Town of Oyster Bay Councilwoman Bonnie Eisler announced last week that she is working in conjunction with Congressman Steve Israel to secure $8 million through the Federal Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21) to help alleviate the severe shortage of commuter parking spaces at the Syosset train station.

According to Eisler, insufficient commuter parking is one of the most common complaints she receives and is among the highest priorities being addressed by the Syosset Redevelopment and Revitalization Task Force.

Úquot;Unfortunately, the number of parking spaces at the Syosset station has not kept pace with the additional number of commuters,Úquot; said Eisler. Úquot;Over the past year, the Task Force has identified several potential locations for additional parking, but we all realize that we need more money than the town can provide alone to purchase any additional property. Congressman Israel is pushing hard for this project down in Washington, and we look forward to providing the parking that our residents so desperately need.Úquot;

At Eisler's request, the town has begun the application process, the results of which will not be known until later this year. Also, since TEA 21 projects have a state or local sponsor to provide non-federal matching funds, Eisler is seeking a commitment from the town and state to participate in this effort.Úquot;

One of the platforms that Eisler had when she was running for office was to implement vision processing or Úquot;master planningÚquot; in the Town of Oyster Bay, especially Syosset. Úquot;Supervisor Venditto renamed this idea the Vision 2020 plan and now several hamlets have begun to form master plans for their area,Úquot; said Eisler. Úquot;One was recently started in Syosset and Councilman Chris Coschignano and I are sitting on that committee. One of the major problems that the master plan committee has already identified is the lack of parking in downtown Syosset.Úquot;

Eisler worked with Congressman Israel, who, after redistricting, now represents the second congressional district, which includes the Syosset area, to begin the grant process.

Úquot;Nothing has been finalized in this Master Plan for Syosset, but it takes so long to get money so I thought that if we didn't start thinking about this now, once the committee came up with their recommendations it would increase the amount of time for the process to go further,Úquot; said Eisler. Úquot;There is no guarantee that we will get any money, but we should try now since everyone agrees that parking is a problem.Úquot;

There are many steps involved in obtaining grant money and, according to Eisler, approximately only 10 percent of the projects receive the grants. Úquot;There is more chance that we won't get the money than we will but if you don't ask then you definitely won't get the money,Úquot; said Eisler.

The task force has discussed several possibilities on how to alleviate the parking problem at the Syosset railroad station and Eisler plans on working with the task force and the community toward a solution.

Úquot;There is a possibility of a parking garage, but that would be subject to where, which is a subject that is very vague right now,Úquot; said Eisler. Úquot;There are strict ways that you can spend these grants, if we get them,Úquot; said Eisler. Úquot;Based on input from the community and the committee, it will all be an open process and we will decide on what is best for Syosset.Úquot;

There is no timeline in place right now as this is in the preliminary stages. Úquot;It is a great group of people that we are working with on the hamlet plan and I think we are going to see a lot of good things come out of this for the Syosset community,Úquot; said Eisler. Úquot;I am very proud to be a part of it and a force that got this thing going after so many years.Úquot;