March 2017

NCVOA MARCH 2017 NEWSLETTER

Published by the NCVOA

P O Box 484, New Hyde Park, NY 11040

516-437-1455 F 516-437-1456

March 2017 General Membership Meeting

Tuesday, March 14, 2017-6:30 PM

Westbury Manor, Westbury, NY

Guest Speaker

ERIC ALEXANDER

Vision Long Island, Director

“Zoning for the Future”

Eric Alexander is the Director of Vision Long Island, the areas Smart Growth planning organization. Eric has over twenty-five years of experience in housing, transportation, community development and coordinating successful community projects. Specifically, Eric has been a proponent of downtown planning, infrastructure investment and mixed use development through advocacy efforts on Federal, State, County levels while working with municipalities to develop and implement smart growth policies, regulations, and projects. All told his efforts at Vision Long Island have resulted in acting as a catalyst for well over 100 Smart Growth projects supporting over 12,000 units of Transit Oriented Development across Long Island

From the Presidents Desk:

Dear Mayors, Trustees and Friends:

As the New York State budget season unfolds, one of the most controversial proposals in the Governor’s 2017 – 2018 draft budget is the “consolidated shared services” initiative applicable to all New York State villages, towns,counties and cities with a population of less than one million. In essence, it would require that an annual referendum be held by each county(outside of NYC) so that all County voters could have a voice in deciding upon locally developed plans to MANDATE additional consolidation of services.

At NYCOM’s annual legislative conference on February 13^th, mayors unanimously rejected the Governor’s consolidation mandate at a press conference and continued to call for the first increase in municipal aid to villages in nine years. As mentioned in the NYCOM press release “the Governor’s proposed Property Tax Savings Plan is just another top-downState mandate that clearly ignores the root causes of high property taxes and fails to recognize the prevalence of shared services among New York’s cities, villages, towns and counties. NYCOM also called on the Governor and State legislators to restore $133 million in municipal aid cuts, which would be the first increase in municipal aid in nine years.”

The Nassau County Village Officials Association supports NYCOM’s requests and at our Executive Board meeting on February 23^rd, passed the following resolution which has been hand delivered to all State legislators at their Albany offices.

RESOLUTION OF THE NASSAU COUNTY VILLAGE OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION:

February 23, 2017

Whereas the Nassau County Village Officials Association represents 64 incorporated villages with more than 450,000 residents, and

Whereas village government is the government closest to the people, recognized by many as the most cost-effective and efficient form of local government, and

Whereas NCVOA member villages have, for decades, shared services with other villages, towns, and Nassau County to consolidate efforts and reduce costs to improve the level of services to residents, and

Whereas the governor’s proposed 2017 New York State budget directs a referendum be conducted by each county outside the city of New York, to further mandate additional consolidation of services, and

Whereas this referendum calls for non-village residents to determine the level of reductions within village jurisdictions, and

Whereas, this referendum is merely a duplication of practices already implemented and functioning, and

Whereas this referendum is a direct challenge to Home Rule, a basic tenant of village government that has existed for more than 300 years, therefore be it

Resolved that the members of the Nassau County Village Officials Association, representing 64 villages with 450,000 residents, and the New York State Conference of Mayors, representing 550 villages vehemently opposes the requirement for a mandatory referendum.

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend our February 16^thgeneral membership meeting and would like to thank 1^st Vice-President BobKennedy, mayor of Freeport, for arranging for the evenings speakers –representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers, and for addressing the audience about the proposed ocean surge barriers to be installed at Jones inlet and the East Rockaway Channel inlet. The engineers provided a basic outline of what was scheduled in the feasibility study for the back bays of Nassau County and estimated that the study could take three to five years. They also acknowledged that surge barrier gates which were installed about fifty years ago have proven to be effective in Stamford,Connecticut and New Bedford, Massachusetts. The presentation was well received and audience participants included representatives from the Town of Hempstead as well as several Nassau County legislators.

Please join your Executive Board and NYCOM in reaching out to your State legislators to support an increase in AIM funding for villages as well as a rejection of the consolidated services mandate proposal.

Please join me at our March 14^th general membership meeting when our guest speaker will be Eric Alexander, Director of Vision Long Island. Mr. Alexander is a noted authority on community revitalization and will address regional issues impacting Long Island, community-based planning, and the threats to local municipal control over the planning and development process.

