The June meeting of the Village of Muttontown Board took less than an hour to complete, but it was an indication of the work the trustees have been doing to make government run smoothly for residents. They are establishing regular monthly meeting dates for their boards to make scheduling easier for residents, board members, the village attorney and others who need to attend. The Planning Board will meet on the fourth Tuesday of the month; the Zoning Board of Appeals will meet on the first Monday of the month, July 1 is their next meeting; the Site Architectural Review Board (SARB) met this month on Wednesday, June 11, the first Wednesday of the month.

During the meeting the board appointed two new board members. Mayor Richard Murcott said SARB Chairman Donald Rave has resigned. The board voted to thank him for his years of service to the village. In his place, Mayor Richard Murcott appointed Kevin Spillane chairman of the SARB. He said, because they need a quorum for the board, he also re-appointed Julianne Beckerman to the SARB. He said according to village law, a person is allowed to be on both the Site Architectural Review Board and the Planning Board at the same time, to which she was recently appointed. She will serve until another person is appointed to the board.

The mayor mentioned a benefit at Chelsea that was scheduled to take place on Friday, June 13 to refurbish the gardens. He said he had given a verbal OK to Nassau County Deputy Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Museums Michelle McFaul and forgot to get the approval of the board. Trustee Laura Shapiro said, "I think it's wonderful that they are doing so." The board agreed.

Trustee Ed Henn reported on the Old Brookville Police Department, OBPD, (he serves on their board of commissioners) saying that they are on budget. He said that 60 percent of their overtime is paid through outside funding through grants and by C.W. Post, which pays them directly. They received a $73,000 grant from the government and are hoping for a $6,000 grant from FEMA in relation to the last snowstorm, he added.

Mr. Henn said they are making progress in the search for a site for the new OBPD. They are considering using part of the DeMatteis Center, the part that is the Catholic Charities Health Center. He said it is moving slowly: "It is not a done deal, there are a lot of steps to get through," he added.

Mayor Richard Murcott said the village reported 91 false alarms and not one was a real emergency. "That means three times a day the police are rushing to Muttontown." The village has instituted a fine to residents for false alarms to encourage them to take care of the problem. He said Village Deputy Clerk Treasure Barbara J. Madden has had people unhappy with her for sending information about fines for false alarms. He said sadly, "The fines don't help in preventing the problem." Ms. Madden said she has a new computer program for the fines and said she completed the paperwork on 250 fire alarms that occurred before the end of April.

Mayor Murcott said the OBPD has been working on an aggressive driving grant. "They have given out over 150 tickets on Route 106," he said. "That information - warning about driving on Route 106 - is a little plus for coming to meetings."

Mr. Rich Entel had nothing to report from the Fire Department.

In the absence of Highway Commissioner Raz Tafuro, who is in Buffalo, the mayor read his report, which was submitted in writing. Mr. Tafuro reported that all the potholes in the village had been taken care of. He said on a Wednesday, between 11 p.m. and midnight the sump on Bridle Path off Brookville Road was overflowing. Nassau County sent some men to the site and about nine people worked to pump out the water into a Nassau County sump.

The mayor said Mr. Tafuro wanted to compliment Mr. Henn on a visit they took to the former Byam Stevens estate now in the process of being subdivided by the Holiday Organization. "We were able to move a couple of roads and save trees," reported Mr. Tafuro.

Mr. Tafuro said he will cut the grass along the roads as soon as the schools are closed and the buses stop coming. No road work will be done until then also.

Trustee Ed Henn reported on the Planning Board. That was when he announced the Planning Board will meet the fourth Tuesday of the month to help the village attorney and the office staff. The dates will all be put on the calendar so everyone will know about it.

He said the Perry Welch subdivision has been approved, as was the road to the Kailmian property. It was owned by Charles Wang, but has been sold to Mr. Kailmian: It is the 16-acre plot (with a house) in the back of the St. Dominic athletic fields site. (Tulio Bertolli is currently supervising the work of creating the playing fields for the school. The large earthen berms that were part of the plan to shield the fields from view, can be seen along Route 25A.) The plans for the Windham Woods two-acre site was also approved by the planning board.

Mr. Henn said Kirby Hill is finally getting to the point of having their DEIS accepted. On April 25 the Planning Board held a workshop meeting and worked with the village engineer and the consulting engineer. On Tuesday, June 3, Mr. Henn and Mr. Tafuro, along with the village engineer and the Holiday Organization engineer, walked around the property, as Mr. Tafuro had mentioned earlier in the meeting. Mr. Henn said the center of all the roads was staked out for its nine-mile length. "We walked all the roads and that gave a better feel for what trees are involved and the topography of the land." He said viewing some of the lots found them altering some of them to make a better plan, such as changing the entrance to a better location on its site.

"There are some beautiful trees in several places and in other places the site is overgrown with vines that are killing the trees. On the eastside of the Kirby Hill site, the trees are dying because of all the vines." He said, "At the next meeting, the fourth Tuesday of the month, providing they have more information to give to us, the DEIS will be accepted."

The board postponed a hearing on changing the building height of half-acre zoning districts in the village. The Nassau County Planning Board has not sent a recommendation on the issue, said Village Attorney Peter MacKinnon.

The village is handling their budget funds well. The mayor said they are $127,000 over budget on snow removal, but they are receiving funding from FEMA and a snow insurance policy to offset some of those costs. Also, the mayor said, they have received $139,000 from their mortgage tax on renegotiated mortgages, a good soure of revenue for the village.

The village passed a law increasing their fees and deposits to cover the expenses of the boards involved in approving construction and renovations.

The village election took place on June 18. It was uncontested. The board was proud to announce that the tax rate remains the same as last year.