Community Development Progress
Dramatic and more subtle
changes continue to take place in
the Village under its $5.3 million
federal Community Development
grant. Recently completed in time
for the holiday shopping season
was the expansion and moderni-zation
of the municipal parking
lots on Church and Henry Streets
which serve the South Main
Street shopping area. Also com-pleted
as first steps towards the
development of a shopping mall
in the area by late next year, was
a walkway from the Church Street
lot to South Main Street and work
on two stores which open out into
the walkway. The Board of
Trustees, in a move to encourage
shoppers into the area, has voted
to approve three-hour free park-ing
in the Church and Henry
Street lots which had formerly
been metered.
New North Main Street
Businesses
The Finast site on North Main
Street and Grand Avenue, vacant
for some two years, will soon be
reopened as the second Long
Island outlet of the 40-year-old
Gouz Enterprises. The family-owned
business, which has a
store in Elmont, retails milk,
eggs, cheese, some frozen foods,
produce and delicatessen items.
The site is being purchased
from the original owner by the
Village, through Community
Development funds, and resold to
Gouz. A $25,000 deposit has been
received from the firm with a
equal amount to be held in escrow
until some $40,000 of repairs to
the structure are accomplished by
Gouz. The Village will hold the
10-year mortgage. The land,
which is adjacent to the soon-to-be-
completed senior citizens
housing complex being develop-ed
through the Freeport Housing
Authority, will remain on the tax
rolls.
Other activity in the North
Main Street area attributable to
Community Development pro-grams
includes an establishment
of a U-Haul-It outlet and the
conversion of a vacant gas station
into a garden center. Other firms
have also expressed interest in
sites on North Main Street.
More Homesteading Fnnds
Freeport is the recipient of
recent U.S. Department of Hous-ing
and Urban Development
grants totalling $510,000 with
which to expand its Homestead-ing
program whereby presently
vacant nouses are rehabilitated
and turned over to selected
owner-occupants at bargain
prices, who agree to stay in the
nouses for a minimum of five
years. The houses are completely
renovated before they are turned
over to the new owners. Under a
Urban Homesteading Demonstra-tion,
in which Freeport is the only
Village, and one of only 22 com-munities
across the nation, 21
houses had already been allocat-ed
to Freeport as well as $250,000
in loan monies. Further funds for
the program come from the Vil-lage's
total $5.3 million Com-munity
Development grant.
The new monies include
$300,000 in discretionary monies
allocated to the Nassau-Suffolk
region by HUD. The amount is
the maximum allowed under the
discretionary grant program and
was only allocated to Freeport
and the Town of Islip. The
balance is $160,000 in credits to
purchase additional HUD-held
nouses and $50,000 in loan
monies. This is an expansion of
the original Urban Homesteading
Demonstration program.
Plans project that a total of
80 houses will be homesteaded.
All are located in Housing Im-provement
Area #1 which runs
from the railroad to the Village
line and from Wallace Street to
Babylon Turnpike.
Property Improvement Loans
Present day property owners
in Housing Improvement Area #1
(see above) may be eligible for
low interest home improvement
loans or outright grants depenr
dent on family size and annual
income.
Administered by the Freeport
Community Development Agen-cy,
limited funds will be allocated
by the following priorities: owner-occupants
of single-family homes;
ownerroccupants of structures
with two legal dwelling units;
absentee-owners of single-family
homes; absentee owners of
structures with two legal dwelling
units; multi-family buildings;
owner-u s e d, non-residential
structures; and absentee owners
of non-residential structures.
Interest rate on loans is 3%.
In general, loans will be limited
to $10,000 per dwelling unit.
The grant program ranges from
$3,500 for a one person family
with an income of $4,000 to
$5,000 for a family of eight or
more with an income of $13,000.
The grant program, is aimed pri-marily
for those on fixed incomes
such as senior citizens.
Those wishing to repair hazar-dous
conditions will have first
priority. This would include basic
heating, plumbing or electrical
system. Next priority would be
given to those interested in pre-yentative
maintenance such as
roofing, siding, painting, renova-tion
of present kitchen and bath
room facilities, etc. General im-provements
for the owner's
personal convenience, such as
finishing off a basement, will be
considered but only if no code
violations exist in the structure.
No funds will be approved for
purely luxury improvements such
as a swimming pool.
The Community Develoment
staff will determine eligibility
of applicants who must certify
their intention to continue to
occupy the property for at least
two years after the work has been
completed. An inspection will be
made of the property for which
rehabilitation assistance is
sought. Staff will also aid proper-ty
owners in obtaining bids from
qualified contractors, evaluate
the bids and inspect the work.
Those property owners of
Housing Improvement Area #1
who wish to apply for either a loan
or grant should call the Com-munity
Development agency at
378-4432 or 378-4350 as soon
as possible.
Parking Permits
The 1977 permits for commuter
parking are now on sale at the
Registrar's window in the Ocean
Avenue lobby of Village Hall
each business day from 8:30 am
to4:30pm.
