Friday, August 25, 2017
Vol. 93, No.49
FOUNDED 1923
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LOCALLY OWNED AND EDITED
Back to School safety PAGE 6 n Rat Pack Promenade
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GC Police get forfeited funds to help fight crime
WPOA SUMMER PARTY
BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
Moms and babies alike had a great time at the Western Property Owners Association party held on August 26th at Edgemere Park. See pages 40-41
Unexplained Village water bills, lack of response debated at Board Meeting BY RIKKI N. MASSAND The Village of Garden City’s residential water meter replacement project, taking place in summer and fall 2016, was ‘billed’ as more accurate and effective, according to this April’s press releases from the Village of Garden City. But two frustrated longtime residents of Garden City questioned the
“billing” after some exorbitant costs appeared for consecutive quarters last year, charges up by hundreds of dollars. They also received little information from Village Administrator Ralph Suozzi and other staff members on repeated attempts to figure out the reason for these charges. Finally, at the August 17 Board of Trustees meeting, Andrew
and Stacy Smith of Primrose Court approached the podium and took the Village of Garden City to task in public, sparking a dialogue on their situation plus ways Garden City residents with questions for their administration are treated. In terms of residents and departments working toward a soluSee page 22
At the Garden City Board of Trustees’ meeting on Thursday, August 17, Police Commissioner Kenneth Jackson said two items on the agenda will help the police to continue to protect the village. The first approved by the Board was the appropriation of police reserve funds of $23,496 to fund “unbudgeted” police expenditures. Jackson explained the value of added capital. “Under the Civil Practice Law of New York State the police department, upon making significant arrests and processes in court, if there are monies and/or property value confiscated a lot of times the court makes the decision it will be forfeited and it is distributed by the District Attorney’s Office to the authorities involved in the investigation and also the mandatory fields. For the last budget year, 2016-2017, we had over $23,000 from those forfeitures and we are asking for those funds accumulated for this fiscal year so we can purchase items to help in our investigations,” Jackson said. In the past unbudgeted funds from this allocation helped Garden City Police bought surveillance and scanner equipment, shields and CO (carbon monoxide) detectors. He thanked the Board for helping the police officers in Garden City fight crime and protect the public and themselves from harm. Also approved at the August 17 meeting were expenses of $600 for Garden City Police Officer Hudak’s attendance from September 10 to 12 at the New York State Bureau of Weights and Measures “annual Truck Scale Calibration” in Syracuse. Jackson commented that the GCPD “weighs a lot of trucks,” coming on the heels of an outcry as residents and the CPOA board of directors have been vocal for the concerns with truck traffic on Cathedral Avenue, Hilton Avenue, Franklin and other main roads in the past ten months. “Twice a year, Garden City Police and other departments such as Hempstead are required to go upstate and we have our scale certified there. At a previous Board of Trustees’ meeting we had seen approval for one of our GCPD officers to be trained in fixing the scales, so if scales do not pass standards we can make a minor adjustment. This helps us (GCPD) have fully functional truck scales and we would have a better case presentation to the presiding judge for any truck traffic infractions, and that would mean less chance of dismissal of charges. This is an important item,” Commissioner Jackson said at the August meeting. The Board of Trustees Village Priorities List for 2017-2018, approved at a work session following the June 1 board meeting, indicated completion of a third-party consultant’s analysis of the Garden City Police Department by Monday October 30, 2017. The police assessment is considered a “secondary task and project” on the Priorities List. Building Department Digital Scanning See page 22
Paul Brown exhibit at Garden City Public Library PAGE 32 Calling all Cub Scouts: Pack 7 registration coming PAGE 34