The Village of Roslyn and the Chamber of Commerce recently won a "Downtown Alive" award from the Nassau Village Officials Association. The award recognizes Roslyn for creating the "most effective business district promotion" in the county. In all, 64 Nassau County villages entered the contest.

The award was given in recognition of the village's May 3 Antique and Collectible street fair. Roslyn Mayor Janet Galante was given a $250 check at a recent meeting of Nassau County village mayors.

"The award exemplifies the growing level of co-operation between village officials and the business district," said Frederic Carlton, president of the Roslyn Chamber of Commerce. "Chamber members are hopeful that this co-operation will continue to grow resulting in a stronger and revitalized downtown Roslyn Village."

The association has created such awards to recognize the efforts of villages revitalizing their downtown areas and the adjacent commercial zones. The award is also part of a county-wide campaign to "focus attention on the traditional Main Street shopping area." Downtown Alive awards have been structured to both "recognize programs of merit and assist other villages in their quest to remain competitive and revitalize their Main Streets."

Even though it's summer, the village is already thinking about shopping during the Christmas season in December. In the past two years, the village has placed plastic bags over parking meters on Old Northern Boulevard in order to attract shoppers to the area. This year, the meter bags will go into effect on December 14 (when Hanukkah is scheduled to begin) and stay there until December 31, a week after Christmas.

The program will run for a full three weeks. At the meeting, a resident asked how much money the village usually takes in meter fees over a regular three-week period. A "reliable average," according to Mayor Janet Galante, runs up to $1,400, not including parking fines. So the village obviously hopes to make up the lost revenues through the increased business the no parking fee policy hopes to bring.

The Board of Trustees allowed Leonard and Marlene Freeman of 11 Verity Lane to amend or modify the restrictive covenant that was originally placed on their property. Mrs. Freeman is deputy mayor of Roslyn and did not take part in either the public discussion or the final BOT vote.

Judy Wilner of 6 Verity Lane asked that the BOT take a "hard look" at a restrictive covenant that she believes could cause damage to her property. More specifically, Ms. Wilner expressed concern that mudslides from possible land erosion would end up on 6 Verity Lane. The village's building inspector admitted that there is the potential for "tremendous" mudslides from property in question. However, another neighbor of the Freemans, Richard Kleinman, said in the eleven years he has been living on Verity, there has been no land erosion problems coming from 11 Verity Lane.

The BOT finally decided that the original covenant can stay in place, with necessary modifications. If, for instance, there was a drainage problem on the property being debated, the village would ask the old owners to restore the hillside. Village Attorney John Spellman said that the BOT can modify a covenant if it determines such changes are not injurious to the safety of the community.

In other news, the village has tentatively scheduled next year's Antiques Fair for May 2, 1999 with a May 16 rain date.

Trustee Nolan Myerson reported that a study of annual total insurance premiums in the village's workers compensation package was $13,000 less than what was in this year's budget, thus saving the village a little money. The village recently received a Safety Award from the Public Employer Risk Management Association, Inc. of Albany for keeping its workers compensation loss ratio at under 20 percent for 1997. According to the association, only a "small percentage" of the 350 municipal members in New York state received the award. The next Board of Trustees meeting is July 21.