Karaoke Networking Evening
2008-05-29 00:00 (America/New_York)
LIMBA will be holding its second Karaoke Networking evening. We will be holding it again at Dave & Busters in Islandia. We have asked the fabulous Anita Bloom to run the Karaoke and perform. She was great the last time and will be again.

Gary Besemer, Long Islanders for Educational Reform
2008-05-30 00:00
This past Friday our speaker was Gary Bessemer. Mr Bessemer represents a group called Long Islanders for Educational Reform. Mr Bessemer’s message pointed out some problems that are costing the taxpayers a lot more than our educational system should. His contention is that good stewardship has not been practiced. This was borne out by some of the things that we learned at the meeting.
When comparing the administration costs of similar upscale areas such as, Montgomery County in Virginia we are very top heavy. Administration staffs are excessive and continue to grow. Several school superintendents earn more than the US president, and there are well over 100 of these positions on Long Island, whereas there is only one in Montgomery County. Newsday reporter, John Hildebrand wrote about this earlier this year.
While not bashing unions, he did say that the educational unions call all the shots, and politicians are fearful of bucking the tide. The result is whatever they want, they get. Including 4 to 6% COLA increases while many of the taxpayers are losing wages. Salaries of $100,000 for teachers are commonplace, but that’s not the whole problem. There is no correlation between salaries and teacher competence. In order to fire an obviously bad teacher we must be prepared to spend $300,000 in legal fees. Any citizen that comes to a school board meeting to challenge anything, is ignored and marginalized.
School administrations have no fear, because they know that only 14% of the eligible school district voters actually vote. When a school budget is voted down, the school will take something away from the children, such as band funding, but scheduled increases in salaries happen despite a failed budget. School budgets are often passed by people who have a direct relationship to the school, that is; teachers administrators, and other staff that live in the district
Gary also took on the costs of teaching autistic children, $50,000 per child. He did not object to the program’ but insisted that the local district should not be totally responsible its funding. He noted that autistic group homes set up in a district can stress a budget and should be paid for by the state.
Near the end of the Q&A period we discussed the reason for such low bvudget voting turnout. Most people agreed that they simply did not know when the budget was being voted. There was a suggestion that the school budget should be voted on in November. It would then be just another item to vote on while you were at the ballot box anyway. The audience seemed to like that idea, but someone threw out the fact that the school budget comes up earlier in the year. So….? Change it! Change the budgets so they co-incides with the November election. Bessemer liked the idea.

Lawrence Gray held at LaQuinta
2008-06-06 00:00
Lawrence gray was a prosecutor that has had notable success prosecuting corrupt public officials in the city of New York and seems to have a keen sense of smell when dealing with official corruption. As our guest this morning, Mr Gray was forthcoming and disturbing. Disturbing if you think your public officials are always doing things in the best interests of the people they serve. He gave the example of how the highway departments in the various towns have enormous economic power. The highway department has the responsibility of buying goods and services, such as asphalt concrete, lumber and a number of other commodities. Strangely the contributors of the parties political campaigns also get the contracts to do business with the town. This is not confined to a specific town. It’s just the way the system operates, and it is corrupt.
Gray did get specific about the town of Smithtown only because that is the town in which he lives, and he is most familiar with the antics that are practiced there. He was involved in exposing the malfeasance of a former highway superintendent, Edmund Lynch. An investigation into Lynch uncovered by Gray showed the direct correlations of money donated to bids let. Lynch was prosecuted for the various charges against him.
And don’t rely on local newspapers, according to Mr. Gray. These journals are the handmaiden to the corrupt politicos because they derive so much revenue from the legal notices that every town uses. One of the local newspapers is run by David Ambro, and that newspaper has been rewarded handsomely and as a result, they have been the chorus for what ever comes out of town hall. Having two newspapers does not seem to matter either. He calls them Pravda and Izvestia.
In listening to this, I was trying to determine if it was the Republicans of whom he was most critical, but as he spoke further, he was clear that he was no kinder to the Democrats. "Corruption is to New York what racism is to Mississippi" and then he said that remark was unfair to Mississippi. Gray quoted John Mc Laughlin when he asked his panel one Sunday morning, "What posses the most danger to America?" the answer "Official corruption, bye bye"

