Freeport Report 1994-10

              Continued from Page 1 '.'*X '>
A" *i% \- to offer this opportunity\tp a now.being recruited to take part
new generation." '$'*' iriMh'e lo|tery. Once mortgage
Thompson has created the ^commitments are secured, quali-
Mayor's Affordable-Housing' • ,fying families will enter a lottery
Coordinating Counbil: It con- for final selection. Those inter-sists
of representatives of the ested should make only one tele-
Long Island Housing Partner- phone call to the Freeport Corn-ship
(LIHP), the Economic Op-"
portunity Council of Freeport
(HOC), and the NY Ministers
for Economic Development
(NYMED). The group will as-sist
and advise the Mayor on
planning and development of
affordable housing.
After soliciting nearly 100
bids, the council has selected
Jorge Vasques of JJR Associ-ates
of Setauket and Saul
Muchnick of the Metro Group
five
rhunity Development Office at
378-4000, extension 223.'
LIHP Chairman Robert
McMillan called the Mayor's
initiative, "a truly public/pri-vate
partnership." He added,
"Without the trust and support
of pro-active elected officers
such as May or Thompson, none
of the Housing Partnership's
efforts could be pursued."
The housing initiative comes
only one week after Freeport
of Blue Point to build was described as "a Village that
homes each. The houses are cares about neighborhoods," by
expected to be ready for occu- Jose Cintron, the U.S. Secre-pancy
next spring.
Families who meet financial
IC'reeport Police are lending
JF support to the Auto Club's
49th annual Schools Open—
Drive Safely Campaign by dis-playing
the organization's posters.
"We want motorists to be
extra careful as thousands of
children return to school," said
Police Sergeant Mark Wittich.
As a reminder, the Auto Club
is distributing 60,000 bumper
stickers bearing the safety mes-sage.
The strips will be dis-played
on buses, trucks, offi-cial
cars and passengervehicles.
Drivers are also urged to ob-serve
speed limits in school
zones and to stop for school
buses with flashing red lights.
The "Schools Open" cam-paign
was begun in 1946. Since
then, traffic fatalities among
children 5 to 14 have been
requirements for mortgages are
tary of Housing and Urban De-velopments
representative in
New York State.
SCHOOLS OPEN: Police Ser-geant
Mark_ Wittich joins Mayor
Thompson in urging motorists to
drive safely now that school is
open. With them are Atkinson ,
student Daniel Wittich andpre- ,
schoolers Eric Davis and Rich-ard
Wittich and Brookside stu-dent
Ashley Davis.
sharply reduced despite~"a sig-nificant
increase in motor ve-hicle
registrations.
Continued from Page 1
k i c k e d
off trade
discus-sions
and
plans to
twin the
two vil-l
a g e s ,
was not
the first
contact
Ceramic bust of Patton between
the two similarly sized com-munities.
In 1988, Lorraine
Barry of Freeport's Atkinson
School began a cultural student
exchange program with the Ecole
Pasteur in Melun. Earlier this
year, Mayor Marinelli and his
adjunct mayor, Collette Melot,
made Exchange Director Barry
an Honory Citizen of Melun, the
first American so honored.
During the past six years, doz^
ens of Freeport students h^ve
spent their summers in Melun,
while a similar number of
French students have spent
theirs in Freeport.
"We have both benefited from
cross cultural pollination," ob-served
Mayor Thompson.
Continued from Page 1
generator and other unneces-sary
noise when boats are at the
dock; charter boat booking
contracts will be amended to
penalize disorderly patrons with
termination of the cruise and
forfeiture of all payments; ar-rival
and ^departure times of
charters will be staggered to
avoid crowding; boat owners
will direct captains to abide by
the area's "no wake" restriction.
Thompson praised the efforts
of residents and business own-ers
in reaching I the agreement,
and said that he stands ready to
use his good offices "to facili-tate
community consensus."
