Lawrence Makes William Street Two Ways, Again

In a 3-2 vote, the Lawrence Board of Trustees approved a motion that will convert William Street into a two-way road — without widening the street — for a trial period of three to four months, but the village’s mayor said he would not incorporate the change.

“I’m not convinced this plan has been through the standards of safety,” Mayor Martin Oliner said at Thursday’s meeting. “To me, it’s a non-starter. The buck stops with me on safety.”

In response, Trustee Joel Mael, who submitted the motion, said, “I wasn’t aware this was an advisory board.”

Changes to William Street have been a point of contention with members of the board and the mayor since , when three members of the board voted to widen the street by thinning out its sidewalks. Mael’s new motion gets rid of the need for construction on the street. New signs will be added, along with pylons to direct residents. Trucks will also be banned from turning down William to Central Avenue. This latest plan is more in line with recommendations from Cameron Engineering.

Alan King, a partner at Cameron, told the board that William Street is wide enough to accommodate two-way traffic for passenger cars, but not for two trucks.

Compensation

Pointing to what he called a “significant” change to the job of trustee, Trustee Michael Fragin introduced a pay schedule for members of the village’s various boards.

This alarmed Ronald Goldman, president of the Lawrence Association and former attorney for the village.

“Putting the resolution forward changes the meaning of the village,” he said. “The village has been a volunteer village since its inception.”

Fragin responded by saying the discussion was not “inappropriate” and not “a question of character.”

“We’ve had a significant workload that can exceed 20 hours per week,” he said. “This was in the spirit of better government,” pointing to a speaker on government that said compensation could lead to better accountability.

The mayor would be paid $10,000 annually under Fragin’s plan, while trustees would receive $7,500. Board chairpersons would be paid $200 per meeting and members would get $100. The village and acting justices would also receive raises.

No action was taken on the item, but Village Attorney A. Thomas Levin recommended the board add it to the budget if they wanted to and to cap payments per year for board members.

Other items:

• Goldman confronted Fragin on whether he posted the of Lawrence on the Orthodox Union job board, which Goldman said “embarrassed a village employee and the rest of us.”
  Fragin answered, “Several of my colleagues know more about this than they said,” and would not comment further.
  The OU told Goldman that the ad was posted by someone with the authority of trustee, he said.
• A public hearing on the village’s budget will be held on April 16. At Thursday’s meeting, trustees discussed a tentative $5.99 million budget that will lower residents’ taxes by 5.5 percent, according to Oliner.
• The village’s contract with the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department has been extended thought June. A public hearing on a new contract will be held in May.