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Politics & Government

Atlantic Beach Increases Salaries in 2012-13 Budget

The budget mostly remains the same otherwise, board members say.

Atlantic Beach trustees on Monday approved the recommended $2,820,150 budget, up $21,634 from the current fiscal year.

Trustee Edward Sullivan explained that many of the growth in the budget were salary increases, which were not possible in the previous fiscal year due to the state of the economy.

“There was no salary increases for any employees of the village last year, so this year, depending on various seniority factors, there are raises for village employees between 0 and 4 percent,” Sullivan said. “Although there's some changes to the dollar amounts, the total budget for next year is very, very close to this year.”

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Some of the village salary changes include a $2,284 increase for the village clerk, a $2,181 increase for village inspectors and a $1,870 increase for utility personnel.

While the village expects to spend $10,000 less on fire and liability insurance next year, the trustees increased the budget for curb and sidewalk paving by $25,000 to compensate for the decreased bond fund.

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“We’re now putting money back into the budget going forward because we're not expecting to take out another bond for paving,” Sullivan said. “We're going to try and get that number higher over the next year or two, back to where it was.”

STOP Program

Allan Jacobs, the village's sanitation commissioner, encouraged residents to join the STOP program (Stop Throwing Out Pollutants), and throw away items such as car and household batteries, aerosol cans and car tires, along with a number of other items.

STOP will be on the corner of National and Long Beach Boulevards on Sunday, April 22, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

“I've gone to that before and it's very quick to drop that stuff off,” Sullivan said. “If you have five old lightbulbs they’ll give you five free of the newer [energy efficient] light bulbs.” 

Public Works

Atlantic Beach Public Works Superintendent Steve Cherson reported the continuing efforts to repair boardwalk damages from Tropical Storm Irene, removal of snow fencing at the beach and several other preparations for the summer.

“We cleaned the Sunny Atlantic Beach Club and the Plaza Beach Club,” Cherson said. “We also installed new fencing at the Putnam Playground.”

Other issues discussed:

  • May 12 is the last day to submit ads for the Village 50th Anniversary Committee’s commemorative book and raise money for the June 21 celebration.
  • Beth Brenner, of Atlantic Beach Cats, notified the board of a dog owner in the village who allows their dogs to run without a leash and has reportedly killed numerous cats in the neighborhood.
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