Northport Notebook: Pool Ordinance Scrapped, Race Plans Discussed

The Village Board of Trustees voted unanimously to scrap local code governing pools after a public hearing on Tuesday, reasoning that existing New York State code is sufficient. The New York State code can be found here.

"It takes care of our safety concerns and has the benefit of being uniform across municipalities and making it easier and less confusing for the people in the village," Trustee Henry Tobin said at the hearing.

The scrapped required a self-latching fence around the perimeter of an inground pool and was stricter than the State's. No members of the public commented at the public hearing.

The law is effective immediately.

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Huntington Director of Parks and Recreation Donald McKay spoke about plans for the at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 8 on behalf of the organization.

The group recently met with Police Chief Ric Bruckenthal to go over the route for the 4 mile race which starts on Waterside Avenue and ends at Steers Beach to work out traffic management and road closures.

McKay said he hopes that the race will be over by 9:45 a.m. at the latest and asked the village board if the gates at Steers Beach could be opened to divert traffic away from the runners. He added that police and volunteers will direct traffic along all major roads and intersections affected by the race and will alert residents to road changes ahead of time through leafletting, signs, and possibly through the Town of Huntington's phone alert system.

McKay said that the event managers will not wait for the race's last finishers to open the gates. "We're going to open it up and we'll be advising runners that the roadways will be opening up to traffic," he said, to which Trustee Tom Kehoe protested, saying that rushing the opening could put runners and spectators in harm's way. He and other board members agreed that it was prudent to keep the gates closed for as long as needed, at most an hour and a half, according to McKay.

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Village and Zoning Board Attorney Jim Matthews will join Zoning Board Chairman Andrew Cangemi in a "civics lesson" sometime next month to explain to the public how the planning, zoning, and architectural review boards work, said Trustee Tom Kehoe.

"People need to understand how the Mayor makes appointments and how these boards function from an arms distance from whatever we do." 

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The Board approved a resolution to reduce the bond on improvements to the now-closed location of on Fort Salonga Road as recommended by Village Administrator Gene Guido, whose report stated that renovations are 90 percent complete. The bond was reduced by $165,880.

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The next meeting of the Northport Board of Trustees is Aug. 14 at 5 p.m. due to the Tuesday Night Happenings at 6 p.m.