Friday, November 20, 2020
Vol. 98, No.13
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Great change
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Holiday poppers PAGE 30
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Board of Education to discuss schools reopening plans
OPERATION CHRISTMAS
BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
On Friday, November 6th, HOLA of Garden City participated in The Samaritans Purse Operation Christmas Project. Children of members filled green and red shoe boxes with goodies as gifts for children all over the world, as well as personalized Christmas cards. See page 60.
Village to defer some capital projects
BY RIKKI N. MASSAND Garden City’s Village Board of Trustees will be deferring several capital projects that had been slated for the current fiscal year to the following fiscal year. The Village’s present fiscal year technically ends on May 31, 2021. At its October 15th meeting the Board approved bonding less than $7 million in capital projects for the current budget, and pushed several projects back by a few months to a year. The Village Hall brick exterior
repointing project, a cost estimated to be $1.515 million is deferred. Superintendent of Public Works DiFrancisco said he also did not foresee that project taking place during the winter months, as it involves work that is reliant on good weather. DiFrancisco and Woo noted the project would not need to be bonded by February because it will not be taking place until well after then. “There are ways to save by deferring the bond and we will not cancel the projects -- that
becomes an obvious item to defer, though there are obvious cracks visible in the building’s exterior, and the building has effluent visible by the firehouse. We’re concerned about water infiltration and about the cracking of some of the facade,” he said. Also deferred until 2021-’22 are Village Hall’s HVAC (for $907,500) plus the Library’s roof replacement (an estimated $111,000 cost). Still slated for project work during fiscal year 2020-’21 is the See page 59
At its meeting on November 17th Garden City Board of Education heard from parents who want the school district to reopen schools fully so that all students can attend full time. Due to the pandemic most students in grades six through twelve attend in person on alternate days. During the meeting a few parents made emotional pleas for better communication with district leaders including Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kusum Sinha and School Board President William Holub. In one instance, a parent was told by Holub, “this is not a conversation” because the Board is not required to respond to each point from the audience. But that remark and explanation of the meeting format sparked objections from parents who wanted to know why the district isn’t engaging the community in a conversation about reopening plans. Other speakers challenged the five Board of Education members and GCUFSD administration for not See page 44
Sen. Thomas re-elected
The Nassau County Board of Elections announced this week that after additional mail-in absentee ballots were tabulated that incumbent NY State Senator Kevin Thomas has retained his seat. He represents the sixth senatorial district, which includes Garden City. Initially after the election it appeared that Thomas had lost to challenger Dennis Dunne, however in the final count Thomas had 76,264 votes to Dunne’s 73,377. “I am deeply honored to be reelected by the residents of the 6th Senate District. Following a very close election in 2018, I am thrilled to have won a larger margin this year, and I know that is because of my hard work fighting for this community, Long Island, and all of New York State. I look forward to continuing my efforts to build a stronger, fairer, more prosperous Long Island and New York State, and I thank the voters for their support,” Thomas said.
Progress on Adelphi building project PAGE 3 Historical Society Virtual Holiday Market PAGE 34