Last week our area was hit hard by the remnants of Hurricane Ida. Depending on which estimates you use we received as much four times the annual rainfall for the entire month of September in a few hours. The heavy rains in a short period of time inundated homes and properties even causing a landslide that blocked Stonytown Road.
Federal, State, and local officials are working together to try to help residents recover. I am asking all residents to report any damage they experienced to Nassau County by calling the Office of Emergency Management at 516-573-9600. Reporting the damage will help the County qualify for Federal and State disaster assistance and potentially help you access funding to reimburse some of your recovery expenses.
The staff, the Board of Trustees and I are committed to helping our community recover from this disaster. As we evaluate the storm’s impacts we will also look to improve our infrastructure and response capabilities to better serve all of you.
Download the PSEG Long Island mobile app to report outages and receive information on restoration times, crew locations and more.
To report downed wires or power outages, customers should call PSEG Long Island’s Customer Service line at1-800-490-0075.
Our Outage Map can also be found at https://outagemap.psegliny.com/ and reports outages in your community, as well as estimated restoration times.
MyAlerts, PSEG Long Island’s text message service, can be used to report and receive status updates on an outage. Since this requires an account number for a one-time registration, it’s best to do it beforehand. To register, text REG to PSEGLI (773454) or visit the “My Account” section of the website at www.psegliny.com/account. Once registered, to report an outage, simply text OUT to PSEGLI (773454).
VERIZON
For information on how to report outages and service problems go to:
Downed wires: For your safety, do not touch or move the downed line as they can often be confused with phone or cable connections. You can contact us, reach out via the My Fios app, chat with us by clicking the blue Chat With Us tab at the bottom corner of this page to report a downed or low hanging line. Additionally, you can report a downed line online via the Verizon Troubleshooter. Non-customers call 1.800.Verizon (1.800.837.4966).
CABLEVISION – ALTICE
You can sign up to receive service alerts via text or voice message by going to My Account. Once confirmed, you will be notified when outages affect their service and will receive timely updates until the service is restored. Customers may also utilize the options below to contact Optimum:
Nassau County has recently launched a septic system replacement program available to homeowners and small businesses. The Septic Environmental Program to Improve Cleanliness (SEPTIC) gives eligible recipients funding to replace their conventional or failing septic system with a new innovative and alternative onsite wastewater treatment system (I/A OWTS). The Nassau County grant will cover half of the replacement cost up to $10,000.
Many older septic systems, even when functioning correctly, pollute vital bodies of water with nitrogen. Conventional septic systems were never designed to remove nitrogen. In fact, the average residential septic system discharges more than 40 pounds of nitrogen into groundwater each year. Clean-water septic systems are incredibly effective and can remove up to 90% of nitrogen from wastewater and cost five times less than a connection to a sewer system.
Fortunately, these consequences are preventable with modern I/A OWTS septic technology.
Taxpayers will save $900,000 during the term of the contract while retaining service levels
At the May 3rd Board of Trustees meeting, Mayor Brian Herrington and the Board of Trustees unanimously approved a new five year garbage contract in response to the Villages Request for Proposal (RFP) for sanitation and recycling services.
Flower Hill’s 3-year contract with their current garbage carter was set to expire, and under the New York State General Municipal Law whereby any services contract with a municipality in excess of $30,000 must be put out to public bid, the Village was required to accept the lowest responsible bid. The lowest responsible bid received was from Dejana Industries, saving Flower Hill taxpayers $900,000 over the term of the contract compared to the next bidder Meadow Carting. With an increasing amount of garbage being moved off of Long Island and softening in the recycling market expenses continue to rise.
“I am proud to announce the awarding of the contract to Dejana Industries that saves the Village money while retaining the same level of service. I want to thank Meadow Carting’s Staff for their dedicated service to our residents, they will be missed. DeJana has committed that residents will continue to see the same level of service with some enhancements. State law and the way the bids came in did not give us a lot of room to negotiate. We did our due diligence and I think this is the best outcome for our residents from a financial and a service perspective. ” said Mayor Herrington.
Trash and recycling will continue to be rear door service, on the same 3 days a week they currently have. Dejana’s trucks will have conspicuous separate containers on the front and sides of their vehicles for paper and plastic recycling, so there will be no mixing of regular garbage and recycling as had occurred at times in the past. Dejana’s service yard is located nearby in Port Washington, which will allow them to be available to us in a timely manner.
DeJana has also committed to help support educating residents on recycling and other garbage pick up requirements. The Village of Flower Hill follows all garbage and recycling regulations promulgated by the Town of North Hempstead and New York State. Residents can see the Village or the Town of North Hempstead’s website for full details on acceptable recycling.
DeJana will take over pick up on June 1, 2021 but until then Meadow Carting will continue to service our residents. Residents are encouraged to contact Village Hall with questions or concerns.
About Dejana Industries: Dejana Industries, Inc. is the first of the “Family” of companies founded by Peter Dejana, the chairman and chief executive officer, as a landscaping business back in 1962. Over the years the company has grown into a family of affiliated operating companies that provide a broad array of services throughout the Mid-Atlantic, New England, Midwest, and as far west as Denver, Colorado.
National Grid has contracted with Asplundh to replace the gas main line on your street within the next 30 days. Hours of work will be Monday to Friday 7 an to 5 pm. Work should continue through August. They will repair all areas that are disturbed and replace all customer’s individual gas service lines. Meters will be relocated to outside of homes.
The Village will be repeating the very successful seedling giveaway that we held last year as our annual Arbor Day celebration. It turned out to be a wonderful contactless event where we gave away almost 500 seedlings. The Village is able to obtain tree seedlings from the DEC’s tree nursery upstate in Saratoga.
We will have about 500 seedlings of both deciduous and evergreen varieties. There will be a limit of 3 seedlings per resident, on a first come first served basis. The event will take place in the Village Hall parking lot. As residents drive up, seedlings will be placed in their cars so we can all maintain safe social distancing.
We have been hearing from concerned residents about the Village’s stance on permitting retail dispensaries to operate in the Village. We are still waiting for the final legislation to be completed before we act on the “opt-out” provision of the law. We have until 12/31/21 to pass an “opt-out” by resolution but believe it is prudent to wait for the final legislation before acting.
Click here for more information on the legislation
Arbor Day Foundation Names Village of Flower Hill Tree City USA®
Lincoln, Neb. (February 23, 2021) Village of Flower Hill, New York, was named a 2020 Tree City USA® by the Arbor Day Foundation in honor of its commitment to effective urban forest management.
Village of Flower Hill achieved Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, an annual community forest1y budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.
“Tree City USA communities see the impact an urban forest has in a community first hand,” said Dan Lambe, president of the Arbor Day Foundation. “The trees being planted and cared for by Village of Flower Hill are ensuring that generations to come will enjoy to a better quality of life. Additionally, participation in this program brings residents together and creates a sense of civic pride, whether it’s through volunteer engagement or public education.”
If ever there was a time for trees, now is that time. Communities worldwide are facing issues with air quality, water resources, personal health and well-being, energy use, and protection from extreme heat and flooding. The Arbor Day Foundation recently launched the Time for Trees initiative to address these issues, with unprecedented goals of planting 100 million trees in forests and communities and inspiring 5 million tree planters by 2022. With Tree City USA recognition, Village of Flower Hill has demonstrated a commitment to effective urban forest management and doing its part to help address these challenges for Village of Flower Hill residents now and in the future.
More information on the program is available at arborday.org/TreeCityUSA
About the Arbor Day Foundation: The Arbor Day Foundation is a million member nonprofit conservation and education organization with the mission to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. More information is available at arborday.org.
