Envision devises a plan

Cleaning up local waterways and better connecting local parks were some of the topics discussed at Monday’s Envision Valley Stream meeting that focused primarily on the village’s parks department and environment.

The discussion at Sip This on Rockaway Avenue dealt with Envision Valley Stream’s community development plan, which aims to help improve the local community. Valley Stream is known for its vast amount of parks, according to Envision President David Sabatino, but the current setup of those parks could be enhanced.

“The number of parks in Valley Stream is a huge strength,” Sabatino said. “There is no other community on Long Island that probably has the number and the quality of the parks, especially in succession. But they’re disconnected in that you have to travel across major roads.”

Valley Stream resident Martin Zirpolo worked in the parks and recreation field for more than 20 years. He suggested creating a shuttle bus to transport people to and from the parks around Valley Stream. “When you have a shuttle bus,” Zirpolo said, “you can pick up the group of children, with the parental consent and all of the liability so there’s no problems, and you take them to the parks with an escort.”

The idea of creating a bike path alongside the Long Island Rail Road track that then runs north toward Merrick Road was brought up by Sabatino to give riders a safe passage through the village. He said the path is currently there, but is unlit and would need the approval of the LIRR.

“If kids that live in the west end of Valley Stream, instead of riding their bikes all the way on Merrick Road or through all of these streets,” Sabatino said, “they could actually link up with something that’s a lot safer and it’s already there.”

Making Valley Stream a safer and more unified place are big parts of Envision’s community plan, but the group also aims to make the village more environmentally friendly as well.

Deputy Mayor Vincent Grasso said he has been in contact with Robert Kennedy Jr.’s organization, Riverkeeper, which aims to protect New York State waterways. Grasso said the creek that empties into Hendrickson Park takes on a lot of salt and sand from the nearby Southern State Parkway and the village is looking to combat that problem.

Grasso said he is also pushing for the village to adopt a rain barrel program to cut down on water waste. He said the people could put rain barrels under their gutters and use that water for watering their lawns or washing their cars.

“If you think about it,” Grasso said, “the amount of expense that goes into making water good enough to drink…we pull it out of the ground, chlorinate, fluorinate, clean it and when people use it they put in on their lawn. It’s a terrible waste of energy and money. This is good water that we spend a lot of money to bring to each household that really essentially gets flushed down the toilet.”

Resident Sara Shenin suggested incentive programs for people who choose to act environmentally friendly and said more people would then be inclined to participate.

The village has also been in contact with White Roofs, which is an organization that paints roofs with a special type of white paint to reflect the sun instead of absorbing it like blacktop, according to Grasso. He said the village would only have to absorb the cost of the paint and that he has been told that cooling costs could be reduced by 20 percent with the help of White Roofs.

Zirpolo asked if administrative buildings in the village could have solar panels installed to improve efficiency, but Grasso said the cost is too steep at this time.

Envision members also discussed areas were trees could be planted around Valley Stream. Grasso said the village orders 300 trees a year to be planted and the first priority is to see if any residents would like one before planting them in commercial areas.

The next Envision Valley Stream meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Sip This on Rockaway Avenue.