A round of applause went up for Village Trustee Lou Santosus at the March 2 public meeting of the board since it was Santosus' last public meeting as a trustee. The applause was well deserved as Santosus served on the board for a total of 17 years. Besides his service on the board, Santosus' community service is practically unparalleled.

"I would just to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart. It's certainly been an honor and a privilege to serve the Village of Mineola over these years. I'm proud to be a trustee. I'm proud to work with these fine people up here. We've have a great board that has done great things over the years and you're going to see even greater things in the future," he said.

After his trustee's report, Santosus received a standing ovation in recognition of his hard work and dedication to the Village of Mineola, which is home.

A hometown hero, Santosus graduated from Mineola High School. He married his high school sweetheart Patricia and the couple raised their family here in the village they loved.

Santosus has the distinction of having served as the chief of the Mineola Fire Department. He served on the board of trustees for the village from 1983 to 1989 and then 1994 to the present.

In his time on the board of trustees, Santosus worked with many different trustees and mayors for the benefit of the village. Santosus served as deputy mayor under John Colbert from 2000 to 2003. As liaison to the library, he oversaw the completion of the Mineola Library renovation. Santosus in his years of service also supported many projects and initiatives that improved the quality of life for Mineola residents.

His relationship with Mayor Jack Martins began rocky when Martins was first elected trustee in 2002 and then mayor in 2003. However, Santosus and Martins put aside any differences and worked together.

Mayor Martins thanked him for his years of service. "His service to the community will be sorely missed," he said. "We are losing a tremendous amount of history and a tremendous amount of experience."

Santosus decided against running for re-election since campaigns in recent years tended to become nasty at times and he said it was time to give somebody else a chance. A resident of Elderberry Road, Santosus will continue to enjoy the village he helped to make a wonderful place to live. Even though his service on the board has come to an end, Santosus made giving back to the community his legacy.

* Mineola's own Carlos Mendes was recently signed to a professional contract with the Metrostars. Mendes' family lives on Shortridge Drive. Congratulations to him.

* Mayor Jack M. Martins along with village clerk Mike Arens went to Albany for the meeting of the New York Conference of Mayors. One big concern is the village's contribution to the state's pension system. Mineola's pension cost went up over $750,000 over the last two years, which is equivalent to a 7.5 percent tax increase. Mayor Martins said it is important for state legislators to intercede with the state comptroller since the impact to residents is devastating. Mayor Martins is also pushing to having sales tax revenue distributed from the county to the villages. Nassau County distributes its sales tax revenue to the towns and cities of Glen Cove and Long Beach. The Town of North Hempstead is expected to receive $8.8 million from the county this year. The mayor's position is since Mineola makes up a portion of the population of the Town of Hempstead, the Village of Mineola should be getting a portion of the sales tax revenue to be used for infrastructure repairs for roads and curb repairs and to relieve a tax burden for residents. In order for that to happen, it will require a state law. Residents can help by writing letters to state legislators who represent Mineola. They are Senator Michael Balboni, New York State Assemblywoman Maureen O'Connell and New York State Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli.