Friday, March 9, 2018
Vol. 78, No. 10
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Town approves 400% parking fee increase
A SUPER STEAM EXPERIENCE
BY GARY SIMEONE
Lee Road Elementary School students in grades 3-5 recently attended the 2018 STEAM Conference for Kids at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, hosted by Nassau BOCES. Students were engaged in various types of STEAM related workshops such as The Rube Goldberg Machines, Art of Mosaics, Fascinating Fingerprints, Marine Biology and Robots and Rockets.
Photo courtesy of the Levittown Public Schools
Last Tuesday night, the Oyster Bay Town Board unanimously voted to increase parking fees for commuter parking lots in the Town. The fee will increase this year to $100 from $20 for a two-year permit for residents in unincorporated areas of the town, and to $120 from $80 per year for residents of unincorporated villages. Senior residents in non-Village areas will still pay a $20 fee for parking. Town Supervisor Joe Saladino said at the meeting that the main reason for the fee increase is so the Town can address the issue of a shortage of parking spaces in the Town. “It’s important to generate the revenue that will lead us towards creating more spots,” said Supervisor Saladino. “The earlier we get a move on this, the quicker we can provide more spots for people.” He said that the $100 fee for the two year permit, would translate into approximately 20 cents per day for daily commuters, to park at Town lots. “This is still a great bargain, considering the cost charged by other municipalities to park in their lots and also to park in nearby private lots.” Town finance director Robert Darienzo said in a town meeting, earlier this month, that the increased fees would allow for an overall property tax cut because it would create a surplus in the Town’s 2018 parking fund. “Moving forward to 2019, we will know about how much money we receive on a year to year basis and we’ll be able to correspondingly lower taxes in the district for all taxpayers,” said Darienzo. The new fee structure will take effect in the coming weeks as renewals are mailed out to residents.
Levittown resident turns park into a gnome village
BY GARY SIMEONE
Levittown resident Andy Kuzma has been going to the Mill Pond Park in Wantagh since he was a little kid. Noticing that the park had become a little more mystical as of late, he decided to add to the fun by building a gnome house at the base of an old tree that had fallen after Hurricane Sandy. “On my walks through the park, I started to notice some of the rocks being painted, and some children’s fairy houses at the foot of the trees,” said Kuzma, who is a self-employed carpenter. “I was
intrigued by it and wanted to do my own little section of mythical creatures.” Kuzma thought about what he could use to capture people’s attention, and decided to use some of his gnome characters he’d been collecting from Burger King. “I’d collected six of these characters from Burger King, as part of their Sherlock Gnome series, and thought they’d be perfect to set up inside the park.” To complete his display, he used an old birdcage he’d found for the gnomes house, carving out a front door and windows. He scattered straw on the ground
leading up to the doorway and even put together a fence to prevent the gnome family from falling into the pond. “I love projects like this,” said Kuzma. “These displays add character to the park and I can see that the kids really love stumbling across them.” Kuzma is well known in Levittown for his Pirates of the Caribbean themed display every Halloween and his popular Christmas light shows. In 2015, he received first place for his Halloween display in a Town competition for best overall Halloween decorations.
Mill Pond Park, which is located on Merrick Road, off the Wantagh Parkway, is a nice location for people to exercise or walk their dogs. Kuzma says that he and a group of other people try and maintain the area, picking up litter and other detritus before it goes into the pond. “I usually pick up beer bottles, cans and other debris a few times a month and put it into the pails. I want people to be able to enjoy this park without all of the litter around.”
Celebrating the Year of the Dog PAGE 4 Levittown’s history shown off PAGE 12