East Williston Mayor Bonnie Parente addressed two matters that have been top of mind for residents at Monday’s board meeting: a license plate reader installed on East Williston Avenue and the location of a new digital, LED sign in the village.
Earlier this summer, Parente informed the village that the Village of Old Westbury had installed a license plate reader camera on East Williston Avenue on the border of East Williston and Old Westbury without informing her. While initially disturbed by the installation, Parente said that after speaking with the mayor of Old Westbury, she believed the camera was a benefit to the village, though she wished she had been informed prior to the decision being made.
The camera’s purpose is to stop crime and catch criminals as they enter the village, trustees said.
Old Westbury Police Chief Stuart Cameron attended the meeting and answered a series of resident questions about the license plate reader, including why and how the location was chosen, why Parente was not informed, and the technical details of how the license plate reader worked.
East Williston Avenue is a state road maintained by the county, which means the only permit necessary for the camera is one from the county, and technically no permission was needed from East Williston, Cameron said.
“We got a permit from the county, but did speak to the mayor of East Williston,” Cameron said. “I apologize to the mayor. I’ll extend that apology to the board, and I extend that apology to everybody. There was no ill intent. We just found the first viable location and put it there.”
“I should have spoken to the mayor and the board and gotten your blessing before I did it, and I sincerely apologize for that,” he continued. “License plate readers have proven to be a tremendous benefit to us in Old Westbury and we’ve vastly reduced crime.”
He emphasized that the license plate reader does not photograph people, only the plates on the back of a car.
Parente then moved on to address the village’s new LED digital sign, which has been a source of minor controversy in the village since May and is currently incomplete at the intersection of Sagamore Avenue and East Williston Avenue.
When it was first built and introduced, Parente said she received a handful of complaints over the sign, including concerns that the glowing sign might distract drivers crossing the LIRR tracks and did not fit with the village’s traditional character.
On Monday, Parente said the village board had decided to move the sign to the north of the fire department building facing west toward the train tracks after carefully considering resident feedback.
When one resident questioned whether a small group of people were “dictating the policy of the village” regarding the sign, Parente said that was not the case and the board had genuinely believed those raising concerns made valid points.
The sign’s intent is to raise awareness about fire department recruitment and provide the village with an additional means of communicating with residents.
The board also approved a $23,000 emergency repair to the East Williston Public Library. Library staff had discovered a significant uneven portion of the floor that resulted in a hole big enough for someone to trip and injure themselves.
The repair was set to be entirely completed on Tuesday, Sept. 9.
Later on, Parente announced the village’s Field of Honor, which provided residents with the opportunity to purchase and dedicate an American flag in the village green to a public servant or veteran in their life over the month of May, raising enough funds for the village to make a roughly $1,100 donation to both the library and senior center.
Parente also provided a brief update on the dilapidated home at 26 Orchard Meadow Road, including the pests and mold inside and the unkempt landscaping outside, which have been the subject of multiple board meetings.
The board had decided to take matters into its own hands last month as the owner, who has been absent for five years, did not respond to multiple requests to repair or sell his decaying home.
Parente said the village hired an exterminator who cleared out all pests, including a family of raccoons, successfully removed all unwanted guests and boarded up any openings. She said the owner also recently paid all village taxes and the lien against the home from the village for outdoor repairs for safety the year prior, which she believed was a positive sign.
She said the village is working to determine if it needs to make any additional repairs, but expects the only action going forward to be “maintaining” the home.
The next board of trustees meeting is set for Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in village hall.
