Friday, March 12, 2021
Vol. 98, No.28
FOUNDED 1923
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#1 Agent Garden City Office 2020
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LOCALLY OWNED AND EDITED
Michelle McA rdle
Lic. R. E. Sale
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son O 516.307.940 6| michelle.mca M 516.306.4134 rdle@elliman.co elliman.com m
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Town Crier
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100 days PAGE 49
110 WALT WHI TMA N ROA D, HUN TIN GTO N STATION , 202 0 DOU GLA S NY 11746. 631.549 ELL IMA N REA L EST .7401. © ATE . EQU AL HOU SIN G OPP ORT UNI TY.
GC Pool finances mulled as 2nd pandemic summer approaches
SPRING IS COMING
BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
Troop 1636 spent a wonderful afternoon leaning about environmental conservation with Gold Award candidate Paige Pryor. Garden City’s birds are lucky- the girls upcycled water bottles to make backyard bird feeders. What a great way to welcome the spring birdies! Photo courtesy Kate Quinn
Costs down, building permit revenues up BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
For the Village of Garden City’s current fiscal year (2020-2021) which ends May 31, total village expenditures are anticipated to be about $1.9 million less than expected, which Village Treasurer Woo attributed to lower employee costs due to open positions in a few municipal departments. At the Village Board of Trustees Budget Work Session on Tuesday, March 19th, Woo also reported
that expenditures by the Recreation Department have been reduced, due to pandemic cancellations. Woo reported on Tuesday that when FY 2021-2022 budget forecasting was done there were three open positions in the Village’s Building Department and two in Recreation and Parks. “That’s a fluid number and subsequent to that there were some other openings, as well as positions that have been filled. This was the number of openings at the time
(earlier this year),” she said. After a question from Trustee Stephen Makrinos Woo noted that in the GCPD and the Department of Public Works (DPW) there were no open positions that she’s aware of. Village Administrator Ralph Suozzi said there were a few open municipal staff positions in the Garden City Water Department, and at the start of March there was a retirement in Public Works, with another retirement in See page 65
On Tuesday March 9 Village officials and staff began this year’s budget planning process with a focus on the Garden City Pool, which may be facing a second summer of potential limits imposed by New York State and the County Health Department due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Sandra Young, the assistant superintendent of Recreation to Superintendent Paul Blake, presented the proposed Rec. 2021-2022 budget to the Board of Trustees on Tuesday night after Village Treasurer Irene Woo announced a potential $500,000 transfer to the Pool facility budget from the village’s General Fund and reflected in next year’s village budget. Woo said this would help fund the struggling Garden City Pool enterprise fund “to help offset some of its Covid-related losses in the fund.” The allocation would be part of the 2021-2022 budget which will be voted on by the Board, at its Monday April 5th reorganization meeting. The Pool Enterprise fund budget presentation noted: “The pool fund is not projected to cover operating revenues in the current fiscal year (last June 1 through May 31, 2021) as well as in 2021-2022 due to revenue losses resulting from the COVID-19 See page 40
Village Election March 16th Garden City’s Village Election will take place on Tuesday, March 16th at Village Hall, 351 Stewart Avenue, between noon and 9 p.m. Unlike most years, this year the elections for mayor and trustees are contested. The candidates are: for the Community Agreement Party: Mayor - Robert Bolebruch; Trustees (2 year terms) - Richard Catalano, Mark Hyer, and Yvonne Varano; Trustee (1 year term) Stephen Makarinos. The candidates for the For A Better Garden City Party are: Mayor - Cosmo Veneziale; Trustees (2 year terms) Tom O’Brien, Terry Digan and Bruce Chester; Trustee (1 year term) - Mary Flanagan. Village Justice Allen Mathers is running unopposed. A sample ballot appears on page 28 of this issue.
GCHS teacher to discuss e-learning PAGE 8 Historical Society plans golf outing PAGE 14