Long Island briefs

HEMPSTEAD TOWN

Lottery to determine

buyers of 7 homes

Town of Hempstead officials held a lottery for seven homes yesterday that will go to qualifying local families.

The selected families will be allowed to purchase to-be-built homes in Roosevelt and Freeport for a listed price of $172,000.

Three of the homes will be located in Roosevelt and four are planned in Freeport. Each house is to be 1,636 square feet with three bedrooms and 1 1/2 bathrooms. They include a living room, kitchen, dining room, garage and full basement as well as a front porch, security system and landscaping, officials said.

The town selected the seven recipients from 20 prequalified candidates. Seven alternate candidates were also selected if the lottery winners choose not to purchase a home, town officials said.

The homes are to be built in early spring by Sea Cliff-based Anray Custom Builders Inc. and are expected to be completed by Labor Day. They are among 240 homes built by the town with federal grants, officials said.

Hempstead is replacing blighted structures and revitalizing neighborhoods with new housing, town officials said. Councilmembers said there have not been any mortgage defaults since the program started 25 years ago.

WEST HAMPTON DUNES

Beach replenishment

near completion

An Army Corps of Engineers project to renourish the ocean beach in West Hampton Dunes is on track for completion around the end of the month, Corps and village officials said yesterday.

The $14.2 million project to pump about 1 million cubic yards of sand onto the beach started in early November, but has occasionally stopped for inclement weather, West Hampton Dunes Mayor Gary Vegliante said.

"It's really building the beach up nice," said Vegliante, whose village consists of about 300 houses on a narrow barrier island in Southampton Town. "If the weather holds up, it'll be good. If the weather doesn't hold up, it'll be a problem."

Illinois-based Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. was hired for the project, and the company has been using a boat to pump sand from the ocean floor, through a pipe and onto the beach for several weeks.

The Army Corps has agreed to maintain the ocean beach of West Hampton Dunes from 1997 to 2027 as part of a legal settlement with village officials, who sued the Corps, Suffolk County and New York State over massive damage from storms in the early 1990s.

The Corps and state have spent $39 million over 18 years on four projects to modify stone groins and dump 6 million cubic yards of sand on the beach, according to figures provided by the agency.

The projects have focused on West Hampton Dunes, but have also extended east into Westhampton Beach and west into Cupsogue Beach County Park.

Vegliante said the village board has recently discussed how to maintain the beach after the 30-year agreement expires. He said options include creating a special taxing district to fund renourishment projects.

WESTBURY

Bridge replacement

greenlighted by MTA

The MTA has approved a $7 million contract to replace a deteriorating bridge in Westbury.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Wednesday voted to award the contract to Farmingdale-based Posillico Civil Inc. to design and build a new bridge over the Long Island Rail Road tracks at Ellison Avenue by 2016.

The bridge, which accommodates cars and pedestrians, is located between the LIRR's Westbury and Carle Place stations. It originally was built in 1896 and was renovated into a two-lane raised roadway in 1941.

Elected officials from the area, including Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) have long pressured the LIRR to replace the crumbling bridge that is consistently rated among the worst on Long Island by state transportation officials.

"Approving this contract is more welcome news for the Westbury/Carle Place community," Martins said in a statement. "The need for this project and the benefits that come with it, including improved safety, new jobs and economic development are unquestionable."

HEMPSTEAD VILLAGE

Youth forum aims

to cultivate life skills

Hempstead Village leaders will hold a forum tomorrow on educating youth, preparing them for jobs and reducing violence.

Mayor Wayne Hall and village officials are hosting "My Brother's Keeper Call to Action Summit" aimed at life skills for young men, and black and Latino boys. The seminar will focus on education, career planning, health and judicial justice, Hall said.

"In light of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice, plus the homicide rates among black and brown youth, and the challenges facing our school system, we believe that the initiative could not be more timely," Hall said, referring to the police shootings of Brown and Rice, and the death of Garner after an NYPD officer put him in what has been deemed an apparent chokehold.

The summit is being held as part of the "My Brother's Keeper" White House initiative that Hempstead and other communities adopted this year.

The summit is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Kennedy Park, 335 Greenwich St.

LINDENHURST

Building fee waiver

extension ending

Village of Lindenhurst officials are rescinding an extension of fee waivers for building permits after learning that permit costs can be reimbursed by NY Rising.

The village board voted this week to amend what had been a third extension of its fee waiver for building permits sought by residents impacted by superstorm Sandy. The board voted on Oct. 21 to extend the waiver to Feb. 28. On Tuesday, the board amended the deadline to Jan. 1.

"We've now gotten clarity from NY Rising that the fees will be covered as part of [homeowners'] applications," village clerk-treasurer Shawn Cullinane said.

Village officials have estimated that nearly 200 homes were substantially damaged by the October 2012 storm.