April 22, 2010

Dear Neighbor,

Spring is here and it’s time to “Spring Clean” our beautiful community.Meet the newly formed Beautification Committee of the Village of Old Brookville: Chairperson: Kimberly OnoratoAmy Schamroth, Marjorie Slonim, Rimona Yagahoubi, Deborah Vena, John Vasilakis, Cathy Scarola, Rosemarie Ryba, Laura Izzo, Amy Goldstein, Linda Carullo, Maria Vasilakis, and Carol Bellafatto, Eva Fodera, Jackie Sacher.

 Our initial goals for village properties:

 · cleaning up neglected or barren public areas

· removing dead tree stumps from public roads

· replacing or repairing broken village or street signs

·     · planting trees where needed on public roads and planting perennial gardens at entrance signs and triangles

Because we have only a small budget, we are planning one or two small fund raising events to defray the cost of these projects. Since we like to keep the “Fun” in “Fundraising”, our events will be designed to both allow and encourage a good time for all. A couple of the events that we are planning include a Planting Day and possibly a Garden tour. If you have a garden that you would like to share with the community, please let us know.   We will limit the numbers of people in the tour and anyone wanting to come will have to be accompanied by a resident.

We are consulting an arborist to help us identify the types of plants and trees best suited to our designated garden locations and we are waiting to gather all the information necessary to make the best decisions for our village.  The Laurel Group of Huntington has graciously donated their services to design our triangles and Village of Old Brookville sign areas.

 How you can help

 Donate a tree - Dedicate your tree to the memory of a loved one, to a new baby or child or for any occasion. We are making packets which will include a certificate and there will be an opportunity to have a small, private dedication.

Sponsor a triangle or entrance garden. You and your family will have the opportunity to donate one of the pre-designed village triangles. For the sake of uniformity in the village, the plantings will be preselected and changes will be made to accommodate particular locations. The triangles will be maintained by the village.

Please join us by volunteering. To volunteer, make a donation, or share your beautification ideas please contact Jackie Sacher at jdsacher@oldbrookville.net.   Families with small children can share the experience of planting together, volunteering and being part of our community.

 

While the village retains a service to keep our village streets clean, we still have debris that accumulates from one cleaning to the next. We ask you to join us in keeping our community beautiful by collecting debris from the front of your property. If you have concerns about issues that you see that detract from the beauty of Old Brookville, please contact Kim Onorato at kimonorarto@optonline.net .

Please join us with your children to plant a children’s vegetable garden at Village Hall. We will also be planting flowers to enhance the beauty of our village green and all residents are invited to join. Please bring small shovels for the children. Light refreshments will be served.  Kindly RSVP to jdsacher@oldbrookville.net.  

Jackie Sacher, Trustee

 The rally on Friday, March 5 at the Old Bethpage Village Restoration shed brilliant light on how important this issue is to all Long Island residents. After reading this, I hope that you will take the time to contact our elected officials to let them know that you strongly oppose the proposed cuts of this essential fund.

 

 New York State's Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) was created in 1993 and is the state's primary source of funding for a wide range of environmental projects. The EPF protects our open space and farmland, clean drinking water, recreational opportunities, related businesses, and quality of life. The EPF provides our communities recycling programs, waterfront revitalization, municipal parks, solid waste management, zoos, botanical gardens and aquaria, pollution prevention and more.

The EPF protects our natural resources and public health, and also plays an important role in our local economy. EPF programs eliminate solid waste, prevent pollution, provide clean drinking water, protects natural areas and community character, making our towns and villages desirable places to live, work and visit. The EPF has created or protected thousands of jobs in sectors including, but not limited to tourism, farming, engineering, solid waste management, education, science, land management, and forestry, in every county of New York State.

 

Over the years, five hundred MILLION dollars, yes, a half billion dollars, has been “borrowed” from this fund by New York State and those monies have never been returned to the EPF. The $500million was used for purposes that had nothing to do with protecting the environment. Now the state has decided to cut the funding by 34%, (which by closer calculation will be 50%), putting all of the above protections in jeopardy.

Many elected officials took time from their busy schedules to attend and speak to this cause. Ed Mangano and Steve Levy, Nassau and Suffolk County Executives respectively, spoke eloquently of the importance of maintaining the funding for the EPF. They gave their assurance that they will do everything possible to work toward convincing those in power to leave the EPF alone.

Assemblyman Steve Engelbright gave a poignant plea and pledged to reach out and try to convince members of the state legislature of the gravity and long term effects that these cuts will have for all of us and for generations to come. Assemblyman Steve Englebright's background in science and education brings a unique and useful perspective to the State Legislature. With professional training as a geologist and biologist, Assemblyman Englebright’s skill at translating technical concepts and findings into innovative public policy has enabled him to help shape laws that have practical relevance to our lives and health. 

John Venditto, Town Supervisor of Oyster Bay and Assembyman Joseph Saladino of Massapequa also offered their support and repeated the grave consequences of not protecting our environment. There will be quality of life changes for Long Island and state residents with the closure of parks. Other officials spoke as well, showing their strong support.

Lisa Ott and Carter Bales of the North Shore Land Alliance addressed the attendees, and Old Brookville residents should keep in mind just how much this organization has helped our own community by helping us to purchase the Banfi property. It is time for us to say thank you to them, and more important to make our voices heard. If we do not act NOW we are saying that we sanction these cuts. Please contact our elected officials and tell them how you feel. You can simply state that you do not want the Environmental Protection Fund cut. If we do not join together now, we will be living in a different Long Island and when our children and grandchildren ask us what we did to protect this fund that ensured the quality of life for future generations we will have to either tell them that we did everything we could or that we did not even send an e-mail to our elected officials. 

Please take a moment and ask everyone in your household to contact our representatives at the following contact information:

 

State Assemblyman Michael Montesano: 111 Levittown Parkway, Hicksville, New York 11801

Telephone number: 516-937-3571

http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=015

Additional information about the EPF can be found at the following site:

www.eany.org/issues/reports/EPF_2009.pdf

Dear Fellow Residents, 
     Our beautiful village has had the good fortune of having Nassau 
County, the North Shore Land Alliance and a private philanthropist 
unite in order to purchase the 60 acres of open space on Hegeman's 
Lane, the property adjacent toYoung's Farm. For those of you who are 
unaware, this property had previously been considered for subdivision 
to accommodate 18 new homes on 3 acres each. The owners of the 
property have graciously decided to sell the property to the above 
three parties, which will mean that the Village of Old Brookville will 
continue to enjoy this beautiful property. It will be maintained by 
the county and be kept for farming use only. 
      There is one last step that is urgent for this to be finalized. There 
will be a meeting at the Nassau County Legislature, Theodore Roosevelt 
Executive and Legislative Building, 1550 Franklin Avenue, Mineola on 
Monday, December 7, at 10 AM.. It is urgent that the residents of Old 
Brookville show their support for this transaction by being present at 
this legislative session. 
     Mayor Bernie Ryba and the Board of Trustees need the community's presence to 
demonstrate how important this is to our village. We 
have been given a gift, but this last step is imperative to show 
resident support. Please tell your neighbors and all residents of our 
village the importance of attendance at this meeting. This is the 
largest acquisition of open space in 
the history of the county and Old Brookville, our village, has been the 
recipient of this transaction. 
Thanking all of you in advance for your critical participation. It 
would be a great loss if we all did not show our support. Please try 
to have at least one person from your household attend. It would be of 
great help to us if you could RSVP to me so that we can anticipate 
turnout. 
 
Thanking you in advance, 
Jackie Sacher, Trustee