Community

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

As you might be aware, we will be celebrating our 50 (fifty) year anniversary as an Incorporated Village this year.  Fifty years ago a group of very vigilant and intelligent individuals observed the necessity to gather together and work tirelessly to make others aware in this community of the need to control our own destiny.  As engineers and architects were busy planning and designing the Smith Haven mall, these people were knocking on doors and meeting with residents to discuss the possibility of incorporating and setting up borders.

These individuals had the awareness to realize that while progress is a positive thing, it also can have a very negative impact if not regulated and controlled.  They saw the need for local laws to protect the quality of life for the population surrounding the wave of what was to come.  I, for one am very grateful for their efforts and accomplishments.  Because of their hard work, we now celebrate a community that is the envy of many in the surrounding areas.

Local government, closest to the people is the most conscientious and responsive form of government.

Village codes, local laws and providing for our own services creates an environment we all can be proud of.  We are all just a phone call or a visit to Village Hall away from getting answers or solutions to concerns and comments.

We hold developers and retailers to a higher standard of architecture, signage and conduct of operations.  We are continually updating our local laws to keep pace with our rapidly changing way of life.  Being cognizant of what works and doesn’t work for our community and being able to enforce our codes is what maintains our quality of life.

For these reasons home values are generally higher in Incorporated Villages than in the areas of the same township that are not incorporated.

I am very proud of our accomplishments and our reputation as the Incorporated Village of Lake Grove. Please help show your pride by joining the festivities the weekend of August 18^th and 19^th, with most of the events happening at our Village Green/Memorial Park adjoining Village Hall.  A committee has been formed and is working enthusiastically to make this a celebration for all to enjoy a weekend of music, vendors, mementoes and much, much more.

If you would like to participate and volunteer to help in the planning, please contact us at Village Hall (631-585-2000, or stop in between 9:00am -430pm Monday-Friday).  There is still plenty of work to be done.

Thank you for your continued support. I look forward to seeing you all at the celebration.

Respectfully Yours,

Robert (Bob) Scottaline, Mayor

Dear Neighbors and Fellow Lake Grove Residents,

Spring is here along with the reminder of all the work ahead to keep our homes in good order. It is much the same here at Village Hall. Along with our annual meeting to make our yearly appointments for services, there is also the arduous task of putting together our annual budget to keep our Village in good order. I call it an arduous task only because we do not take this responsibility lightly. Many hours are spent by our budget committee crunching numbers to come up with the most responsible budget to maintain services while operating within the New York State tax cap.  The term 2% cap is very deceiving, as it generally is much less after all formulas and calculations are considered.

The Village tax bill you receive has a garbage fee which is a pass-through that goes directly for garbage pick-up and dumping fees. Once this is removed from your bill, you will see that the Village gets very little of the tax dollars to actually cover services. Some confuse town and school taxes with what the Village receives. Your actual Village taxes are what’s on your bill minus the refuse and dumping charges.

With the dollars that we do receive, we have to pave and repair roads, plow, sand, sweep, repair concrete, cut trees, purchase highway and office equipment and pay our staff, just to mention some of our expenditures. Most homeowners will be able to relate how difficult it is to stretch those dollars to provide the highest level of services.

Experience certainly helps, as does having an extremely conscientious hard working staff. The Village has little to no waste in its daily operations. From office staff to highway repair and maintenance staff, all are very responsible in working as efficiently as possible. Purchasing through Inter Municipal Agreements saves many thousands of dollars each year by getting State, County, and Town bid pricing for vehicles and equipment.  Our office staff actually uses coupons when purchasing office supplies. The Village Board members will not be taking a raise again, and I will be taking a reduction in compensation of over ten percent.

With all of the dollars we are able to save, costs are still rising. Staff members still will receive small pay increases and the cost of heating and cooling our buildings along with fuel for trucks is somewhat out of our control.

We will make it work again this year as we have for many years now. While we don’t have to stay under the cap, we very likely will. Our Board and budget committee has been doing this for many years and we are proud of what we are able to accomplish. These people make it look easy; but it certainly is not.

A very healthy happy and prosperous spring to all.

Sincerely,

Robert J. Scottaline, Mayor

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I was visited today by one of our local merchants who was very concerned about the future of his establishment.  It was with some remorse that I had to tell him that some of his ideas to increase traffic flow within his business would not be in compliance with the Village code.

We do not allow for temporary signage or attention grabbing blow-ups that dance around in the wind. We don’t allow for goods, wares or merchandise to be displayed outside of the building.  This is all in an attempt to keep our Village aesthetics from being diminished.  We are very concerned with commercial architecture, signage and anything that might present a stigma within our community.

