Long Island briefs

SMITHTOWN

Board to vote on

tree-grinding spot

Smithtown Town Board members plan to vote Friday on a bid that would relocate the grinding of tree stumps and debris at the Montclair Avenue highway yard elsewhere after neighbors complained of dust and noise.

Smithtown Supervisor Patrick Vecchio called a special meeting to rescind a $210,000 bid awarded to All Island Excavating Corp. to grind the material at the St. James highway yard. Instead, the town plans to vote on approving All Island's bid for $385,000 to transport and dispose of the material at a location off-site.

"When I found out about this grinding noise . . . I immediately called [Smithtown Highway Superintendent] Glenn Jorgensen's office to stop the grinding," said Vecchio of complaints from residents.

When asked about the $175,000 price increase to haul the debris and grind outside of Smithtown, Vecchio said, "We'll bite that bullet, because the peace and the quiet of the neighborhood is very important to us."

The town is covering the cost with reserve funds, he said. Robert DeMoustes, 65, who lives on Montclair Avenue, said, "We're very pleased that they've heard the residents . . . The grinding that they were doing had excessive noise during the day time and created a lot of dust."

Vecchio said Smithtown entered into a consent decree with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation to remove excess debris from Hurricane Sandy or face a $450,000 fine.

FARMINGDALE

Public hearing set for monoxide detectors

The village board has scheduled a public hearing April 7 on a proposed change to the village code that would require owners of all commercial and residential buildings to install carbon monoxide detectors.

Village officials said state building code requires all homes to have a detector, but there is no requirement for commercial buildings.

Mayor Ralph Ekstrand said the broader village proposal is a result of the death last month of the manager at the Legal Sea Foods restaurant in Huntington Station from carbon monoxide poisoning. He described it as "a no-brainer after the fatality."

Village administrator Brian Harty said "any home is required to have a CO detector under the state building code. A lot of people are probably not aware of that."

The mayor said expense should not be an issue, particularly for homeowners. "It's $29 for a carbon monoxide detector," he said. Even though commercial models are more expensive, Ekstrand said he did not think the price should be an issue. "We're not talking like telling a gas station to put in a generator."

Harty said the village building superintendent is developing specifications for the commercial establishments. "Part of this is going to be an education effort that the village will make," he said.

The hearing is scheduled for 8 p.m.

State Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset) introduced legislation in February requiring detectors in commercial establishments. Chad Lupinacci (R-Huntington) and Michael Montesano (R-Glen Head) are co-sponsors in the Assembly.

BRIGHTWATERS

Fines for cutting

trees on village land

The Brightwaters Village Board passed laws to levy fines on anyone who cuts down trees or shrubbery on village rights-of-way, and to limit use of nonvegetative or nonimpervious surfaces in residents' backyards.

The board voted unanimously to adopt the two laws at its monthly meeting Monday.

Fines for cutting down trees and shrubbery on village rights-of-way or public spaces will start at $250 for the first offense, $500 for the second, and $1,000 for the third offense.

Village attorney John Finnerty said that state law prohibits the village from levying greater fines as a deterrent. "There is a cap on it, and it's in that range," he said of the proposed fines.

The second law restricts the use of artificial, nonimpervious materials in residents' backyards, such as driveways.

If the plot is larger than 15,000 square feet, the limit is no more than 30 percent of the rear yard area can be composed of nonvegetative, nonimpervious material. If the property is less than 15,000 square feet in size, the limit is no more than 35 percent of the rear yard area.

The village defines non-impervious surfaces to include decks, patios, walkways, sheds, rear garages, and other outbuildings. The law will not be applied retroactively, Finnerty said.

The board will also hold a public hearing at 8 p.m.April 7 at village hall on a proposal to pierce the state mandated tax cap if necessary.

HEMPSTEAD VILLAGE

Health care drive

planned in Nassau

Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, in partnership with the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island and several Nassau County legislators plans to hold an Affordable Care Act enrollment drive on Sunday.

The health care enrollment drive is scheduled from 1 to 7 p.m. at the Iglesia Restauracion, on 221 Jerusalem Ave. in Hempstead Village. The free event is also sponsored by Nassau County Legislature Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams, and legislators Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury) and Laura Curran (D-Baldwin).

The drive is part of a national effort to provide eligible, uninsured members of the community with information and support they need to enroll in new, affordable health insurance plans.

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask health coverage questions, sit down with a trained bilingual navigator to get enrolled, or to set up an appointment for a later date.

For more information about this event or to access enrollment services, call 516-750-2560.

BABYLON

Veterans reach out

to Sandy victims

Hundreds of families whose lives were affected by superstorm Sandy will receive free gift cards courtesy of a veterans group on Saturday.

Members of the Town of Babylon Fire Chiefs Association Hurricane Relief Fund will distribute the $250 gift cards from Target and Lowes. Money raised for the gift cards comes from the Wounded Warrior Project, from a portion of their proceeds from last summer's Wounded Warrior Solider Ride in the town.

