Village News 1971-06

              Village To Improve Water Meter Reading
The Water Department of the Village of Freeport
has taken a major step forward in customer serv^-
ice, announced Mayor Robert J. Sweeney, by pro-ceeding
with a program to install equipment
which will permit the reading of water meters
from outside the home.
Twenty-five years ago, realizing that metering
was the only equitable way to distribute the
cost of providing water, the Village "standard-ized"
on the Neptune Type Meter and provided the
meter at no expense to the home-owner. On April
12th of this year the Board of Trustees "stand-ardized"
on the ARB (Automatic-Reading-Billing)
System. This equipment will permit the Water
Department Meter Readers to read meters without
entering the homes, Mayor Sweeney noted.
The ARB System reduces the operating costs of
the Water- Department by speeding up meter read-ing.
The equipment will eliminate the need for
the Meter Reader to gain entry to the home, to
make a time-wasting call-back or .to leave a
card for the home owner to make his own reading.
Freeport will also be eliminating estimated wa-ter
bills when entry into the home cannot be
made and the owner fails to make his own read-ing.
Mayor Sweeney said the equipment for the con-version
of the 9iOOO existing meters to the
ARB system will cost approximately 5200,000
and will be undertaken as a five year program.
The installations will be made by the Water De-partment
personnel and all costs financed by
the Department's normal revenue. Studies made
in communities where the ARB Systems have been
installed indicate that installation costs can
be recovered in a three to four year period.
The hone owners' contribution to this important
program will be their cooperation in allowing
the Water Department personnel to install the
equipment during normal working hours,
This is how the conversion works: The present
meter cap is removed and a new cap installed
with large readable numbers which the owner
cap read like he reads the mileage on his car..
From the new cap a \ inch diameter cable is
run, through the exterior wall of the house,
to a weatherproof exterior receptacle. The
cable is not connected to any electricity in-side
the home and you cannot get a shock from
i t , . " - • - •
The receptacle on the outside of the home is
approximately 2" x 2" x 3". Its cover is kept
latched, to be opened only by the Meter Reader.
A small hole approximately \ inch diameter is
neatly drilled through the wall and carefully
caulked from the outside when the installation
is made. The receptacle is located as close
to the water meter as possible and in a loca-tion
easily accessible to the Meter Reader.
Two men, one working inside the home.and the
other on the outside can complete an installa-tion
in approximately thirty minutes.
.In the future after all home water meters have
been converted to the ARB System the Meter
Reader will use a Tape Recorder instead of the
Visual Reader. When he inserts the Tape Re-corder
into the receptacle the tape will record
not only the water consumption but also the
home owner's account number. The tape is then
fed through a data processing center, which
will automatically write the water bills. It
will also automatically compare the present
reading with previous readings and note any
unusually high water consumption.
The. Meter Reader will plug a battery-operated
Visual Reader into the receptacle. When he
activates the Visual Reader the same numbers
appear on it that appear on the water meter.
The Meter Reader will copy the figures into
his route book and depart quietly, without hav-ing
disturbed the household.
The first 100 conversion kits are on order and
installations will start in early June, hope-fully
completing approximately 500 during 1971
and 2000 each succeeding year. After June 1st
any new water meter installations will be made
complete with the ARB System.
Village News
A PUBLIC INFORMATION BULLETIN OF THE VILLAGE OF FREEPORT
46 NORTH OCEAN AVENUE TELEPHONE FReeport 8-4000 ROBERT J. SWEENEY, MAYOR
Public Meeting On The 1st Monday Of Month Only During June. July. Aug.. Sept. JUNE 1971
Census Facts About Freeport
Preliminary data on population and housing char-acteristics
in Freeport have been made available.
by the United States Census Bureau, from the
surveys made on the 1970 census.
The Census Bureau reports there are M),}?1* per-sons
in Freeport. The ethnic breakdown is given
as 32,623 White, 7,^67 Negro, and 28^ other.
This indicates that 18? of the Freeport popula-tion
is Negro.
The housing statistics indicate that there are
12,822 dwellings of all types. All but 12 are
year-round housing units. There are 7,631 owner-occupied
homes, and ^,931 houses and apartments
occupied by tenants. Of the owner-occupied
houses, 6,720 are owned by Whites, and 866 by. .. .
Negroes.
by Whites and 855 by Negroes.
According to the Census Bureau, the median value
of Freeport houses is.$25,100. This compares to
the median value in Hempstead of $23,800, in
Hicksville of $25,700,'in Baldwin of $29,300,
and in Long Beach of $2^,700. In Freeport the
Census Bureau shows .17 houses valued at less
than $5,000, but 262 valued at $50,000 or more,
with the majority falling'into the range from
$20,000 to $^0,000.
The Census Bureau also provides a breakdown of
population which indicates that in Freeport the
females outnumber the males, by 21,'»92 to 18,882.
This is especially noticeable in the senior cit-r
izen category, where the ladies have 2,'»28 in
the age group over 65 years, while the males
have only 1,555 in this group.
The picture on rental units shows occupied
Before You Go On Vacation
It would be in your best interest to notify
two Village departments before you leave for
any extended"period'of time on vacation. No-tify
the Police Department (FR 8-0700), so
that they will be aware of the fact that the
house is unoccupied. You should also notify
the Electric Department (FR 8-4000 Ext.265),
to avoid any discontinuance of electric.serv-ice
due to delay in payment of your bills
while you a,re away.
