Commuters parking at the Long Island Rail Road train station plaza in East Williston can look forward to higher prices in the new year – as can commercial businesses located there.
The East Williston Village Board voted Monday night to increase the cost of annual parking permits for the village station plaza from the current rate of $35 rate to $75 next year and to $90 in succeeding years. The new rate takes effect on Feb. 1. Parking permits required for commercial buildings next door to Village Hall will increase from the current rate of $50 to $100 per year.
“In a majority of cases we’re below, if not well below, what surrounding villages are charging,” said Village of East Williston David Tanner before the unanimous vote was taken at the board’s regularly scheduled meeting.
Tanner said the Village of Mineola currently charges $55 for parking in its Long Island Rail Road station plaza. East Williston Deputy Mayor Bonnie Parente said Mineola also has parking garages that provide that village revenues for parking.
Tanner said that while the board did not consider the dollar increases to be large, it was sensitive to the percentage increases it is imposing. He said the revenues would cover the village maintenance costs of the parking facilities.
The village board also voted unanimously at the meeting to increase fees for plumbing fixtures from the current $5 per fixture to $15 fixture starting next year. Plumbing permits will remain at $50 per project.
In other developments:
• Tanner said the village is still tabulating expenses the village incurred from Hurricane Sandy and the subsequent nor’easter to present to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He said some money budgeted for tree trimming would cover some village costs, but said he doubted “that’s going to account for it all.”
He said the village also has contingency funds to use in the short term and will borrow funds if needed.
Village Deputy Mayor Bonnie Parente said the East Williston Fire Department is still compiling hours they put in during Hurricane Sandy so that information can be submitted to FEMA. She said she anticipated that FEMA would cover 75 percent of the village’s costs from the recent storms. She said she hoped the state would cover the remaining 25 percent, although she said the state typically covered 12.5 percent.
• Village Trustee Christopher Siciliano reported that the state Department of Transportation completed its pick up of debris from Hurricane Sandy and the nor’easter during a two-day operation. He said the village Department of Public Works began grinding tree stumps on Monday. Siciliano also reported that a generator for the East Williston Fire Department had been hooked up to Village Hall to avoid a power outage in any future emergencies.
• East Williston Fire Department Chief Patrick Theodore reported the department’s volunteers responded to 37 calls in November, most post-hurricane. He commended members of his department for their efforts in assisting South Shore fire departments, including Long Beach, which had lost the use of much of their equipment due to the hurricane.
• Two residents raised concerns about the possibility of large trees collapsing on their houses in future storms. One resident suggested the village consider permitting residents to remove healthy trees that potentially endangered structures. One woman suggested the village consider permitting residents to remove large trees and replace them with smaller ones.
Tanner said the village board would consider the suggestions, but said, “If we removed every tree that might fall on a house, you know what we’d wind up with.”
• In response to one resident’s complaint, the board voted to set traps for racoons and other “vermin” on neighbors’ properties around an uninhabited house at 8 Sumter St. owned by John Muzio.
Racoons reportedly have been living in the house and traps had previously been placed on the property to control that problem. But one resident complained that wild animals are now in her garage and she is unable to use it.
Village attorney Jeffrey Blinkoff said the village is awaiting final estimates from Dean Koutsoubis of Kousoubis, Alonso Associates on costs of either renovating the Sumter Street structure or demolishing it. Blinkoff has made repeated appearances in Nassau County Supreme Court to get a judge’s approval to permit the village to take action on the property.
Tanner previously said a recent engineer’s report from put the estimate of repairs at “several hundred thousand dollars” and said the village expected to recoup costs from the owner.
• Parente said the East Williston Fire Department is gearing up for Operation Santa on Christmas Eve and said the department is currently accepting wrapped gifts from residents who want to arrange a visit from Santa.
