Friday, April 24, 2020
Vol. 96, No.38
FOUNDED 1923
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LOCALLY OWNED AND EDITED
Sign of appreciation PAGE 14 n Hummingbird garden PAGE 16
Board mulls drop in revenues, moratorium on subdivisions
A GIFT OF LOVE
BY RIKKI MASSAND
the budget-to-budget increase over 2019-2020 was proposed at 2.25% -- up $2,656,451 from the current school year budget, which was approved last May. The new budget-to-budget increase will be 2.47% due to the use of district reserves for
At its meeting on April 15th, the Garden City Board of Trustees discussed impacts of the pandemic on the village government. Village Trustee Stephen Makrinos asked about the potential drop in revenues due to the coronavirus mandated shutdowns since the middle of March. The Village has seen a significant drop in revenues from permit and application fees paid to the Building Department, as well as fees from the Village Justice Court, which has been closed. The March and April meetings of the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals and Architectural Design Review Board (ADRB) were cancelled. Superintendent of Building Giuseppe Giovanniello told the Board that he spoke with the chairmen of the two boards. Zoning Board Chair John G. Villanella told him that there was potential for the ZBA to hold “double meetings” starting in June, with double the number of projects to be reviewed within a month, in order to catch up on the backlog of applications. The Board’s discussion last Wednesday night evolved from a potential restart of applications and processing approvals for projects into a potential moratorium for residential subdivisions. Giovanniello said he spoke with ADRB Chairman Donald A. Hickey, Jr. about using the Zoom meeting platform similar to what the Village Board has done in the past one month. “Right now we are backlogged with meetings going until June at this point. Chairman Villanella said he was uncomfortable in the ZBA meeting over Zoom, but June 1 we could hopefully have two meetings per month. Trustee Mark Hyer questioned why the ZBA applications should be postponed for deliberations until June. and Giovanniello explained that in the allotted review of some applications, applicants may need to be equipped for presenting over a virtual platform. Other concerns stood out during the Board’s discussion. Deputy Mayor Robert Bolebruch inquired further about the project review meetings over Zoom, and Giovanniello said many subdivisions were being applied for and several residents inferred that they “may or may not be able to use the Zoom platform, but people want to speak on these applications.” “If we project the meetings forward (to June) we can have residents participate and come in to state what they feel about these Zoning Board applications. Chairman Villanella said he feels strongly about
See page 22
See page 22
Marguerite Krejci and Karen Allen of St. Francis Hospital with food donated by Karen’s two sons, Brian and Billy Allen, from the generous local eatery Food for Thought. Karen Allen is the Director of Patient Care Experience at St. Francis Hospital and lifelong Garden City resident. Brian currently resides in Seattle, Washington. Billy is a Captain in the United States Army stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The boys don’t forget their hero of a mother even from afar!
Schools use reserve fund for new costs
The Garden City Public Schools’ Board of Education plans on voting to adopt an amended school budget of $120,931,141 for academic year 2020-’21 at its next scheduled meeting on Tuesday evening, May 5. At the board’s meeting this Tuesday, Superintendent
of Schools Dr. Kusum Sinha explained an increase in the budget-over-budget increase projected for next school year, which since the pandemic hit in March and forced contingency plans including school closures, remote learning, and expected drops in New York State aid ahead. Originally
Board balks as cost to protect St. Paul’s windows rises PAGE 4 Village Board mulls plans for Garden City Pool season PAGE 3