Atlantic Beach Forms Ethics Committee

Atlantic Beach, along with other local governments across the state, were encouraged to elect an ethics committee to oversee village business, according to village attorney Charles Kovit.

“The board of ethics has to do with conflicts of interest,” Kovit said. “They would look these things over and render advisory opinions.”

Requirements state that at least one member of this committee must be an elected or appointed official, and a majority of its personnel may not be affiliated or employed by the local government.

“Do we have two people in the village that are ethical?” Mayor Stephen Mahler sarcastically asked the board.

While several suggestions were made for possible ethics board members, Trustee Andrew Rubin was the only one present to accept the nomination.

50th Anniversary Celebration

Susan Jaffe, head of Atlantic Beach’s 50th anniversary celebration committee, is currently seeking additional sponsors to contribute anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 as well as buyers for advertisement space in the village’s anniversary journal. 

Advertisements range from $50 for an 1/8 of a page to $400 for a full page in the book.

“Plans are progressing well and we are getting a response to our solicitation for sponsors and journal ads,” Jaffe said. “Sponsors are coming in, frankly better than ads — and we want to fill our book with ads.”

May 21 is the deadline for buying advertisement space to support the event scheduled for June 21.

“We’ve gotten a good amount of money, but the problem is that’s from residents," Mahler said. "We're looking for commercial money so that we don’t have to just rely on the residents.”

Police Report

Sgt. Kevin Burke of the Fourth Precinct brought a sigh of relief to the board after reporting 99 speeding tickets in February.

“We give our thanks to the inspector for such sufficient traffic enforcement,” Mahler said. “We appreciate it.”

Other items discussed at the meeting:

• Mahler announced that the sewage district had agreed to pay $9,000 to the village and reduce the sewage tax by $30,000 in 2013 in response to the .
• A 30-minute parking zone on Park Street between Ithaca Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard is now a two-hour zone from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. There are currently no restrictions after 6 p.m.
• Motor vehicles are no longer permitted to park on residential property in the village unless on they are on a paved driveway.
  “I guess I’ll have to get my driveway done now,” Trustee Danae Muddiman said as she voted to amend the local law.
• The village has a balance of $851,000 before taxes, roughly $160,000 more than this time last year, according to village treasurer Herbert Klibanoff.
• Public Works Superintendent Steve Cherson reported the installation of new curbing and fence poles at Putnam Playground as well as the completion of planter boxes on El Dorado Street.
  “It's nice to see that in down times people are starting to do some things around here,” Mahler said.