EVENT NOTICE: Lake Grove is hosting a blood drive on December 18. Check out the flyer for more info!
EVENT NOTICE: Lake Grove is hosting a blood drive on December 18. Check out the flyer for more info!
There will be a car show at Lake Grove Village Hall on September 30.
It’s almost summer! Sign up for the Lake Grove Summer Recreation Program today. Check the flyer below to learn more information about the program.
The Village will be Incorporated fifty years as of September 2018. While that is still nineteen months away, the time to start planning a celebration is now. Volunteers will be needed to plan and also follow through with arrangements.
I encourage all to reach out by phone, social media or in person at Village Hall with ideas of how best to acknowledge this milestone. Some of you may remember our forty year anniversary when we packed the Village Green, Memorial Park and topped the evening with entertainment by the Beatles tribute band, Strawberry Fields.
Fifty years should and will be a bigger celebration. Lake Grove was incorporated by a vote of 552 to 332 on September 9, 1968. Today Lake Grove is a proud, independent and debt free Village. We have beautiful parks for children and adults that boast two brand new tennis and basketball courts. Our memorial park provides a place to reflect and honor our veterans, first responders and those that made the ultimate sacrifice on September 11, 2001. The park has a tree grown from a seedling of the 911 survivor tree. A symbol of our country’s resilience, strength and perseverance donated to Lake Grove by some of our brave first responders.
We provide a wonderful summer program for our children and a fall Harvest Festival that is a great family day outing. Holiday celebrations and summer concerts present an opportunity for residents to meet and share time with their neighbors.
In the last few years our Department of Pubic Works has been updated with all brand new equipment from mowers and snow blowers, to trucks, backhoe and pay-loaders. The right tools for an extremely friendly and competent crew.
Equally friendly and competent, our office staff has been together for many years and provide knowledge and experience to help with any issues that our residents may have.
In contrast to some other levels of government, our Village Board has been together for many years and works in harmony for the good of all. We consider ourselves to be public servants without personal agendas. We love what we do and together I feel we have been successful in providing our residents with what they expect and doing so while remaining within our means.
Whereas I proudly serve as the fifth Mayor in the history of this incredible Village, I realize that it takes contributions from all to keep the highest standard of living that we have all grown to expect. So please feel free to keep the ideas coming on how we can best celebrate this milestone and show our pride in our modest, self-governing and successful Village.
As always, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
Robert (Bob) Scottaline
Mayor
The following is a note from Lake Grove Mayor Robert Scottaline …
As most are already aware, we are operating under the New York State Tax Cap. The tax cap applies to all independent school districts and all local governments outside of New York City, and is intended to capture the broad range of property taxes levied in New York.
The so called two percent tax cap is a bit misleading. As per the guidelines, we actually were only permitted this year to have an increase of much less than one percent. While this may appear to be a positive thing to most of us paying extremely high taxes to live on Long Island, to a Village it is an extremely challenging financial hardship. Villages operate for the most part with a very strict budget and see little of the high taxes paid by most. I encourage all Village residents to look at their Village tax bills. After deducting the fees for garbage removal which is paid out to those who are contracted vendors, the balance is what the Village has to work with.
The cost of paving roads, concrete for sidewalks and aprons, sand and salt for snow removal, fuel for trucks, and employee benefits continue to rise. With a budget that has no fat to cut, we started a few years back getting as creative as possible to cut spending. Older, less efficient vehicles were replaced with new energy efficient vehicles. Solar panels, waste oil burners and metal recycling all helped in lessening the pain of the cap. Lighting fixtures at Village Hall have been replaced or retrofitted to use bulbs requiring less energy for the same amount of lighting. HVAC systems have been upgraded and thermostats settings are set to be as efficient as possible while still providing employees with adequate comfort.
We are also taking a close look at how employees will be replaced going forward as full time employees retire. Promotions unfortunately are put on hold, while negotiating bargaining agreements are more difficult each year to find compromise that will be fair to both employer and employee.
No one wants to hear that we can no longer provide all of the services that we have grown accustomed to. No one wants to hear that we are going to vote to exceed the tax cap. The reality is, that we are running out of options and the Governor’s cap is hurting local government. That is, the level of government provided by those living within our communities. Those that care most about our communities and those working the hardest for our communities.
We will continue to conserve, operate at a high level of efficiency, maintain services and stay within the limits of the tax cap as long as possible.
JUST THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW!
The Village of Lake Grove is hosting a Christmas Celebration with Santa Clause and Mrs. Claus on Friday, December 16. Check out the flyer below to learn more!
Enjoy some historic photos from the Village of Lake Grove in our new historic image gallery. Check back frequently for updates to the gallery!
For information regarding leaf bag distribution and leaf bag pick up, please refer to the document below …
The Lake Ronkonkoma Heritage Association created a “Remembrance Day” event at the Lake Ronkonkoma Cemetery in October to pay tribute to all veterans buried in the location at Five Corners.
There are 123 veterans buried in the cemetery dating back to the Civil War.