I 1 1
I TTje Village is interested in Your Opinion. Please\
I lill out this questionaire and return it with your I
I electric payment. \
DI think affordable housing for Freeport is good especially I
if it is on scattered sites and improves surrounding prop-1
| erty values. |
—h I think affordable housing in Freeport should all be put at I
=11 one location. I
TheVillage shouldn't bother improving blighted areas '
with affordable housing. I
OPERATIONSPLASH-.AssemblymanCharlesO'SheajoinsFreeport's
Mayor and members of Operation SPLASH at the Guy Lombardo
Marina after a day of cleaning Freeport's waterways. The volunteer
group has removed nearly 50 tons of debris from the water, helping to
improve the quality of life in Freeport. Volunteers may call SPLASH
at 378-4770. Pictured (from left) are Mayor Thompson, President Tony
Taranuno,Capt.TonyRomalewski,AssembfymanOShea^)anMcDonald,
Copt. Edward Friedman and First VP Jerry Hart.
ff.fc.UVK
rt Memorial library
g.
jrf»«* i-:"' Vol. 1 No. 4
October 1994
PTpJhe quality of life is about are in widely separated parts of
to significantly improve Freeport. The homes will be
.,_J-L for ten Freeport families, offered to first time buyers
while a like number of scat- through a lottery.
tered sites in the Village will "Freeport historically has
also be upgraded. The
gains will come as the
result of an agreement
between the Village
and the Long Island
Housing Partnership
'to develop affordable
housing in Freeport.
.oppor-come
ffirsft-ttime
home
provided young fami-lies
with the opportu-nity
to become first-time
home buyers,"
Mayor Thompson
stated. "Over twenty
years ago, my wife and
I found affordable
The ten new single-family housing in Freeport when we
homes will be made available were starting our family. We
to families with incomes be- still live in our starter home,
tween $36,000 and $50,000. and I am very proud to be able
Ten parcels for development Continued on Page 4
AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNVEILED BY MAYOR: Housing Co-ordinating
Council Chairman Edward Diaz, left, and the Reverend
Lanaham of Ministers for Economic Development (2nd left) look on as
Mayor Thompson ana Robert McMillan, chairman of the LJ Housing
Partnership, unveil the scattered site plan at a recent news conference.
eneral George Patton
has returned to Melun,
France, 50 years after
American troops under his com-
-inand liberated the- village
southeast of Paris during World
War II. This time he came in
LIBERATIONDAY-.MelunMayor
Jacques Marinelli gives the "V for
VictorysignattheFrenchLiberaaon
Day parade attended by Freeport
Mayor Arthur W. Thompson.
spirit thanks to the people of
the Village of Freeport. At the
invitation of Jacques Marinelli,
Mayor of Melun, Freeport's
Mayor, Arthur W. Thompson
and his wife, Lin, were guests
for the golden anniversary of
French Liberation Day. Hotel
accomodations and air fare for
the Mayor's party were at no
cost to the taxpayers.
As an official gift, they
brought with them a unique and
exquistely designed bust of
Patton. Melun was the first
French village liberated by
Patton's forces during August
of 1944.
During presentation ceremo-nies
at the Village Square,
Mayor Thompson brought
greetings from the residents of
Freeport.
The Mayor's visit, which also
Continued on Page 4
11 N reeporters in the neighbors complained of loud
M Woodcleft Avenue area music and high levels of noise
J.L are enjoying quieter from the boats and bars. After
nights as the result of an agree- the complaints, the Mayor spent
ment reached between residents five hours patrolling the" area
and restaurant and party boat with police to witness the prob-owners
in the area
M™atyh ollr?'se JOff£fi coef tahn! d" in. t. he tr. u.e
the Village Police De- spint Off CIVIC
partment.
Mayor Thompson
said the accord will "maintain
lem firsthand.
Under its
terms all outdoor band
music will cease at 11
p.m. nightly and res-taurant
owners will
make efforts to relocate and
the seasonal attraction of out- dampen outdoor activities; res-door
music while contributing taurants and charter/party boats
to residential peace." He added will post conspicuous signs re-that
it was reached "in the true questing patrons to respect the
spirit of civic cooperation and rights of neighbors; boat cap-exemplifies
the true strength of tains will shut off all amplified
all Freeporters who are com- sound and quartz fishing lights
mi tied to working together." until they exit the Woodcleft
The agreement was ham- Canal area, or upon return,
mered out during two weeks of when the boat reaches the ca-negotiations
that followed a nal; captains will also reduce
Village Board meeting at which Continued on Page 4
f 9
New Bun§nime§§ Comes
"families with children should
JP circle Sunday, October 16
on their calendar. That's when
the Freeport Fire Department
will present the Sixth Annual
Fire Safety Expo at the Free-port
Recreation Center between
11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Admission
is free.
