Long Island briefs

MUNSEY PARKLaw bans hoops from village right of way

Munsey Park Village trustees voted unanimously to adopt a new law that bans basketball hoops from the village's right of way.

The law still grants homeowners automatic permission to construct the hoops on their garages or on poles in front of or next to their garages. The board of trustees will consider poles in other locations on a case-by-case basis.

The law bans the hoops from the village's right of way, facing the street.

At Wednesday night's meeting, Trustee Patrick Hance said the law was prompted by a request he received a few months ago from a resident who wanted to construct a hoop on his grass facing the street. The board denied the request.

"There was some disagreement with the resident on how to interpret the law, so we decided to rewrite the law to make it more clear," Hance said.

Also at the meeting, trustees voted to pass a law allowing themselves to override the state tax cap in the village's 2014-15 budget.

Mayor Frank DeMento said the law simply allows the village the option of exceeding the cap on the tax levy in the new budget in case of an emergency. "It doesn't mean we are going to override the 2 percent tax cap," DeMento said.

SOUTHAMPTON

Public hearings end on plan for inn site

A long series of public hearings in Southampton over plans to redevelop the historic Canoe Place Inn property in Hampton Bays closed on Tuesday, with the town board saying that after five public hearings going back to September, it was time to let developers respond to the nearly 50 issues residents raised.

The board unanimously voted to close its public hearing on a proposal by R Squared Real Estate Partners, a Manhattan-based development firm that has controlled the property since 2004. They want to create a special Planned Development District to renovate the inn, create a 350-seat catering facility, a 70-seat restaurant and housing on the east and west sides of the Shinnecock Canal.

The developers plan to respond to the public comments in their Final Environmental Impact Statement, which town officials expect to get in late April or early May. The town's planning department will then review that FEIS, which will lead to another round of public comments on the final zoning proposal. That is not expected until at least June.

LYNBROOKSession will focus on lifesaving programs

Assemb. Brian Curran (R-Lynbrook) and Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano plan to host an informational session about two lifesaving programs at a Valentine's Day luncheon next week.

The event will be held on Wednesday from noon to 2 p.m. at the Lynbrook Senior Center, at 55 Wilbur St.

The session is expected to focus on Yellow Dot, a free program designed to help first responders provide lifesaving medical attention during that first "golden hour" after a car crash or other emergency. It will also discuss the Vial of Life, which allows individuals to have their complete medical information in their homes for emergency personnel to reference during an emergency.

To RSVP to the event, call Curran's district office at 516-561-8216.

GLEN COVEVote planned on cable TV franchise

Mayor Reginald Spinello said Tuesday night that the city council will move ahead to vote on granting a second city cable TV franchise to Verizon to supplement Cablevision service.

The council held a hearing on the franchise application in November but never voted on it before Mayor Ralph Suozzi left office at the end of the year after losing to Spinello.

Spinello said it was good that the council had not voted because a check of the city charter showed that "when you're voting for a new franchise you have to have a public notice for three consecutive weeks in the newspaper, and we did not do that."

So he said starting today the city will publish a legal notice for three weeks so the council can vote on a franchise for Verizon to provide FIOS fiber optic service to the city. Spinello said a vote could come at the March 11 meeting or at a special meeting.

If approved by the city, the franchise agreement would go to the state Public Service Commission for approval.

At the hearing, Verizon attorney Paul Trane told the council that his company has wired about 85 percent of the city with fiber-optic cable. He added that if the commission approves the franchise agreement, Verizon would start service immediately in areas already wired and then proceed to fill in the gaps.

Trane said Verizon will offer the same deal to the city as Cablevision -- a 5 percent franchise fee on its customers.

Cablevision owns Newsday.

GARDEN CITY

Adelphi forum set

on breast cancer

Adelphi University is scheduled to host a forum about lymphedema and breast cancer on April 3.

Dr. Sabaa Mundia and Vanesa Cardarelli are to present information at the event. Mundia is a doctor of physical therapy who specializes in lymphedema and breast cancer therapy. Cardarelli is a breast cancer survivor and volunteer at the Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program.

The event is expected to include information about "techniques for skin care, self-care and risk reduction," an Adelphi spokeswoman said in a statement.

"The presentation will include a practical demonstration of exercises that you can do at home and interventions, including manual lymph drainage, wrapping, compression garments and sleeve covers," the statement said.

The free event is scheduled at 7 p.m. April 3 at the university's Alumni House, at 154 Cambridge Ave. in Garden City. Registration is required and available by calling 516-877-4325.

UNIONDALE

Four students film cooking show

With four cameras rolling, fifth-grader Amanda Kleva and sixth-grader Jessica Le took turns adding ingredients to a pot Wednesday while filming a cooking show for Telecare TV in Uniondale.

