East Rockaway Village Board Welcomes Boy Scouts

Much like their neighbors in Lynbrook did last week, the East Rockaway Board of Trustees turned over a portion of their meeting on Monday to local boy scouts.

Troops 121 and 332 led the opening 45 minutes of the meeting as part of “Good Government Night" as they began by reading statements from village trustees.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for our scouts to understand how a local government works,” scout John Luke Fusco said on behalf of Deputy Mayor Bruno Romano.

Troop 121’s Liam Perini acted as Mayor Francis T. Lenahan Jr., hearing reports from the Fire Department (Matthew Seifert, Troop 121), the Department of Public Works (Alex Kotike, 121), the Building Department (Anthony Capellupo, 332), the Justice Department (Michael Pocress, 121), the Library (Owen Dredger, 332), the Welcome Wagon Committee (Peter Wilson, 121), and the Recreation Department (Christopher Shaw, 332).

Following the presentation, Lenahan acknowledged a group of scouts who helped place “no dumping” signs on local storm drains. The project took on a personal feel for the mayor.

“I’m very impassioned about the state of the village as far as cleanliness and stuff going down our storm drains,” Lenahan said.              

Once the scouts had completed their exercise, the board carried on with regular business. This included the swearing in of the public library’s newest trustee, Craig Mollo.

Mollo, whose five-year term began with the boards authorization (it was unanimous), has previously served on the Oceanside Public Library Board.

“My goal, as with any public institution, is to try and make the library as user-friendly as possible,” Mollo said after the meeting. “I’d like to keep it in the time frame of the 21^st century and encourage residents to use the facilities. As technology improves, we use libraries less and books become less important, so we have to find new roles for public institutions like libraries.”   

Mollo currently works in municipal government and is a past employee of former Congressman Norman Lent.

“I have some experience in the public sector,” Mollo said. “I understand what the residents and the taxpayers need.”

18 other resolutions were passed by the board. One of those items included the ratification of six new Fire Department members, a revelation that Lenahan called “encouraging.”

Another resolution dealt with reimbursement to the village from damage as a result of Hurricane Irene.

The village will receive $45,390.57 followed by an additional $242.14 from its insurance company, according to the board.

The board also approved a request for a proposal for the changing of the village’s phone system. After determining that their current plan was too expensive, the board charged department heads with looking into cheaper ones. They now intend to hear proposals to try and cut that cost, according to Lenahan.