Those purchasing permits at
$3 receive a sticker which must be
displayed when parking at the
Long Island Railroad Station and
several other municipal lots. The
permits are not transferable be-tween
vehicles. Registration must
be shown at the time of pur-chase
and permits will not be
issued for those cars not register-ed
in the Village.
Village
REFERENCE ONLY
DECEMBER 1976
News
A PUBLIC INFORMATION BULLETIN OF THE VILLAGE OF FREEPORT
46 NORTH OCEAN AVENUE TELEPHONE FReeport 8-4000 '. WILLIAM H. WHITE. MAYOR
Public Meetings On The 1st and 3rd Mondays Of The Month, At 9:00 P.M.
SPECIAL; GREETMGS
Mayor
William White<
> •
and they
members of the
Freeport... -
Recreation
Center's
Kiddie Club
Join with
The Board Of Trustees and the Municipal Staff
in wishing you and your family
ALL THE HAPPINESS OF THE SEASON
AND A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR
Trustees: Thomas J. Loveliage, Ralph P. Franco, Dorothy Storm, Wayne Jordan
Village Clerk: Thomas DeVincenzo-Treasurer: James J. Lyons - Counsel: Oakley Gentry Jr.
The Freeport Spirit of '76
Bicentennial Committee has firm-ed
up plans for a gala New Year's
Eve Party to be held on both
levels of the Freeport Recreation :
Center from 9 pm to 2 am. The
cost will be $30 a couple and in-cludes
hot hors d'oeuvres, set-ups,
a midnight toast of cham-pagne,
hot breakfast and a live
18-piece band. The affair will be
less structured than the Com-mittee's,
successful Presidential
Birthday Ball held last February
and attended by some 700
residents. Costumes will not be
featured and dress will be op-tional.
The band, the highlight
of the February Ball, will be the.
same however".' Tickets "will" be
limited and may be reserved by
calling MA3-1330, 868-0249 or
FR 8-8894 (evenings). Since this
issue of the "Village News" will
not reach certain households until
late in the month, residents are
urged to tell then* friends and
neighbors of the event.
**«
Bicentennial Committee Dir-ector
Robert Raynor has an-nounced
that final plans for a
Bicentennial gift are about to be-come
a reality. In raising funds
for the gift throughout the year,
many suggestions were con-sidered
along the guidelines
that the gift should have a lasting
quality, universal use and appeals
and should be appropriate to the
spirit of the Bicentennial. The
overwhelming choice is a carillon
which is a mechanism that can
intone the hours and sound songs
made by bells and chimes. The
Freeport Memorial Library was
selected as the appropriate place
to house the carillon because of
its central location and heavy
pedestrian traffic. Further
discussions are currently taking
place on the possibility of the
carillon being part of a larger
project.
ooo
The photo-filled "Freeport As
It Was," a local history book by
Clinton Metz, has become the
Bicentennial Committee's
best-selling item. Outside of the
heavy demand from present-day
Freeporters, orders are being re-ceived
from all over the nation
from ex-residents. Many have
purchased several copies for gift-giving.
The book is available at
$2.70, including tax, at Freeport
Memorial Library, Merrick Road
at Ocean Avenue; Village Hall,
46 North Ocean Avenue; Colonial
Book Store, 62 South Main Street;
and Samets, 69 South Main
Street. Copies may be purchased
by mail by sending a check or
money order for $3.20 (for
.postage and handling) to "Free-port
As It Was," 46 North Ocean
Avenue. Allow three to four
weeks for delivery.
The confusion caused by the
observance of Veterans Day on
October 25 on the Federal' level-and
on November 11 on the State
level this year caused an article
in last month's "Village News"
to incorrectly state that trash
would be picked up from curbside
on Wednesday, November. 10.
After two years of observing the
holiday with Federal installations
the Village this year went back to
the traditional date. The Village
government regrets the inconven-ience
caused to residents.
Trash is never picked up from
curbside on Wednesdays in a
week which contains a holiday
REGARDLESS of the day the
holiday falls upon. This is to allow
the Village to use employees to
maintain a twice-a-week garbage
pickup.
Following is a list of the holi-days
involved. Please clip and
post foryear-round reference.
New Year's Day
Lincoln's Birthday
Washington's Birthday
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Columbus Day
Election Day
Veterans Day
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day
Remember Ereeport's Snow
Emergency Signal on the fire
horns — four blasts, pause —
two blasts. Your car must be off
the street or it is subject to being
towed away at your expense.
Streets must be kept clear for
snow plows, fire trucks and other
emergency vehicles.
Then Stick
South Main Street, Merrick
Road, Woodcleft Avenue,
South Grove Street, Atlantic
Avenue, all around town .....
O discover the old, and
many new businesses in
your Village which can
meet your gift-giving
needs all year around.
O avoid parkway traffic
and that fatiguing trip
home.
O escape the crush of
shopping centers. Spend
more time at home enjoy-ing
the warmth of the holi-days
with your family
and friends.
IT
A Healthy Business
Community Lessens The
Burden Of The Taxpay-ing
Resident . . .
o by broadening the tax
base
o by providing employ-ment
p by attracting more
tax-reducing develop-ment.
