Funding for a few projects and village improvements was finalized in Mineola on Wednesday, Aug. 5, when the board voted to approve the purchase of speedometer signs, engineering contracts, and the finishing touches to water filters.
The board continued its string of traffic safety investments, approving the purchase of two new speedometer signs and renovations to the village’s two existing ones, which currently sit on Marcellus Road, following resident complaints of seeing speeding through their streets.
“We’re going to get the existing ones upgraded and get two ones that we will be able to deploy throughout the village,” Mineola Mayor Paul Pereira said. “We will also receive data from them to be able to determine how many cars are speeding at what times of day.”
The signs, which display a car’s speed when it drives past, store and share speeding data with the village and police department, which Pereira has said will help Mineola combat the issue. The existing two on Marcellus required upgrades because they were not properly storing the data.
Trustees also approved engineering contracts to assess the feasibility and necessity of renovating the Mineola Historical Society, Mineola Fire Department Company Three and Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corp buildings.
“These are the ceiling prices for engineering studies,” Pereira said. “Once they study it, we will have the items and price of the actual renovations.”
The assessments are necessary because they will tell the village what can be done, how it can be accomplished and exactly how much each project will cost, the mayor said. They will explore kitchen renovations and emergency generator replacement for the fire department for a total of $50,700, general renovations and a mold investigation at the ambulance corps building for $16,000 and general renovations and a potential expansion to the historical society for $29,000.
Once the engineering studies are completed, the village will decide on the specific renovations to be carried out, likely sometime next year. Pereira said the renovations were necessary and the engineering studies would ensure the village makes them intelligently.
Afterwards, the board turned to approving finishing touches and minor repairs to the village’s water filtration systems, which are placed at four of the village’s five working wells and work to remove chemicals like PFAS, PTAS and 1,4-dioxane, which are harmful to human health. After investing roughly $35 million of village funds and grants into the filters over the past decade, it’s one of the most expensive endeavors the village has undertaken, but it’s well worth it, Pereira said.
“I think it’s of the utmost importance. We don’t have a choice,” Pereira said about the water filtration systems. “This is water. We want to provide clean, safe water and we’re doing that. We’re being proactive, even in wells where we have not had positive results for these emerging chemicals, we are already retrofitting them, getting them ready…for the inevitable.”
Pereira said the Wednesday funding approvals were minor in comparison to the projects at large. They included items like minor roof repairs at well 4’s filtration system and a new exhaust fan, eyewash station, and caustic pipes at well 1’s filtration system to finalize the systems that have been long in the making.
“These are last-minute punch list items,” Pereira said. “The hard stuff is done. These are small potatoes.”
He said that the next water-related matter the village is exploring is examining the water tower to determine whether it needs to be reconditioned, repaired, or replaced.
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