City Council approves its capital borrowing plan

By ROKSANA AMID ramid@liherald.com

The Glen Cove City Council voted unanimously on April 25 to approve its 2023 capital borrowing plan totaling $4,938,142, of which $117 will be reimbursed to the city from state and county grants, generally within a year of project completion. As a result, the city will pursue a long-term bond issuance of roughly 4.8 million and a shortterm issuance of roughly 117,000 to fully account for its capital borrowing needs in fiscal year 2023. They are expecting the interest rate to be approximately 3.5 percent.

The capitol borrow lists numerous and detailed requests by heads of the city’s departments, including for new equipment and maintenance costs.

The capitol borrow is projected to help allocate $89,975, or two percent, to miscellaneous city services including information technology services for the clerk’s office and the building department. The golf course is projected to receive $87,850, at two percent of the borrow, and these funds will help acquire golf cart replacements and mechanisms to retrieve golf balls and general maintenance. The water department is projected to receive $345,000, or seven percent, for their acquisition of a permanent air stripper at Duck Pond Road. The senior center is expected to receive $400,000, which is eight percent of the borrow to help fund improvements to the center’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.

One of the highest priorities for the borrow is for the city’s emergency medical services, which is projected to receive $1,161,000, or 23 percent of the borrow. They are looking to acquire one replacement ambulance since their current one is 20 years old. They have also requested replacement of life-saving equipment, a Lucas 3 chest compression system for cardiopulmonary resuscitation

“Our EMS and our fire department — a lot of them are volunteers,” Panzenbeck said. “We have such great admiration for the work that they do, and I actually saw this in action twice in the last few months. When you see that working, you say ‘I hope they have that if they ever come to my house.’”

The largest portion of the borrow — $2.85 million, or 58 percent — is allocated to the department of public works, which includes administration, roads, sanitation and parks. Michael Yeosock, director of public works, requested a replacement of two of their oldest garbage trucks, which are over 20 years old. Some of the city’s roads will also need repairs, including Red Spring Road, Park Avenue, Doxey Drive and Tower Road.

Seventy-five of the department’s requested $1,161,000 will go towards inspections and more patchwork for the Brewster and Pulaski Street garages. The garages have exposed rebar, which are the steel bars that are used to strengthen concrete throughout the garages. The garages are estimated to need $11 million for total repairs, which can’t come soon enough for residents like Brianna Morgan and visitors like Michael Lunsford, who now worry about the safety of Morgan’s two children when using the garage.

The couple was running errands in the city on May 1 when upon returning to their car saw the sunroof had been damaged by falling concrete.

They went to City Hall about the damages and were told to contact the county clerk’s office, only to hear they weren’t the first ones to complain about damages from the garage.

“When you park, you don’t think to look, up especially when you have your kids at 9 a.m.,” Lunsford said. “Now I’ve been looking up anywhere I park. It’s weird.”

Yeosock said he is working with different agencies to try and find additional funding for the repairs to ease the potential strain on taxpayers.

“Like most coastal communities in the U.S., our infrastructures are always last on everybody's minds until the roads start to fail or your water gets shut off, and then then it becomes an emergency,” Yeosock said. “ We’re trying to work to prevent this stuff from turning into emergency work, and getting taken care of in advance and still being respectful of the public's tax dollars.”