Community watchdog: Utility poles gone now

LIPA installed new utility poles for a hotel built where a bowling alley used to be, next to the parking lot for our commercial building. The new poles are about 12 feet from the old ones and in August 2009, we paid Verizon more than $70,000 to transfer their lines and remove the four old poles because they were cutting our parking lot in half. This winter, snow plows couldn't clear the lot properly and there was nowhere to park. We're still waiting for Verizon to do the work. They always have some excuse -- bad weather, usually, which I understand, but it's going on two years since we paid them for services we haven't received. -- Rudy Rosenberg, Westbury

No surprise to us that Verizon crews quickly resolved this problem after we contacted spokesman John Bonomo. We appreciate how fast the crews move when we call about a complaint.

What did surprise us is that Mr. Rosenberg had to pay in advance for the work. We didn't realize the company could demand full payment up front.

Bonomo explains this wasn't a simple job. "It took engineering work to design it, construction work to dig it and the actual work itself was pretty involved," he said. "It's part of the infrastructure of Long Island and it has to be designed correctly."

And that took time. The most complicated (and least visible) part of the job was completed last fall with no loss of service to customers, Bonomo said. In comparison, taking the poles out was easy.

"It's not something we would normally be doing," Bonomo said of the project. "Moving something when it's working . . . that's not our initiative. That's why we asked the customer . . . to pay for it."

Anyone with a problem involving Verizon should call 800-VERIZON.

Vacant gas station is eyesore in Massapequa

Please help us to remove this horrendous eyesore from our community. At the corner of Merrick Road and West Shore Drive in Massapequa, there's a vacant gas station that has anti-lawyer signs and messages about extortion posted along the property line. It has been like this for years. It's a disgrace and a driving hazard, as cars slow down or stop, to see it. -- Pat Gangitano, Massapequa

You're not the first reader to complain to us about this property, Mr. Gangitano. And after talking to the Town of Oyster Bay, we believe officials are just as frustrated as you and others are about this site. Apparently, the owner feels he was wronged and is making that point with his signs.

Town spokeswoman Marta Kane said summonses were issued to the owner last spring for "nonmaintenance" and a fence that has no permit. But each time the case is in court, the owner is a no-show. Kane said the judge has issued a warrant for his arrest.

"We're in a tough situation," she said. "We're trying to go to court and rectify this but the owner isn't showing up, so there's nothing we can do right now."

We told Kane about a sign that was protruding onto the sidewalk, and she said a town inspector would make sure it wasn't a hazard. But that's all that can be done for now.

"We cannot go in and take the signs down," Kane explained. "It would be a violation of the owner's First Amendment rights . . . Good, bad or indifferent, he has a right to say what he wants."

Report an eyesore in the town by calling 516-624-6200 weekdays.

Long-awaited safety signs coming near Wading River church

Churchgoers should have an easier time crossing the street to get to St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Wading River this weekend.

Safety measures that were supposed to be implemented after we wrote about this problem in November will finally be in place, we're told.

Last year, Jodi Dimpflmaier, of Wading River, contacted us because she wanted stop signs at the T-intersection of North Country and Remsen roads near the crosswalk. It's at the bottom of a hill and cars pick up speed approaching the intersection.

Riverhead Chief of Police David J. Hegermiller told us last year that "Stop for Pedestrian" signs would be installed at the crosswalk and an orange traffic safety barrel would be placed in the middle of it for added safety before church services.

But nothing changed and Dimpflmaier and other readers called to ask us what happened. So we asked Hegermiller. His plan had been for the orange barrel duty to be handled by a church staffer. We called the church to ask about the chief's plan, and Deacon Fred Finter told us he wasn't comfortable with that idea.

We relayed Finter's concerns to Hegermiller, who said that starting this weekend, an officer will take care of the orange barrel and direct traffic at the crosswalk for all church services.

The deacon said the church bought the "Stop for Pedestrian" signs for $30 apiece. "We were waiting for the weather to break" to have them installed, he said. They should be up by next week.

Riverhead residents with concerns about speeding or other traffic violations should call police at 631-727-4500.

-- MICHAEL R. EBERT