Village Board Meeting Addresses Hurricane Irene Expenses

Costs associated with the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, home improvement grants, and charity fundraisers were among the topics covered at this week's meeting of the Massapequa Park Village Board.

The main item at Monday's meeting was the authorization of the Treasurer to make several modifications to the Village's General Fund to reflect expenditures incurred in the wake of Hurricane Irene.

The Village Board increased their emergency management expenses from $9,000 to more than $66,000 because of the storm. 

But the cost was offset in part by a $50,000 reimbursement the village is receiving from the federal government.

A public hearing was also announced to be held on Monday, November 14, at 8 p.m. to amend a Village ordinance to include a new Sub-Section regarding sidewalk permits. Altadonna said this was being done to protect trees in the Village.

"We noticed that, with Hurricane Irene, that a lot of trees that had fallen due to sidewalk repairs where the roots were cut," he said. "The roots being cut automatically affects the integrity of the tree. What we're trying to do is to catch that before it happens."

The Village also granted use of Brady Park to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society for the purpose of holding a fundraising bike ride event on May 20, 2012.

 "We've done this for a number of years, every year," Altadonna said. "It's a good, worthy cause."

The Village also announced that they had entered into an agreement with Nassau County for a Community Development Program. Altadonna explained that this amounts to funds for Village residents in need of home improvements.

"Every year we go to the County and try to get funds for people to fix up their houses," he said. "We always ask for about $100,000...this year, we were fortunate enough, especially with budgets as they are these days, to get $40,000."

Before the meeting started, mayor Altadonna handed out awards to two local sports groups: a senior Bocce team and a baseball Little League team.

The next regularly-scheduled meeting of the Massapequa Park Village Board is on Monday, October 24, at 8 p.m.