Northport Village Notebook: Police Calls, AC For PT and More

Commissioner Reports
Village Administrator Gene Guido had two requests in his reports. One, from CJ Mechanical, was to close down part of Woodbine Avenue so that a crane could lift several air conditioning units off a building located next to and replace them with new ones. The building formerly held the Northport Village Gourmet Deli as its tenant, but the deli closed down recently. It is currently being renovated in to a physical therapist's office owned by Thomas Gruhn.  After some discussion, the board chose to close down Main Street for an early-morning hour instead so that the AC units would not have to go over Skipper's Pub when removed and replaced.

The other request was from the Green Tree Homeowners Association, who requested payment for damage done by the village to the wiring of a street lamp that the asssociation repaired. The damage, which was done during an inspection of village drainage structures, cost the Association $1,294.60 to repair.

Guido noted that the village could've repaired the line cheaper, but the association made the repair before he realized that the Village damaged it, as it occurred in the earliest moments of his tenure. Trustee Damon McMullen suggested that the village only pay what it would've cost them to fix, but Mayor George Doll decided that it was best to pay the charge in full and get it over with, which the board decided to do.

Guido noted that digging policies will change in the future to prevent a similar accident.

Northport Police Chief Ric Bruckenthal's report stated that the village police department received 361 calls for services, issued nine summonses, and made three arrests over the past month. He called it an average month for the department.

He also noted that the work of Sgt. Thomas Schramm and Officer Pete Howard was commended after they responded to a call for a man who needed assistance. The man did not survive, but the EMTs were commended by the family for doing all they could, a sentiment echoed by Mayor Doll.

Along the same vein, Trustee Thomas Kehoe discussed a meeting he had with the Suffolk County Police Department over the logistics of that department working Tuesday nights in the summer an effort to reduce police costs.

Mayor Doll noted that the highway department was still involved in removing snow. He added that the village was going to start sweeping sand accumulated from snow removal off the streets.

Townwide Fund Seeks Donations
A representative from the Townwide Fund of Huntington's presented a plea for donations.

The representative wanted to reacquaint the public with his volunteer-based organization, which serves 20 other organizations in the area, including YMCA: The Place and the Visiting Nurse Service and Hospice Center, which are both located in Northport.

The presenter noted an old connection between Northport and the Townwide Fund, as a former Northport community chest known as the Northport Red Feather Campaign previously merged with the Townwide Fund.

He also gave several testimonials from people who received help from several of the fund's member agencies, whose help would not have existed without the fund's support. One included a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder whose dog, provided by the Guide Dog Foundation, one of the Townwide Fund's member organizations, is able to sense when he will have a PTSD flashback and alert other citizens to get the veteran help.

The presenter talked about three ways to donate to the fund. One was the Adopt-A-Box program, a coin box program where local businesses can put boxes in their stores for residents to donate to the Fund. The representative noted that if the Fund got $11 out of their 250 boxes per month, they'd be able to generate $30,000 for their agencies.  Another is the Payroll Deduction Program, a program that allows a business owner to go to their employees and donate whatever amount they want out of their paychecks. The third way was for residents to go to the organization's annual events, including their upcomingand a golf event (held annually on the fourth Thursday in May, which would be May 26 this year).

Warrants:
The only warrants on the agenda were for general fund bills. They were listed in the amount of $39,155.23, but $3,300 was added to that total at the meeting for the installation of a sign at the corner of Woodbine Avenue and 25A, increasing the total to $43,455.23. The warrants were approved.

Resolutions:
There was only one resolution passed at the meeting, and it was for the approval of the minutes of the February 1 meeting. The approval of the minutes of the February 15 meeting were put on hold because they were not ready in time for this meeting.

Miscellaneous
Deputy mayor Henry Tobin was not at the meeting.

The next meeting of the Northport Village Board of Trustees will be on March 15 at 6 p.m.