Friday, May 12, 2017
Vol. 93, No.34
FOUNDED 1923
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LOCALLY OWNED AND EDITED
Will Sing For Food PAGE 20 n Senior Day PAGE 59
BASEBALL CONFERENCE CHAMPS
Two public hearings to impact 7th St. business BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
Garden City High School’s varsity baseball team completed a three-game sweep against Manhasset HS, capturing the Nassau County A-1 Conference Championship. The team will be going to the playoffs at Valley Stream HS at noon on Saturday, May 13th. See page 66 for complete coverage.
School budget vote set for Tuesday BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
After one of the most riveting November election seasons in history in 2016, two months into the current school year the local school district election, referenda for the use of capital reserve funds and the annual budget vote is set for Tuesday, May 16 in Garden City. Springtime school budget and board elections can have barely a fraction of the interest from local voters, and in recent years past numbers have not been encouraging. But with one last push this week, the district urges Garden City vot-
ers to turn up Tuesday “so the outcome reflects the voice of the community.” Polls will be open at Garden City High School’s gymnasium from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The annual school budget hearing, with a proposed budget sum for 20172018 of $112,661,581 garnered minimal community attendance and no public questions at the May 9 school board work session. Several school administrators were present for the budget hearing but they left before a separate presentation on the long-term finances of the Garden City Schools. Meanwhile
only two PTA parents and one reporter were in attendance with the members of the board and administration during the May 9 meeting. The proposed budget reflects an increase of $1,834,137 from the current school year’s. Of that amount 74% ($83.42 million) would be allocated to the schools’ program for students, $16.57 million will be invested in capital for the district’s physical plant, and $12.67 million would go towards payment for the administrative arm of the Garden City district. See page 27
The Thursday, May 18 meeting of the Village Board of Trustees will feature two public hearings on amending the local laws for commercial use. One item seeks to adjust the Village of Garden City map and create a designated “Downtown Parking District” along Seventh Street and the related amend off-street parking requirements there. Another law set forth for a hearing next week is to amend zoning on Seventh Street’s T-zone running to the corner hub of Franklin Avenue. The official, municipal law process takes shape with a twoweek timeframe after the subject came up in early 2016 during trustees’ discussions. Before the Board of Trustees voted and approved the May 18 hearings, new Mayor Brian C. Daughney turned to the executive staff table and Superintendent of Building Ausberto Huertas to provide the community with an explanation of each item. “The first proposal is aimed to help ease parking requirements for the Garden City merchants. The village’s Planning Commission hired a traffic consultant to examine regulations and our traffic patterns. The study showed Garden City havSee page 28
More funds allocated for multi-use turf field BY RIKKI N. MASSAND The Village Board of Trustees approved a change to the Parks and Recreation project to build a new 106-yard synthetic turf Multi-Use Field at Community Park, scheduled to be complete by the end of June. A surge of just under $277,000 was added onto the project, after brief discussion at the Board of Trustees meeting on May 4 and a more robust conversation on the subject by the village’s Board of Commissioners of Recreation and Cultural Affairs (Rec. Commission) the night before, on Wednesday, May 3. Village Administrator Ralph Suozzi told the trustees last Thursday that an increase the amount of the project from $2,374,293 to $2,651,254 – an increase of $276,961 – involves $251,961 in change orders and an additional $25,000 in contingency. The trustees’ vote amends the bond resolution for the project titled “Community Park Multi-Sport Field Project” See page 28
GCHS girls varsity lacrosse wins conference title PAGES 40-41 Cozy Up With a Good Book celebration at Library PAGE 42