Long Island briefs

NASSAU COUNTY

Plan would offer vets Leisure Pass benefit

A Nassau lawmaker is seeking to give military veterans the same discounts as senior citizens for use of the county's parks and recreation facilities.

Legis. Ellen Birnbaum (D-Great Neck) has proposed an ordinance change that would allow veterans to pay a one-time $25 fee for Nassau's "Leisure Pass" -- as seniors do -- rather than pay every three years, as most residents must.

"Veterans deserve acknowledgment for serving their country, and this is a small token of our appreciation," said Birnbaum, who introduced her bill after a constituent brought the matter to her attention.

Nassau's Leisure Pass system allows residents discounted access to county parks facilities, including pools, skating rinks, golf courses, beaches and museums. Current law specifically notes that seniors only have to pay the one-time fee, and then affirm their residency every three years to renew their passes, but the same distinction is not made for veterans.

The county legislature's Republican majority will determine if Birnbaum's amendment request is placed on an upcoming meeting agenda. Majority spokeswoman Cristina Brennan said Republican lawmakers didn't have any immediate objections to the proposal, which is under review.

NORTHPORT

Village one of 11 not

under financial stress

Northport was among 11 villages on Long Island that scored zero in the state comptroller's evaluation of village financial statements statewide, an indication that they were in good financial shape.

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli's office used a "fiscal stress monitoring system" to evaluate 535 villages that had fiscal years ending on May 31, 2013 -- all but a handful of the state's villages.

Statewide, 44 villages, including the ones on Long Island, scored a zero. This means that their budget figures didn't trigger any of the indicators in the monitoring system, such as fund balance, operating deficit and short-term debt, officials said.

"It is very rewarding to all of us who have worked hard on the board and especially should be rewarding for the mayor who has put in enormous amount of time throughout the year," Northport Deputy Mayor Henry Tobin said at a news conference on Tuesday.

The other villages that received the same score are Asharoken, Bellerose, Centre Island, Hewlett Harbor, Oyster Bay Cove, Port Washington, Quoque, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock and South Floral Park. Amityville, Manorhaven and Bayville were among the four villages in the state to receive the "significant fiscal stress" warning label. Old Brookville and West Hampton Dunes were listed as having "moderate" stress, and Brightwaters and Garden City were "susceptible" to fiscal stress.

GLEN COVE

CSEA buyout

deadline has passed

The deadline for Glen Cove civil service union members to apply for a voluntary separation program passed on Friday. Mayor Reginald Spinello's office did not respond to requests for information about how many people accepted the buyouts or what the cost would be. Spinello said last month that 65 Civil Service Employees Association members with at least 10 years service could apply.

The buyout program, which Spinello billed as a cost-saving measure, would give workers 1 percent of their 2014 base salary multiplied by the number of years they've served if they resign or retire. The buyouts would be capped at 20 percent of this year's base salary.

The Spinello administration initially declined to provide its calculations of the potential cost to the city for paying eligible workers. Those calculations were part of an agreement that the City Council -- based on verbal descriptions by Spinello and staff -- approved on Jan. 28. After being contacted by a Newsday attorney who cited state open meetings law that required the release of the documents, the administration said last week that it had mailed them but declined to fax or email them.

Local CSEA president Martin Cook, whose group represents about 110 workers in Glen Cove, said on Friday that he did not know how many workers had applied.

"The ones that are ready to retire are definitely going to take it," Cook said. "If you ain't ready to go, why would you?"

NORTH HEMPSTEAD

Communities to get

revitalization grants

The Town of North Hempstead will receive $740,264 in Federal Community Development Block Grant funds for community improvement projects, Nassau County officials said.

The projects are part of the New Cassel Urban Renewal Area and the Port Washington Model Blocks Area.

The projects are separate plans to revitalize sections of Port Washington and New Cassel, communities in the Town of North Hempstead.

The funding includes $262,164 for the New Cassel Urban Renewal Area, and $30,000 for commercial rehabilitation in both areas.

The Community Development Agency will receive $150,000 to redevelop properties; $120,000 for administration and coordination of community development activities; $50,000 for first-time home buyer down-payment assistance; $41,000 for the Unified New Cassel Community Revitalization Corp.; $40,000 for residential rehabilitation and preservation activities; $10,000 each will fund code enforcement, economic development, and street improvements and relocation costs for properties.

