The following are trustee's reports from the Jan. 6 Floral Park board meeting.

Trustee Phil Guarnieri extended best wishes for a happy, healthy and blessed New Year to the mayor, the board, village staff and residents. He also noted that the department completed its December 2003 tree-planting program; 121 trees were planted throughout the village. "This will keep the 'Floral Park' in Floral Park and maintain the residential look of this village," he said.

The village is once again participating in LIPA's Wire Friendly Tree Program. LIPA will issue the village a $25 rebate on each wire friendly tree the village plants. There were 54 wire friendly trees planted for a total rebate of $1,350. If a resident would like to know what type of tree was planted in front of their home, they may call the department of public works at 326-6320 and ask for Judy.

Trustee Guarnieri also reminded residents and merchants that when there is a holiday during the week, there is no pick up of rubbish on Wednesdays for that week. Upcoming holidays for 2004 are Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Monday, Jan. 19 and Presidents' Day Monday, Feb. 16. Also, Guarnieri encouraged residents to check the sanitation regulation calendar for changes in regular garbage and recycling days in a holiday week.

On behalf of the chiefs and members of the Floral Park Fire Department, Trustee Kevin Greene wished the mayor, the board, village staff and residents a safe and healthy New Year.

During the month of December the fire department responded to a total of 94 calls. Rescue Company responded to 73 medical emergencies. The fire department responded to 21 fire calls including car fires, vehicle accidents, automatic alarms, a brush fire and a house fire, which was determined to be an electrical fire.

The fire department is in the process of completing the business fire inspections and would like to thank the businesses for their cooperation.

The Reliance firehouse is currently having its floors redone. The trucks are being parked on the street for about a week.

After an extensive audit, the fire department was recently notified by ISO that it has received a rating of 3 (1 is the best rating and 10 is the worst). This is the best rating the department has received in its history. The audit is based on review of equipment response time, membership, fire inspections, training, vehicle maintenance and record keeping. Achieving this rating enables residents and business owners to obtain one of the lowest fire insurance rates on Long Island. Trustee Greene congratulated the Floral Park Fire Department for an outstanding job.

The fire department recently received two grants from Senator Michael Balboni's office. One grant in the amount of $10,000 is for personnel fire protection equipment and the other grant for $7,000 is for training on how to handle emergency situations. Trustee Greene thanked Senator Balboni for his support.

Trustee Gerry Bambrick reported license renewals for electricians and plumbers are being processed. There were 180 renewal applications returned for electrical licenses and 80 renewal applications returned for plumbers. The electrical licenses that were submitted with all required paperwork have been completed. Plumber's licenses are currently being processed.

Bids were received for the first phase of Operation Downtown. There was only one bidder on five of the storefronts and two bidders on the sixth storefront. The county requires that a minimum of two bids be considered for each storefront. This means that five storefronts will need to be bid again. The sixth storefront can be awarded.

The parking lot on the corner of Marshall and Covert Avenues is being completed and the owner will be planting an evergreen buffer in the spring. In the meantime, grass has been planted to improve the appearance of the lot. The sidewalk and curb cut along Marshall Avenue should be removed and replaced with a curb and sidewalk when weather permits. The owner is still awaiting county approval for sidewalk and curb work along Covert Avenue.

The asbestos removal work at 15 Verbena Avenue will begin shortly. The contractor has notified the New York State Department of Labor and the Environmental Protection Agency. A building permit was filed for the fire protection spray but the building department is waiting for additional information before they issue the permit.

Trustee Tom Tweedy extended his best wishes to the mayor, his fellow trustees, the village family and residents for a happy and healthy New Year.

He also reported that the recreation center is currently operating under winter hours - 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The recreation center facilities include use of the basketball courts, tennis on court four, Tiny Town, the multi-purpose court and open skating on the roller hockey rink with safety equipment, including wrist guards, elbow and knee pads and a helmet. This is free skating only and not open roller hockey time.

The recreation staff is already working to prepare the spring programs at the Recreation/Pool Building as well as the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Preparations are also under way for the new pool season. The Pool Committee and staff are continuously looking for ways to improve the pool. They are currently thinking about purchasing new handicap accessibility apparatus to facilitate access to the main pool.

Mayor Ann Corbett also extended best wishes for a happy New Year to everyone.

She said the next board meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 20. The public hearing originally scheduled for Jan. 20 concerning 15 Verbena Avenue has been cancelled since the property owner withdrew his application for a tiered parking garage at the site.

Mayor Corbett noted that the village is now in the process of preparing the tentative operations budget for fiscal year 2004-05. Management personnel are preparing their respective budgets for submission to the village administrator. Trustees will be reviewing the budgets of their assigned departments. On Jan. 12, the village board was supposed to discuss the library budget and the library's future with the library board of trustees.

She reminded residents that the village website, www.fpvillage.org, has a lot of information, including pictures, a monthly calendar of events, the zoning code and a trash recycling calendar.

Further, the mayor said that later in the month she would be conducting an interview with the chairman of the Nassau County Board of Assessors, Harvey Levinson. The interview will be taped at Four Village Studio and will air on Cable Channel 18 on the Mayor's Round Table.

She was pleased that the village had been awarded two grants totaling $17,000 for fire department personnel protective equipment for emergency use and training for use of the equipment. These grants will help to defray the cost of equipment and training, which is vital in today's world of terrorist threats, she said. She thanked Senator Michael Balboni for his assistance in obtaining the grants.

Mayor Corbett said that the village has not yet been notified by the arbitrator as to the terms of the contract with the PBA. The arbitration hearing was held Nov. 20, 2003. The terms of the contract will be binding as per New York State law and will cover a two-year period.

Mayor Corbett extended her congratulations to the Floral Park Fire Department on the outstanding rating they received from ISO. She explained that the rating system is very comprehensive and how the ISO inspectors look at every aspect of the department's operations, training, community inspections, equipment and vehicles. Mayor Corbett thanked the chiefs and their members for working with ISO to improve the rating to 3.

At a Citizens with Disabilities Committee meeting, a suggestion was made that Village Items be made available in large print. Mayor Corbett was pleased to announce that large print copies are now available at the library. If unable to obtain a copy at the library, residents could call village hall and have one mailed to them.

On motion by Trustee Tweedy, seconded by Trustee Guarnieri and carried unanimously, the mayor recessed the meeting at 8:35 p.m.