Residents for a More Beautiful Syosset held a meeting on Tuesday, May 6, which gave local residents the opportunity to be updated on local issues and ask questions of Residents board members. Also, Joe Lorintz, the guest speaker, updated those in attendance about environmental issues and explained the newly proposed Aquifer Overlay District.

Robert Rockelein, vice president of the Residents group, opened the meeting by explaining the goals of Residents, which include improving pedestrian safety, beautifying the community, fighting unnecessary down-zoning and informing the community of quality of life issues.

Laura Schulz, from Friends of the Syosset library, spoke to those in attendance about the need for more room at the library and she encouraged everyone to vote yes for the library budget and bond referendum on June 3.

Lorraine Donlon reminded everyone that this Saturday, May 10 is the community garden and memorial park clean-up and she encouraged anyone interested to show up with a small shovel and garden gloves at 10 a.m.

Rockelein told everyone that the Steering Committee, which consists of community members, civic leaders and politicians and was formed to determine the strengths and weaknesses in Syosset, should be sending out a survey soon and it will be mailed to homes and located on the Residents website (www.Syosset.org). He said this survey would allow residents to give their input on the community and what they think should be done to improve it.

Questions were raised about Syosset's Cerro Wire site, although there is no new information at this time. Everyone involved is still waiting to find out if the Court of Appeals will hear the case.

Guest speaker Joe Lorintz took the floor next. Lorintz explained that Nassau County has not been developed properly and now it is overdeveloped and polluted. "We have a limited amount of natural resources and open space in the Town of Oyster Bay," said Lorintz. "Nassau is 98 percent developed and the 2 percent of open space that is left is in the Town of Oyster Bay."

Lorintz explained that Nassau County's water is from underground - there are no reservoirs in Nassau County. The Special Groundwater Protection Area, located in the northern part of the Town of Oyster Bay, was created to protect the sole source aquifer, Nassau County's source for drinking water.

Lorintz said that the United Civic Association of North Oyster Bay, a coalition of civic and homeowner groups, has been working with Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto and recently announced a moratorium on new development in the state-designated Special Groundwater Protection Area. Also, an Aquifer Protection Overlay District, which would impose strict development limitations in the SGPA, was proposed.

According to Lorintz, this moratorium will put an immediate stop to development for a limited amount of time in order for legislation to be drafted to create the Aquifer Overlay District and, in the long run, help preserve drinking water in Nassau County. "What we put onto the ground is what we drink and bathe in," said Lorintz. "We need pure land to get pure drinking water."

For more information about the Residents for a More Beautiful Syosset, please call 364-2649 or visit www.syosset.org.