The Village of Munsey Park Board of Trustees said it plans to raise taxes by 3.5% this year for a tentative tax levy of $1,414,927, as discussed at its Wednesday, March 11, meeting.
The board voted to waive its tax cap for the first time since 2020, as the village has seen a decrease in revenue.
“We’ve lost a lot of revenue from tickets,” Mayor Lawrence Ceriello said.
He said there has not been enough enforcement and ticket issuance by the Nassau County Police Department. He also said there was a decrease in building permits issued and in mortgage taxes collected.
But the mayor touted that over the past 13 years, the village has had an average tax increase of 1.3%, while average inflation has been 2.88% over the same period.
“This year’s a little bit different. We struggled with the draft budget,” Ceriello said. “It’s very hard for us to move the needle because our taxes are so low.”
The board also unanimously approved accepting a $115,000 grant from Nassau County for sidewalk work in the village.
Munsey Park Women’s Club members also came to present gifts to the village for installation in Waldman Memorial Park.
“We wanted to give a gift to the village,” said women’s club member Colleen Sharkey. “This gift comes in three parts.”
Munsey Park Women’s Club brought two of the gifts — a wooden tic-tac-toe board and a magnifying glass station for young children. Sharkey also passed out flyers showing plans for the third gift — an infographic board with educational information on Mallard ducks, American Bullfrogs and Red Eared Slider Turtles, with a mock-shell that children can touch.
Two residents voiced tentative interest in the new installations but also some concern. Holly Wilson said she was worried about the safety of the gifts’ locations and asked the board to install them away from the pond in Waldman Memorial Park.
“It’s happened to all of us as moms — we’ve turned our backs, and our kids went in a different direction,” Wilson said. “I would ask that extreme care and consideration goes into the placement of something like this.”
Munsey Park Women’s Club President Grace Miceli said she agreed it should be put in a safe location, and responded, “We’re indifferent to where it’s put.”
“I think the park in its natural setting is a really special spot, and I would be careful about changing that,” said Scott Arenare, whose house borders the park. “People are very protective of the park.”
The board also extended a moratorium on the construction of in-ground pools, hot tubs and spas for three more months. Ceriello said the board is looking to amend the village code to specify how far hot tubs and spas must be set back from a homeowner’s property line, following a neighbor dispute a few months ago.
The board also overturned the Building Advisory Committee’s decision to withhold the certificate of occupancy for 76 Kensett Road until the homeowner, Ryan Melvin, installed shutters as the code requires. Ceriello cast the sole dissenting vote because he said he was concerned about the precedent it would set.
Melvin said he has faced several difficulties in finishing his house, including a contractor who left mid-project, forcing him to complete it himself.
“The HVAC guy said that somebody had sabotaged my AC lines and put a bunch of debris in there,” said Melvin, so he was forced to install external AC lines.
“On [one] window alone we have external AC lines, spotlights and gutters blocking where shutters would go,” he said.
The mayor said he was sympathetic but was worried about the precedent it would set if they overturned the Building Advisory Committee’s decision.
“A guiding principle for me is to only rarely overrule the [Building Advisory Committee],” Ceriello said. “You don’t want to incentivize people to make changes to their plans that will then impair important aspects of the plan that the [Building Advisory Committee] required.”
“I know you’ve been in here multiple times and done everything to code, so it wasn’t intentional,” said Trustee Greg LiCalzi. “We’ve made exceptions for this in the past.”
“This is a precedent that will come back to haunt us,” Ceriello said after the board voted to overturn the BAC’s decision.
In other news, the board also presented certificates to three Eagle Scouts who completed beautification projects in Manhasset and the surrounding areas.
Nicholas Katsoulis planted native flowers at Manhasset Public Library, and Christopher Katsoulis and Charles Jettmar created a path through Udall’s Cove Park Preserve in Douglaston.
The board also heard from Munsey Park resident Pat Zinnanti, who erected an aluminum fence in his backyard after he said his neighbor’s dogs ran into his yard while his young children were playing.
Zinnanti said he was concerned about his children’s safety because the dogs had entered his yard multiple times.
“Fences are not permitted by code. It goes back to the founding of Munsey Park,” Ceriello said.
Ceriello told the resident that the board can only make an exception for building a fence if a resident faces hardship, but his circumstances did not qualify.
“If we don’t have rules that we enforce, what’s the point of having rules?” Ceriello said. “We’re trying to maintain a standard in our village where our rules mean something, otherwise we’re just Queens or Plainview.”
