By LARRY MAIER
Baldwin shoppers may soon be tossing their trash into a better class of garbage cans.
The Baldwin Chamber of Commerce and Sanitation District Two have an agreement in principle that would bring 120 new garbage cans to the downtown Baldwin area.
Doug Diana, a Sanitation District Two commissioner and a Baldwin Chamber of Commerce board member, helped to broker the deal last fall and said that the project is another step in the chamber's efforts to revitalize the downtown area and attract new businesses to Baldwin.
At the core of the deal is a promise by Sanitation District Two to cover half the cost of the new cans as long as the chamber of commerce can find a way to finance the other half. At a Jan. 16 chamber of commerce meeting, Diana estimated the cost of the new cans at $70,000 dollars. Sanitation District Two has agreed to finance half of this cost out of the current 2000-2001 budget. The chamber is currently looking for ways to raise the other half and will allow local businesses and residents to sponsor the trash cans and advertise their businesses on them.
Diana described the trash cans as similar to those in neighboring villages like Rockville Centre and Freeport. The cans will be painted blue and gold, the colors of Baldwin, and will have removable plastic liners so that trash will not be visible from the street. The Town of Hempstead has agreed to allow the cans to be permanently mounted along major commercial roadways in Baldwin, said Diana.
One possible obstacle to the project is the fact that Sanitation District Two covers not only Baldwin but parts of South Hempstead and Roosevelt as well. Diana said the sanitation district would make similar offers to help fund new trash cans in these communities. However, if these communities are uninterested in the project, they might take exception to their tax dollars being spent on what is primarily a Baldwin project.
Three years ago, the Baldwin Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Hempstead hired a consulting firm to look into ways to improve business in Baldwin. The result was the Strategic Downtown Improvement Plan, which called for major renovations to the downtown area.
Business will come to Baldwin if they have a reason to come, said Diana who added that the classy, classic can project is another way to elevate the look of Baldwin and continue to move in a positive direction.