The Concerned Citizens for Roslyn Youth is slated to receive $7,100.

EAST HAMPTON

Twice stalled, beach cleanup set to go

When Dell Cullum made plans for a beach cleanup in East Hampton earlier this month, he started out with about a dozen volunteers. The event ended up getting canceled because there was too much snow on the beach.

So, he tried again. And got about two dozen volunteers. And, again, the event was canceled because of last week's snowstorm.

Now, he has 50 volunteers for the cleanup, which is scheduled for Saturday at 9 a.m., and he has a weather report that calls for sunny skies and temperatures in the 50s.

"The funny thing is, after next Saturday, I'm having a foot procedure done, and it will keep me off my feet. If it's not done Saturday, I won't be joining my own event," Cullum said.

The Shoreline Sweep -- which Cullum said is the first time that volunteers have made a coordinated effort to clean all of East Hampton's ocean beaches from Georgica Beach in the west to Montauk Point -- will have volunteers gathering at four drop-off points and going in five directions, sorting litter and collectibles, and keeping a tally of what they find.

The town trustees have offered to send a crew to pick up the bagged refuse and recyclables that they collect. Cullum wants to videotape the activity as a way of promoting efforts to keep the town beaches clean year-round.

"Work is always being done on the big houses on the beaches . . . and fishermen come out and they leave behind rolls of monofilament and lures . . . those things are dangerous to wildlife," Cullum said.

People interested in signing up can do so via Cullum's email, kachina35@gmail.com, or Deb Klugher's, keepingitgreen@optonline.net. A map showing the four starting sites and giving details on a social gathering at the end of the cleanup is available at Cullum's photo website, Imagination Nature.com.

HUNTINGTON

Press Club of LI

creates hall of fame

A Long Island Journalism Hall of Fame to recognize trailblazing journalists, present and past -- including Huntington's Walt Whitman -- has been established and will have its first inductees in June.

The Press Club of Long Island, a chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, announced it plans to create the hall of fame, and the first inductees will include all previous recipients of the annual PCLI Outstanding Long Island Journalist Award, the group's highest honor to an individual.

"This is a great opportunity to recognize historic journalists who have contributed to journalism on Long Island," Dominick Miserandino, PCLI president, said. "We'll use this also as an opportunity to connect with the past, so it will be a chance for winners of the past to see each other, a reunion of sorts."

The Outstanding Long Island Journalist Award will be replaced with induction into the Hall of Fame starting this year.

The hall of fame will also include prominent Long Island journalists of the past, starting with Whitman, one of America's foremost poets and the founder of The Long-Islander newspaper, which still serves the Huntington area. He leads the list of 23 journalists to be inducted.

The inaugural induction will take place at the PCLI Media Awards dinner, June 5, at the Woodbury Country Club, to help commemorate PCLI's 40th anniversary.

The criteria for inductees are that they made a significant contribution to Long Island journalism, or are a Long Islander who has made contributions to journalism beyond Long Island.

NEW HYDE PARK

Little chefs do baking

at McDonald House

Two teams of small chefs baked treats yesterday for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island.

Sporting aprons and chef hats, Faith Gelford, 6, joined six other children to bake strawberry-white chocolate and blueberry-orange mini muffins with Paula Gottlieb Herman, owner of LilChefs.com. A group of older children later whipped up chewy cherry bars and muffins.

"I'm cooking for everyone who is in the hospital," said Faith, of Oceanside.

This is the second year that Gottlieb Herman, 51, of Westbury, held a baking workshop during Presidents Day weekend at the Ronald McDonald House.

"Lil Chefs is just bringing another little bit of home into the lives of the families that are staying here," said Matthew Campo, executive director of Ronald McDonald House of Long Island. "When families come back here to rest and relax, it's great to have a treat."

The hotel-like facility hosts families for a very low donation or free while their children undergo treatment at nearby hospitals.

Twenty-seven families were staying in the 42-room facility yesterday.

Gottlieb Herman said her parents introduced her to the concept of giving back at an early age and recalled Thanksgivings spent volunteering at soup kitchens.

"The families here, many of their kids are fighting for their lives, they are far away from home," she said. "If we can give them a little smile today with what the kids created that means the world to us."

Tommy Sanders, 9, of Manhasset, colored a poster and said, "It's nice to help."

Joshua Ackerman, 8, of Plainview, added, "I think the families are going to be happy."

Campo said the young cooks were the organization's future.