Entrance and Exit to high school is now closed at Lake Drive

A plan to dead end East and West Lake Drive off of Avon Place in Amityville Village brought out a large crowd at a hearing held August 29. Comments, which were presented to the board for more than an hour and a half, outlined support for, and opposition to the plan. In the end, however, the board moved to enact the new law.

"This is an issue that involves the health and safety of all of our residents," said Mayor Peter T. Imbert in explaining the board’s position.

Almost immediately after the law was read by Village Attorney Bruce Kennedy, discussion turned to the impact the change would have on the school district, which uses the street to bring buses to and from the high school. The change will eliminate that, and require that the district find alternate routes for the buses, a change that school board president Diane Egglinger said would pose a serious hardship to the district and put children at risk.

"I have always been supportive of you and the way you turned things around for the better in this Village," she told the Mayor. "But I have to tell you that I believe that what you are trying to do is for the sole purpose of not allowing the school buses to use that street. This is going to hurt children."

Egglinger said eliminating use of the gates at the end of Lake Drive will force the district to change its routes, causing delays and making buses use dangerous intersections, such as those along Montauk Highway, to bring students to and from school. "I don’t think you are taking the safety of the children (who ride the buses) into consideration," said Egglinger, adding that most children on Lake Drive and Avon Place go to private school and will not be disrupted by the change.

"The only way to avoid this (the delays anticipated by the change of routes) is to increase the number of buses," said School Board Trustee Michelle Sikhrangkur. "This will cost the district more money simply because we can no longer have those gates open for ten minutes in the morning and ten minutes in the afternoon."

Imbert challenged the view raised by Egglinger, saying that the board had reviewed the issue and based its decision on the fact that the streets and sidewalks around the lake have become busy pedestrian areas and that the school buses were only part of the problem.

"There is a lot of speeding up and down that roadway and we have people walking and jogging and pushing baby carriages and we need to consider their safety as well," he said.

School Board Trustee Stephannie Andrews took exception to the majority school board’s position, saying the school district had to be a good neighbor.

"The Village Board is looking for a way to ensure the safety of people who live and use that area, and I think we should accommodate them," she said. "We have to be good neighbors."

Andrews added that part of the problem with the buses is that the current board majority has not insisted that the bus company be held accountable, and that it is the company’s responsibility to get children to school, safely and on time.

"We used to have someone closely monitoring them (the bus company)," said Andrews. "This majority board should make sure that the bus company complies with the bid they accepted."

The district used the gates for many years. Then approximately two years ago, the school board voted to close them because of concerns raised by residents who complained at the time that they were not adequately monitored, were used by students and teachers, and were often left open for long periods of time.

The current majority under President Egglinger voted last spring to rescind that measure and opened the gates again.

The Village Board was presented with a petition during the summer signed by residents of Lake Drive who complained that the roadway was becoming a speedway and that buses and vehicles were posing a hazard for pedestrian traffic in the area. They asked that the board address the issue. Mayor Peter Imbert, who lives on Lake Drive, recused himself from the vote.

"I understand the school’s concerns about buses delivering students late to school, but if you don’t do something (about the speed and traffic along Lake Drive) you are setting yourself up for someone getting hurt there," Bill Mullen of Oldfield Avenue told the board. "I have lived there since 1992 and I used to walk and jog around the lake, but I can’t do that anymore because of the speed of the buses and cars down the street," said Tom White, who asked that the board at least consider putting in speed bumps to slow down the traffic.

"People should be walking along the sidewalks (on Lake Drive) just like in other parts of the Village," said Egglinger in response to some of the concerns raised. "Traffic is a problem everywhere and we are not going to change that."

School Trustee Charles Walters suggested that if the issue was a concern over speeding that the police department might help resolve the problem. "We have a very responsive department," he said, adding that the school district would also address the issue of speeding by buses internally.

In other business, the board:

•authorized an agreement for payment in lieu of taxes with Villas at Broadlawn, a new condominium complex on Sunrise Highway. Under the agreement, the complex will pay $69,000 annually through June 1, 2006. After that the annual payments will increase based on the consumer price index;

•approved a request from Village Justice Debra Urbano-DiSalvo that the Village enter into an agreement with Fundamental Business Service for follow-up on outstanding parking tickets at a cost of 30 percent on monies collected from late penalties;

•approved payment of $2,660 to Commander Electric for installation of a fire siren at James A. Caples Park.