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Friday, August 5, 2016
vol. 1, no. 23
Port WashingtonTimes Blank Slate Media’s
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SPORTS AND RECREATIO
◆◆◆ August 5, 2016
State review raises costs of school project Delays are linked to lack of staffing; work pending in 7 N. Shore districts By n o a h m a n S k a R Time is money when it comes to construction, local school officials say. As they plan and start large building initiatives, some North Shore districts are worried long delays in state reviews of their projects could mean they will end up costing more, or require planners to trim them to stay within their budgets. “The biggest issue with the delay is you estimated the cost with old money,” said Michael Nagler, superintendent of the Mineola school district. “... The longer you wait, the more problematic that is.” The state Education Department on average takes about 22 weeks to review school building projects, a department spokeswoman, Jeanne Beattie, said in an email. An influx of projects in recent years has left the department’s staff of nine to review about 2,000 projects annually, Beattie said. Seven North Shore school dis-
tricts — East Williston, Great Neck, Manhasset, Mineola, Port Washington, Roslyn and Sewanhaka — have projects waiting for state approval, state records show. Final plans for some were submitted as early as February 2015, records show. Helped by extra funds, the department has hired outside engineers to help and taken other steps to cut the wait time from nearly 11 months earlier this year, Beattie said. About 440 projects are awaiting reviews, according to the department’s facilities planning office. But construction gets more expensive as districts wait, meaning they must build financial cushions into their multimillion-dollar capital plans, superintendents said. “Not only is it a delay in seeing these projects come to fruition, but it may end up costing districts more money in the end because of the fact that the cost of construction is escalating,” said the Herricks school superintendent, Fino Celano. Continued on Page 12
PHOTO CREDIT: SHARON ABRAMSKI
From left to right: Joe Fico, Kyle DiLeo, Kenny DiLeo
Scout builds memorial to officer killed on 9/11 By St e p h e n Romano
He and his grandfather, Joe Fico, brainstormed ideas and finally decided to honor a police Kyle DiLeo said he wanted officer who died in the 9/11 to do something meaningful terror attacks and deserved a for his Citizen of the Commu- memorial, he said. On Sept. 11, 2001, Antonio nity Boy Scout merit badge — something that would have Jose Rodrigues, a Port Authoria lasting impact in Port Wash- ty police officer and Port Washington resident, volunteered to ington.
retrieve oxygen tanks from the south tower of the World Trade Center. The tower collapsed moments later and killed Rodrigues. He was 35 years old. “I always thought that everyone should be honored,” DiLeo said. “He deserved it.” On Sunday, a monuContinued on Page 44
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