The Wounded Warrior Project is a national service group offering more than a dozen programs for injured service members and their families, such as benefits counseling.

More than 250 families will receive the cards, which total more than $65,000, from 9 a.m. to noon at Babylon Town Hall in Lindenhurst.

ISLIP

Two businesses get

tax breaks for hiring

The Town of Islip's Industrial Development Agency has penned deals to offer tax incentives to two businesses that would create 20 new jobs and keep dozens more in the area.

The town is offering Carson Optical and M&M Canvas & Awning a 10-year property tax abatement and sales and mortgage recording tax exemptions totaling $714,000, according to officials, as incentive to keep and bring business to the town.

The IDA has given more than 70 businesses similar tax incentives since 2004, records show.

The inducement resolutions were unanimously approved by the Islip Town Board during the IDA meeting Tuesday at Town Hall.

Residents will get a chance in the coming months to speak on the project proposals at a public hearing before the final votes are taken.

Carson Optical -- which develops optical equipment such as binoculars, magnifiers and telescopes sold at major retail chains -- will invest $3 million to relocate and expand its 24,000-square-foot operation in Hauppauge to a 50,000-square-foot facility on Fifth Avenue in Ronkonkoma. Eight new full-time jobs will be added while 25 jobs will be retained, town official said.

Twenty-five news jobs will be created and 15 others retained at M & M Canvas & Awning, which has created manual and motorized retractable awnings for iconic buildings such as Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and Carnegie Hall.

Since the business has grown by 60 percent last year, town officials said, the company is looking to relocate its 11,000-square-foot business in Huntington to Islandia, where it plans to invest $2 million and inhabit a 20,000-square-foot space.

"At the end of the day, the more businesses located in Islip Town, the better for our taxpayers," Councilman John C. Cochrane Jr., the Town Council's Economic Development liaison, said in a statement.

MASTIC BEACH

Students learn about conserving energy

A research project headed up by four William Floyd High School students became a lesson in energy conservation for 700 middle school students and could be expanded to schools Islandwide.

Under the guidance of research teacher Amy Meyer, the students -- seniors Marleen Rios, 18, and Samantha DeStefano, 17; and freshmen Numaira Khan, 14, and Grace Jaronczyk, 14 -- sought to help students and their families understand energy waste and its cost.

The project -- which was entered by the Mastic Beach high school into the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge on Tuesday -- centered on using the Energy UFO iPad application and the UFO Power Center power strip to measure "phantom load" energy, or electricity that is consumed when household items are off or on standby.

The project, a partnership with the Green Schools Network and sponsored by Brookhaven National Laboratory's LI STEM Hub Regional Industry Council for Energy and Environment, could serve as an example for other Long Island districts to emulate, said Meyer, William Floyd's STEM enrichment teacher.

"These four ladies are actually leaders in the first project of its kind," she said. "The students are educating not only their peers and other students, but also the community."

On Feb. 25, the students, along with fellow research students, presented the device and survey they created to 700 William Floyd Middle School sixth- and seventh-graders for them to bring home.

DeStefano, of Shirley, said the middle school students were asked to collect data to bring back.

At home, students learned about the project and device and helped educate their parents about energy waste.

Meyer said the data that came back by the March 4 deadline for the Siemens contest showed that the homes of some middle school students in the area could be saving as much as $200 a year just by unplugging household items not in use.

Grace Jaronczyk of Mastic, one of the researchers, said even everyday items like a coffee maker or alarm clock, which constantly draw energy, can increase an energy bill by hundreds of dollars.

"We learned so much from the project, and we're so glad we're helping families with becoming more conscious of energy sustainability," she added. "We just tell everyone to try to remember to unplug things after they use them. You'll save so much in the long run."

LINDENHURST

Pizza-box campaign

targets drug abuse

A Lindenhurst Village community group is kicking off the first Friday of Lent with a pizza box campaign targeting drug abuse.

The Lindenhurst Community Cares Coalition plans to launch the campaign at Spasso's Pizzeria at 6:30 p.m.

Informational stickers with artwork designed by student Adrianna Farrugia, and the message "Don't Let Drugs Slow You Down, Just Eat Pizza!" will be placed on pizza boxes.

The stickers will encourage parents to visit the group's website, www.lindycares.org, where they can access drug abuse resources, as well as community events aimed at reducing drug use and underage drinking in the community.

The stickers will also be placed on boxes from other area pizzerias, including Mr. G's, Alitalia, Roma, Stellas II, and Felicetti Brothers. For more information, email lindycaresLCC@gmail.com or call 516-815-3337.

ROCKVILLE CENTRE

$17G gift for fund

to help residents

The village's community fund to aid village residents faced with emergency financial needs is $17,646 richer after a check for that sum was presented to Mayor Francis X. Murray at the March Board of Trustees meeting.

The money resulted from the village's sixth annual Enchanted Winterland Celebration. which drew more than 500 participants to a Margaritaville themed event on February 1.

The check was presented Monday by Joan MacNaughton, the chairwoman of the one night affair.