefers to lease the property as opposed to selling it.

* Mineola veteran Walter Hobbs suggested, on behalf of the members of the American Legion Post #349 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Adolph Block Post #1305, that a sign should be placed in the library in the area by the window that overlooks the veterans monument, identifying the monument and stating some history about it. Mayor Martins said he thought it was a great idea.

* American Legion Post #349 Commander Sal Cataldo said he was very disturbed about the job done on the stars in the pavement surrounding the veterans monument. In the past, the veterans had requested two military stars be cut out into the pavement around the monument. Cataldo provided a cardboard model of the stars and said he wanted to be there when the contractor did the job. Cataldo was upset when he visited the monument and found that eight smaller stars had been cut into the pavement, which is not what the veterans requested. Cataldo was also upset that his wish to be present when the job was done was not met. He said that now that the job is done, there is nothing that can be done. "We have to accept it, but we don't have to like it," he said. Mayor Martins said he would take responsibility and would apologize to both veterans organizations.

* Vito Stallone urged the village board to take a look at people parking on Mineola Boulevard off Cleveland Avenue.

* John Carroll said that some incidents that happen in Mineola don't appear in the police blotter. He alluded to a stabbing that occurred near Willis Avenue that didn't appear in the police blotter, printed in the Mineola American.

* A discussion revolved around motorists ignoring traffic signs in the village. Some streets that were mentioned where motorists go through stop signs is Garfield Avenue and Jackson Avenue.