Calling himself "both privileged and proud" to serve with her, Mayor Jim Damacus accepted the resignation of Trustee Ann Frankel at this month's meeting of the Village of Flower Hill. A standing ovation accompanied the mayor's reading of a Proclamation that chronicled Ms. Frankel's time of service. Citing family and other commitments as reasons for the action, Trustee Frankel, who was scheduled to run for re-election in March of 2002, graciously accepted the Proclamation as she stepped down from the position she has held since 1996. A longtime activist within the community, Frankel has overseen the planting of the village traffic islands, assisted in the design of Village Hall grounds and served as the village arborist, a position that the board has asked her to continue with. Replacing her on the board is Dr. Milton Parker, another longtime resident, who most currently serves on the village's board of zoning and appeals. Diane Turner will fill his vacated BZA position.

CVS sent in an informal application to the village with the intent of possibly establishing a store at the former EAB bank site on Northern Boulevard. Mayor Damascus prefaced the discussion with "If we are not looking at this favorably, we should let them (CVS) know before they spend a whole lot of money on this." It was a short discussion, with the mayor and every trustee expressing opposition to the application. The mayor asked the building inspector to convey the board's opinion to the applicant.

A local law to restrict usage of all-terrain and self-propelled vehicles on village roads was unanimously approved by the board. Village Attorney Harvey Eyesman noted that the law was "primarily for off-road vehicles ... that includes, but is not limited to, gas scooters, go-carts and dirt bikes ... vehicles that do not require a license." Reasons given for the measure included noise and low-profile vehicles that cannot be easily seen and, therefore, pose a possible danger.

On behalf of the Community Liaison Committee, Jane Hone appeared before the board to request that the CLC be allowed to hold its monthly meetings at the village hall. After some discussion regarding number of attendees, what the group's mission is and how setup and cleanup would be handled, the board agreed to a trial run of meetings. It was unanimously approved to allow the CLC to meet through May 2002 at the village hall.

The mayor reminded those present that voting day for the village will be on March 19, 2002 and that petitions are due in.

The next meeting of the Village of Flower Hill will take place on Monday, Jan. 7, 2002 at the Village Hall, One Bonnie Heights Road.