Vote postponed on $3.1M for Manhasset sewers

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Manhasset Chamber of Commerce CoPresident Matthew Donno previously told Blank Slate Media the project, which has been analyzed for more than five years, will provide economic and environmental benefits to Plandome Road’s business district.

Businesses and restaurants along Plandome Road can pay as much as $50,000 to $70,000 annually to pump their septic tanks. Some have also said they pay more than $500,000 a year to maintain their systems.

The system that Plandome business owners will be converting to will be a pump system that Donno said will connect to each building and essentially pump the water down the line to the district, where it will be treated.

Donno previously said the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District will be doing a design study on what exactly needs to be done to complete the project.

The district’s study along with the physical application of pipes and hookups into businesses was once estimated to cost up- wards of $12 million. Now, Donno said, the project should be fully funded by the proposed funds from the town and a $5 million state grant.

Manhasset Chamber of Commerce member Robert Donno said the expected costs projected in the 2020 feasibility study for the project have come down and that businesses can make their own decisions after looking at costs to hook up to the project when all said and done.

Robert Donno added that all businesses would have access to the new system to potentially avoid a business owner coming years later and wanting to opt into it, which would require more development.

“These businesses are taking a beating the last couple of years so it’s a good investment for everything,” Donno said. “The minute that pipe goes in the ground from the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District, the property values will increase.”

The next North Hempstead Town Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

Mineola School District teachers Nicki Gonias and Georgia Amigdalos addressed the mission of unlocking the full potential of students through responsive instructional practice, which has continued to be reassessed and adjusted over the last five years.

Gonias began the presentation by explaining that over this past summer and into the fall, a shift to responsive instructional practices took place within the school district. Even though instructors had a positive goal in mind, which is one of cultivating learners, Gonias explained that “we needed more of a roadmap.”

“In Mineola,” she said, “to be responsive means:

What we are doing tomorrow is responsive to what happens today. We are noticing collective anecdotal data and identifying what learners have understood and where they are struggling to be able to say, ‘this is what my kids need tomorrow.’ Simultaneously, we are independently empowering our learners so that they are able to say, ‘I’m where I am, and know what I need to do to move to where I need to go.’”

The presentation emphasized four main components of this structured style of learning: beliefs (taking time to get to know learners), intentions (the “why”), practice (the “how”), and transfer (how learners can apply the content).

Amigdalos continued to express this mindset by outlining a system of gradually releasing respon- sibility. Focusing on “intent and purpose,” this responsive-based approach would give instructors the opportunity to observe and gather information on their students, while allowing them to understand the most effective way in which their classroom operates.

“I do want to note,” she said, “that this is a critical time where the educator has the chance to connect and build relationships, and hold learners accountable. The educator sends the message to the learner that they see them, that they care, and that they believe in them.”

The overarching objective of this style of instruction and learning, which Gonias, Amigdalos, and other educators in the district hope to pursue, is one of getting learners to recognize what they need to improve and when they should make necessary adjustments. This would not be possible without the efforts of educators, who Gonias and Amigdalos say must be empowered and “believe that their learners can improve.”

All three resolutions on the board’s agenda passed unanimously, including revised board policies regarding subjects such as equal employment opportunity and remote working, as well as approvals of educators’ leaves of absence and substitute teacher appointments.

The Board of Education’s next workshop meeting will be held on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. in Mineola High School’s Synergy Building.