CIVIC ASSOCIATION MEETING
VFW Hall Shad Creek Road 7:30 PM
April 26, 2012
April 2012 Vol. 25 No. 4
President’s Message
Toll Update - It’s official! The rebate program budget line, in this year’s state budget, has been passed and Broad Channel Residents will have a full free rebate for any crossings on the Crossbay Veterans Bridge. In addition Assemblyman Goldfeder has made arrangements with the MTA to ensure that we will receive a full reimbursement for any tolls we pay from April 1st until the rebate program is operational within the MTA computer system. It may take until mid-summer, according to the MTA, to have the EZ pass system updated. We want to thank the Assemblyman for his accomplishment in fighting this unfair toll/tax.
The local environmental group, the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers, was nominated by Congressman Turner for the 2012 EPA Environmental Award back in January of this year. While the nomination was an honor in and of itself, the congressman has personally called to inform the group that after the EPA reviewed all of the nominations submitted for this year’s award, the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers were selected as winners of this prestigious award for their efforts in protecting Jamaica Bay. This is a really big deal for the small, grassroots group and they appreciate Congressman Turner’s support!
The Guardrail Construction for the bike/walking path on the west side of Crossbay Boulevard (along the bird sanctuary) is scheduled to start on April 16th and be completed by June 30th of this year. Councilman Eric Ulrich was instrumental in procuring the funding for this project when the Civic Association brought to his attention the danger that the vehicles pose to the very large number of people and children who use this pathway throughout the year. This guardrail will definitely help to keep the children on the path and hopefully keep the cars off.
The Civic Association has just noticed an online notification of new regulations being promulgated by the NYS DEC. They appear to have serious ramifications for waterfront properties in Broad Channel and we will give an update on the particulars of these possible changes at the April 26th meeting.
Commissioner McCarthy and representatives of the DOT/RBA design group will be attending the April 26th meeting to give an update on the outstanding issues regarding plans for the Street Raising Project. On April 21st the representatives of the Civic Association and block representatives from West 11th, 12th, and 13th Roads met with the design group and informed them that they were opposed to increasing the block width, adding fire hydrants, parking restrictions on the head of the block and the loss of any parking whatsoever. The town’s representatives presented articulate and fact based reasoning for opposing these recent additions to the plan and the commissioner agreed to bring these positions back for further review. We hope to hear an answer to our requests now on the 26th. Once again we urge the residents of those blocks to turn out and have our voices heard.
Quote of the Month: --- Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end of the road, for then the journey is over and it is too late! ----------------------- Robert Updegraff
Respectfully submitted,
Dan Mundy Jr
VFW Hall Shad Creek Road 7:30 PM
April 26, 2012
April 2012 Vol. 25 No. 4
President’s Message
Toll Update - It’s official! The rebate program budget line, in this year’s state budget, has been passed and Broad Channel Residents will have a full free rebate for any crossings on the Crossbay Veterans Bridge. In addition Assemblyman Goldfeder has made arrangements with the MTA to ensure that we will receive a full reimbursement for any tolls we pay from April 1st until the rebate program is operational within the MTA computer system. It may take until mid-summer, according to the MTA, to have the EZ pass system updated. We want to thank the Assemblyman for his accomplishment in fighting this unfair toll/tax.
The local environmental group, the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers, was nominated by Congressman Turner for the 2012 EPA Environmental Award back in January of this year. While the nomination was an honor in and of itself, the congressman has personally called to inform the group that after the EPA reviewed all of the nominations submitted for this year’s award, the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers were selected as winners of this prestigious award for their efforts in protecting Jamaica Bay. This is a really big deal for the small, grassroots group and they appreciate Congressman Turner’s support!
The Guardrail Construction for the bike/walking path on the west side of Crossbay Boulevard (along the bird sanctuary) is scheduled to start on April 16th and be completed by June 30th of this year. Councilman Eric Ulrich was instrumental in procuring the funding for this project when the Civic Association brought to his attention the danger that the vehicles pose to the very large number of people and children who use this pathway throughout the year. This guardrail will definitely help to keep the children on the path and hopefully keep the cars off.
The Civic Association has just noticed an online notification of new regulations being promulgated by the NYS DEC. They appear to have serious ramifications for waterfront properties in Broad Channel and we will give an update on the particulars of these possible changes at the April 26th meeting.
Commissioner McCarthy and representatives of the DOT/RBA design group will be attending the April 26th meeting to give an update on the outstanding issues regarding plans for the Street Raising Project. On April 21st the representatives of the Civic Association and block representatives from West 11th, 12th, and 13th Roads met with the design group and informed them that they were opposed to increasing the block width, adding fire hydrants, parking restrictions on the head of the block and the loss of any parking whatsoever. The town’s representatives presented articulate and fact based reasoning for opposing these recent additions to the plan and the commissioner agreed to bring these positions back for further review. We hope to hear an answer to our requests now on the 26th. Once again we urge the residents of those blocks to turn out and have our voices heard.
Quote of the Month: --- Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end of the road, for then the journey is over and it is too late! ----------------------- Robert Updegraff
Respectfully submitted,
Dan Mundy Jr
DEC=trouble
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