The Village of Mineola Board of Trustees held a hearing last Wednesday to consider adopting a local law that would prohibit construction work from being done during certain hours on Sundays and holidays.

The catalyst for the hearing occurred on Thanksgiving morning, when just before 8 a.m., the village responded to Pennsylvania Avenue where a contractor was pouring concrete. The noise was a nuisance to neighbors who wished to sleep late on the holiday and brings into question a quality of life issue. The question is how should residents be able to have work done on their homes while not interfering with the quality of life of their neighbors. The mayor and the board of trustees were in agreement that having work done before 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning is unacceptable.

"There was nothing on the books in the village that would allow us to address this issue," said Mayor Jack M. Martins.

Therefore, the board of trustees passed a resolution that construction work not begin before 11 a.m. on Sundays as well as legal holidays and then planned a hearing before adopting a law on the matter.

At the hearing, the board considered adopting law that would forbid construction work either by contractors or homeowners from being done before a certain hour on Sundays and legal holidays. The time considered was 11 a.m. However, the hearing was held to get input from residents as to what is an appropriate time.

The proposal prohibits any sound or noise from repair or maintenance work that disturbs residents in the immediate vicinity. "If you're doing work inside your house and it's early in the morning and you can't hear it outside, we're not telling you that you can't do it. But if you're going to go outside with the chainsaw at 6 a.m. in the morning, you're not going to do it. That is what this is meant to prohibit. Your work can be done but it's going to be done later on certain days," Mayor Martins said.

Other factors that have to be considered include emergencies. If an emergency required work to be done immediately, then the ordinance would have to allow that work to take place regardless of the time of day.

Some of the other trustees on the board also pointed out other factors that have to be considered before passing a law.

Trustee Santosus said he liked the law on the books in the Village of Roslyn, which states that you cannot start on any weekday or Saturday between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. and no work permitted on Sundays or legal holidays. However, work may be permitted on the exterior or interior if it does not make noise that disturbs other residents.

In discussing the potential law, the mayor and the trustees are attempting to strike a balance between protecting a resident's quality of life and permitting residents to work on their homes on Sundays, which may be some residents' only day off. A good argument can also be made that residents should be allowed to gather a group of friends and relatives together on a Sunday to build a deck, for example.

Deputy Mayor Larry Werther pointed out that some residents are Jewish and observe Saturdays as holy days. Not permitting work to be done on Sundays would leave no time for those residents to do construction work on their homes.

Trustee Linda Fairgrieve also pointed out residents could also be affected during the summer months when residents may be taking vacations.

Despite all the factors to be considered, the mayor and the board agree that a law should be on the books to protect residents in the event that construction work is being done early in the morning on a Sunday or holiday. However, the mayor hopes courtesy would prevail among residents and neighbors would use common sense in working at a reasonable hour on Sundays and holidays.

Village attorney John Spellman said another hearing would have to be held before a law could be adopted. Mr. Spellman warned against a law, however, that would put code enforcement officials for the village in a bad position since the law could be used as a sword in a dispute among neighbors.

A hearing will be held again sometime in the future.

Treasurer's Report

Ever since it was discovered that the village closed out the 2002-2003 budget with a deficit in its General Fund, Trustee Linda Fairgrieve, with support from Trustee Lou Santosus, pushed for a monthly treasurer's report. Mayor Jack M. Martins and the rest of the board agreed that this was a good idea. In fact, the mayor instructed Village Treasurer Richard Dwyer to provide only a summary of the components of the village budget, but also to provide each trustee with a run of every line item in the budget, which shows appropriations and year-to-date expenditures.

The treasurer's report is as follows for February 11, 2004:

General Fund

Revenue $13,474,695

Expenses $11,145,689

Difference + $2,329,006

Water

Revenue $1,129,051

Expenses $1,793,987

Difference - $664,936

(Note: The Water Fund reflects more expenses than revenue. However, there is a two month lag in water revenue billings so two months of payments are not yet reflected in the Water Fund revenues as of February 11.)

Pool

Revenue $650,081

Expenses $500,343

Difference + $149,738

Library

Revenue $1,435,467

Expenses $979,562

Surplus + $455,905