______________ VALLEY STREAM _____________
HERALD $1.00
local artist paints V.S. scenery
South Shore Symphony is back
Waldinger library hosts Give back
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Vol. 32 No. 43
october 21 - 27, 2021
Residents have plenty to say about cannabis bis business candidate who spoke in support of cannabis dispensaries in the village. Legal The agenda portion of the dispensaries, Fiore said, would regular Village of Valley Stream “undercut the illegal cannabis meeting on Monday was over in market,” helping to ensure that minutes, with agenda items marijuana stayed out of the detailing unglamorous village hands of young people under 21. business read aloud He noted that mariand voted on with juana sold on the assembly-like effistreet is “not tested ciency. Then, for for chemicals, hard nearly an hour durmetals or other legal ing the public-comsubstances that can ment period, attendbe added to and be ees spoke at length very dangerous to about an issue far cannabis consumers removed from the at any age.” agenda — the Mari“The board and juana Re gulation the town must realand Taxation Act. ize that it has resiSpecifically, the dents that are cannaquestion on people’s bis consumers…” he minds was whether said. “How can the liNDA DAriS village trustees board say [marijuashould vote to opt Resident na] is legal for adult out of licensed canuse but at the same nabis dispensaries token not allow conand on-site consumption lounges sumers a safe location for purin the village. For the last four chase and cannabis consumpmeetings, the opt-out question tion?” has dominated attendees’ comResident Linda Daris, a canments, as the end-of-year dead- nabis sale supporter, said, “We line to decide whether to opt out all know that other so-called is fast approaching. vices such as cigarettes and gamResident Carmine Fiore, a bling are legalized and regulated small business owner and veter- in New York state, so marijuana an, is a prospective retail cannaContinued on page 11
by JUAN lASSo jlasso@liherald.com
l
Juan Lasso/Herald
VAlley GreeN DriVe, with undulations, ruts and cracks, is one of the most deteriorated stretches of road in Valley Stream. Village officials said they plan to redo it in the near future.
Rescuing roads from ruin, one mile at a time by JUAN lASSo jlasso@liherald.com
With fall in full swing, people are bracing for the frigid temperatures, snow and ice that come with winter, all of which wreak havoc on asphalt roads, causing cracks and potholes. After years of ceaseless decline, many roads are due for a complete overhaul. That is the job of Joe Accarino and the personnel at the Village of Valley Stream Engineering Department.
Accarino, the village engineer, and his team must steadily reconstruct the village’s 80.6 miles of road — the distance from Valley Stream to East Hampton on Sunrise Highway. On average, the village redoes two miles of road per year, at a cost of $1 million, paid for with local and state funds. It takes roughly 40 years to redo all the village’s roads. “It’s an uphill battle,” Accarino said. “Some of the roads are really bad. They
have to be fully reconstructed, meaning we have to rip the whole road up. We do the curbs, the driveway aprons... but some roads, as long as the base is good and the curbs, aprons, grades and water pitches are good, we just mill off and pave the top.” The village covered an average of 6,700 feet of road per year from 2015 to 2020, with 9,445 feet covered last year with new reconstruction Continued on page 10
et’s take it out of the hands of the black market and place it in a regulated environment.