Roundup: Transition team for comptroller-elect

Suffolk Comptroller-elect John M. Kennedy Jr. has named a 17-member transition team that includes former GOP County Executive Robert Gaffney and Brookhaven Supervisor Edward Romaine to ease his move into his new $5.8 million department starting Jan. 1.

Kennedy said the group will begin meeting in the next week to review operations and make suggestions on what improvements might be made. Kennedy said he intends to have the team break down into three or four subcommittees to look at different areas of office operations. Among the areas the team will explore, he said, is creating an electronic payment system for county vendors to make it more efficient.

Kennedy's transition team will also include Angie Carpenter and John Cochrane, the current and former county treasurers, in light of last week's voter referendum that approved a merger of the treasurer's office with the Department of Audit and Control in 2018, after Carpenter's term ends. Kennedy, who like Carpenter opposed the merger, said both officials will give him "valuable insight" on how the two agencies can properly work together.

Even before taking office, Kennedy said several of his immediate audit targets will include the county's handling of housing for the homeless and spending on the education program for preschool disabled children.

Free septic system offer ends today

Today is the deadline to apply for one of the free advanced septic systems Suffolk County is giving away.

The county will randomly select 19 homeowners who qualify for the systems. The county will pay to maintain the systems for five years and monitor them to determine their effectiveness at reducing nitrogen.

The six different systems, donated by four manufacturers, will serve as a pilot program as the county tries to find ways to reduce nitrogen in areas that are not connected to sewers.

The county has received 59 applications since the lottery was announced last month, spokeswoman Vanessa Baird-Streeter said yesterday afternoon.

The systems are used in other parts of the country and Europe, the county said. Suffolk has yet to approve any alternative wastewater treatment systems for widespread use in the county. Manufacturers promise they will reduce excess nitrogen from residential and commercial properties.

With about 70 percent of the county not connected to sewers, the county has been trying to identify effective ways to reduce nitrogen.

By next July, monitoring information will be used to determine which systems can be sold for general use in Suffolk County.

Suffolk residents can fill out an application by visiting www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/PublicWorks/SepticDemonstrationProgram.aspx, or email questions to SepticDemo@SuffolkCountyNY.gov.

MINEOLA

Rally against speed cams set for Sunday

Angry Nassau County residents plan to hold a rally in Mineola on Sunday to voice their opposition to the county's controversial speed camera program.

It is slated to start at 11 a.m. at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building, 1550 Franklin Ave.

"We're a group of public people who are appalled by what's being done," said Woodbury resident Ned Newhouse. Newhouse is one of more than 2,700 members of a Facebook group, "Nassau County Residents Opposing School Zone Speed Cameras."

Last month, more than 400 furious county residents packed a Jericho elementary school to confront the architect of the program and demand refunds for hundreds of tickets issued in front of the school.

By year's end, there will be cameras at 56 locations countywide.

WILLISTON PARK

4th-graders try on governmental roles

Fourth-graders from Williston Park and Mineola schools who won an essay contest will be acting as members of the village governing body during a meeting of the board tomorrow in a special weekend session.

The students were selected after writing an essay on what "Together, We Can Make A Difference," means to them. The "Village Official for a Day" program was started about a decade ago by former mayor, Doreen Ehrbar, wife of current mayor, Paul Ehrbar. Each year, a different theme is chosen for the writing competition.

This year's winners are Ryan Toohig and Mikoto Tsubo from the Center Street School, Michael Duda and James Desiderio from the Jackson Avenue School in Mineola, and Brooke Hoffman and Elizabeth Mignardi from St. Aidan School.

Mayor Ehrbar said the idea is to promote civics and introduce young people to local government.

Brennen Bierwiler, principal of Center Street School, said the essays were written over about three weeks spanning September and October. The village board selected the winners.

"It's a great idea," Bierwiler said. "We're a community-based school, and this allows us to be part of the larger community."

The agenda for the meeting had not been finalized but Ehrbar said the young stand-ins will not cast votes or set policies.

When a matter comes up for discussion or a vote, Mayor Ehrbar said, "It won't be their choice. It will be our choice. They'll be sitting on the dais and we'll be sitting behind them." Ehrbar said the meeting will "be routine business."

