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March 23, 2012
Dear Resident:
While many have thought that this winter was really an early spring,
spring has officially arrived and the Village begins another cycle of
Camp Lake Success. The golf course has opened the earliest in at least
seventeen years, based on the memory of Golf Course Superintendent Bob
Johnston, and the Park Commission is already making plans for the pool
and tennis complex. We are hopeful for another season of full
utilization of our recreational facilities for the benefit of our
residents.
Over the winter the various Boards, Commissions and Committees have been
playing an active part in advancing the interests of the Village and
have been dealing with issues that affect all of us. There has been a
final resolution of the catering issue at the Community Building. The
decision made, extending the current contract of CulinArt for a three
and a half year period, has drawn emotional fire on both sides of the
decision. However, sometimes action needs to be taken that isn’t going
to please everyone and this one certainly did not. One day when I write
my memoirs about being a small town mayor, I will include a chapter
entitled “The Catering Wars”. Without going into the drama of the past
year and a half, I just want to impart to you that the individuals who
were on both the Search Committee and the Negotiating Committee put in
countless hours on your behalf and you should be thankful that your
fellow residents are willing to put in that much time and effort on your
behalf. They acted with integrity and a great deal of patience. Those
that berate the result and the individuals who made the hard choices
need to be a bit more sensitive to the work that was done. We are
hopeful that the next few years will result in a positive experience for
our residents and I am hopeful that all residents will support the Grill
Room so that we can determine how best to go forward.
There are a number of issues that we are/will be dealing with on the
commercial side of the Village.
One is the ongoing application of the owners of 1111 Marcus Avenue to
change the use of that building and to provide adequate parking for
their tenants. That application still needs final approval of the
Planning Board, the Board of Zoning and Appeals and the Board of
Trustees but it is moving along and I would hope that it would be
concluded in the next several months. I want to bring to your attention
one aspect of that application. Included in the Environmental Impact
Statement, which is a part of the application, is a declaration from the
owners that in recognition of the changes being sought and the possible
impact on the Village, they will be making a payment to the Village of
$1,000,000 initially, with another $1,000,000 within five years. In
addition, they will be making a $100,000 payment each year in
perpetuity. I have discussed with the Board of Trustees how to utilize
the funds that would be received under the owner’s declaration and it is
our current consensus that we would make improvements to the Community
Building so that there is a lasting effect of the receipt of those
funds. As many of you know, the building when constructed did not
provide for a card room and the gym is too small for the increased use
that it is getting. We will see if we can correct those deficiencies
without utilizing the General Fund. I will apprise you of what plans the
Board has as soon as decisions are made and of course when the funds are
received.
A developer has purchased property located on the North Service Road and
has approached the Village with respect to building an Assisted Living
facility devoted to Alzheimer patients. The Board has given its consent
for the developer to make an application for this project - such
application needs the appropriate review of the various Boards that will
be involved before the project can move forward. Since there will have
to be a change in zoning to accommodate this project we will be
utilizing Incentive Zoning which in broad terms, under New York State
law, means that there will be a cost to the developer to receive such a
change.
The year ahead promises to be a difficult one on the financial front. By
the time you receive this letter, the Board will have already gone
through a work session with respect to the budget for fiscal 2013. I
hope that many of you attended the session to find out firsthand the
issues that we face. The Board will have to decide whether it is in the
best interests of the Village to opt out of the New York State
requirement for a 2% cap on property tax increases. The Board has to
take into consideration the significant increases in pension and health
care costs that are mandated by the state and over which we have no
control. The public hearing on the final budget will occur on April 9th
in the Board Room at the Community Building and I encourage you to
attend. Compounding our financial issues is the fact that we will be
entering into negotiations with our two employee unions, CSEA and PBA.
These are going to be difficult negotiations and I cannot at this time
predict the outcome. I have created a Negotiating Committee which,
because of the importance of these negotiations, includes the entire
Board of Trustees and have appointed Deputy Mayor Lam to lead
negotiations with the PBA and Trustee Paul Glantz to lead negotiations
with the CSEA.
