By:LARRY MAIER
Community needs addressed at town meeting
For some at the March 15 Town of Hempstead meeting, it must have seemed like deja vu.
More than eight months after holding his first town meeting in Baldwin, Councilman Anthony Santino, along with representatives from various town departments, was back. So were some of the same old issues and complaints.
Neville Timoll, who lives on DeMott Avenue, was back. Timoll said the town promised him last year that it would repave his pot-holed street but that no work has been performed. Santino and William Rockensies, the town commissioner of engineering, promised Timoll that the money for the repaving was in the capital budget for this year and that the work would get done.
Don Landolphi of Baldwin also was back. Landolphi asked Santino, "Where are we now?" in regard to the Bay Colony canal problem. People who live along two canals in Baldwin Harbor have been after the town for months to address dredging and bulkhead concerns.
Santino said he has introduced legislation in Albany to have a "benefits assessment" district set up for canal residents that would allow them to have the repair work done by the town and pay for it in the form of a tax assessment over a period of several years. Santino said the town is in the process of getting estimates for an engineer's study so that work can begin quickly if the legislation is passed.
Trucks on Grand Avenue were also a hot topic at the meeting. In recent months, residents have renewed their call to politicians to help stem the excessive truck traffic on the avenue. People blame Rockville Centre's 10-year-old ban on truck traffic through that village for the Grand Avenue congestion.
Santino said he would look into ways to prevent one community from passing off the trucking problem to another, though he was not optimistic that such a change in the system would be possible.
"It's regrettable that Rockville Centre enacted the legislation that it did," Santino said. However, he added that enacting a "local deliveries only" policy on Grand Avenue would be "a knee-jerk reaction" to the problem.
Much work to be done
Also at the meeting, Santino highlighted several projects under way in Baldwin that the town hopes to complete by late summer and one project to be completed by next spring.
A new, $670,000 playground in Baldwin Park, complete with age-appropriate rides and rubberized flooring, will be "ready to go by July," Santino said.
Also, Santino announced plans to rebuild several parking lots in Baldwin, including the lot behind the public library and the commuter lot on Brooklyn Avenue between Grand and Milburn avenues. The renovated lots would include new asphalt, upgraded lighting, re-striping and improved storm drainage. The library lot should be completed by the fall and the commuter lot by spring 2002, said Santino.
Finally, although the town admitted the project isn't moving as quickly as it would have liked, Santino reported that the Facade Improvement Project was back on track. Several stores along Grand Avenue are scheduled to have "facelifts" to their exteriors. Store owners will split the cost of the work with the town. The project has been in the works for almost two years with no visible results.
"We scaled back a bit," John Rottkamp, the town's second deputy commissioner of general services, said about the project. "We are just making a final few minor changes and we should have it all sewn up by August."
Several residents, particularly those who live in north Baldwin, asked Santino and other town officials if there were any renovation projects similar to the one on Grand Avenue planned for the north Baldwin business area.
"North Baldwin is dying right now," one person told Santino.
Santino said that renovation projects would be coming to north Baldwin, but not right away. "We are taking it in stages. You have to start somewhere," he said.
Getting involved in Baldwin
Pat Jackson of Baldwin encouraged his neighbors to participate in community organizations, such as the Chamber of Commerce or the community association, if they really want to see positive changes in their town. "Join anything, get these things done," Jackson exhorted. "We are asking government to do a lot of things that are our own personal responsibilities."
Many Baldwin residents, even those who did not come with a complaint or issue, appreciated the forum.
"Town meetings are a very important part of American society," said Mary Lou Cincotta who, with husband Angelo, has lived in Baldwin for 37 years. "I want to know what's going on in my town."
