State Sen. Jack Martins succeeded in restoring three state grants totaling $2.4 million for construction to fix a flooding problem in eastern Mineola and western Carle Place – a grant that went unfulfilled when state Sen. Craig Johnson was upset by Martins in last November’s election.
Martins (R-Mineola) recently convened a meeting with Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman and Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano to review their respective roles in correcting a water drainage problem that occurs when there is heavy rain in that area. The Village of Mineola plans to reconfigure a catch basin in the area to handle increased water flow. The county agreed to build a bypass for water flowing south on Sheridan Boulevard toward the catch basin to reduce the amount of water moving toward Bruce Terrace, one of the streets affected by the severe flooding. The Mineola catch basin is part of the county storm water system.
The town is involved in construction needed on streets in Carle Place.
Martins said the $2.4 million will be divvied up as originally intended, with $800,000 apiece to the county, the Town of North Hempstead, and the Village of Mineola.
“This was a priority when I served as mayor of Mineola and it remains a priority. People need to know that we are moving forward as quickly as possible,” Martins said.
Martins spokesman Joseph Rizza said Martins worked with the state Senate Finance Committee to recover the funds because of the urgency of the situation. The funds, part of the $8.5 million in state grants rescinded by Senate Democrats after Johnson lost his seat to Martins in December, had subsequently been redistributed by the then Democratic-controlled Senate Finance Committee.
The Senate Finance Committee now under Republican control restored the funds by taking them from projects chosen by Senate Democrats after Johnson’s defeat.
“We were able to get that because it does affect people’s quality of life. When you’re talking about people’s basement’s flooding, that affects quality of life,” Rizza said.
The money restores a portion of the $10 million in state grants lost by towns, villages, school districts and fire departments following Johnson’s defeat to Martins in a hotly contested race in the 7th state senate district.
“It is unfortunate the previous Senate majority withdrew the grant, but we were able to restore if and will now be moving forward,” Martins said.
Martins has said his priority is to restore the grants based on need and for projects that had been undertaken with the expectation that reimbursement would follow. Typically, construction projects through grants with the New York State Dormitory Authority are paid to the entity receiving the grant upon completion of the project.
At this point, Martins has met with representatives of all the municipalities that have grants outstanding. Many had received official notification that the grants had been rescinded. Others remain in a bureaucratic limbo waiting to find out the fate of their grant efforts.
That includes fire departments in the 7th state Senate district who were offered typically offered $100,000 apiece for various projects by members of Johnson’s staff.
