Friday, October 4, 2019
Vol. 79, No. 40
FIRST PLACE BAND
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TOB parking committee comes under fire BY GARY SIMEONE
The Hicksville High School Marching Band in action. Congratulations to the Hicksville High School Marching Band, which started its competitive season in grand fashion! The band recently placed first in the Large School 3 Division of the New York State Field Band Conference competition held on Sept. 15 at Brentwood High School.
During the 2018-19 school year, Hicksville captured third place in New York State in the Large School Class 3 Division at the 45th annual New York State Field Band Conference held at the Syracuse Carrier Dome. According to Hicksville Public Schools Supervisor for Fine Arts Philip
Photo courtesy of the Hicksville School District Grusenmeyer, the group has grown from 99 members last year to 112 this year. Residents can catch the Hicksville High School Marching Band during the annual Homecoming celebration, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 12.
Fire damages Harvest Diner Nassau County Police, as well as five local fire departments, responded to a fire at the Harvest Diner at 851 Old Country Road in Hicksville on Thursday, September 26 at 4:51 a.m. According to police, as Third Precinct police
arrived they observed the building fully engulfed in flames with extensive damage. The Westbury Fire Department along with the assistance of the Carle Place Fire Department, Jericho Fire Department, East Williston Fire Department,
Bethpage Fire Department, and the Plainview Fire Department also responded to extinguish the fire. There was at least 40 fire apparatus and 100 fire personnel on scene. There were no injuries reported. The investigation is continuing.
When it comes to finding parking spots in the Town of Oyster Bay, you have to get in where you fit in. In 2018, the Town tried to solve this problem by forming a commuter parking committee to address the issue of the lack of available parking within the town. Town spokesperson Brian Nevin said that the parking committee was initially formed to review the state of commuter lots within the town. “The committee is comprised of town employees and three resident volunteers,” said Nevin. “They have made five site-visits since 2018 to review the lots and the town has since moved forward with creating additional parking opportunities by maximizing the number of available spots in current lots.” In addition to the site visits, the parking committee members interact with the highway department on a regular basis. One of the committee members, Lisa Reinhardt, a Hicksville resident, visited the LIRR parking facility in Hicksville earlier year and provided input to the town Highway Commissioner, John Bishop. “The committee was provided information on the recent Hicksville parking changes and she chose to visit the lot and discuss any changes she saw,” said Nevin. “Remember, these are volunteers who provide their input after visiting the lots.” The committee has come under fire recently for not holding enough meetings and not corresponding on regular basis with members of the town board. Reinhardt herself said the commit-
tee hadn’t met in over a year, and that it was important that the committee stay active and on top of any and all changes in town parking regulations. “In 2018, the committee planned to walk all the lots in the town to look for parking spaces,” said Reinhardt. “They only ended up visiting the lots in Syosset and Bethpage. I have not heard anything about additional visits in months.” Additionally, Town councilman Thomas Hand voted against converting 30 short-term parking spaces in Hicksville into permit parking, because he wanted to get the committee’s input before moving ahead with any decision. He also blamed MTA officials with failing to provide the public with accessible parking at LIRR lots. “It’s unacceptable that the MTA has failed to provide Town of Oyster Bay commuters with proper parking,” said Hand. “It’s the MTA’s responsibility to provide parking for their customer, however, the town formed this parking committee to address this issue. At this point, the committee can only juggle spots between commuters and shoppers due to limited land availability. The long-term solution rests with legislative leaders in Albany who must deliver our fair share of MTA capital funds. The MTA paid for new parking garages in Mineola and Westbury as part of the Third Track project, and now they must do the same at Long Island’s busiest rail road station in Hicksville.” Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino said that parking committee has See page 18
Homecoming for MacArthur Generals PAGE 15 Town collecting DVDS for soldiers PAGE 6