Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Another summer has come and gone. I hope most of you had an opportunity to join us at our wonderful “Summer Festival”. Each year, thanks to Trustee Kick, LG C.A.R.E.S, and the rest of our committee, the event is always a great success. This year we created a full weekend event by including music on Friday and Saturday leading up to the big day. These special events are generally net zero cost to all of us as taxpayers in the village. Vendors are required to pay to be at the festival and music is provided through our awesome volunteer group, LG C.A.R.E.S, and other donors. Special thanks to all. I hope many of you were also able to come out to our “Family Movie Night”. A good time was had by all that attended.
Our village boards and staff have been very busy this year, working on numerous projects to enhance our community.
The speed tables we added on Hawkins Avenue are having the desired effect of slowing down traffic and having commercial traffic rerouting to state roadways to avoid the new speed control. These improvements come at no cost to the taxpayers as the funding for such projects comes from sources only available for traffic control.
The new cell tower located in our DPW yard has been another great addition, as it not only provides better mobile service throughout our village for all of us, but it also provides additional coverage for public safety through the Ronkonkoma Fire Department. Ronkonkoma FD has been experiencing drops in mobile service causing possible delays in responding to the public’s needs. We are glad to be able to provide our brave men and women with the best possible tools to protect the community. An additional bonus of housing the tower on municipal property is that it is another source of revenue for the village. As the cost of everything continues to rise, any money coming into our budget helps to keep taxes as low as possible.
With all the great events happening around our village, I hope our new information sign in front of the Village Hall has been a benefit to all. Upcoming events and other valuable information are constantly being updated to keep everyone informed. The cost of the sign has been supplemented by a grant received through the efforts of our staff here at Village Hall. We have also applied for a grant to replace a piece of playground equipment at Victor Park. These play- sets are typically very expensive. This playground equipment is being provided at no cost to the taxpayers of the village. This park fund is only available to be used towards capital improvements of parkland.
Lastly, we are very excited to be in the process of having our new DPW building installed. The bulk of the funding for the new building has been provided by the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) stimulus bill. This structure will provide better housing for not only our incredible staff, but also for our valuable equipment. We pride ourselves on sending out the best possible vehicles and equipment to provide the best possible service to all.
As always, thank you all for your continued support and valuable input.
Robert (Bob) Scottaline, Mayor
