Town Board Meeting Notes - September 26, 2013

The Town Board meeting was quiet. The scheduled public hearing, a special exception petition altering the height of the pre-existing telecommunications facility at the Paul J. Fitzpatrick Country Club, was postponed until November 21, 2013.   The petitioner, Site Tech Wireless, is proposing to increase the height of their pre-existing cell tower by 50 ft., from 75 ft to 125 ft.  

According to Planning Director Frank DeRubeis, adding 50 ft. to the structure changes the classification of the tower from a Tier I to a Tier III. The location of the tower is within the Wild and Scenic River boundary and a Tier III telecommunications tower would require a more extensive review under the Town’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. 

The proposal to advertise for a public hearing on a petition by West Development Partners located on Old Northport Rd and Greenwood Road in Kings Park was tabled with a unanimous vote.

Item 4 A on the agenda - The issuance of a Negative Declaration for the Hess Corporation’s proposed gas station on Harned Rd and Rte. 25 in Commack was approved with a 4-1 vote. Supervisor Vecchio voted no.

A Town Board meeting has been scheduled for October 4,2013 at 10 a.m. to present the tentative budget to the Town Board.

There were no speakers from the audience.

Kings Park Student Andrew He - National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist

“Andrew He, a student enrolled in Kings Park High School joined approximately 16,000 others from across the country vying for approximately 8,000 National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $35-million.  They have became eligible for semifinalist status by taking the 2012 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) as juniors and being among the highest-scoring students in the state.

To become a finalist, the semifinalists must submit a detailed scholarship application from their school and themselves. Finalists will be announced in Feb. 2014 and the winners announced in spring.”

(Standing L to R – Andrew He, Mr. Lino Bracco-KPHS Principal)

Demolition Day For The Bavarian Inn

L-R Leg. Cilmi, NYS Senator Zeldin, Leg.Kennedy,County Exec. Bellone, Supervisor Vecchio, Leg. Nowick, Supervisor RomaineWith great fanfare the Bavarian Inn in Ronkonkoma was the scene of a demolition “event” Monday morning. Hosting the event was Suffolk County Legislator John Kennedy, who has advocated  the demolition of the building and the creation of a passive park at the site. Kennedy’s elected guests included Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, Smithtown Supervisor Patrick Vecchio, Brookhaven Supervisor Edward Romaine, Legislators Lynne Nowick and Tom Cilmi and NYS Senator Lee Zeldin.

The former Bavarian Inn, once a popular dinning and catering facility, fell into disrepair around 2006 and never recovered. The site became a hangout for teenagers and the building a canvas for graffiti. Illegal drug use at the site was a problem, as was flooding in the basement of the building. Smithtown’s Department of public safety was called to the building many times over the years to secure the building to prevent illegal entry and injury. 

The Bavarian Inn, once the site of so many wonderful events, became a blight on the community, the lake and the town. Earlier this year the County took ownership of the property due to non-payment of taxes.

With support from the Nesconset-Sachem Civic Association (NSCA), Legislator Kennedy kept the Bavarian Inn at the forefront of his legislative agenda and recruited support for the demolition from Smithtown and the County.

The property, 2.6 acres on Lake Ronkonkoma’s waterfront, is in the Town of Smithtown and is adjacent to parkland. Kennedy has sponsored a resolution (currently tabled)  to create a park at the site. This idea is very popular with the NSCA and with local residents. Fred Gorman, president of NSCA has long advocated the development of parkland and has promised to do what needs to be done to make the area a beautiful park that local residents can be proud of and can enjoy. 

Some residents, hearing about the demolition came to take photos or have one last look at the building that hosted their wedding, engagement party or school event. Although saddened by the demolition of a site that meant so much to them, they were realistic and recognized that this empty shell of a building was not what they wanted to remember.

Bavarian Inn Chef Peter BodnarStanding in the crowd was Peter Bodnar a former chef at the Bavarian Inn. He briefly spoke at the podium expressing his fond memories of the Bavarian Inn and sadness in seeing the building in its current condition. “I’m going to remember it for the rest of my life.”

A surprise announcement was made by Brookhaven Supervisor Edward Romaine that a memorandum of understanding to preserve Lake Ronkonkoma’s waterfront was to be signed by the Towns of Brookhaven, Islip and Smithtown.

The demolition is scheduled to take place over the next two weeks. 

Commack HS Student Matthew O'Connell Develops Software For Pharmaceutical Info

A Pictogram is Better than Words

If you’ve ever had difficulty reading the very small print on medicine bottles and in the pamphlets, help is on the way. Matthew O’Connell, a junior at Commack High School, developed software to relay pharmaceutical information using pictograms - illustrations that represent ideas or words. He was honored to present his work at the annual International Pharmaceutical Federation Congress in Dublin, Ireland on September 3, and was surrounded by pharmacist professionals who wanted to know when the software would be available for use.

Matthew’s pictogram software will help pharmacists worldwide to accurately communicate with patients who speak a different language or have difficulty understanding and reading the literature that accompanies medications. The Java-based program utilizes translations and pictograms to ensure that patients are able to understand the details about their medications and to follow prescriber’s instructions.

Matthew has been working with mentors from The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. A few years ago, Commack High School Science Research teacher Richard Kurtz and some of his students were working on a project that involved the construction of a device that would deliver medication to patients. Mr. Kurtz developed a working relationship with Dr. Régis Vaillancourt, Director of Pharmacy at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, and other doctors there. Mr. Kurtz asked Régis if he needed any special things done, and that’s how Matthew’s project was born. Matthew is a current science research student under the guidance of Richard Kurtz and Lorraine Solomon. He also received a tremendous amount of help from his computer science teacher, Kristin Holmes.

Matthew said, “I developed the software to fill a need. It is going to be utilized by pharmacists worldwide to better facilitate, through the use of pictograms, the communication of the proper use of prescription medication to patients where there are language and/or literacy barriers between patients and pharmacist.”

Courtesy of Commack SD

Pages Of Peace Students Visit 9/11 Responders Remembered Park

Bookmakers and Dreamers from the Groton Dunstable Regional School District in Massachusetts showed up at Nesconset’s 9/11 Responders Remembered Park on Thursday. They brought  a page (12ft by 10ft) from the world’s biggest book about peace. The Bookmakers and Dreamers Club began the project in 2004 and completed it in 2012. The book includes letters from people all over the world including President Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Dr. Helen Caldicott and the Dali Lama. On September 19, 2008 the group was invited to tell their story at the United Nations International Day of Peace Conference. They have been invited back each year since. This year as part of their trip to the U.N. a visit to the 9/11 Responders Remembered Park in Nesconset was scheduled.  The park, honors the memoryof  those men and women who have died from their illnesses which resulted from their exposure to toxins on September 1, 2001. For more information about the 9/11 Responders Park visith the Fealgood Foundation, for more information about pages of peace visit http://www.pagesforpeace.org/home.html