The Village of Mineola has started the latest phase of its road reconstruction program, with work commencing on several streets on the east end of the village between Old Country Road and Albertson Road. The village board committed $1.1 million for the roadwork in the 2016-17 village budget.
At last Wednesday night’s village board meeting, Superintendent of Public Works Thomas Rini said preliminary work had begun on Violet, Geranium, Holly, Juniper and Wysteria streets, with removal of trees along those thoroughfares. He said the “full reconstruction” on those streets, including road resurfacing and replacement of existing curbs, made removal of the trees necessary to enable the roadwork.
“We had to remove some trees,” Rini said, adding that the goal is “to remove as few trees as we could, but some were just too big.”
He said the trees would be replaced as part of the village’s annual tree replacement program after the roadwork is completed.
Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss called the tree removal “a necessary evil,” but assured residents the trees would be replaced later this year.
“They’re coming down because they absolutely have to come down,” Strauss said.
Strauss said the village maintains “an aggressive tree planting program, more aggressive than any town around us.”
During the meeting, the village board voted to authorize a public bid for the village’s 2016 tree planting program.
The village board committed $50,000 for the tree planting program in the 2016-17 village budget.
Valente Contracting Corp., the same company the village board has retained for road reconstruction in past years, will again do the roadwork this year, Rini said.
Village officials said 200 to 300 trees would be planted in this year’s program, depending on how many trees must be removed as part of the road reconstruction project.
In other developments, Village Superintendent of Buildings Daniel Whalen reported the building department is close to issuing certificates of occupancy for the apartment complex under construction by Lalezarian Developers at 1 Third Avenue. Whalen said issuance of the certificates is pending the developers’ completion of a “check list” of items to be addressed at the 315-unit apartment complex.
Strauss also said the village board will hear a presentation for construction of a soccer field on field no. 3 at Wilson Park at its Aug. 10 meeting.
