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SEAFORD
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When Property Taxes Go High We Go Low
HERALD
DEADLINE MARCH 1ST
Manor PTA plans upcoming event
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Vol. 70 No. 6
18/21 itc FG Demi Condensed
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Maidenbaum Proper ty 483 Chestnut Street, Tax Reduction Group, LLC Cedarhurst, NY 11516
FEBRUARY 3 - 9, 2022
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Families visit Cedar Creek park
What’s next for public water?
‘snow’ better way to play Brandon, 6, launched a chunk of snow at his lifelong friend Myles, 4, in Seaford on Saturday. A little more than a foot of snow fell in the hamlet during the nor’easter.
Town appoints commissioners to newly formed South Shore district By JoRDAN VAlloNE jvallone@liherald.com
Courtesy Pauline Smith
On Jan. 25, it was announced that the Town of Hempstead had appointed John Reinhardt, Laura Ryder and Joseph Baker commissioners of the South Nassau Water Authority District Board. The decision brings South Shore residents who receive water from Liberty Utilities, previously know as New York American Water, one step closer to the creation of a public water authority, and with that, relief from high water rates. On Nov. 3, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the South Nassau Water Authority Act into law, provid-
ing a path for the public acquisition of the privately owned NYAW, which served approximately 113,000 residents of the Town of Hempstead. The utility is now controlled by Liberty Utilities, whose $608 million purchase of NYAW was finalized on Jan. 3. The town was required to appoint three people to the SNWA board. The other two board members must be appointed by the Nassau County Legislature. The deadline for those appointments was Tuesday, after the Herald went to press. Christopher Boyle, a spokesman for the county, said Monday Continued on page 6
Seaford, other libraries speak out against state budget By MAlloRY WilsoN mwilson@liherald.com
Members of the State Assembly and executives of the Levittown and Seaford public libraries gathered at a news conference at the Levittown facility last Friday to discuss Gov. Kathy Hochul’s state budget plan, which was announced Jan. 18. In Hochul’s proposed $216.3 billion spending plan for 202223, $20 million would be cut from library construction aid, from $34 million in the current budget to $14 million next year If the spending plan is approved by the State Legisla-
ture, it will take effect April 1. Frank McKenna, director of the Seaford library, described the proposed cut in library construction as “very disappointing.” “Libraries are education,” McKenna said. “We are always education. We serve everybody from infancy to old age — why are we always cut?” Libraries need the funding, he said. The Seaford facility just installed a new roof, McKenna said, but it still needs a new elevator, a new HVAC system and a new restroom on the main level. “[The library] is over 60 years old,” he said of the building. It’s falling apart. We need money.” State Assemblyman Ed Ra,
who represents the 19th District, said that library funding is cut every year. “It’s no secret to anybody that utilizes our local libraries that just like any other building, they need upkeep, they need boilers, they need HVAC systems, they need to replace roofs,” Ra said. “…We stand with our local libraries in the push to restore this funding and increase funding for library construction.” While library construction funding would be reduced in the proposed state budget, Ra said that general library funding would increase by about $2 million, which he said was “welcome news.”
Assemblyman John Mikulin, of the 17th District, said that he had previously been president of the Island Trees Library board, and knew firsthand how important library construction aid is. “Libraries really are the [forefront] of our communities,” Mikulin said. “They do so much for our children, they do so much for our seniors and
they do so much for everybody in general with the programs that they have and the services that libraries provide.” Steve Dalton, a trustee of the Levittown library and a former 10-year member of the Nassau Library System Board, said that construction aid is critical for libraries across the state. “This Continued on page 20