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Village in contract for sale of old Puglisi property
The prospective purchaser is Henry Terranova who is expected to construct a building for the Suffolk County National Bank, leasing it to that corporation. The selling price for the property is $1.25 million. The contract was contingent upon the developer getting approval from the Department of Transportation (DOT) to install a traffic signal in front of the bank that would work in unison with the light on Merrick Road in front of Stop and Shop supermarkets to the west. That issue has been resolved, said Village Attorney, Bruce Kennedy. "The bank wanted assurances that its customers could be able to have ingress and egress from the property," said Kennedy. The Village purchased the site, just west of the Lake Drive, last year after the owner, the Puglisi family, entered into negotiations to sell it. The prospective owners had filed an application with the Village to construct a car wash there. At the time the proposal was made, the Village was working to stop the expansion of auto uses along Merrick Road. It had adopted a new law that makes it tougher for property owners to expand or build used car lots, gasoline stations, car washes or other automotive businesses along that roadway. The application for the car wash had already been filed with the Village when the new law was adopted, however, so the restrictions did not apply to the property. After much discussion, the Village stepped in and negotiated with the seller and the prospective owner to buy the land. Since then, the Village has leased a portion of it, generating some revenue to offset the cost of the purchase. Both Kennedy and Mayor Peter T. Imbert said that the sale of the property would come very close to 'making the Village' whole. "Even if this move ends up costing the Village a few thousand dollars, we were successful at dodging a bullet and in ensuring that a car wash did not go up there," said Imbert. "Our hope for Merrick Road is to see that it becomes another business thoroughfare, and with all of the improvements we have struggled so hard to make there, we believe this was a good investment. In other business, the Village Board appointed Amityville Police Sgt. Gerard Gralton police lieutenant, replacing Donald Dobby, who was named chief upon the retirement of Chief Woodrow Cromarty. Gralton has been with the department 24 years. He and his wife Deira live in Amityville and have two children, Kate, 23 and Mike 21. "I am thrilled to have been selected and I will do my best to do the right thing by the Village," said Gralton.
In his spare time, Gralton enjoys being out in his boat, fishing. "I am always easy to find," he said. "If I am not at home or at work, I am at out on the water."
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