At its regular meeting last Wednesday night, the Roslyn Harbor Board of Trustees voted to keep the Roslyn Fire District---which consists of both Roslyn Rescue and Roslyn Highlands---as its fire company for the village. Citing both overall costs and the proximity of the fire companies to the village, Roslyn Harbor officials had considered transferring its fire service portfolio from the two Roslyn companies to units in Glenwood.

During the meeting, fire company officials, according to Mayor Strassberg, pledged to be more "communicative" with Roslyn Harbor officials.

And so by the end of the meeting, the BOT voted unanimously to keep the Roslyn Fire District as the fire company for the portion of the village they now cover. Namely, the BOT voted to keep the current contract intact up until Dec. 31 of this year. In the meantime, the BOT will evaluate the village's fire service.

In all, the fire companies, Mayor Strassberg added, promised to be more open and accessible, and to "react to observations and suggestions" from the village.

The meeting, the mayor said, went more smoothly than earlier meetings between village and fire company officials. He described the meeting as "placid" with everyone speaking on a friendly basis.

James McCann, president of Roslyn Highlands, agreed with the mayor's assessment of the meeting. For his part, Mr. McCann gave a short history of the volunteer fire companies, adding that they hold open budget meetings every October. He suggested that Roslyn Harbor officials have more input with the Sponsoring Board of the fire companies' Service Award Program.

Mayor Strassberg reiterated that he and the BOT have "nothing but respect and admiration for volunteer firemen, especially those in Roslyn." The decision to keep the Roslyn fire companies, he said, was also based on the fire companies' promise to keep the village better informed on "how they spend the village's money."

The mayor noted that fire company expenditures take up no less than one-third of the entire Roslyn Harbor budget. Hence, the concern for more open communications with the fire companies.

Mr. McCann again agreed that Roslyn Harbor officials "have the right" to know everything that goes on in budgetary matters. He admitted to a lack of communication between the village and the fire companies, while mentioning an incident when an envelope from the village to Roslyn Highlands was not properly addressed.

Village officials, Mr. McCann said, need to come to budget meetings if only to express their needs for specific items in the budget. "All they have to do is give us a call," he said.

Finally, Mr. McCann said that the fire companies greatly appreciated members of the public who came to the meeting and gave them support.

Earlier this summer, when Roslyn Harbor officials were considering a change in services, the village completed a study which determined that the facilities on Grove Street and Glen Head Road in Glenwood were closer to the village than facilities for the two Roslyn fire companies. Village officials also claimed that a change in services would bring "substantial savings" to the village.

Mr. McCann countered that any change in services would not result in real savings for the village. He added that the Roslyn fire companies had both the manpower and equipment to serve Roslyn Harbor and that there are two fire stations both within a quarter of a mile of the village. He also said that since 75-80 percent of all his firefighters live in Roslyn and many others own businesses there, the fire companies have a direct interest in keeping costs down.

Still both sides agreed to discuss all the issues at hand, which resulted in Wednesday night's understanding.