The recent change, suggested by Trustee Paul Glantz, to the primary
ambulance service utilized by the Village from Nassau County to North
Shore-LIJ has proven to be very successful. North Shore’s service has
been very responsive and we have already begun to see savings with
respect to police overtime. I encourage you to review the instructions
that you received from Chief Lang as to the procedures to follow if you
need such assistance. If you want another copy, please contact the
Village office.
As you know, Nassau County is consolidating the number of police
precincts and we have ended up being the loser with the closing of the
Sixth Precinct. While we have our own police department and are not as
affected as other villages on the peninsula, we could lose the
timeliness of utilization of Nassau County’s police detectives. I
testified before the Nassau County Legislature, imploring them to
reconsider their, in my opinion, flawed plan. I believe that this
consolidation will reduce an already deteriorating police presence on
the Great Neck peninsula and I will enter into discussions with the
other Mayors to explore a unified program to strengthen police
protection.
We have been in discussions, led by Trustee Fred Handsman, with LIPA to
improve the electric power in the Village in order to reduce the number
of power outages we have been encountering. I met recently with LIPA and
they have been making progress in getting this accomplished. Please see
the enclosed LIPA letter outlining the
improvements being made. Hopefully this will result in ensuring that we
will not only be reducing power outages but also be getting quicker
response when they do occur. We will continue to monitor LIPA’s actions
in the Village.
Miracles of miracles--I am told that the repaving of Lakeville Road and
Horace Harding Blvd. will commence within about a month. As you know, we
have been hounding Nassau County to get this accomplished and I am
pleased that it is finally getting done. I am told that all work will be
performed at night and we will get to you information on road closings
as soon as we receive it. We have to give Legislator Judi Bosworth a big
assist on this one. She fought for us and was very supportive of my
discussions with Nassau County.
Since the weather has been so mild there are more residents taking walks
in the Village in the evening. This creates a potential safety hazard if
motorists cannot see the walkers. If you are walking in the evening,
please utilize reflective clothing and flashlights to assist motorists
in avoiding accidents.
This letter has been a long one but as you can see there is a lot
happening. We try to communicate to you through our Swift 911 System on
a timely basis but you should also monitor our website so that you can
review the various minutes and agendas of
our various Boards, Commissions and Committees.
Our Village is a very special place and it takes a great number of you
volunteering your time to ensure that we continue along a positive path
in keeping the quality of life that we have grown accustomed to. I thank
all of those volunteers for their dedication on your behalf. This past
year we have lost a number of individuals who contributed their time to
the Village’s benefit. Among the recent losses are Milton Lewis, Alan
Gibstein, Jerry Rosenberg and Stewart Chodosch. We extend to their
families our sincere condolences. They will be sorely missed.
To all of our residents, I say go out and smell the roses, put all of
your frustrations in context and live life to its fullest.
Sincerely,
Ron
Ronald S. Cooper
Mayor
October 2011
Dear Resident:
It has been some time since I have sent out a “Mayor’s Letter” but
frankly I thought that since I have communicated with you so many times
via e-mail and phone during the past few months that you would be tired
of hearing from me. We have certainly gone through some “interesting”
events including, a major hail storm, a hurricane and even an
earthquake. I have been asked what I have in store for the Village next
year - the thought occurred to me, maybe locusts - only kidding!!!
Throughout all the adversity that we went through, the Village’s various
Boards, Commissions and Committees have been working hard on behalf of
the Village. They have been dealing with Village issues and have
developed programs to enhance the quality of life of our residents.
The Planning Board has been extremely active, dealing with a number of
applications not only pertaining to resident homes but also related to
several commercial buildings within the Village. One such commercial
application is that of 1111 Marcus Avenue regarding, in part, an
expansion of North Shore/LIJ’s facilities at that location. It is an
extremely complex application and the Planning Board members have spent
significant time in its review.