The State of Healthcare with Panel of Experts- TBC @LaQuinta
2008-06-13 00:00
This morning’s program was a panel discussion about health and wellness as well as the aspects of insurance.
The panel consisted of three experts with different perspective. Mike Mussler of Edwards Insurance, Dr Mathew Lewis, president of Health maintenance company and John (last name will be inserted later) a health program administrator from St Joseph’s College
Mussler circumscribed some of the reasons health insurance is so expensive. Over use of available resources is one reason and that stems from the fact that the user is not accountable. MRI’s are often ordered simply because the plan will pay, but that attitude adds to cost without any increase in patient well- being. He then gave several examples.
When Dr. Lewis presented his opening remarks he stunned us with some statistics. According to the doctor 70% of all illness is preventable. Here is how he backed that up. Only 20% of health issues are attributable to genetics. Another 20% is caused by environmental factors, and 10% is attributable to lack of access to care. The other 50% is attributable to lifestyle. In other words smoking, obesity, lack of exercise, our stress, and food choices play an enormous role in whether we are healthy or not. There is some very good news here as I see it. We can make a serious impact on our good health probabilities, if we pay attention to those factors which are largely within our control.
While the above suggests that we can lower costs, there are other factors. The example of a doctor who spends 1/3 of his income on malpractice insurance drives up costs. We discussed the imposition of a medical compensation board. This would be similar to a workers compensation board. Under such a system all negative medical outcomes would be paid for under a formula. There would be no need to establish culpability under this system. Bad doctors would be ferreted out but the injured patient would be compensated. This would be preferable to one family collecting many millions, while another family with a similar case could receive very little, or nothing. Usually the way things are settled now the lawyers receive 1/3 of the settlement. It would be interesting to see how that system could be developed, but it may be a good idea. It was also pointed out that most states have limits on medical suits.
According to John, 40% of all deaths are preventable. He also pointed out that as premium costs increase participation decreases, and that too drives up costs further as the insured class shrinks. The last staggering statistic is that we spend $3 trillion on health care in the US. That’s more than any country in the world on a per capita basis, yet we rank 37th in good health outcomes. Obviously this system needs work.
Ernie Fazio

Ken Morelly, President, LIFT Held at LaQuinta
2008-06-20 00:00
Ken Morelly, President of LIFT, Long Island Forum for Technology, was our speaker this morning, and as promised, gave us some insights. LIFT is engaged in research, education and the coordination of efforts among various groups. Morelly stated that the great driver of technology is manufacturing. Using resources to leverage the manufacturing process is among the efforts that LIFT is engaged in. By concentrating on the manufacturing all the disciplines are spurred to perform. He emphasized the transformational nature of the way we educate our skilled engineers and others that are involved in manufacture. According to Morelly there must be the ability to move quickly into a new way of doing things and that open minds must be recognized, not as a lack of focus but a requirement in a fast moving world.
Ken said something that surprised me. He said that Long Island is a product development community rather than a research community. Many of us think of Brookhaven National Labs and Cold Spring Harbor as centers of research, and while that is true, according to Morelly it is a much smaller component of our economy. On the other hand some companies concentrate on research and do very little manufacturing. He gave the example of Corning in upstate NY.
We must study the requirements of industry and gear education toward those needs. He then went into the subject of material development. That discussion began with aviation technology, which, early on, was principally based on wood frames and canvas skins. With the advent of aluminum, aviation was greatly advanced. Presently, new composites comprise more and more of the aviation parts. These components are stronger and lighter. The first use of new composites were only 2% of the plane, today we are approaching 50% in the latest aviation technology.
Material research is on a roll. Advanced Material Research under the direction of LIFT will be linked to 16 educational units in New York. We spoke about the prospect of using materials that are used in automobile manufacture that are ten times stronger than steel, and 1/3 the weight. The implications of this technology are enormous. Using these new materials would mean needing much smaller engines that use less fuel. Combining these lightweight cars with hybrid technology would make the fuel consumption even less. I think we could speculate that a mid sized car could conceivably get 80 miles to the gallon.
We finished by discussing Homeland Security. $25 million has been set aside for advanced homeland security systems. The many companies that will be participating will be housed at the center. The expectation is that the cross pollenation of ideas in this unit will create new systems that will eventually be deployed.