The Expo will feature dis-plays
and demonstrations of
firefighting and rescue equip-ment
and procedures, and will
teach visitors how to prevent
fire at home and in the work-place,
and what to do if a fire
occurs. Many of the day's
activities are intended for chil-dren,
and there will be gifts for
them including the popular toy
fire helmets, balloons, junior
firefighter badges and coloring
books.
Door prizes, including fire
extinguishers and smoke de-tectors,
plus valuable gift cer-tificates
to some of Freeport's
most fabulous restaurants, will
be raffled off. Other activities
include blood pressure checks,
and the opportunity for young-sters
to practice "stop, drop,
and roll," reporting an emer-gency
and many other things
that the Fire Department has
taught them during visits to the
schools.
Boys and girls can also have
their photographs taken in
firefighting gear, so parents are
urged to bring a camera or a
video camera. For those who
forget to bring a camera, the
pictures will be taken for a small
fee. The snack bar at the Rec
Center will be open for those
who wish to purchase food and
drink.
DRUMMING UP A DRUM STICK: Mayor Thompson takes a
sample of the fare at the newly opened Boston Chicken on Atlantic
AvenuefromHeatherWilson,EileenFranciscoandAngieRodriguez,
all of Freeport, and Abigail Toomer ofOceanside. Managers Jack
O'Brien and Brian Baldwin took advantage of the Freeport First
Job program by hiring Freeporters.
New Amti-Dng Campaign
Freeport's Advisory Task
Force on Drugs has em-barked
on a new project to fight
drugs in the Village with the
help of the Freeport Chamber
of Commerce. The two groups
are distributing anti-drug post-ers
to businesses to be displayed
in store windows.
There is a series of three post-ers,
each with its own message.
They were designed by the Task
Force and printed courtesy of
Warren Brath Associates of
Westbury andB.M.G. Printing
in Holbrook.
The posters read "Another
Drug-Free Workplace," "Drugs
Don't Work Here," and "If You
Want to Apply for a Job Here,
and You Take Drugs, Don't
Even Think About It!"
Task Force member Paul
Longo, who is coordinating the
project, expressed his hope "that
every store in Freeport will par-ticipate
in this effort." Cham-ber
President Carolyn Burkle
stated, "We are very happy to
cooperate with the Drug Task
Force in such an important
project."
The Task Force has been
bringing Freeport organizations
and individuals together to fight
drug abuse for the past seven
years. Its goal creates a strong
anti-drug environment in the
Village by enlisting a wide
range of people in the fight.
RUM RUNNERS FESTIVAL: Thousands of people jammed Randall
Park and spilled over into the Nautical Mile on Saturday and Sunday,
September 24th & 25th for the first Rumrunners Festival, a good
natured celebration of Freeport's past. In addition to antique automo-biles,
boats, fire equipment, an early aeroplane, midget cars and an
actual early San Francisco trolley car, many gotgussied up in Prohibi-tion
Era costumes (from left ) Supervisor of Electric Power Hub
Bianoco and his wife, Sherry; Costume and Charleston Contests Chair
Kathi Keating, Phyllis Pullman and Mary Hall of Recreation as ax
weilding Carrie Nation.
Work Stats Om B<o>att Ramp
Work began in mid-September
on the reconstruction of the Al-bany
Avenue Boat Ramp. It
involves replacement of both
concrete ramps and the instal-lation
of new floats.
Only one ramp will be out of
service at a time so that users of
the facility are not inconve-nienced.
Work should be com-pleted
in six months.
The project is funded by the
Village of Freeport with finan-cial
assistance from the New
York State Department of En-vironmental
Conservation.
MAYOR THOMPSON'S REI
Ican remember vividly watch-ing
tears streaming down the
cheeks of an elderly French
woman as I spent French Libera-tion
Day in the Village of Melun,
Freeport's sister community south-east
of Paris.
As I watched, it became increas-ingly
clear why we Freeporters must
continue to fight to improve our qual-ity
of life by being better neighbors.
Melun, with it's 38,000 people, is
nearly the size of Freeport. For the
past six years, Freeport has enjoyed
a cultural student exchange program
with Melun thanks to the untiring
effortsof coordinator Lorraine Barry
at the Atkinson School. As the
result of her outreach, my wife and
Ifelt right at home in Melun. In fact,
when anyone in Melun discovers a
visitor from Freeport, they are made
them feel right at home.
During World War II, Melun
fell under the heel of Nazi oppres-sion.
