The Village of Mineola Board of Trustees held a hearing last Wednesday for an application by AT&T Wireless to install 12 cellular phone antennas on the roof of 250 Old Country Road, the KeySpan Building, and install an equipment cabinet in the back of the premises.

The hearing took place despite the fact that construction is expected to begin in 2005 on the four-story parking garage/intermodal center, which will be built in the parking lot of the KeySpan Building. AT&T Wireless representatives are aware of the project and one even testified that the garage could have an impact on the effectiveness of the antennas, which are being proposed to alleviate what AT&T Wireless believes is a gap in service.

After hearing testimony, the village board closed the hearing and reserved decision. However, it is likely the village board will approve the application. The location is not in a residential area and also, Mineola has not had luck in court when it has denied cell antenna applications.

Verizon Wireless applied for a special use permit to erect nine antennas on top of a LIPA utility pole in the intersection of Betty Lane and Arlington Road. The village board denied the application and was then sued by Verizon, which won the case.

The village board also denied Omnipoint a permit to install antennas on the tower located on Maple Place. Omnipoint also won in court forcing the village board to grant the application.

Since the wireless industry is regulated by the federal government, it appears futile to fight the wireless companies. By denying the applications, the village is also forced to incur legal expenses.

Resident Sal Cataldo raised an interesting point in the past. He believes that since the village cannot fight the cell phone companies, perhaps it should encourage them to put antennas on village property so that the village can collect rent money.

With the AT&T application, Deputy Mayor Larry Werther expressed concern about the equipment cabinet. Werther wanted to know the danger involved and what fumes the equipment could give off if the cabinet was to catch fire. Werther said he was concerned for the village's volunteer emergency personnel and wanted to know what they would be facing if the equipment was to catch fire.

With the influx of banks into the village and being that some banks like to have electronic signs displaying time and temperature, Mayor Jack M. Martins wanted a policy in place regarding electronic signs. It was the feeling of the mayor and the board that electronic, flashing signs would not fit in with the small town look of Mineola. Therefore, the village board voted to make electronic, flashing signs outside or in a storefront unlawful. Trustee Paul Cusato has reservations. He envisioned an electronic display at village hall that could display community events instead of having banners on the village's major roads advertising various events. However, Cusato went along with the rest of the board in voting to make electronic, flashing signs unlawful in the village.

Some representatives from the MTA Intermodal Transportation Facility project were at the board's work session last Wednesday to discuss the project. Tim Tracy from Desman Associates, the architects for the project, spoke about the project. The garage will be three stories with four levels of parking (parking on each floor as well as the roof). The garage will have 950 spaces and a seven bay bus terminal for Long Island Bus.

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is expected to go out in the next few weeks and be awarded by December with an estimated time to begin construction of January 2005.

The Nassau County Volunteer Fireman's Association have applied to have its parade in Mineola in 2006. The parade would be a big event with hundreds of fire trucks and 1,000 firefighters from around the county participating. Mayor Martins suggested coordinating the parade with the village's centennial celebration, which will also take place in 2006. The event could be good for Mineola since it would bring in many of the county's dedicated volunteers into the village for a day.

Congratulations to ex-chief Mike DeStefano of the Mineola Volunteer Fire Department, who will be named president of the Nassau County Volunteer Fireman's Association for 2006.