The Long Beach City Council met on Oct. 1, addressing several critical issues affecting the community, including concerns over a proposed part-time position to help with the fire department’s paperwork backlog, the acceptance of multiple grants and ongoing infrastructure improvements.
Sam Pinto, a Long Beach firefighter, raised concerns about the proposed part-time role. He pointed out that no job opening or job description had been posted on the city’s website and questioned whether the role was necessary.
“I would like to point out that this type of work can be handled by membership at no additional cost,” Pinto said. “It can be done on duty if it’s only eight hours a week. We have four officers there right now that can handle the workload.”
Pinto also expressed concerns about potential nepotism in the hiring process, suggesting the council table the discussion until city management could provide clarity on the workload and whether simplifying existing processes could address the backlog.
“I think it’s not the best use of city resources and funds,” he added. “I think transferring $25,000 out of the trainee expense budget for this position is a wrong move, especially after the fact that members applied for paramedic training this year, where this money from the training budget could have been utilized, and now it is being shifted away after they were given their lack of approval to attend a course. That type of work, the paramedic work, is the core duties of the fire department.”
The council also discussed accepting a grant to develop a Roadway Safety Action Plan. The plan, created in collaboration with the police department and other city agencies, aims to enhance public safety and reduce traffic accidents, particularly in high-incident areas like Long Beach Road and Park Avenue. The grant allocates funds for identifying traffic issues and accidents, with the police department working alongside traffic engineering experts to develop potential solutions. In the second phase, additional funding can be requested to address these problems.
However, since the roads fall under Nassau County jurisdiction, the city will need to work with the county to secure funding for the necessary improvements.
In addition to the safety plan, the council received a grant of $80,000 for purchasing and planting several hundred trees in the North Park area and $20,000 to reimburse in-house city staff for the planting. Specific locations for the trees have yet to be determined. The grant also allows for the city budget to be allocated for planting in other areas.
The council also reviewed another grant to repair and replace the city’s aging sand filtration tanks at the water purification plant. The filters, about 35 years old, need internal and external repairs. The grant will cover this work, including replacing the sand and gravel used in the filtration process. The city is applying for more grants to update other tanks in the system. The initial grant will fund the repair of at least two filters, and the city hopes to secure additional funding for three or four more. While the filters need to be cleaned and replaced periodically, the exact maintenance schedule is unclear. The system does not use reverse osmosis or a self-cleaning method.
Resident Christina Kramer raised concerns about whether a proposed $2 million filtration system would effectively address the issue of rusty, sediment-filled water in homes.
“The filtration plan will filter the water that’s coming out of the wells, that’s at the beginning of the process,” Creighton explained. “So we will filter the water correctly. You will get clean water at the end of the filtration process.”
Majority of the items received unanimous approval, allowing the council to adopt them successfully.