By Andrew Hackmack
The most ambitious project, Cahill said, will be to attract more business to the community. Specifically, he said, village officials are looking to revitalize the downtown area by filling the vacant storefronts on Rockaway Avenue.
Cahill said that officials from a planning firm recently visited the village. After touring the business districts, the firm reported that every commercial area in the village was doing well except for downtown, according to Cahill. "You have to have a specific reason to go to Rockaway Avenue," Cahill said, adding that there is no real anchor store in that particular business district. The village will continue to work with the planning firm, as well as the Chamber of Commerce, to find ways to attract substantial business to Rockaway Avenue, he said.
As part of an ongoing road reconstruction project, 2.2 miles of village streets will be resurfaced in 2008. This is the third year of the project, which is designed to address the worst roads in Valley Stream. Some will be resurfaced entirely, Cahill said, while only the shoulders will be replaced on roads with concrete centers.
Cahill said that $2 million has been set aside for these road repairs in 2008, with 13 streets and one municipal lot scheduled to be repaved. All work will be done by the village's Highway Department. The mayor estimated that work would begin in the spring and wrap up sometime in November.
A few years ago, all village-maintained roads were rated on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst. The worse the rating, Cahill said, the higher a priority a road is for repairs. He estimated that 25 to 30 percent of the worst roads have been resurfaced since the project began.
There will be work done on the stream at the north end of A.J. Hendrickson Park, funded with a state grant. Cahill said the stream will be reconstructed from Hendrickson Avenue south to the footbridge, and will include new retaining walls. In addition, the course of the stream will be straightened out where it passes underneath Hendrickson Avenue.
A dam will also be constructed so that the garbage and debris that flows from the state park collects in one spot, making it easier for village crews to clean. Cahill said that garbage now collects in a wide area down by the footbridge, making cleaning at arduous task. The work on the stream is expected to be completed by the end of the summer, and it will not interfere with people's use of the park, Cahill said.
Two similar projects are planned that Cahill hopes will get under way in 2008, also funded with state money. The stream at the Village Green will be rebuilt from Valley Stream Boulevard to the footbridge. Much of the plant growth in Mill Pond will be removed because, Cahill explained, it inhibits the flow of water with connecting streams and also has become an eyesore. "It takes away from the beautification of the lake," he said.
Thanks to a $250,000 grant, new lighting will be installed throughout the Village Hall and Library complex. This includes all adjoining parking fields and the Village Green. Cahill said the lighting in the area is inadequate, which creates a safety concern. The area gets plenty of pedestrian traffic after dark, including people using the library and people walking from the train station to their cars. The new lighting will also help safeguard village vehicles parked there at night.
A $1.3 million state grant will provide street lighting along Sunrise Highway, from Hook Creek Road, near the Queens border, to Rockaway Avenue. Cahill said this project has been in the works for a few years, and in 2008 it will finally get done.
On the list of new equipment to be purchased are a street sweeper and a bulk sanitation truck. Bathrooms will be renovated at the Brooklyn Avenue Firehouse and fire headquarters, and a new heating and air conditioning system will be installed at the main firehouse.
Trustee Joann Antun, along with village attorney Michael McKenna and zoning board Chairman Ken Vaughn, are working on some code revisions. McKenna explained that there are some inconsistencies in the village code that they are trying to clear up, as well as some definitions that need to be clarified. "We're going through the code and trying to come up with particular provisions that have given us problems over the years," McKenna said.
One issue being addressed is the parking requirements for new businesses. In almost every instance, McKenna said, businesses cannot provide the required number of parking spaces, and have to seek variances from the zoning board, which can add six to nine months to the approval process. "We've got to come to the recognition that you can't always provide on-site parking." he said.
That is almost always the case with businesses on Rockaway Avenue, where the only available parking is on the street and in municipal lots. McKenna said that ridding the code of its strict parking requirements will speed up the planning process and ultimately entice more businesses to come to Valley Stream.
Cahill said that with the code changes, village officials are also hoping to speed up the approval process for residents seeking building permits. "A lot of people are doing work on their homes," he said.
The seats of Trustees Richard Coffman and Edwin Fare are up for election in March, both for four-year terms. Last year, Cahill, Antun and Deputy Mayor Guido Cirenza were all re-elected, so, after the March election, there will be no village election until 2011.
Comments about this story? AHackmack@ liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.