The Environmental Commission
recently completed a very successful electronic recycling program in
which they collected approximately 1.6 tons of electronics for
appropriate disposal. The Commission has also investigated the use of
coal tar products that are used in driveway sealants and have concluded
that they are hazardous to your health. The Board of Trustees is in the
process of considering whether to ban their use in the Village. The
Commission has also planned to participate in a national program aimed
at disposing unused or expired medications. See the enclosed report from
the Commission for an explanation of these issues and programs.
As you know, I established a Search Committee to determine candidates
for the food service contract at the Community Building. The current
contract with CulinArt expires in 2012 and we went through a very
detailed process in order to move forward. The Committee, aided by a
consultant hired to assist them in this process, narrowed down the
respondents to our Request for Proposal from eight to three (including
CulinArt) and out of the three recommended to the Board, the preferred
candidate is H on the Harbor. The Board at its October 11th meeting
voted to make H on the Harbor the “lead candidate” for the purposes of
proceeding to negotiate a contract. Should we, for whatever reason, fail
to be able to conclude a contract with H on the Harbor, the Board would
then reconsider the other remaining candidates. I have appointed a
Negotiating Committee to continue and hopefully conclude the process.
We are very near completion of the Solar Panel project for which the
Village received a federal grant of $500,000. We have already installed
the panels on our DPW building and should complete the installation on
our Community Building by mid November. The state agency through which
the grant is being administered, NYSERDA, has asked that we have a press
conference upon completion of the project and we will be inviting
various state and local officials to mark the occasion. We will give you
advance notice of when that will occur.
In an attempt to improve our communication with residents, we recently
asked that you give the Village your cell phone number in case of power
outages. Please insure that the Village has all your pertinent
information, including primary and alternate phone numbers, e-mail
addresses and cell phone numbers. You can do this online by going to our
website and clicking on the Swift911 button. Also, if you have anyone in
your household that is disabled, please inform the Police Department as
well as the Village office. This information is important in case of
emergencies.
There has recently been higher than normal police activity within the
Village due to a few attempted break-ins. As I continue to remind you,
please ensure that you put on your alarm systems even when you are at
home. The police response time in the recent events was three minutes
because the homes hit had functioning alarm systems. It is important
that you have an alarm system that functions properly. The Police
Department, in response to this recent activity, has developed a plan
called “Operation Safe Home” which is designed to intensify surveillance
in the Village. The plan, which is enclosed, includes cooperation from
residents. I encourage you to take it seriously. Also, we have recently
hired two officers to replace retirees. One is a female, a first for
Lake Success. The new officers are Jessica Toleno and Patrick McGowan
and are currently undergoing training at the Nassau County Police
Academy. We welcome them to the Department.
In light of the enacted New York State legislation concerning a property
tax cap, I have caused our Village Treasurer to begin our budget process
earlier than usual. As I have explained to you in previous letters, it
is going to be difficult for the Village to be able to comply with the
cap but the Board of Trustees is determined to try its best to do so.
More to come later on this subject as we move ahead in the process.
To those of you of the Jewish faith I wish you a happy and healthy New
Year and to all best wishes for a fruitful season ahead. My thanks again
to every volunteer whose hard work on our various Boards, Commissions
and Committees makes the Village a great place to live in.
Sincerely,
Ron
Ronald S. Cooper
Mayor
P.S. While there were numerous newspaper and media reports concerning
the police action on our golf course that occurred on Friday, October
14th, they failed to mention the intricate role that the Lake Success
Police Department played in the eventual apprehension of the suspects in
the London Jewelry store robbery. Quick action by Sgt. Fernandez, P.O.
Alter and P.O. Cancel in cutting off their escape route on the Long
Island Expressway was followed by Sgt. Fernandez coordinating with
Nassau County and New York City police and by officers Cancel and Alter
actually apprehending two of the suspects. Kudos to all involved. To say
the least, it was an interesting day.
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