Last Wednesday, Mayor Scott Strauss and the board of trustees held the first village board meeting of the new year.
Starting off the meeting, Strauss congratulated the Mineola Fire Department on another successful Operation Santa that occurred during the recent holiday season. The mayor was appreciative that firefighters gave up time with their own families at one of the busiest times of the year to bring Santa and a smile to children’s homes throughout the village.
Speaking of the Mineola Fire Department, Strauss mentioned that on New Year’s Day, the fire department handled a serious fire that damaged two homes within the village. The firefighters worked in single digit temperatures and brought the fire under control without any reported injuries.
The mayor also talked about a project he has been working on with the Mineola Historical Society and thanked them for their work in keeping Mineola’s heritage alive.
“The next time you are at village hall please take a look at the old pictures that are being hung up in the hallways,” said Strauss. “This is a project I started a long time ago with the historical society. Together we picked out pictures and had them enlarged, framed and hung, all at no cost to the village.”
The pictures were enlarged and printed courtesy of Mineola firefighter Chris Anderson and the frames were donated by Strauss’ family. When all of the approximate 100 pictures are completely hung up, residents are encouraged to visit village hall and take a stroll down memory lane.
Following Strauss’ comments, trustee Paul Pereira mentioned that he had the privilege of representing the mayor and the village board at a retirement ceremony for Mineola native Carlos Mendes—a professional soccer player who played for the Redbulls, Columbus Crew and New York Cosmos.
“The reason why we felt that it was important to recognize Carlos is because wherever he went he brought the name Mineola and our community and village with him, playing internationally against teams like Barcelona,” explained Pereira.
At Mendes’ retirement ceremony, he was presented with a street sign that renamed Shortridge Drive to Carlos Mendes Drive in his honor.
Trustee Paul Cusato added that the village successfully collected 22 bags worth of toys this past year for Toys for Tots and thanked those who donated a toy.
Closing out Wednesday’s board meeting, trustee Dennis Walsh warned residents that they will get a summons if they’re caught taking snow from their property and blowing it back onto public streets with their snow blowers, which ultimately could be deemed as a safety hazard.
The next village board meeting is Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 6:30 p.m. at village hall.
