At its most recent meeting, Town of North Hempstead council members unanimously passed a resolution, which officially states their support for the construction of sound barrier walls to be built along the north side of the Long Island Expressway continuously between Roslyn Road and Mineola Avenue. The document was introduced by Councilwoman Doreen Banks.

The resolution lends support to efforts by Roslyn Heights residents to have the sound barrier wall constructed. It not only puts the TONH board "on record" in support of "the community of Roslyn Heights" in its effort to have such walls constructed, it also "urges the State of New York to take into consideration the desires and concerns" of Roslyn Heights residents "as expressed by the [Roslyn Heights] civic association."

The resolution also urges state officials "to take all necessary and lawful measures, in litigation and otherwise, to implement the construction of sound-barrier walls on the North side of the LIE between Roslyn Road and Mineola Avenue."

In addition, the TONH board promised to get involved in the matter itself. The board has resolved "that if the Nassau County Supreme Court issues a permanent injunction in the litigation, the Town Attorney shall review the Court's opinion and advise this Board on whether there are grounds to seek leave to file an amicus curiae brief on appeal of the Court's decision."

A copy of the resolution has been sent to the New York State Department of Transportation, the agency responsible for the LIE expansion project.

The resolution also noted what conflicting opinions on the matter exist between civic association members and state officials. It claims that LIE expansion plans will border residential areas in Roslyn Heights, thus having a "particularly detrimental effect" on the community, due mainly to its topography. The resolution recognizes that the state "has determined that construction of sound barriers between the LIRR train trestle and Mineola Avenue would not be 'cost effective.'" In addition, the state has been prevented from constructing barriers to the east of the trestle by a preliminary injunction granted in the case, Cohen et al. vs. State of New York et al. in the Nassau County Supreme Court.

Furthermore, the resolution cited the position taken by the Roslyn Heights Civic Association---that sound barriers are necessary to "mitigate...detrimental effects, such as sound and air pollution, that the LIE expansion and the absence of sound barriers will have on local residents." And, by passing the resolution, the TONH board left no doubt that it sided with Roslyn Heights residents in their efforts to obtain the construction of sound barrier walls.

"Resolution No. 2000" as it is officially worded, was debated and passed at the TONH's Tuesday, Dec. 12 meeting. Despite the cold weather, a large crowd of Roslyn Heights residents showed up to express their support for the resolution. According to Roslyn Heights Civic Association President Delphine McLean, not a single local resident spoke out against the construction of such a wall.

Civic association members have cited noise problems as a reason for such a wall, whose purpose, as its name states, is to reduce sound. Others have cited health reasons, such as the problem of carbon monoxide fumes seeping into the residential areas of Roslyn Heights. Some civic association members have claimed that once a neighborhood has a reputation for having a noise problem, no one will want to move there.