Over the years, Mr. Alexander has led visionary and other progressive planning techniques for about twenty Long Island communities. During 2002, he organized Long Islands first Smart Growth Awards event and led its first Smart Growth Summit. The Summit, now held annually, attracts over 1200 attendees and develops a policy agenda for downtown redevelopment and infrastructure.

I look forward to an interesting, insightful presentation and an enjoyable evening.

Yours in good government,

Bernard D. Ryba

President – NCVOA

NCVOA Supports Mainline Mayors’ Request :

One of the more controversial issues impacting some NCVOA member villages is Governor Cuomo’s plan to expand the LIRR’s main line by adding a third track from the Queens border to Hicksville. The multi-year project also calls for elevating several grade crossings. Mayors from the villages most significantly impacted by this large-scale effort – namely Bellerose, Floral Park, Stewart Manor, Garden City, Mineola, New Hyde Park and Westbury – have been vocal in representing their constituents and ensuring any disruption to their respective communities is minimal.

As the process progresses from the DEIS stage to a final EIS, the Mainline Mayors requested the NCVOA support their efforts to have the DEIS revised to address additional comments and concerns they have identified.

In response to this request the NCVOA approved the following resolution, which was sent to Governor Cuomo and MTA officials:

RESOLUTION OF THE NASSAU COUNTY VILLAGE OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION:

Re: Main Line Mayors

February 23, 2017

WHEREAS, the LIRR and MTA have issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (“DEIS”) in connection with the Third Track Project the “Project”), that affects the communities situated along the LIRR mainline (the “Mainline Communities”); and

WHEREAS, the Mainline Communities include at least six (6) villages that are members of the NCVOA; and

WHEREAS, the Mainline Villages have participated in the SEQRA process, and many have submitted formal comments to the DEIS that outline the concerns and comments to the DEIS that their respective communities have with respect to the Project (including the comments and concerns outlined by consultants, attorneys and other professionals on behalf of some of the Mainline Communities); and

WHEREAS, the Mainline Villages have requested that NCVOA support their efforts to have the DEIS revised to address additional identified comments and concerns.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED, that NCVOA hereby supports the requests made by the Mainline Villages, that the LIRR/MTA revise the DEIS to address all legitimate and reasonable comments and concerns raised by the Mainline Villages and their respective residents and stakeholders; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the executive director and President of NCVOA are hereby authorized to send a letter to the Governor, LIRR and MTA urging that the LIRR/MTA address each legitimate and reasonable comment and concern that has been raised by the Mainline Villages, and that the DEIS or Final Environmental Impact Statement include reasonable, adequate and appropriate mitigation of all adverse impacts identified in the DEIS or identified by the Mainline Communities (or their consultants, attorneys and professionals).

FEBRUARY 2017 MEETING ATTENDEES

Unites States Army Corps of Engineers representative Clifford Jones discussed is agency’s process for vetting project proposals	NCVOA 1st Vice President and Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy explains his proposal for preventing future south shore flooding by installing retractable flood gates at the Jones Beach inlet

Freeport Mayor’s Assistant Peggy Lester, newly elected NYS Senator John Brooks, and NCVOA Executive Director Warren Tackenberg	Lynbrook Village Administrator John Giordano with Farmingdale village officials- Trustee Cheryl Parisi, Deputy Mayor Pat Christiansen, Trustee Bill Barrett, and Mayor Ralph Ekstrand

NCVOA Executive Director Warren Tackenberg with guest speaker Clifford Jones from the United States Army Corps of Engineers	NCVOA Immediate Past President and Plandome Manor Mayor Barbara Donno and Baxter Estates Mayor Nora Haagenson

NCVOA Past President and former Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman, Bert Patterson from the Town of Hempstead, and NCVOA and NYCOM Past President Ernie Strada	NCVOA Treasurer and Farmingdale Mayor Ralph Ekstrand with NCVOA Past President and Westbury Mayor Peter Cavallaro

Plandome Heights Trustee Al Solomon and Baxter Estates Deputy Mayor Charles Comer	Stewart Manor Mayor Jerry Tangredi and Floral Park Mayor Tom Tweedy

Westbury Trustee Bill Wise with Garden City Mayor Nick Episcopia	Cedarhurst Deputy Mayor Ron Lanzilotta, Sr. and Building Department Superintendent Wayne Yarnell

	The Last Word: “We don’t know who we are till we see what we can do.” Martha Grimes