Pictured: Mitchell Pinckney, US Chamber of Commerce, Ken Morelly President of LIFT and Ernie Fazio, LIMBA Chairman

BlueWater Wind - KC Sahl - at LaQuinta
2008-06-27 00:00
This week our speaker was KC Sahl of Blue Water Wind. When Mr. Sahl gave his presentation this morning he began with a film of the project that has been proposed off the coast of Delaware. In that region the public response was considerably different from the proposal that was advanced by Florida Power & light here on Long Island. Yes, there were the usual questions about the affect the towers would have on migrating birds, but those questions were answered years ago when the original wind farm was placed off the coast of Denmark.
The Blue Water presentation showed interviews with the Danes, and the Danes treated any controversy about wind power as old, and debunked news. "Birds are not stupid" said one Danish engineer, "they simply avoid these towers or fly in straight lines between them." Then he went on to show migratory studies that proved his point. Delaware as of last week is a "done deal", when a power agreement was signed. There seems to be no controversy about marine life. Everything points to a positive marine life effect. These structures are natural havens for marine growth. mussels clams, oysters and fin fish are abundant when structures are in place on the ocean floor.
The towers that are proposed by Blue Water for Long Island are twice as far away from shore than the original proposal called for, and the generators will be larger, at 3.6 megawatts each. Not only will this added distance make them difficult, or impossible to see, it puts them in an even more reliable wind field. I asked about the additional cost of the cabling, which costs $1 million per mile. The answer is that three million extra dollars is not significant as a percentage of costs for a project of this size.
The generators for wind power are getting bigger, and the question came up about putting in larger generators if they were developed while the process continued. KC said that not only would they shift to the new generators if developed during the process, they would eventually add more towers if they were developed after the original installation. He also said that the cabling being used would be robust enough to accommodate the additional towers and/or er generators.
The builders are a $70billion global enterprise with many completed wind projects. They will build, and maintain the towers, and generators under a power agreement with LIPA. Since fuel never enters into the picture they can project 30 years out with stable costs. We know that is not something you can say about any generator that uses fuel, regardless of what fuel you may be talking about.
When asked what would happen if there was an abundance of power when it was not needed, as in the dead of night in the middle of winter, Mr Sahl said the generators would be shut down. I then asked, “Why not use the energy being produced to elecrolitically produce hydrogen and oxygen from water?” The answer, perhaps we can.
Pictured: KC Sahl, Blue Water Wind, Ernie Fazio, LIMBA Chairman

July 4th Happy Birthday America - no LIMBA meeting
2008-07-04 00:00

Marc Herbst, Exec Dir Long Island Contractors Assoc
2008-07-11 00:00
This morning our speaker was Marc Herbst, Executive Director of the Long Island Contractors Association. Mark’s backround is deeply rooted in infrastructure technology and is uniquely suited to his position. The contractors that he represents are mostly interested in transportation projects.
Mark made reference to the great empires of the past and the emphasis they had on infrastructure. The Romans were able to build great systems that supported the cities of the empire. These systems were useful in housing, sanitation, and defense. America, and this region in particular, has stopped building the great infrastructure projects that make living in a region with many people viable. He referred to this allocation of resources as investment. Due to the transit investment of past generations New York City has the most energy efficient transportation of any state in the union, but we stopped building these tunnels bridges, and roads 40 years ago. We forgot what made us successful.
We spoke about the revenue sources for transportation and the shortsightedness of a gas tax "holiday". Without those sources of revenue our situation will be infinitely worse. The first gas tax that was implemented was in the state of Oregon. It was a wildly popular tax because it was dedicated to building modern roads for the newly invented automobile.
Mr Herbst pointed to other problems we are facing. A few years back we demanded that major construction should be done at night, which on the surface seems like a reasonable idea. However costs of working nights are much higher than daytime operations. As an example he cited the high lumen lighting stands burn a lot of fuel. The workers are paid a 25% night differential. When paying union rates these costs are substantial. In addition to that the gas tax is a per gallon fee. As people adjust to using less fuel, revenues drop. All of these factors and some I did not articulate will bankrupt the highway trust fund in one year. Clearly, this is unacceptable, and a new commitment to funding projects to make the region and the nation more efficient, and therefore more competitive with the world will be needed.
We spoke briefly about the rail/truck inter modal facilities. The transfer stations will take hundreds of thousands of tractor trailers off the Long Island Expressway and the George Washington bridge, which is the main conduit for these trucks. So far they have not been built because of local opposition and the total lack of leadership on the part of our elected officials. Too bad we can’t hire people in politics with a spine.
Pictured: Bill Miller, Ernie Fazio, and Mark Herbst

