Freeport Report 2009-02

              Freeport Fire Department
Needs EMS Volunteers
Freeport's Fire Department
provides one of the best Emer-gency
Medical Response teams
in Nassau County, thanks.to the
dedication of the volunteers of
Emergency Rescue Co. No. 9.
The Company is always looking
for new recruits to fill positions
as Emergency Medical Techni-
_cians,.and indiyiduals.interested
in being trained as Emergency
Medical Technicians. ' r
If you are willing to volun-teer
your time and talent to help
your neighbors, please call the
Department at 516-377-2190,
or visit Fire Department
Headquarters at 15 Broadway
FF Richard T. Muldowney, Jr.
.. Pkza, J
In Memory of Chief Richard Layton
Blood Drive
Monday. March 16. 2009
Freeport Fire Department
15 Broadway, Freeport
3:00pm - 8:30pm
Please join us in honoring Chief Layton's life by
giving blood in his memory and saving the lives of
others.
Please Give the Gift of Life!
Eligibility Criteria:
V - . Bring valid ID . . '
Minimum weight 110 Ibs. .
Age 16 - 76 (16 year olds need parental consent, 76 and older need doctors note)
Eat well (low fat) A drink fluids
No tattoos for past 12 month
For travel and medical questions, call 1-800-688-0900.
For more information or to schedule an appointment,
please call Chief Mark Stuparich 859-2263
.,___, „_ _& Long Island BloodServices* • -~-——-
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February, 2009 THE HOME OF CHAMPIONS www.freeportny.gov
Freeport Recreation Center
Celebrates Two Major Milestones
At the dedication of the plaque in memory of Mayor Bob Sweeney were, left to right,
Judge Ralph Franco and Lorraine Franco, Village Trustee Don Miller, Nassau Legislator
David Denenberg, Hempstead Town Councilwoman Angie Cullin, Trustee Bill White, Jr.,
Father Robert Sweeney, Mrs. Martha Sweeney, Martha Sweeney Green, her husband William Green,
their son Bill Green Jr., and daughter in law, Jewels Green, the three Sweeney great-grandsons in front,
Robert Stanton, Alexander John, and the baby, Desmond, and behind them, John Green and his wife,
Marion Vitus. Mayor Bill Glacken and Trustee Jorge Martinez are standing behind the Sweeney family
and to the right are Hempstead Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby and Reginald Julius.
Behind them are Reverend Eric Mallette of the Greater Second Baptist Church in Freeport,
and retired Freeport Police Officer Julius Pearse.
Valentine's Day was a red letter day ment, relaxation, and a convenient meeting
this year at the Freeport Recreation Center place for all residents from every walk of life
with the official opening of the center's new to enjoy. "Residents from toddlers to teens
all-weather enclosure for the ice rink and to seniors meet at the recreation center,"
the dedication of the plaque honoring the said Mayor Glacken, "which has become
memory and vision of former Mayor the crossroads of the Village. Bob Sweeney
Robert Sweeney, whose efforts ensured the had a vision to create a place to bring all the
planning, construction and completion of members of this community together, and
the center in 1974. today we are paying tribute to his foresight
At the unveiling ceremony, Mayor Bill and dedication to Freeport."
Glacken, who was joined by Mrs. Martha Mayor Glacken pointed out that over
Sweeney, her children, grandchildren, and the past twelve years, the Administration
great-grandchildren, praised Bob Sweeney's has virtually rebuilt the infrastructure of the
tenure as Mayor of Freeport, and his dedi- thirty-five-year-old Recreation Center,
cation to providing a special place in the which will be completed in 2009 with the
Village which offers recreation, entertain- replacement of the boilers. The Mayor also
pledged that the Village's Recreation Cen-ter
will always remain open to all residents'
of the community, as well as non-residents.
Mayor Glacken, along with Freeport
Village, Hempstead. Town and Nassau
County officials, went on officially to open
the new state-of-the-art enclosure for
the Recreation Centers ice rink. The
refurbished rink now features the weather-resistant
bubble, new dasher boards, glass
panels, safety netting and expanded locker
and bathroom facilities. The rink is home
to the Arrows Youth Hockey League and
the Freeport Skating Academy, which
provides private and group lessons to
children and adults. The rink offers public
skating sessions which can be viewed on the
village's website at www.freeportny.gov
under recreation.
Because the new rink is also equipped
with a special turf surface and features air
conditioning facilities, indoor programs,
including youth soccer and lacrosse, will be
available during the summer months.
Village Justice V. Roy Cacciatore and Mayor Bill
Glacken dropped the puck on the
ice for the official opening of the new ice rink
"bubble" at the Freeport Recreation Center.
A MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR
So many milestones have been met in
the 12 years that the Glacken Administra-tion
has been in office, it's easy to forget all
that has been accomplished. It will be four
years this June that the Village installed
four water wells, three of them new ones,
and'the fourth a replacement;—bringing
the total number of wells serving the Vil-lage
to eleven. At the same time, we cre-ated
the Prince Avenue wellfield to house
the additional facilities which provide
service and security for the Village's Water
Department, guaranteeing the safe, reli-able
delivery of pure, clean water for the
next 60 years.
In addition, as of the first of April of
this year, the Village will mark the 5th
Anniversary of the installation of
Freeport's new gas turbine generator. The
General Electric LM 6000 generator is ca-pable
of producing up to 48 megawatts of
electricity, more than twice the amount of
power as the two 10 megawatt diesels
which it replaced. The new generator
meets all applicable federal and state emis-sions
standards. As a result of the installa-tion
of this "state-of-the-art" turbine,
Freeport Electric will continue to provide
low-cost, reliable electricity to its residen-tial
and commercial customers for the
next 50 years.
In addition to owning its own gener-ation,
the Village has permitted a devel-oper
to site a similar gas turbine at the
same location in exchange for a long-term
lease payment, and a "payment in lieu of
taxes"-(-EILOT). -The- revenue.s from. this>
arrangement flow directly into the Vil-lage's
operating fund.
Since 1898, the Village has main-tained
its own electric generation.
Freeport is among the more than two
thousand municipally-owned utilities in
the nation which are responsible for sup-plying
over 14% of the nations power.
Public power benefits the users; it provides
the customer with rates lower than in-vestor-
owned utilities. The mandate of
public-owned utilities is to provide serv-ice
to customers, rather than profit to in-vestors.
Here in Freeport, electricity costs
an average of 40% less than what cus-tomers
of the Long Island Power Author-ity
are paying.
As a member of the Policy Makers
Council of the American Public Power
Association, I am able to advocate for
Freeport to Congress and the Obama Ad-ministration
on public power issues af-fecting
rates, usage, legislation and
regulations. In these uncertain economic
times, it is increasingly important that the
voices of the mayors be heard both in
Washington and the state capitals on these
matters.
Golden Gloves Boxing
Draws Crowd to Freeport Recreation Center
Members of
Freeport's Police Ath-letic
Leagues boxing
program were recently
recognized at the 82nd
Annual Golden Gloves
Tournament held at
the Freeport Recre-ation
Center. Under
the direction of Joe
Higgins, Freeport PAL
boxing provides young
men with a positive
outlet and the oppor-tunity
to build charac-ter
and develop athletic
Mayor Bill Glacken, Trustee Don Miller and PAL Boxing Program Director, Joe Higgins,
'posed for a photo surrounded by the young men in the program.
Miller. "PAL's boxing pro-gram
is vital to that mis-sion,
and the men and
women who give of their
time to the organization
are to be commended for
their commitment and
dedication to the young
people of Freeport," he
concluded.
"We're very pleased that
the Golden Gloves chose
Freeport's Recreation
Center as the venue for
this event," stated Mayor
Glacken. Mr. Higgins
skills. Mr. Higgins, a retired New York City in Northeast Park was converted to accom- added that the PAL boxing program expects
firefighter and former Corporal in the U. S. modate a full-size boxing ring, office space to produce several 2012 Olympic boxing
Marine Corps, instills in the young men a and a locker room. The building now serves team competitors for the games in London
strong work ethic, discipline, self-respect and as the home of the Freeport PAL boxing in three years. Included in the adjoining
pride, while enhancing physical and emo- program,
tional well-being. "Providing the youth of Freeport with
In 2006, with the support of Mayor Bill organized, sports. activities .that iprpmpte,
Glacken, the Board of Trustees, and count- physical well-being and teach valuable life
less PAL volunteers, an underutilized garage lessons is critically important," said Trustee
photo are Christian "The Razor" Chavez,
a 2008 PAL National Silver Medal
Midwest Olympic
winner in 2007.
trials Silver Medal
The Prince Avenue Wellfields Power Plant 2 housing the Village's new generator and an the additional
generator owned by a private entity.
Freeport Library Offering
Quick and
Easy Membership Days
Sign up at Village Hall
or Recreation Center
ForJmtormaiiontall: 516*378-1111
A representative of the
Freeport Memorial Library will
be in Village Hall on Tuesday,
March 24th, and at the
Recreation Center the following
day, Wednesday, March 25th, to
encourage people to sign up for a
library card. If you live or work in
Freeport, you are eligible for
membership in the Freeport
Library.
In these days of economic
downturn, it's a good idea to
consider the library for books and
magazines. The library's DVD
and CD collection includes a
wide range of popular audio
recordings of novels, biographies,
and other printed materials, as
well as movies, operas, musicals,
and documentaries. Regina
Feeney, a reference librarian, will
be in Village Hall in the Confer-ence
Room on March 24th, and
at the Recreation Center in the
lobby on March 25th, to assist
anyone interested in joining the
Freeport Memorial Library.