"Isn't this finally relaxed and settled and on to the future," said Oyster Bay Cove resident Thomas DeFilippe. He was leaving the East Woods School, at the end of the June 17 meeting of the Village of Oyster Bay Cove. Mayor Michael Peragine kept his seat on the Oyster Bay Cove Village election on June 15.

It was an interesting election because of the high number of absentee ballots cast. Although they did not change the machine votes, they increased the winning margin of the Friends of Oyster Bay Cove.

The tally on the machine vote showed Mayor Peragine 36 votes ahead, and between the highest trustee count, Mr. Schneider at 345 and Mr. Fumante at 336, there was a nine vote spread.

The Oyster Bay Cove Village Election Count:

	Total Vote	Machine Vote	Absentee Ballot
Peragine -	564	362	202
Glass -	543	342	201
Schneider -	545	345	200
O'Neill -	407	326	81
Fumante -	415	336	79
McAvoy -	421	340	81

There were 1603 registered voters and of them 971 voted.

Mayor Peragine was quoted on Channel 12 News that the election showed that people were in favor of how the village was moving ahead.

When Mayor Peragine was asked for a further comment about the election - at the June 17 meeting, he said, "It was an election that in the heart and minds of everyone - was about Cove Neck rather then Oyster Bay Cove. You have to wonder why the election in Oyster Bay Cove wound up being so much about another village."

It was in a way a reflection of what happened in the Cove Neck election.

Still, the OBC meeting started with Mayor Peragine extending the gratitude of the village to George O'Neill for his 10 years on the board. There was a great round of applause for Mr. O'Neill.

Trustee Peter Schiff who did not run for re-election, was also thanked by the mayor for the many hours: both morning and evening that he gave in service to the village, which was followed by more applause.

The mayor campaigned that there had been no increase in taxes and as Village Clerk Donna Harris read the end of the year expenses for the year, she said there was a $300,000 surplus for the year - or thereabouts.

"Better than we thought," said Mayor Peragine.

He said they need funds for a large certiorari case coming up on the Richardson property and they transferred $50,000 to help that cost.

As the meeting neared the end, Ralph Fumante offered to work with Road Commissioner Tullio Donisi on cleaning up dead vegetation and adding planting in front of the Woodland Drive sump. The board is looking into the ownership of a 20 feet space along Yellow Cote Road that is believed to have been dedicated to OBC.

Another hot issue in the election campaign was the disposition of the Pulling Estate. Newly elected Trustee James Glass reported as chair of the Oyster Bay Cove Village Planning Board that the Pulling East project is back. (His successor will soon be named, said the mayor.)

He said the board commented on the plans and sent them back to the Pulling group but that they hadn't heard from them as of the meeting.

"They disagreed with our evaluation," he said.