It has been almost a year since my designation as the town board liaison to the New Cassel/Westbury community, and I would like to take this opportunity to report to the residents on what we've accomplished since we began working together.

From day one, it has been clear that the primary concern has been to find ways to improve the overall quality of life for the community. Issues such as abandoned vehicles, overflowing trash, illegal housing, poor and inoperable street lighting and dangerous traffic have been the most frequently raised. While the town has been working with community groups to develop a new vision for the future of New Cassel, we are also well aware of the necessity of dealing with these immediate concerns.

During this past year, my office has worked with public safety and our building department to increase enforcement; as a result, the town has issued more notices of violation and summonses this year than ever before. The town board has enacted my legislation which makes it easier to remove abandoned vehicles from our streets and also allows for the "booting" of illegally parked commercial vehicles. At the request of many people, we have banned commercial vehicles from Urban Avenue between Prospect Avenue and Broadway. The speed limit on Prospect Avenue has been reduced to 30 mph in order to make that main street both safer for pedestrians, especially children and seniors, and more attractive to businesses.

The town has cleaned up graffiti from park entrances, removed overflowing garbage dumpsters from several areas of the neighborhood, trimmed the trees around street lamps, installed additional street lights, and commenced an aggressive, street by street code enforcement project. At my request, improvements have been implemented at the Westbury LIRR station to increase access for handicapped persons.

We will continue to be proactive in our approach to working with residents of the New Cassel/Westbury area. Much of the input for the actions outlined above has come directly from the monthly meetings I hold with residents. All are invited to attend and share their ideas and suggestions. For information about these meeting dates or answers to any questions, please contact my office. Our e-mail address is pollackf@northhempstead.com; the telephone number is 869-7698.

As this year draws to a close, please allow me to extend my best wishes for a happy holiday and a wonderful and exciting new year to all of your readers.

Fred L. Pollack,

Councilman

Town of North Hempstead