RVC Village Board Briefing Highlights

The Rockville Centre Village Board met last night for a three-and-a-half hour briefing session at Village Hall. The board will meet on Sept. 7 for its regular Board of Trustees meeting, but here's what was discussed during last night's session.

Presentations:

• Pam Warren, a representative from the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, said her group will be hanging up teal ribbon bows around the village — in particular by the LIRR station —  starting this Saturday to spread awareness about ovarian cancer. Warren, a cancer survivor herself, said 20,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer a year, and 15,000 will lose their lives to it. The ribbons will be taken down in the beginning of October, she said.
• An official from Alpine Software's Red Alert, an electronic fire department records management system, presented its program to the board as an alternative to the RVC FD's current system. Fire Department officials — including Chief Mark Murray — explained that the current program, which it uses to record call response data for FEMA reimbursements, has problems and information disappears after inputting it to the system. It wastes time, Murray said, and the department loses out on reimbursement funds. "The idea of putting data in, then losing it... it's not the right way to operate," he said.
• Red Alert is used  in 63 percent of Nassau County Fire Departments, said Red Alert spokesman John Martins, and would cost about $40,000 to install, which includes a 10-hour training session with firefighters. The board did not make any decision on whether it will switch to Red Alert.

Action Items for 9/7 Meeting

• The board discussed a request for H2M to prepare construction documents and a plan for the review and bidding for the rehabilitation of Water Tank No. 4 in the village. Superintendent of Water Anthony Iannone said tank N0. 4., which is located on Reeve Road near Molloy College, needs interior repairs. "H2M recommended maintenance and repainting of the tank," Iannone said. The work could cost around $45,000, Iannone added, but he hopes to find a lower price once bid requests are sent out. The board did not take any action on this item at last night's meeting.

Legal Issues

• The village Planning Board recommended some changes to the village zoning code. The changes would "clean up some language" said village attorney Thomas Levin. The board will continue to discuss the proposed changes, which were not outlined at the meeting, during the upcoming months.

Parks and Recreation

• Director Tony Brunetta said he received a request from a village youth for the construction of a skateboard park in the village. Brunetta noted that there was some interest expressed by village kids on the construction of a park a few years ago, but said they wanted a much larger-scale park than what the village could offer. Board trustees said insurance and construction costs would make it unfeasible for the village to do.

Public Utilities — Electric

• Mercy Medical Center has an interest in using Rockville Centre electricity to power the hospital. It currently uses the Long Island Power Authority. Board officials said they are interested in meeting with Mercy officials to discuss to possibility.