Bethpage-Tribune_1976-08-12

              BETHPAGE KB
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OLD BETHBAGE
also serving ISLAND TREES
PLAINVIEW PLAINEDGE SEAFORD
VOL. 10 NO. 38 Thursday, August 12,1976 10 cents per copy
Forethought Cuts Belle's Toll
Hurricane Belle tore through
Long Island with winds up to 80
miles per hour Monday between
midnight and 1:00 a.m. The calm
eye of the storm hit Huntington
and residents looked up from
rain-soaked streets to see clear
skies above them. Flooding hit
most communities on the south
shore and many roads across the
island were blocked. The Town of
Oyster Bay and Long Beach were
the hardest hit areas in Nassau
County, where a total of almost
four inches of rain fell before the
storm was over. However, the
huge damage usually associated
with a hurricane was avoided
through early warnings and
cooperation between public and
private citizens all across Long
Island.
In Plain view, a huge hole of 40
feet in length and 15 feet in depth
opened up on Round Swamp Road
near Old Country Road. "A
washout occurred in the storm-water
basin," reported Anthony
Miglino of the Nassau County
Road Maintenance Department,
"but three lanes of the road were
reopened Tuesday morning and
our crews are out working on it."
There were no cars in the area
when the flooding first occurred
and no resultant accidents
reported.
A LILCO spokesman reported
that by 6 a.m. Tuesday morning
over 280,000 customers had been
affected by the storm. The center
of the strom was traced along
Route 110 at the county line and
extensive damage occurred
radiating from that point. Trees
laden with water from the
previous few days of rain were
easy prey to the harsh winds that
hit the area. Trees were failing
all over the island and taking
primary electric wires down with
them.
By Tuesday morning, 415
LILCO crews were starting 16-
hour shifts to repair the damage
left in the wake of Hurricane
Belle. The Long Island company
had also borrowed crews and
equipment from cooperative
companies including the Niagra-
Mohawk Power Company, New
York State. Electric and Gas,
Philadelphia Electric Company,
Pennsylvania Power and Light,
and several private utility
companies. With the increased
manpower, LILCO was able to
have a total of 589 crews working
on repairs across the island:
The electrical damage from
Hurricane Belle is considered to
be comparable to Hurricane
0oria?s impact when it hit our
area in August, 1971. Over 348,000
customers had been affected five
years ago. Belle's damage in­cludes
a major line problem that
occurred in Levittown this
Monday, resulting in residents
remaining without electrical
power through Tuesday night.
The Systems Operation Room,
which received customer's
complaints, was a scene of tense
activity as the storm's after
effects were noted.
The Bethpage Fire Department
received 57 calls between 7:00
Monday night and 6:00 am.
. Tuesday. Most complaints in­volved
trees falling across
roadways and wires knocked
down, although several trans­formed
»explosions and one
garage fire were also reported.
The northern section of town was
School Assessment increases
by Shari Miller
The Nassau County Board of
Assessors released the 1976-77
School Assessment Roll figures
this week, indicating an increase
in the total assessed valuation of
the 62 county school districts of
$19,729,711. The figure represents
an increase of .558 percent over
the last year, to bring the total
•valuation to $3,556,411,755.
The small increase was at­tributed
to the continued
slowdown in the construction
industry throughout the county
by Abe Seldin, chairman of the
County Board of Assessors. "We
see this trend changing, however,"
"said Mr. Seldin, "as indicated
by an increase in the number of
building permits being issued ...
throughout the county during the
spring and summer of this year."
The minimal amount of con­struction
was combined with
court ordered decreases in
assessment and the loss of
special franchise assessments
caused by a decrease in the State
Equalization Rate (the ratio of
assessed valuation to market
ON THE SCENE of Belle's damage at 65 Sylvia Lane in Plainview is Feature Writer Shari Miller
(center foreground). The Billings home hit by the tree has dented aluminum siding, a blocked front
entrance, sidewalk and curb damage, broken windows, no electricity and possible roof damage.
