Construction bids were due to be opened by the Village of Mineola and Town of North Hempstead Departments of Public Works on Tuesday for a project to alleviate recurrent flooding on the border of MIneola and Carle Place.
Thomas Rini, superintendent of Mineola’s DPW, told village board members at last Wednesday night’s meeting that 18 contractors had picked up the specifications when they were issued earlier this year.
“Next Tuesday will be a pretty big day. This is something that will be welcomed once we get things rolling,” said Rini, speaking one day after residents in the Bruce Terrace neighborhood had sustained another heavy rainfall.
The flood relief project also involves the county in a three-pronged effort to deal with the problem.
The village, the town and Nassau County each received sthe flood relief project.
State Sen. Jack Martins restored the $2.4 million in funding last year after the original grant, which was secured by the Town of North Hempstead through then-Sen. Craig Johnson, was left in limbo after Johnson lost his seat to Martins in the 2010 election.
The village’s portion of the project will cost $1.7 million.
Rini has said the village’s work will include installation of two new drainage manholes, four new catch basins and removal of approximately 300 feet of existing 18-inch-drainage pipe to be replaced with a new 30-inch drainage pipe on Bruce Terrace.
The total cost for the town’s portion of the project is $1.1 million. Kaiman has said the town may take money from its own capital resources or seek additional outside funding.
The town is responsible for installing new catch basins and drainage pipes on three or four streets adjacent to the Mineola-Carle Place border. It will also construct a catch basin on Mineola land at the Old Motor Parkway property north of Westbury Avenue.
The county’s $1.7 million portion of the project includes installation of 1,715 feet of 36-inch or 48-inch interceptor pipe on Sheridan Boulevard from Raff Avenue, crossing Westbury Avenue and entering the Mineola catch basin.
On the state Department of Transportation project to repave Jericho Turnpike, Rini reported Tully Construction of Flushing, the contractor retained for the project, is currently doing patch repairs along Jericho before starting the working of milling the road surface – grinding down four to eight inches of the roadway – prior to resurfacing it.
Rini said Tully was running behind its projected mid-September time frame to begin the resurfacing process. But he said the primary work should start shortly.
“Things might be pushed back, but there’s still plenty of time left in the season. It’ll all get done,” Rini said.
Lane closures may occur over next five weeks along Jericho from Herricks Road to Glen Cove Road between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
In other developments:
• The board voted unanimously to deny a grievance claim filed by the employee’s union over vacation time accrual.
Village attorney John Spellman said the union claimed the village was in violation of its existing agreement with the employees by changing the rules governing vacation time by awarding vacation time on the anniversary of each employee’s starting date. Spellman said an audit had revealed vacation time was being granted as of January each year.
“We spoke to the union and said we cannot award people vacation before it is earned and we’re going to correct the situation,” Spellman said.
That prompted the union to file the grievance claim the board dismissed.
• Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss said the village board had received “incomplete” plans from the Mineola Board of Education for a plan to make a curb cut on Saville Road on the west side of the Jackson Street School grounds. Strauss said the board would contact the school board “and see what they’re looking to do.”
The school board intends to create space to park four buses on Saville at dismissal time to address a safety issue of parking the buses across the street from the school’s main entrance on Jackson Street.
