The recent Indian summer weather might at least make people temporarily forget temporarily at least about the problem of rising oil heating prices, but members of the Roslyn Country Club Civic Association have been looking ahead to the winter months. Last month, they held a special meeting both for their own members and any interested citizens of the Roslyn area to meet with a heating oil company offering caps on oil pricing, plus other special rates and discounts.

Ron Steiger, the commissioner of security for the civic association, has been in charge of a private patrol that regularly makes the rounds in the neighborhoods that the civic association serves. When an alarm monitor that the civic association uses was no longer being done through the Nassau County police, Mr. Steiger learned that the companies that do such alarm monitoring also operate home oil heating services. Mr. Steiger then called representatives of the various companies, asking if they would be willing to work with the civic association concerning some stability with oil prices. Residents in Roslyn had been complaining about the fluctuation in such prices occurring on a daily basis.

Most companies were reluctant to work with the civic association. The exception was General Utilities of Plainview, one of the larger such home oil heating companies in Long Island. So, on Tuesday, Sept. 26, over 200 people from both the civic association and the Roslyn area came to a meeting at the Roslyn Country Club to listen to representatives from General Utilities.

In short, the company offered the entire community a two-season agreement, which featured a "locked-in" cap price of $1.59 per gallon. They also offered a 5-cent "prompt payment" discount and a 2-cent discount for senior citizens. A prompt payment means that if a homeowner pays their bill to General Utilities within ten days, then 5 cents comes off a gallon of oil. In addition, General Utilities will charge a discount price of $18 a month for the monitoring of their Central Station for alarm services.

Mr. Steiger said civic association members were "thrilled and happy" with the interest General Utilities showed in the community. He added that the oil heating company not only offered a good deal to local residents, but did a lot in "pulling the community together," at least alerting them to what can be done by any impending increases or fluctuations in oil or gasoline prices.

Mr. Steiger also emphasized that the cap price on oil costs would go lower if prices themselves fell. Civic association members claim that the "large volume of people" in both the civic association itself and in surrounding communities helped them negotiate the special rates. The Roslyn Civic Association has 712 family members.