The students from Our Lady of Lourdes School in West Islip were thinking outside the box as they whipped up a macaroni and cheese that was anything but instant.

The recipe called for two types of pasta, three types of cheese, nutmeg and potato bread.

"Wowee. That's pretty impressive," Msgr. Jim Vlaun, president of Telecare TV, told the girls as they ran through the ingredients list.

Vlaun hosts a cooking show called "Real Food" on the not-for-profit network, which is run by the Diocese of Rockville Centre. He invited Amanda, Jessica and two of their schoolmates -- fourth-grader Paedyn Cardino and eighth-grader Jack Scheid -- to film an episode after learning about a new culinary program at their school.

Darren St. George, a theatrical arts teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes, launched the after-school program, called "Let's Cook," in September, after observing while watching another teacher's class that every student had brought a prepackaged treat.

"I just thought there was something wrong there," he said.

With the support of Our Lady of Lourdes Principal Louise Krol, he quickly launched the club and recruited 15 students from grades 4 to 8. Twice a week for two hours, they learn the basics of cooking and craft dishes inside the school's cafeteria. They even prepared breakfast for their schoolmates one morning, cooking 60 omelets within 20 minutes, he said.

St. George said his intent is to encourage kids and adults to rely less on processed foods.

"If you make it yourself it's inherently going to be better than anything you pull out of the freezer."

Telecare did not have a date for when the "Real Food" episode with the students will air, but the experience of just taping the show was enough excitement for them, for now.

"I got nervous chills, it was my first time getting them," Paedyn said.

After a few minutes of filming, she said her nerves went away. "It looked like a real kitchen, so it's just like you're in your own kitchen. It was really fun."

NORTH HEMPSTEADMobile office hours for building agency

The Town of North Hempstead plans to begin mobile office hours for its building department this month.

The sessions will be attended by the department's new applicant advocate and are designed to allow residents to ask questions or discuss issues related to pending and future applications, assisted by the advocate.

The first session will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 24 in the large conference room of the Manhasset Public Library, 30 Onderdonk Ave., Manhasset.

Subsequent sessions will be held at the following times and locations:

6 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 26 in the community room of the Shelter Rock Public Library, 165 Searingtown Rd., Albertson;

6 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 27 in the all-purpose room of the Hillside Public Library, 155 Lakeville Rd., New Hyde Park;

6 to 8 p.m. on March 3 at the Yes We Can Community Center, 141 Garden St., Westbury;

6 to 8 p.m. on March 4 in the Hagedorn Room of the Port Washington Public Library, 1 Library Dr., Port Washington;

6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on March 6 in the multipurpose room of the Great Neck Public Library, 159 Bayview Ave., Great Neck; and

10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 12 at Charles J. Fuschillo Park, Carle Road at Broadmoor Lane, Carle Place.

ELMONTPSEG execs to speak about improvements

New York State Assemb. Michaelle Solages (D-Elmont), with the Elmont Community Coalition Council, plans to host a community meeting with representatives from PSEG Long Island.

The free event is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Elmont Memorial Library, 700 Hempstead Tpke. At the meeting, Solages is expected to welcome PSEG Long Island as the new power authority and discuss what improvements are in place regarding electricity post-superstorm Sandy.

The meeting is slated to include a presentation by PSEG Long Island executives Daniel Eichhorn, vice president of customer service, and John O'Connell, vice president of transmission and distribution. Residents will also learn of the new resources and protocol that PSEG Long Island has implemented along with its long-term goals.

For more information, call Solages' district office at 516-599-2972.

BABYLONTown looks for extra help plowing snow

Babylon Town is trying to expand the roster of independent contractors it uses to augment its snow plow fleet, venturing onto Facebook and the town website for the first time and offering a starting rate of $68.77 per hour.

The prerequisites are simple, Public Works Commissioner Tom Stay said: a vehicle, a plow and a willingness to work long overnight hours on the town's 537 miles of road.

"Some guys come with larger pickup trucks and we also have guys who have payloaders," he said. "We ask that for any kind of snow event we can call on them. If we have them on the list and call them and they don't show up for a storm, we're going to take them off the list."

Stay said the town relies primarily on a fleet of 80 town vehicles staffed by full-time employees. But for decades it has also hired freelance help during the winter. It now has about 30 regulars, including landscapers, tradesmen and professional firefighters. Most are Babylon residents. He'd like to have 10 times as many, Stay said, but Babylon must compete with neighboring towns for workers.

Plowing progress is monitored with the help of GPS units that each contractor must use while on the job.

While the work can be profitable -- many contractors have earned $7,000 or more after four snowstorms this winter, with more snow on the way -- Stay warned that overhead costs can be high, since contractors are responsible for their own gas, maintenance and plows, which can cost $8,000.

"You're not buying a plow one year and making all your money back," he said. "It's going to take several winters to maybe break even."