The following students will sit in for the following village officials respectively: Ryan Toohig and Mikoto Tsubo, Mayor Paul Ehrbar and Village Clerk Julie Kain; Michael Duda and James Desiderio, Deputy Mayor and trustee Teresa Thomann; and Brooke Hoffman and Elizabeth Mignardi, trustee William Carr and trustee Michael Uttaro.

The 10 a.m. meeting will be held at village hall, 494 Willis Ave.

HEMPSTEAD

$1M in FEMA funds for post-Sandy fixes

Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced yesterday that the Town of Hempstead will receive more than $1 million in federal funding for the repair and replacement of streetlights and underground electrical wiring damaged by superstorm Sandy.

"This FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] reimbursement is great news and will help make sure that the Town of Hempstead's residents are not on the hook for these expenses and repairs," Schumer said in a news release.

Gillibrand said: "We must continue to make these important federal investments that help our communities hit hard by Superstorm Sandy."

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray thanked the senators, adding: "[This] reimbursement . . . will ensure that local taxpayers are not burdened with the cost of these repairs as many of them struggle with repairing and restoring their personal properties."

The reimbursement is for street lighting equipment, including poles, lamps, fuses, wiring and other associated components. Hundreds of street lamps along town roads of South Shore communities, from Seaford to Baldwin to East Rockaway, were inundated with floodwaters during Sandy. In total, the town is to receive $1,017,710 in FEMA funding.

"I want to thank Senators Schumer and Gillibrand for helping secure the federal funds necessary to repair street lighting equipment that was damaged" during Sandy, said Hempstead Town Supervisor Murray.

NISSEQUOGUE

Pet law affects wider variety of animals

The Village of Nissequogue has expanded its local law regulating pets, to include pigs, horses, goats and rabbits.

Village trustees voted unanimously late last month to pass the amendment, which widens the local law concerning owners' responsibility of controlling their pets if they're off their property to include animals such as goats, donkeys, sheep and others.

Potential penalties for those convicted of violating the amended law include a fine not exceeding $250 or imprisonment for a term not to exceed 15 days, or both.

The current village code focuses on dogs, and requires that owners collar and tag their dogs, secure them on a leash off their property and prevent their pet from harming others.

Village Mayor Richard Smith has said there have been incidents where horses have wandered on other people's property and eaten their flower patches.

Smith said trustees voted to toughen the law because, "We just really wanted to give the two village justices broader discretion in penalties or fines in dealing with chronic abusers."

Some village residents objected to the change, calling the village "anti-animal," said Smith -- a suggestion he denied.

"I certainly hope we allayed their fears. This is not an anti-animal institution," Smith said. "We have a few families who, unfortunately . . . have been chronic abusers, letting their dogs and horses run wild, and it's not fair to the animals. They could be struck by a car in the road."

The modification of the village code must be reviewed by state officials and will become law once it is published, said Smith, adding that the process typically takes a month.

The code will be updated on the village website when it goes into effect, said Smith.

NORTH HEMPSTEAD

Town requests funds to fix up lighthouse

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is urging the National Park Service to approve North Hempstead's request for a $165,000 grant to renovate the Stepping Stones Lighthouse, built in 1877 and located off the waters of Kings Point.

The federal government in 2012 threatened to take the structure from the town, its steward. The town is working with the Great Neck Park District and Great Neck Historical Society to raise funds. It could cost between $4 million and $8 million to renovate the light, town Supervisor Judi Bosworth has said, noting the effort could involve town funds "minimally."

The light became the town's in 2008 during the tenure of Supervisor Jon Kaiman and as part of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. Officials had outlined plans to maintain and restore it.

"It's a shame that the historic and iconic Stepping Stones Lighthouse has tragically fallen into disrepair, but now is the time to take the necessary steps to rehabilitate it," said Schumer in an emailed statement. Bosworth said in an interview that the support is key as the agency weighs the town's application. "We're the steward, but it's not supposed to be the Town of North Hempstead paying for it," said Bosworth.

The town is seeking funding from the park service's Maritime Heritage Grants program, which hasn't been available for more than 10 years, said Bonnie Halda, the Northeast region's chief of preservation assistance. Halda said the applications are being evaluated and a decision will be issued mid-December.