To sum it up, we hold retailers and all commercial endeavors to a higher standard than most of the surrounding municipalities.  While this may appear at times to be a hardship to a particular business owner, we remind them that this is the very reason they chose Lake Grove for their business.  A more upscale environment and neater look is appealing to the average consumer.

Several years ago I addressed this very same issue. While we do hold commercial properties to a higher standard, we should be cognizant of the fact that we should be supporting local businesses to keep them solvent.  Whether it is purchasing gas, breakfast on the way to work, getting a haircut, or shopping for groceries, patronizing local businesses benefits everyone. We all want the convenience of having these establishments there when we need them.  Let’s continue to support them for the good of all.  Empty buildings and storefronts have a very negative effect on property values.

Thanks, as always, for your support in everything we do to keep our Village on the rise. Lake Grove has a great reputation as a desirable place to live and raise a family.

Respectfully Yours,

Robert Scottaline, Mayor

Dear Neighbors,

I hope all are enjoying a Happy New Year.   2017 was another successful year for Lake Grove.  Staying under the Tax Cap and remaining fiscally sound, we still were able to provide a high level of services and maintain our standard of living. This has been accomplished by creating and maintaining budgets with a keen eye on eliminating any possible waste and tightening our belts.

Every department is required each year to create departmental budgets based on needs and prior year’s expenditures.  These are then reviewed by our budget committee and further massaged and trimmed for the most prudent use of taxpayer dollars. This team has many, many years of experience.

Trustee Felix Wienclaw, Trustee Richard Kick, Village Clerk Carmela Constant, Receiver of Taxes James Loeffler and myself aided by our very dedicated Account Clerk staff spend countless hours to come up with a budget we can be proud of.  A budget that not only keeps us under the Tax Cap, but also allows us to continue to be a Village that is the envy of many other communities.

While remaining under the Tax Cap each year, we have still been able to accomplish many things. Deputy Mayor Rick Cohen and I have worked together to replace most of our older trucks and equipment in our Department of Public Works.  The benefits were obvious during the last snow storm.  Providing the finest quality tools to experienced employees resulted in an outstanding clean-up and a high level of public safety. The practice of selling off our older equipment while it still has value and upgrading has been quite successful.

Along with the positive accomplishments above, there are still matters to be addressed that need our undivided attention and efforts.

Illegal rentals and so-called Zombie homes continue to be very frustrating to deal with. This challenge is not unique to Lake Grove. Exchanging legal knowledge with other villages and towns is helpful. We have also recently acquired the services of a prominent municipal attorney who has already afforded us very positive results. This individual does not back down from a challenge and does not accept the premise that we can’t move forward with eliminating these blights within our community. We will win this battle.

Going forward our goals for 2018 are all very achievable. With this being the year we celebrate our fifty year anniversary as an Incorporated Village, we are working together for continued success. We will not rest on our laurels. That is why developers continue to build and sell very high-end homes in our very desirable Village, raising the value of all of our homes.

We, as a team, shall continue to remain within the requirements of the Tax Cap, keep our highway department working like a well maintained machine, and work tirelessly to assure that no homeowner shall have to live with the frustration of homes in our neighborhoods that take away from what we work so hard to maintain.

Respectfully yours,

Robert Scottaline, Mayor

Due to the current winter conditions, Lake Grove Mayor, Robert Scottaline, has declared a State of Emergency for the Village until further notice. No vehicles are to be parked on Village roadways. Stay warm and be safe!

Dear Neighbors,

I recently had the pleasure of meeting with a group of Webelo Scouts. The topic of the discussion which they came to see me about was single stream recycling.  The timing of the discussion couldn’t have been better. Whether I am driving, walking or jogging though our beautiful Village it is always troubling to see how many people either don’t understand or don’t choose to take the time to recycle properly. The reason the scout leader chose this topic, is she actually has observed the very same thing.

Our meeting was very interesting and a lot of fun. These young scouts are eager to learn and to help educate others on the importance and the ease of single stream recycling. We discussed the savings and the environmental advantages of proper waste disposal.

They learned that when we recycle properly the savings is twofold. Not only do we save on the cost of disposing of the trash if it were to go to the landfill, we actually get paid for it when recycling.  While this peaked their interest a bit, they were also very interested in the environmental benefits of limiting the amount of tonnage going into the landfill.

I hope collectively we can demonstrate to our young people a high level of responsibility when it comes to our finances and respect for the environment. Please join me in doing everything that we can to recycle responsibly. It pays dividends and is the right thing to do.

Robert J. Scottaline

Mayor

Donate new, unwrapped toys for a holiday toy drive at Lake Grove Village Hall this holiday season.

Items will be donated to the Toys for Tots campaign through the Marine Corps Reserve.

You can drop off items from October 1 through December.

Happy Holidays, all!