You can Help By Thinking
"Freeport First"
For Purchase Of Goods
and Services
There were 1,673 cases of re-portable
crimes in the Village of
Freeport from January to Octo-ber,
1975. There were 1,438
such instances for the same
period, this year, a drop of 235.
Reportable crimes include homi-cide,
manslaughter, rape,
robbery, aggrevated assault,
burglary, larceny and auto theft.
The statistics are kept by the
Nassau County Police Depart-ment.
The Federal Bureau of Investi-gation,
in comparing the national
crime rates of 1974 and 1975,
reports that violent crime rose
5%; robbery and aggravated
assault was also up 5%; larceny-
, theft, 12%; burglary, 7%; and
auto theft, 2%. The FBI also in-dicated
that the rate of crime in
the northeastern section of the
nation rose by 10%.
"Those are the facts," Mayor
William White . states, "but for a
two week period recently, Free-porters,
as well as the whole
metropolitan area, heard and
read about 'crime in Freeport'
as the daily media sought to prove
that the Village was experiencing
the troubles of New York City.
The facts show that this is not
true but this did not stop them
from taking four isolated cases
and making them a 'wave.' In
one instance, a television reporter
went to the extreme of attempting
to picture one case as a crime
against the elderly. The victim
was 24 years old and the as-sailants
were juveniles! Such ir-responsible
reporting is damag-ing
to our community and, most
important, to the peace of mind of
our residents.
"Crime does exist in Freeport
as it does in the Kansas farm-lands
and in the city of which we
are a suburb. We can be re-assured,
however, by the fact
that we have not seen the growth
in criminal activities plaguing
other communities. Recently a
proposal was made to disband the
Freeport Police Department.
The residents overwhelmingly
disapproved of the proposal with
many stating that the familiarity
of the community and its people
-by-the members of the local police .
force was a vital aspect in the cur-tailment
of criminal activity.
The Board of Trustees shares
this view.
"Residents should, of course,
take every precaution to protect
themselves and their property
and this is particularly true in the
case of our senior citizens who are
less likely to be able to defend
themselves. Two of the recent
cases which brought us notoriety
might have been prevented if the
victims had followed the rule of
never opening a locked door,
even one with a chain, unless
you are positive of the identifi-cation
of the caller. If you do not
know the person, call the Police
Department at FR 8-0700 imme-diately."
Federal officials have approved
Freeport's claim of $82,000 for
damages done by last August's
Hurricane Belle. The funds,
made available by the designation
of Nassau County as a disaster
area, will go towards repairs of
municipal property as well as
overtime paid to Village em-ployees.
Without federal aid, the
monies would have had to come
from taxes.
Freeport, in the direct path of
Belle, received one of the highest
awards. Half the funds are ex-pected
next month and the
balance within six months.
Applications for Summer,
1977, positions with the Village
of Freeport may now be filed.
Freeport residents over the age of
18 have until May 1 to file.
Openings to be filled include
those of recreation attendant,
seasonal laborer and lifeguards.
Lifeguards must hold Nassau
County certification.
Those interested may apply at
the Office of the Village Clerk,
46 North Ocean Avenue, between
8:30 am and 4 pm, or in writing.
No telephone inquiries will be
accepted.
The Freeport Recreation De-partment
is sponsoring an adult
trip to the Metropolitan Museum
of Art in Manhattan on Wednes-day,
January 19. At that time the
Museum will be featuring the
•new Egyptian Galleries, Andrew
Wyeth Art Exhibit and a medieval
Christmas tree.
The fee, covering transporta-tion
and admission, is $4.75 with
a 75$ discount for seniors. Cas-settes
for the tour are available
at 80<t per person. Advance re-servations
may be phoned into;
223-8000, ezt. 10 and all monies
must be in no later than Tuesday,
January 4. All participants must
have a Freeport Activity Card.
The bus will' leave the Re-creation
Center, 130 East Merrick
Road, at 9 am and return about
5pm.
Due to the large registration
for all Fall programs held at the
Recreation Center, a change of
dates and hours for ADULT RE-GISTRATION
of Winter pro-grams
is being planned. Adults
will register separately from
youngsters hi order to alleviate
congestion and shorten waiting;
time. Programs affected by the
above change are as follows:
Art, Golf, Sculpture, Slimnastics,
Social Dance and Yoga. Discount
Ticket Holders register on Tues-day,
January 4 from 7 to 9:30 pm.
Non-Discount Ticket Holders
register on Wednesday, January
5 from 7 to 9:30 pin. PLEASE
NOTE: ALL CHILDRENS PRO-GRAMS
WILL REGISTER ON
SATURDAY, JANUARY 8 AS
INDICATED IN THE RECREA-TION
DEPARTMENT'S BRO-CHURE.
Discount Ticket Holders
register from 10 to noon. Non-
Discount Ticket Holders register
from 1 to 3 pm.
Winter Swim registration will
be held at the Recreation Center
on Saturday, January 15 for both
adults and children. Discount
Ticket Holders register from 10
to noon. Non-Discount Ticket
Holders register from 1 to 3 pm.
Program flyers giving detail-ed
information on Whiter Recrea-'
tion programs are available in the
Center's Lobby Program racks in
December.