Peter Caradonna - Green Architect -at LaQuinta
2008-07-18 00:00
Our speaker this morning was Peter Caradonna. Peter has been an advocate and practicing architect in designing “green buildings” for many years. It appears from the general buzz that someone is listening. While Peter has something of a pioneer, today there is a proliferation of people who are providers of green technology.

The new building materials that are needed are more available, and people who are designing have sources of supply that either did not exist, or were expensive and in short supply. Good news for sure, as we realize our old methods are simply unsustainable.

Peter pointed out the many benefits beyond the usual metrics of building costs, and return on investment. The cost of employees is about 91% of most businesses operating expense. The cost of a building to house them is only 6% and the ongoing expense of the building is 2%. Better health and productivity of employees can be gained by putting slightly more into the building, the small additional investment has a great return. We now have a body of case study to substantiate that claim.

In the classrooms the net effect on student achievement is measurable and dramatic. Controlled testing have shown that properly designed classrooms can increase achievement scores by 20%

The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has set standards for building technology. This is a group that was formed to cross-pollinate the ideas of many innovators as well as to set performance standards. The USGBC has grown its’ membership considerably in recent years and is a nationwide network. The Leadership in Energy Design (LEED) program is their standard. All of the levels exceed local code, which Peter describes as “just above the level where you may be arrested for doing something illegal”. The lowest LEED designation is no more costly than standard construction. The higher LEED designations are more costly to build, but there are often tax breaks, and utility grants, that mitigate costs. With or without subsidies, there is still a reasonable rate of return. With the ever-increasing cost of energy, the case for better, more efficient design is even more compelling.

Mr. Caraddona went into the peripheral considerations of energy site planning. The “heat island” effects of a paved parking lot, the planting of trees, the natural treatment of waste water, Using recycled products, avoiding exotic imports, planting naturally indigenous plants and trees all contribute to the stated goal of sustainability.

Educational institutions have taken on the responsibility of training the new energy practitioners. In particular is NYIT is forming a national building advisory council. Last year they built an energy efficient home that was deconstructed and reconstructed at an exposition held at the national mall in Washington DC. SUNY at Farmingdale has been training solar installers and adding related course to the curriculum, and of course, The Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center at SUNY Stony Brook is presently being built. Much of this is happening through cooperation with the congressional office of Steve Israel.

Peter Caradonna’s understanding of the energy efficiency field and the related field of sustainability is very comprehensive, and goes far beyond his stated discipline of architecture, but that makes him more valuable because he sees the nuances that may be missed by another equally talented practitioner. We wish we could have had more time.

