Atlantic Beach Notebook: Ticketing Issues and Tennis Facility Development

The Fourth Precinct reported just 17 moving violations in August, once again disappointing Atlantic Beach trustees and residents seeking safer streets in the village. This is 22 less tickets than were handed out in July, 70 less than June and the lowest reported all summer in Atlantic Beach.

A different police officer representing the Fourth Precinct begins the meeting with a monthly police report and each month the board is disappointed, an issue that comes as no surprise for anyone who regularly attends the meetings at Atlantic Beach Village Hall.

“We constantly ask for enforcement during rush hour on Park Street in the middle of the village,” Trustee Edward Sullivan told Officer Cary during last Monday's meeting, who gave the report. “A lot of times they want more enforcement over the bridge, which isn’t really as effective.”

Mayor Stephen Mahler assured the officer that this was not his fault, although he said he would like more patrols.

“This has been going on now for years,” Mahler said. “We just feel there should be more traffic enforcement.”

Tennis Facility Development 

There was also talk at the meeting about granting Shabir Mohamed, owner operator of Atlantic Beach Tennis, a three to five year extension for rehabilitating the complex on The Plaza.

The board has been granting him one-year-extensions for the past several years.

“It’s the biggest piece of property the village owns,” Mahler said. “I think we need to take a stand for what the future of the facility will be.”

According to Mahler, there have been past considerations for building a park, selling the south end of the property for real estate development as well as offers to revitalize the building, however they all fell through.

“None of them turned out to be a practical solutions,” he explained. “We need to find out how much Mohamed is willing to put into it.”

Mohamed, or Mo as he is commonly known in Atlantic Beach, has been operating and maintaining the facility for $25,000 each year while the property costs the village close to $20,000 each year.

Further discussion and a possible solution to this issue will be discussed at next months meeting on Oct. 11.

Electrical Inspector Registration Requirements

A law setting registration requirements for independent electrical inspectors was passed by the Atlantic Beach Board of Trustees.

New provisions now make it mandatory for inspectors to hold a certificate to perform electrical inspections and an engineering license in the state of New York. Also, inspectors are no longer permitted to do electrical work — a regulation specifically intended to prevent self-inspections by contractors. 

“There are a lot of companies that are coming out that want to become electrical inspectors,” Steve Cherson, public works superintendent, explained. “Some of them have their own business and they want to self-inspect at the same time, and we had no guideline for that.”

The new law also includes a fee to grant inspectors permission to operate in the village.