Sitting atop the tree are neighbors Kenneth Katz (left) and Greg Billing, (photo by Phil Wagoner).
hit the worst, with many trees
down in the Kramer Lane area.
"We were very, very busy trying
to clear as many roads as
possible," reported Deputy Chief
Schultz, "with our fire equipment
out all night to insure the safety
of local residents. Our firehouse
was available for the use of any
evacuated households, hut for­tunately
was not needed."
Only one evacuation was
(Continued on Page 10)
Residents Voice
Fears Of Hud
by Shari Miller
value). State-determined fran­chise
assessments are those
levied upon property and
equipment of public utilities,
such as pole and wires, which
utilize public roads, right-of
ways, and public property.
Of the 62 school districts. 58
increased in assessed valuation
while four showed decreases.
Bethpage (u FSD 21) showed an
increase of 0.45 percent to bring
the total valuation of the district
from $56,538,405 to $56,792,345.
Island Trees (UFSD 26) showed
an increase of 0.42 percent to
bring the total valuation from
$32,737,609 to $32,874,886.
All other area districts also
showed a slight increase in
valuation. The Plainview-Old
Bethpage (CSD 4) showed an
increase of 1.03 percent, the
largest in the area, to bring the
valuation from $87,355,116 to
$88,253,500. Plainedge WFSD 18)
showed an increase of 0.52 per­cent
bringing the assessed
valuation from $41,269,685 to
$41,485,342.
Traffic Light
To Be Installed
A traffic signal will be in­stalled
at Stewart Avenue,
Bethpage High School and the
entrance to Grumman, it was
announced today by Public
Works Commissioner. H. John
Plock, Jr.
The signal will be actuated
so that there will be a green
light on Stewart Avenue ex­cept
when a vehicle wishes to
enter from the High School or
Grumman. In addition there
will be a pedestrian push­button
control so that pedes­trians
can stop traffic if they
wish to cross Stewart Avenue.
The installation, which will
be completed within the next
seven to eight weeks, is part of
a two-year contract between
the County and Broadway
Maintenance Corp.
At an evening session of a Town
Board hearing held Tuesday,
August 10, over 500 residents of
the Town of Oyster Bay turned
out to see that the Town knows
how they feel about the proposed
amendment to the Senior Citizen
Zoning ordinance. The amend­ment
would permit the Town to
accept applications by private
owners for the necessary S-l Zone
on complexes that the Housing
Authority will manage, operate or
lease. Under the existing Sec. S-l
of Article VII B, the Housing
Authority, an autonomous
agency, is the sole body
authorized to apply for the S-l
Zone and it can do so only on
complexes it will own.
The fear that was reiterated
throughout the hearing was that
the amending of the ordinance
would be the first step towards
the building of more HUD. -
subsidized low-income housing in
the Town of Oyster Bay. An S-l
Zoning District "shall be
restricted to and used only ... to
provide low cost public housing
and or Senior Citizen Housing"
under the Town's Code of
Ordinances. Numerous residents
emphasized that they are not
opposed to the recognized need
for additional living space for
Senior Citizens, but mat they are
opposed to other possible
ramifications that the amend­ment
could have in the future.
Stuart Levine, a Bethpage
resident and former State
Assemblyman, came to the
hearing "to seek assurances that
there will be no H.U.D. funded
projects built" in his home town.
He cited part of the present S-l
ordinance that reads, "No land
shall be placed in this district
unless and until it has been ap­proved
by the Town Board after a
public hearing" and criticized the
lack of such a clause in the
proposed amendment. Mr.
Levine also stressed the desire of
TOB residents for local control
over local housing and urged that
"we in the township do it our­selves"
by floating a bond issue.
"Let the people of the Town vote
for the funds so that you do not
find yourself at the mercy of a
Washington bureaucracy," urged
Stuart Levine.
Anthony Ruggiero, a member
of the Steering Committee of the
recently-founded District 18 Civic
N (Continued on Pegs 8)