Sean McGuinness, Supt. Fire Island Nat. Seashore-Holiday Inn
2008-07-25 00:00
Our speaker this week was Sean McGuinness, Superintendent of the Fire Island National Seashore (FINS). This national park is like no other, in that it encompasses whole independent communities. These communities are part of the mainland townships of Brookhaven and Islip, yet they fall within the boundaries of the national park. FINS works closely with the various communities when they have needs that must be addressed, but FINS takes a cooperative role rather than a primary role. As a result of this close cooperation with the towns and communities it has a very complicated role.
The Sunken Forest is a part of the park that is accessible to visitors but there are no residential buildings. This very interesting section has a very dense canopy and even on the brightest days it is usually cool and relatively dark on the floor of the forest. There is walkway about 5 feet above the forest floor and visitors are not permitted to get of the walks. The wildlife in this section is very diverse and it is a favorite visiting spot for school outings.
There is also a wilderness area that allows no mechanized activity, even the park service’s own chain saws are not permitted to be used.
The park service maintains this facility on minimum funding about $3.5 million per year. Concessions such as the restaurant at Watch Hill and the snack bar at Sailors Haven do contribute to the park’s revenues by paying a percentage of sales to the park as well as maintaining there own infrastructure.
The island and the adjacent mainland property in the Mastic area was originally owned by William Floyd, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The Floyd home is in Mastic and it is also part of the FINS and it is open to the public as well.
When Robert Moses was riding high he was arguably the most powerful man in the tri-state area, having a mandate to build the region. He built bridges tunnels, parks and numerous roadways. Some of his accomplishments were admirable, but when he came to Fire Island he wanted to build a highway down the spine of the island. This would have destroyed the communities, the Sunken Forest, and the wilderness area. LIMBA’s founder Paul Townsend objected, and built a coalition that was able to convince the US Congress to create the park. It was one of the few defeats that Moses was ever dealt. The Fire Island we have today is the result of that good leadership.

Kevin Trotman
2008-08-01 00:00
This week our speaker was Kevin Trotman. Kevin represents the New York Islanders.
The focus of this morning’s talk was not so much about the Islanders as it was about the community involvement of the team and the facilities. These facilities are a part of the Lighthouse Development plan

Among the items that Kevin spoke about was the redevelopment of the coliseum, which will be accomplished during the off-season. He spoke about the sports Technology Center, which in conjunction to Hofstra’s newly inaugurated medical school, will develop a body of knowledge encompassing the science of sports performance, as well as injury rehabilitation.

Mr. Trotman gave a very brief overview of the Lighthouse efforts, which will create 20,000 permanent jobs and encompass 150 acres, including all the various components of this very substantial project.

The Islanders have embarked on a comprehensive program called Islanders Community Extension (ICE). ICE engages the community charities by lending support in terms of making faciulities available and by providing food and beverages for various events. There are ICE sponsored day camp programs as an example.

Then there is the Islanders Business Club, which was developed by Execuleaders president Rich Kruse. Rich is presently on staff at the Islanders. The concept is very interesting. It is essentially a networking event open to Islander supporters, which would include season ticket holders and other important members of the Islander family. An enterprise the size of a professional sports team has many needs that include anything from printing to facilities maintenence. In those gatherings the supporters learn how to do business with the Islanders and with each other. It’s a way of binding it’s supporters to the team and advancing the business goals of the same supporters.

Jovanna Little - Good Shepherd Hospice
2008-08-08 00:00
Jovanna Little, Good Shepherd Hospice’s development officer, was our speaker this morning and she gave a wonderfully informative presentation of the mission of hospice. Originally hospice was the place where the dying indigent were cared for. The movement has evolved. Today it represents the services needed by anyone who is suffering from a terminal illness. Jovanna gave us an overview of what hospice is, and is not. It is not a place to convalesce. It is not a place where curative methods are used. It is a place where those facing death can do so with the physical needs, and the spiritual needs met while on this final journey.
With rare exceptions there is no curative therapy administered. Those curative methods may be used are, healing bed sores to enhance the comfort of the sick. Palliative care is among the services provided, They inform the family of the different phases that the patient may be going through as they progress to death. They answer questions that the family needs as they witness the waning health of the patient, with much love and attention from the family and the care givers.
Help in the preparation for death diminishes a lot of fear and doubt on the part of the sick, and puts it into prospective for the family. There are no resuscitation orders that must be signed. Hospice wants the family and the afflicted to know that the terms of hospice care are for the final journey, although that final journey can be long at times. There are funeral arrangements to be made, and family is encouraged to go about these needs with the confidence that all of this is appropriate.
Good Shepherd Hospice is completing a new unit for those people , who for one reason or another, cannot be cared for at home. They also will be using these facilities for bereavement service and providing a place to stay for family members. The facility is decidedly not hospital like in its’ appearance. Hardwood floors, wall portraits, fireplaces, comfortable seating and place for families to gather and share meals, are all part of the mix.
Death is a part of life. It may be traumatic, but much can be done to alleviate pain and fear. That is part of the mission of hospice and they do a great job.
Ernie Fazio