The woman I saw crying
was one of those who remembered
that horrible occupation. As I
watched, I realized that she was
not crying because she remem-bered
the misery. Her tears were
tears of joy on the 50th anniver-sary
of the liberation. In 1944,1
realized, she must have been one
of those beautiful young women
who cheered and waved Ameri-can
flags as U.S. soldiers and her
country's own troops under
Charles DeGaulle retook Paris
from the invaders.
As I watched Meluners celebrat-ing,
it struck me how lucky I am. I
grew up in a country that never
suffered under the heel of an out-side
invader. It also struck me that
many in Freeport were not so
lucky. They have vivid memories
of a communist dictatorship or
other oppression in their home-lands
in Central American, Cuba
and Haiti. Others fled the Nazi
threat in the '30s because of their
religion, while others escaped from
behind the Iron Curtain in the late
'40'sand '50s due to their politics.
Still others have memories of op-pression
in parts of this country be-cause
of their race. Regretfully, for
some, that kind of oppression con-tinues.
It has no place in Freeport.
Our ethnic, cultural, racial, and
religious diversity is our strength.
The oppression that some escaped
should serve as a daily reminder that
without eternal vigilance, it can hap-pen
here. Each of us, as individuals,
must work every day to improve the
warm,neighborhoodspiritforwhich
Freeport is famous across the ocean
because of the cultural exchange
program started by Lorraine Barry.
Each day, ask yourself, what I have
done today to keep that spirit alive in
my heart?
FIRST NIGHT FUN: Acrobatic roller skating by the Steve Love
Troupe at Freeport High School is one of the events being assembled
for First Night Freeport '95, the New Year's Eve celebration of
Freeport's diversity. Other entertainers include theAkyene Baaako
African drum and dance ensemble, folk singer Oscar Brand, a
chantey singing duo, a ragtime pianist, an Ozark Mountain String
Band with clog dangers, African and Native American storytellers,
international circus performers, madrigal signers, poets, mimes,
clowns, magicians, Renaissance musicians, a full Gospel Choir, a
chamber group and Wacky Wendy, a real "cut up." Israeli, Peru-vian,
Colombian, Greek, Korean and Chinese artists will also con-tribute
to the rich tapestry of talent. The cost of admission, remains
at $7.00 to enjoy 10 hours of entertainment from 2 p.m. to the
midnight fireworks display at the Guy Lombardo Marina.
New P(Q)lce Cars Airrive
Freeport residents are encouraged to write to the Mayor with com-plaints
and compliments. Select letters will be presented here each
issue. These letters may be edited to meet space requirements.
Grove and Randall, are clean and are
a pleasure to see. Thank you for
Dear Mayor Thompson:
I reside and conduct business at
the south end of Woodcleft Canal," caring about Freeport.
across from two well-know seafood Many of the owners and tenants at
restaurants. Recognizing their right 70 North Grove St have noticed the
to conduct business, I am left to difference, and we are very grateful,
wonder where their rights end and Louise Friedman
thepeaceandquietofthoseinearshot
of amplified music begins Dear Mayor Thompson:
I am not requesting that live mu- Thank you for your expeditious
sic be banned. I am suggesting, response to my request for a street
however, that a request from your light on Milburn Court. Not more
office is made for the muting of live than 10 days after my request the
instruments as well as the respect- lightwasinstalled. My sincere thanks
BETTERLAWENFORCEMENT: May or Thompson and officer of able "s6 of amplifiers. also to Mr. George Anderson's office
the Police Department display the four types of new law enforcement 'The Rev-Dr-David R- Adamovich for the fine work they did in installing
vehicles patrolling the streets of the Village. They include four The Village reached an accord to the light
command staff cars, one unmarked traffic enforcement car, one solve the noise problem. See Story ^IS- Fay Kemp
unmarked detective investigation car, and seven full-equipped pa- on Page One.
trol vehicles. The 1994 Chevy Caprice Classics are complete with It is a pleasure to hear from resi-dual
air bags, and newly designed consoles, front grill sirens to Dear Mayor Thompson: dents pleased with work that is per-prevent
deafness, plexi-glassprisoner dividers, built-in side search- I wish to thank you for respond- formed by our Village employees.
lights, and rear washable plastic molded seats that meet OSHA ing to my complaint. The streets I We thank those who take the time to
standards. mentioned in my last letter, North write and express their satisfaction.