Garden City News by Litmor Publishing

Friday, August 26, 2016

Vol. 92, No. 52

FOUNDED 1923

LOCALLY OWNED AND EDITED

Zika presentation PAGE 3 n Schools get ready PAGE 12

New local law for generators proposed, not yet approved

SWIMMING FOR FUN

BY RIKKI N. MASSAND

The final swim meet of the season for the summer swim teams was a fun competition between the A and B teams. Competitions such as swimming while wearing layers of clothing or in tubes provided much fun for the kids ad the coaches. Above, Aidan Gaffney swims the 50 meter in a tube. See pages 48 and 50.

Village looks to streamline application process BY RIKKI N. MASSAND

The Village of Garden City is examining ways to speed up approving building permits and is looking into digitizing inspection reports. Building Department fees have apparently turned into a good revenue stream for the village, as Village Treasurer Irene Woo commented just one month ago at the July 21 Board of Trustees’ meeting. Superintendent of Building Ausberto Huertas was questioned on a few items related to the Building Department

at the Thursday, August 18 Village Board of Trustees’ meeting. Huertas first provided the statistical report for July, with 136 permits processed by the department, 273 inspections performed by building inspectors, 20 complaints investigated and 150 certificates issued. In July the Department of Building collected $169,838 of which $98,698 came from permit fees alone. The Garden City Zoning Board of Appeals reviewed 12 applications while the

Architectural Design Review Board covered 10 applications. Deputy Mayor Richard Silver asked Huertas about “service level standards” that would establish a set turnaround time for permits and process. “Is there another way for us to look at the success of the building department so that we could tell homeowners it should take a certain length of time to get permits issued or approvals?” Silver said. Huertas says the departSee page 40

After talk at several Board of Trustees’ meetings this year on the use of generators on private properties, a local law to regulate usage and set some requirements was proposed at the Thursday, August 18 meeting. However after discussion and a consensus that “nothing we do is going to be perfect” during a public hearing for adopting the law, some reworking will be underway leading up to the September 8 Village Board meeting. Deputy Mayor Brian Daughney tried setting the new law up for discussion with “plain English” that the trustees had been wrestling with a basic question: “what to do with generators?” Instances such as Superstorm Sandy left a clear picture of residents wanting a “security blanket for when the power is out” he says. “People want either a permanent generator or a standby and we recognized that we are not going to be out writing a ticket when a storm like Sandy is going on. So we were wrestling with different ways to propose this. We recognize that not everybody has a 200 by 400-foot yard so limitations may pose problems for smaller properties. Again we are trying to come up with a practical solution so that the police are not visiting homes when power was out for three days, and people are expectSee page 40

Stop signs planned for Senior Center crossing By Rikki N. Massand

A potential solution for a pedestrian vs. vehicle traffic issue steps from the new senior center was put in place last Thursday night. But apparently not every senior wants new all-way stop signs instead of an illuminated answer. At the Garden City Traffic Commission’s August 18 meeting Police Commissioner Kenneth Jackson spoke about the GCPD’s observations and plan for the key location in the village, with heightened concerns calling for a special meeting for this lone agenda item. His department recommended all-way stop signs and right-turn only or “no left turn” signage in Parking Field 11, across Golf Club Lane from the senior center. “When the senior center opened we noticed an increase in pedestrian and vehicular traffic to it. We always knew it was a busy road but it gets more noticeable when there are more variables present – the variables present now are pedestrians going to and from the senior center, with See page 42

Summer reading festival at the Garden City Library PAGE 30 Cancer treatment center celebrates 10th anniversary PAGE 14