Round Table Discussion at Holiday Inn
2008-08-15 00:00
This Morning we conducted a round table discussion. We usually encourage the audience to create conversation on topics they think are important. We deviated from that format by asking Republican Ed Romaine and Democrat Wayne Horsely of the Suffolk County Legislator to start the conversation on topics that they think are ready to be addressed. Interestingly they both concentrated on the building of infrastructure.
Legislator Horsely began by bringing up the proposed tunnel across the Long Island Sound. This tunnel will be expensive but it actually has a chance of being built because it will be done with non-government money. Investors will be supporting this construction. The question of bankrupcy was raised. What would happen if the builders ran out of money, would the taxpayers be left holding the bag? The answer given by Mr. Horsely was, no there will be money to be made by the promoters and a new entity would merely pick up where the failed company left off.
When Mr. Romaine had his opportunity he concentrated on East End roads, rails, sewers. Sewers are key to building affordable housing, because you need to locate people in closer proximinty to each other and that can only be done if we have a comprehensive sewer program. Mr. Romaine was clearly in favor to increasing rail freight traffic by providing rail transload sites. These sites will be distribution points where rail freight can be loaded onto local trucks. When we discussed development of the Calverton Airport there were various opinions on what should be developed, and how. Keeping those very substantially built airport runways was important to both legislators, and that appeared to be the consensus in the room as well. There did not seem to be much support for that proposed indoor ski slope. I pointed out that the extra need for electrical power generation just to service that behomoth preclu! des it ever being built. We moved on to the possibility that the Shinecock Tribe achieving the status that would allow them to build gambling facilities. The conclusion was not to fight it, those dollars are going somewhere, they may as well stay here.

Ryan Lynch - TriState Transportation Campaign
2008-08-22 00:00
Friday we had the pleasure of the company of Ryan Lynch, native Long Islander and well traveled Senior Planner for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. The Campaign focuses on promoting sustainable transport solutions and working with governmental bodies and community support groups in furtherance of this goal.

Ryan arrived to speak with us regarding what the Campaign regards as the three top priorities for Long Island’s transportation issues, and shared his opinions on how to further those goals.
The LIRR Third Track project is the highest priority on The Campaign’s list for Long Island. It will enable a normal schedule for reverse commutes, allowing Long Island businesses to take advantage of the large and ready labor pool from New York City. Reverse commuters have been increasing in number in spite of the very sparse selection in trains. The third track will also help us take full advantage of East Side Access to Grand Central. It is estimated that the project will remove at least 6000 cars per day from the roads. Opposition to this project is very small but very vocal and are making their case against the greater good that this project will bring.

LITRIM, the intermodal facility in Brentwood, is the second priority for the area. The increase in freight rail shipments and corresponding reduction in long haul truck traffic on and off island will be a great boon environmentally, and economically. There is too much of a common benefit for this project not to go through. The Campaign applauds Governor Paterson’s veto of the parkland bill, and looks upon it as a time-out for the project, so that both sides can re-approach it with more community input.
Nurturing the Bus services on Long Island is the third priority, with more funding and increased routes and frequency being called for.
Another subject that Ryan brought up was bringing the NYSDOT in this region around to a different focus, from expansion and capacity building to one that emphasizes maintnenance and repair, so that we can keep the existing network in better condition. This also allows more attention towards transit-oriented development, a more advantageous strategy for open space starved Long Island. He brought out the example of New Jersey’s DOT as a model for success in this area.The Campaign is opposed to the NYSDOT’s plan for the 347 corridor, it only offers more of the same expansion that gets quickly consumed without any real benefit.

Ryans’ request of us to help The Campaign in its goals were to help our fellow Long Islanders be open to the concept of increased density, which we need sewers to support, and join the Third Track Coalition to over come the vocal opposition to this valuable project. The Q and A session was lively, with the universal agreement among all that it was a bad idea to stop the LIRR shuttle existing during the County Road 39 project that had proved so effective.