Do You Have Work For Teens ?
The Nassau County Job Development Center, located dows washed, fence painted, or any other such
at 65 W." Sunrise Highway, here in Freeport, is
seeking work for teenagers 13 to 15 years old,
during the summer months. . •
Would you like your grass cut, car washed, win-jobs
done for you at reasonable rates? Please
call 379-5983, ext. 7 or 8. Help teenagers have
a more pleasant summer by giving him or her an
opportunity to earn enough money to enjoy vaca-tion
activities.
Trustees: George H. Fairfaerg, Thomas J. LoveBdge, Lloyd E- Orr, Wtffiam H. White
VOage Clerk: Job J. MacDoaald - Treasurer: Leonard D.B. Smith - Counsel: Oakley Gentry, Ir.
DON'T BE A SUCKER! Compacting Garbage May He Illegal
What you do with your money is your business.
There are professional confidence men and wom-en,
however, who make it their business to sep-arate
you from your savings. They are slick.
Don't fall for their schemes!
It is impossible to list here every sucker game
being operated today. Here are a few:
* A stranger shows you a bundle of money he has
found and offers to share it with you. All
you have to do is show "good faith" by put-ting
up some of your own money.
* A person tells you by visit or telephone that
Abortions Permitted
In Hospitals Only
After a Public Hearing in May the Village Board
has adopted an amendment to the Code of Ordinan-ces
which requires that any pregnancy termina-tion
must be perforned in a duly licensed hospi-tal
only. The new Village law makes it illegal
to perform such an operation in a clinic or a
physician's office.
he is an auditor, an examiner, or some other
authority on.the trail of a crooked teller.
He asks you to cooperate in trapping the guilty
one by withdrawing money from your account.
* Someone offers to bless your money, remove a
curse from it, or perform a ritual which will
cause it to double in value.
* Someone offers you a chance to get something
for nothing or get rich quick, simply by put-ting
up enough of your money to show good
faith.
These are sucker games. There are many varia-tions
of the above and many others not listed.
If you feel that you are being played by a con-fidence
man or woman, notify your Freeport Po-lice.
DO NOT WITHDRAW YOUR MONEY FROM THE BANK.
All attempted confidence operations should be
reported immediately to the police. Whether the
scheme was successful or not. Your cooperation
will help to put the con man out of business.
REMEMBER - a confidence man always has an honest
face.
POLICE CHIEF
ANTHONY ELAR
SAYS:
You Can Help Make
Freeport "Off LIMITS'/
To Criminals
BE A "PUBLIC" EYE!
KEEP THIS NUMBER HANDY
BY YOUR TELEPHONE
FR 8-0700
FREEPORT POLICE
There are some compactors on the market for res-idential
installation which are not an accept-able
use in Freeport. These devices compact gar-bage
so that the bulk is greatly reduced. The
Sanitation Department has found, however, that
in many instances the compacted refuse will not
burn in the incinerator. If you intend to install
a compactor in your home or business, you should
contact the Sanitation Department in advance, to
be sure that it is not a violation and that your
compactor refuse will be.picked up.
The Village Ordinance reads as follows: Local
Law #4 of 1971. Compacted refuse. The sanita-tion
department will collect and accept at the
incinerator only compacted refuse having a den-sity
not in excess of 22 Ibs. per cubic foot and
.if compacted as a result of a wet process system,
having a moisture content of no more than forty
per cent C»0?).thereof. Compacted refuse shall
not be packed or bound with incombustible ma-terials
nor shall the refuse be compacted into
polyvinylchloride (PVC) bags or laminated bags
in which polyvinylchloride (PVC) is.used as one.
or more of the laminations.
No Trucks In Residential Zones
There have been several recent complaints at
Village Hall concerning commercial vehicles
parked in residential areas. This is prohibited
under the Freeport Code of ordinances, Sec.2V-
61 and Sec. Z't-Sl, and violation is subject to
a fine of up to $250. The law reads:
Garage space or parking space may be provided
for not more than three (3)-automobiles, one
of which may be a commercial vehicle with a
rated capacity of not more than one and one
half (l)j) tons, except that no vehicle or ac-cessorty
thereto, other than a pleasure car,
may be stored outdoors.
Youth Night At Village Hall
May 3 was Youth Night at the Freeport Village
Hall, when high.school students sat in for Vil-lage
Officials in a special program sponsored
by the Freeport Lodge of Elks and the School
System. Mayor Robert J. Sweeney issued a proc-lamation
calling upon Freeporters to celebrate
the month of May as National Elks Youth Month.
The student-officials for the evening were:
Robert Rosenblum, Mayor; Joseph Rogers, Donald
Sparling, Michele Corso, and Joel Diringer,
Village Trustees; Kathleen Volkert, Village
Counsel; Richard Morrison, Village Engineer;
Clare Tar.mey, Village Clerk; Linda Eckhart, Vil-lage
Treasurer; Mark Koenig, Chief of Police;
and Carlotta DeMaio, Secretary to the Mayor.
These are all students in the Advanced Govern-ment
Classes and they were accompanied by their
teacher Mr. I.J. Schildkraut. Representing the
Elks were Howard Rasmussen and Vincent Misiano.