2012-02-23

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144 I DERRICK RD
FREEPORT NY 11520 29
77th Year, No. 8 N.Y. 11520 The Community Newspaper Thursday, February 23, 2012 75$
Atkinson students
get physical!
ATKINSON INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL STUDENTS, above, compete against
one another in the Xbox 360 fitness game "Dance Dance Revolution."
Their goal is to closely imitate the dance moves of the software-controlled
characters in order to get the best cardio workout during their gym period.
TIMOTHY THOM, Atkinson School gym teacher, challenges fifth-grader
Shannon Quinton to an aerobic dance contest on right. It's just one of the
many activities students are participating in during Cardio Wellness Month.
See story on page 7.
Village board has lengthy TV talk
by Jim Golding
All talk and no action might describe
some individuals. Last Wednesday's
Village Board meeting might be described
as having very little action and a lot of talk.
The only item receiving approval on the
brief agenda was the approval of the board's
minutes from its February 6 meeting.
The meeting hit a major snag with the
second item: approval of procedures and
guidelines for public access TV channel
8/44, relating to the taping of village
board meetings and other events.
At the February 6 meeting, Trustee
Robert Kennedy had made a motion to
vote on the proposed resolution, but
Mayor Andrew Hardwick had refused to
consider a vote since the item was not on
the agenda.
After an executive session, the board
returned and voted to consider the resolu-tion
at the next board meeting, which was
to have been February 13 but was
rescheduled to the 15th.
A motion was made and seconded at
last week's meeting to approve the resolu-tion,
but Mayor Hardwick abruptly pulled
the item before a vote could be taken.
This left issue open and, according to
procedural rules, the remaining agenda
items could not be acted upon.
However, Village Clerk Pamela
Boening read a statement from the mayor
about his misgivings on the issue, which
was greeted by applause and boos by
members of the standing-room-only audi-ence
who came to discuss the topic.
Ms. Boening then read each subsequent
agenda item, although no action was
taken.
The agenda items included a request for
retroactive approval to extend the terms
of a bid on sodium roadway luminaires
with Schwing Electrical Supply Corp. of
Farmingdale, a request to purchase a
Chevrolet Silverado truck for the Electric
Department, a request for retroactive
approval for an agreement with A.
Montilli Plumbing and Heating Corp. of
Oceanside and a request to award a hose
testing contract to Waterway Long Island
of Wantagh.
Asked later why he pulled the cable TV
issue from the agenda, Mayor Hardwick
told The Leader that he had not received
the proposal of the rules for review with
the board and the cost of the equipment
had not been made clear or where the
funding would come from in the budget.
Trustee Jorge Martinez attempted to
speak when the mayor pulled the item,
but was told "You're out of order" by
Mayor Hardwick, who would not consid-er
repeated attempts by Mr. Martinez to
discuss the issue.
The resolution that was to be consid-ered
was the culmination of several
months' effort by Trustees Martinez and
Kennedy, but the mayor said it needed to
be discussed with the village attorney
before it could be considered for
approval.
The regularly scheduled public com-ment
segment of the meeting followed,
with Trustee William White commenting
that "this is a real sad day to be a
Freeporter, Mr. Mayor. The board asked
to have the item on the agenda."
Mayor Hardwick replied that "the
board has not discussed one word (of the
resolution) with the village attorney. I'm
not going to let this village be put in
harm's way for anyone."
Mr. White said that the issue was dis-cussed
and the resolution was read in
public. "The public was to weigh in on
it," he said. "You took it off the agenda,
not the trustees."
"At no time did the board discuss the
document," was the mayor's response.
The mayor added, "I said there would
be no motion...The document isolates the
people in so many ways." He further said
the issue would be brought back for con-sideration
following a meeting with legal
counsel.
A succession of more than a dozen
speakers followed who weighed in on one
side or the other. (continued on page 3)
NAMES MAKE THE NEWS: Read about your neighbors! 56 local peoples names were in your community newspaper this past week. Maybe yours is in this week! See inside.
Freeport school budget
process continues
page 2
An open letter from
the Baldwin schools
page 5
Fatal house fire
strikes Freeport
page 6
Residents rally for
Tackapausha Preserve
page 8