1973-03-29

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AN OFFICIAL NEWSPAPE. v or i HE VILLAGE OF FARMINGDALE
SERVING THE GREATER FARMINGDALE AREA, BETHPAGE AND MELVILLE
VOL. 10 NO. 32 Second Class Postage has been paid at Farmingdale, N. Y. 11735
Published by THE OBSERVER, Inc., Box 146, Farmingdale, N. Y. Thursday, March 29, 1973 15o
A New Store in Town
. iii « « iiiii| HIIII -. mm
Anyone in the market for a semi- tame owl, a baby boa or a
monkey? Well, the newly open Village Pet Shop ( seen below),
located at 541 Main Street, opposite the Main Street School, can
accomodate those somewhat exotic pet demands. But there is also
ample opportunity to fulfill all other preferences for pets such> as
AKC puppies, birds and tropical fish. Pet Shop owner Mrs. Helen
May, seen above with some of her puppies, a Farmingdale
resident for seven years and is more than happy to cater to
whatever pet lovers desire ( as long as nobody wants a back yard
rhino). Store hours are from 11 a. m. to 6 p. m., Monday through
Thursday and from 11 a. m. to 9 p. m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Photos: HankSchleichkorn
Fourth Grader Hit by Car
Walkers to St. Kilian School ought to be wary of the traffic on
Cherry Street, Farmingdale. A case in point is an accident which
took place Wednesday morning, March 21.
Jeffrey Arre had been driven to school and was left off on the
Weldon E. Howitt least) side of Cherry Street. He had to cross the
busy road to get to school. In so doing, he was struck by a northbound
automobile.
The fourth grader is recuperating from a concussion and damage
to the hip which lie suffered from the accident.
Due to traffic to and from both St. Kilian and W. E. Howitt and also
because of parked cars, hazardous conditions result on Cherry
Street. Parents oi children who do not take the bus to the elementary
school have been urged to avoid the front entrance to the school. It is
recommended that children be dropped off on Wesche Drive at the
school parking lot so that they need not cross any streets.
School Tax Increase Debated as
Teachers Get Living Cost Raise
A tentative budget for the Farmingdale School District with a tax rate of
$ 15,737 per $ 100 of assessed valuation in Oyster Bay was presented at the budget
hearing on Wednesday evening. The meeting was attended by residents who
wanted more cuts while others were concerned that there were too many cuts.
The proposed increase in Oyster Bay tax rate is $ 1.45. In Babylon it is $ 2.91 for a
total of $ 23,081. The budget includes a salary increase of 4.1 percent for teachers
which is basically a cost of living raise as approved in the new contract.
Among the major increases in
the budget are salaries, salary
i n c r e m e n t s , m a n d a t ed
retirement and social security
payments, BOCES tuition, utility
and fuel costs and roof repairs.
BOCES must be available to all
students who want the courses
and an increased number of
Farmingdale students are ex­pected
to enroll. Another factor
which increases the proposed tax
rate is that this year money was
taken from the " balance" in the
school district. Such money will
not be available for the new
budget.
Among the major decreases
were $ 150,000 from the reduction
of 15 teachers and an $ 83,000
reduction in the purchase of
instructional equipment, supplies
and textbooks.
How the decreasing enrollment
does and should affect the tax
rate and number of staff mem­bers
was discussed. From Sep­tember
to September 1973, there
Heart Monitor Approved
For Fire Dept. Ambulance
Within three months the
Farmingdale Village Fire
Department will have its am­bulance
equipped with a Cardio-
Alert system, making it only the
third fire department on Long
Island with this potentially life
saving device in operation.
The Cardio- Alert system is a
telemetry device monitoring the
heart activity of all patients
carried in the ambulance and
transmitting the information via
shortwave to Nassau County
Medical Center. There the
readings are evaluated by
trained technicians who can
immediately intervene should the
information received indicate
heart trouble. Thus a patient on
the way to the hospital may
already be administered to while
at the same time the receiving
hospital is alerted so that it can
ready appropriate means of
treatment.
The Cardio- Alert system also
includes a portable unit to
monitor the heart activity of
patients who cannot be tran­sported
immediately and fur­thermore
incorporates a
defibrillator which is used for the
treatment of unsteady or
irregular heartbeat.
All police ambulances are
equipped with this heart monitor
but most of the fire departments
are lacking it because of its price
of over $ 6,000.
At Monday night's meeting the
Farmingdale Village Board
unanimously approved the
necessary appropriation for the
fire department's purchase of
this equipment, with mayor John
Hallahan commenting that it will
be worth many times its price if it
were to save only one life.
will be a drop of approximately 10
percent in the number of students
enrolled in the district. Most of
the drop has been in the
elementary schools. In Sep­tember
1973, there will be ap­proximately
430 fewer students
than there wer § last September.
The eliminated 15 positions
represent actually only eight
fewer teachers since seven of the
positions involved were teachers
used as substitutes.
A number of factors complicate
a comparison of the drop in staff
to the drop in enrollment. For
example the drop in enrollment is
spread over many grades in
many schools, while secondary
schools have a higher ratio of
teachers to students.
Dr. William Kinzler,
Superintendent of Schools,
alleged that there has been a
reduction of 10 percent in staff to
match the reduction in
enrollment over the past few
years. Trustee Terry Weathers,
finance committee chairman,
said that he did not feel the
reduction in staff has kept pace
with the decline and stated that
the board will be looking into it
further. His figures did not agree
with Dr. Kinzler's statement. He
also said that staff cuts might be
an area of reduction before the
final submission of the budget on
April 10 or 11.
The problem of the condition of
the 20 small baseball diamonds in
the district was brought up by
Stanley D. Martyna, candidate
for school board. These diamonds
( Continued on Page 8)
George Fain Decides to Run
George Fain who was ap­pointed
to the five member board
of trustees of the Farmingdale
Public Library in October of 1971,
has decided to run for re- election.
His term is the only one that
expires on the library board this
year. Elections will take place on
May 2.
In announcing his candidacy,
Fain stated:
" After careful deliberation I
have decided to seek to retain my
seat as a trustee of The Far­mingdale
Public Library.
" My decision was predicated
on several favorable events that
have occurred since 1 have been
serving on the library board,
specifically - passage of the
library budget for the first time
since 1907, increased hours of
library opening, more books
available to library users, and an
increase in community support
for the library's aims and pur­poses.
" I have always considered of
primary importance the
necessity for a close working
relationship between our public
library and the community that it
serves, and this belief has been
apparent in my actions as a
board member. Last year, as
chairman of the publicity com­mittee
I invited representatives
of local organizations and
community members to attend a
budget hearing to voice their
opinions concerning the budget. I
believe this exchange of ideas
was helpful in the passage of the
library budget. Most recently I
was in charge of a community-wide
survey to obtain opinions
and attitudes of residents in
District 22 concerning the
library.
" 1 would welcome any com­ments
that residents may have
concerning our library, and with
their support 1 hope to continue to
serve their best interests in the
future as 1 have done in the past."
George Fain