Babylon Village, union close on new contract

BABYLON VILLAGE

Village, union close on new contract

Babylon Village has reached a tentative agreement with the union representing about 20 municipal workers for a four-year contract with $1,000 annual salary increases each year, village attorney Joel Sikowitz said.

If finalized, the contract with Civil Service Employees Association Local 1000 would run through May 31, 2018. CSEA represents village sanitation, highway and parks employees.

"I'm confident it will be finalized and we're working as if it has been finalized," Sikowitz said.

"We think it's a fair agreement, considering the economic circumstances we all find ourselves in," said CSEA spokesman Rich Impagliazzo.

The agreement also calls for one-time longevity payments made on a sliding scale from $1,000 for employees with 30 or more years of service to $300 for those with 10 or fewer years working for the village.

The agreement calls for employees on workers' compensation leave to notify the village every month. If they fail to do so for three months, they will be deemed to have quit.

Babylon's Village Board must authorize the contract before it goes into effect, Sikowitz said. -- NICHOLAS SPANGLER

GLENWOOD LANDING

Power plant to be torn down in a month

The shuttered Glenwood Landing power plant is to be demolished by December, a spokeswoman for National Grid said Monday.

Work to take down the former steam-generating power plant began in July 2012. Three stacks, a turbine building and half of the administration building have already been demolished. The rest of the administration building was to be demolished Monday by Gramercy Group Inc. of Wantagh, spokeswoman Wendy Ladd said.

An additional three stacks and the boiler building remain and are to be taken down by December, Ladd said. After that, the site will be graded and debris will be removed.

There are no plans for the site, Ladd said. -- SCOTT EIDLER

HUNTINGTON

Town to hold hearing on golf operations

The Town of Huntington on Thursday will hold a public hearing on the winning bid by Integrity Golf Co. of Winter Garden, Florida, to oversee Crab Meadow Golf Course, and operate and manage the Dix Hills Golf Course.

The contract is for five years with the possibility of three five-year renewals.

The town will receive total payments over five years of $559,500 or 10 percent of the gross annual revenues, whichever is greater. Capital improvements of $125,000 -- or 1.5 percent of collected revenue -- will be undertaken throughout the initial five-year term.

Integrity Golf will oversee the day-to-day golf operations while the town will still be responsible for the maintenance, town officials said.

Integrity Golf plans to pay for a new restaurant at the Crab Meadow clubhouse, renovate the Dix Hills pro shop, put new carpeting in all facilities, make improvements to the men's and women's locker room at Crab Meadow, add new golf mats in the driving ranges at both facilities, update and enhance the Crab Meadow bar area and enhance overall lighting and painting, town officials said.

The company also is to make an annual payment of $25,000 to a dedicated account for capital and aesthetic improvements at the two facilities. Integrity Golf will also be responsible for utility costs and marketing, town officials said.

The public hearing is to start at 2 p.m. during the monthly board meeting at Town Hall, 100 Main St. -- DEBORAH S. MORRIS

Board OKs exception for Oheka project

The Huntington Town Planning Board has given final approval for the Residences at Oheka Castle to construct buildings as much as 15 feet higher than the town's 35-foot height limitation.

The project, which calls for the construction of as many as 190 condominiums, has been in the works since 2012 when the town approved rezoning the property from business district and residential parcels to an open space cluster. The rezoning allows the condos to be clustered on one part of the property. The planning board gave final approval to the height exception on Oct. 29.

The development is to be part of a 186.6-acre parcel that includes Oheka Castle and the Cold Spring Country Club in West Hills.

Early projections set prices for the residents from $1 million for a one-bedroom condo to almost $2.5 million for a four-bedroom unit.

Town officials said the project would produce a $2.75 million tax surplus for the South Huntington school district.

After being shot in the face in February, developer Gary Melius was given an extra year to complete the required agreement between the developer and the country club. No one has been charged in his shooting. -- VALERIE BAUMAN

FLOWER HILL

Task force to tackle speeding, traffic

The Village of Flower Hill has formed a task force aimed at reducing speeding and traffic on Manhasset Woods Road, which residents said has become a busy cut-through.

"We live on what's become a very busy hill in Flower Hill," said Gabriella Morizio, who has lived on the street for nine years and is chairing the committee with resident Angela Classi. "We're just getting frustrated with not just the speed but also the volume. It's become a very attractive pass-through for folks trying to get to Northern Boulevard, Stonytown Road, and into parts of Port Washington."

She noted that Manhasset Woods Road is "a straight shot" between Northern Boulevard and Stonytown Road with "very little in the way of slowing folks down."

Morizio, an attorney, said the committee will explore options for the road, such as adding speed humps, curb extensions and messages on signs that discourage speeding, as well as lowering the speed limit. She said she hopes to work with other municipalities in the Manhasset area.

AMITYVILLE

Officials want vacant building demolished

Fire and code enforcement officials pushed for the demolition of a vacant industrial building at 21 DeForest St., calling it partially collapsed and dangerous.

Amityville Fire Department Chief Robert Waegerle said at a public hearing last week the building was so unsafe he would not let his firefighters go inside in case of a fire. Raymond Caliendo, an Amityville-based architect retained by the village, said the building was in "severe disrepair."

Property owner Frank Lally of Massapequa did not appear at the hearing. Village attorney Richard Handler said Lally has not responded to attempts to reach him since hazardous conditions at the building were discovered in September.

Demolition could take place in early December, Handler said.

Lally has not paid taxes on the property since 2006, according to Whalen.

The demolition cost would be attached to the property's tax bill. -- SCOTT EIDLER

GARDEN CITY PARK

Town approves gym despite concerns

The Town of North Hempstead has granted site plan approval to a fitness center in Garden City Park despite resident concerns about the potential for additional noise and traffic.

The town board approved the application at its Oct. 21 meeting.

Residents' concerns voiced at a September public hearing led the board to postpone a vote on the decision, saying they wanted owner BDG Garden City Park, working with Blumenfeld Development Group, to add a curb cut to the Jericho Turnpike entrance.

Two curb cuts currently exist on the site, at County Court House Road and on Dyckman Avenue. The additional curb cut proposal has been approved and is awaiting the developer to fulfill all requirements before beginning work, according to the state Department of Transportation.

A vacant Pergament building is now at the site. Plans call for a 33,078-square-foot health club, 6,016-square-foot retail development and a restaurant with 80 seats to be built on the 3.6-acre plot. - SCOTT EIDLER

NORTH HEMPSTEAD

State grant to help digitize town records

The Town of North Hempstead has received $74,910 from a state grant that will fund efforts to digitize building department records.

The grant from the Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund will help the town post certificates of occupancy and permits online, officials said. It will also enable officials to back up data on the town's content management software program, known as Laserfiche.

Town officials said the project will allow residents to retrieve the data more quickly.

Imaging & Microfilm Access Inc., of Bohemia, is to scan the documents later this month.

Town officials said the grant does not apply to all of the building department records, although they plan to apply for the grant again to complete more of the scanning project. -- SCOTT EIDLER