The New Hyde Park Village Board is making “substantial cuts” and “getting close” to presenting its annual budget for the village without laying off employees, according to Mayor Daniel Petruccio.
At Tuesday night’s board meeting, Petruccio said the board has been examining “key areas,” including personnel costs in the $5 million annual budget. After the meeting, Petruccio said the board is seeking to reduce the number of hours for some village employees as an alternative to implementing layoffs.
“We’re trying to avoid that,” Petruccio said.
The tentative budget is due to be formulated by March 20, with a budget hearing slated for April 5.
On another financial front, Petruccio criticized Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his recent remarks about capping school district superintendents’ salaries.
“The [state] government taking authority in telling school boards what to do is one step from interfering with local governments,” Petruccio said.
In his report on the building department, Trustee Lawrence Montreuil said the department is investigating “several illegal apartments” in the village.
The Herricks School District administration has been engaged in a similar effort in cooperation with the Town of North Hempstead over the past year, and Montreuil said the village and the school district occasionally share information about suspected illegal rentals in the area.
Thomas Gannon, who oversees both the building department and the village Department of Public Works, said that the DPW has been in “full swing” to repair potholes in streets throughout the village.
Gannon said the DPW has repaired more than 100 potholes over the last two weeks. He estimated that the number of potholes increased by 25 percent over last season due to this season’s heavy snowfalls and the extreme variation in temperatures during the winter season.
“It’s a rough year for the streets,” Gannon said, adding that the DPW tries to repair the potholes properly, using “hot patch” for better results.
He noted that the village’s ongoing program to repave village streets has helped to mitigate the problem.
Petruccio said that the village is close to hiring a new village clerk to replace Pat Farrell, who left to take the position of village administrator in Floral Park.
Trustee Donald Barbieri publicly thanked Farrell for his service to the village, saying that hiring Farrell was “one of the good choices we’ve been fortunate to make on this board.”
Barbieri said the board is planning to hold a day to introduce different community groups to the renovated William Gil Theater in the New Hyde Park Village Hall, a project that Farrell oversaw.
Barbieri also said auditions for youngsters age nine to 18 years old will be held on Saturday, March 12, 2:30 to 4 p.m. for a production of “The Prince Who Wouldn’t Talk” to be directed by local theater veteran Marilyn McClean.
Barbieri also noted that a state-funded Jobs Club is holding its next workshop in the Hillside Public Library on March 30 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
