Williston Park had a productive Monday night, May 19, passing four laws and approving a new dance studio to open in the village.
The board granted Julie O’Neill permission to open a second location of her dance practice, JD Dance Studio, in the village at 320 Hillside Ave. The studio offers a wide variety of dance classes to youth ages 2 to 18 and a competitive dance team.
Her first and only location is in nearby Mineola. O’Neill said many of her clients live in Williston Park, so she thought this second location would be a helpful addition to the village for those families. She said the studio plans to operate after school, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, as well as some possible weekend hours during the morning and early afternoon.
After her brief presentation, the board quickly and unanimously granted her approval, saying they thought her studio would be a positive addition to the village.
“Thank you and good luck to you,” Mayor Paul Ehrbar said. “It’s good to see our stores filled with businesses.”
Prior to O’Neill’s presentation, the board presented and unanimously approved four laws, primarily focused on updating the village code for clarity. The most notable was a new law that created fines for throwing away personal trash from a person’s home and trash from contracting jobs away in public village trash receptacles.
Now, people and contractors will face a $1,000 fine the first time they dispose of their own trash in village receptacles, a $3,000 fine for their second offense and a $5,000 fine for their third offense.
Ehrbar agreed with a member of the public that the law was difficult to enforce, as a person would have to be seen disposing of improper trash in the public bins, but it was still important as it provided the village with an avenue of recourse and enforcement. He and other members said this was a significant problem in the village as it costs the village additional money to dispose of more trash, and if contractors dump heavy materials into the bins, it negatively affects sanitation workers and their safety.
The other three laws simply updated existing laws to provide clearer language. The first of the three was a law regarding construction, landscaping and other work being done on homes on weekends. The content of the law, which prohibits work on Sundays, except in the case of emergencies, did not change, but language was updated to ensure the village can better enforce the code. This law does not prevent homeowners from carrying out work themselves whenever they please.
The second updated the village’s law that provides a 10% property tax exemption to volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers to reflect new wording preferred by the state. No new people are eligible for the exemption and no one has been excluded, the mayor assured the board.
The third and final law clarified language around notifying the village of defects or issues with publicly used property. It now makes clear that a resident needs to notify the village in writing, whether through a letter or by delivering a written notice in person at village hall, of any issue needing repairs, such as potholes, sidewalks or staircases for the village to be liable in the case of injury due to that issue. The board emphasized that notifying the village over email or social media was not considered an acceptable way of informing them.
The meeting ended with Sally Mitchell, a member of the local American Legion Auxiliary group, encouraging the public to attend the legion’s Memorial Day services at 9 a.m. at the Williston Post 144’s rear lawn and the following parade, which steps off from the corner of Syracuse Street and Broad Street at 10 a.m.
She also asked members of the board for donations for the legion in exchange for a poppy. All happily obliged.