Recap by Craig Plunkett of CEDX www.cedx.com

Labor Day weekend No Meeting
2008-08-29 00:00

Michael Watt - Exec Dir Long Island Builders Institute
2008-09-05 00:00
Our speaker this week was Michael Watt, Executive Director of Long Island Builders Institute (LIBI). Michael began by talking about the numbers of young people who are leaving the region. Young men and women starting out, have a slim chance of establishing themselves here, and the situation is not resolving itself. Even the mortgage crisis that is causing housing prices to drop like stone in some parts of the country, is not having the same effect on Long Island. He attributes that fact to the cost of land. High land prices has inhibited the speculative builder, as a result our surplus of homes is not as bad as in other places. The reduction in home costs has not been enough to entice young, or new buyers.
Mr. Watt said there is a myth that says new construction would inundate the local schools with new students that could not be absorbed without creating enormous expenses. He then pointed out that the typical family demographics on Long Island is that the average family is only three people, refuting that assumption. He went on to say the rental apartments in the downtowns could be part of the answer. In some places downtowns already are building second story apartments. These apartments are largely occupied by single people.
Watt addressed the "green building" movement, and claimed that building green was more costly, but resulted in lower utility bills for the life of the home. A few months ago we had "green" architecht, Peter Caradonna speak at LIMBA, and according to him, even the initial costs were similar. So, here we have a difference of opinion. Nevertheless, LIBI has signed on to the new concept of building in an environmentally friendly way. As we get more used to building in the new style there will be more and more people who are knowledgeable in the new methods.
Building "vertical" was discussed in the Q&A session. Building one or more acre housing is wasteful and costly. Where you have multi family housing land it is easier to keep open land. Here we get into the chicken and the egg problem. You cannot build multi family housing without sewars. At the same time municipalities are reluctant to invest in them. It appears the leadership we need is sorely absent, but some of our recent political speakers do seem to be coming on board to do the things we need.

Bob McMillan- Health care issues
2008-09-12 00:00
Our speaker today was Robert McMillan. McMillan, until June of this year, served on the board of the American Medical Association. McMillan began by giving us some pretty stagering numbers on the cost of health care. He stated that it was the largest segment of the economy at $2.2trillion, yet there are 18,000 deaths that are directly attributable to having no access to health care. It costs $100 billion just to provide for the uninsured. There is another $20 billion that is donated services by doctors, and still another $20 billion on medical services that are simply written off. In short, according to McMillan, we have an excellent system in terms of advanced medicine, that is failing to serve the whole population.
The cost of healthcare has increased 87% from 2000 to 2007, and the number of uninsured has balloned. He then went into some of the reasons why the cost have risen. One of the reasons is the costly new analytical tools and machinery for diagnosis and care. McMillan stated that every medical facility wants to have all of the latest equipment, even when the equipment exists at another hospital a short distance away. Another cost factor is the ability to keep the hopelessly ill "alive" when there is absolutely no chance of recovery, or ever gaining consiousness.
There are so many facets to this problem. The medical costs dictates to the general economy in many ways. Bob stated that the steel in an automobile actually costs less than medical insurance costs for the assemblers. There are 300,000 medical bankrupcies each year, and some of these bankrupcies are with people that actually have insurance. He went on to say that Medicare will be broke in 20 years and as these costs escalate, the period of Medicare solvency may even be shorter.
While both presidential candidates are speaking about health care, the solving of this cost and availability problem is enormously complex. To be considered are the interests of the doctors, the pharmaceutical companies, the insurance companies, the trial lawyers, and the legitimate needs of the public. None of these interests are going to sacrifice anything voluntarily.
When Mr. McMillan discussed medical malpractice he pointed out that 80% of all medical lawsuits were dismissed. Despite that statistic, medical malpractice insurance costs have caused many doctors to simply retire rather than deal with the enormous costs which he stated could be $200,000 per year. During the Q&A period I asked if the malpracice insurance problem could be mitigated by having a no-fault compensation system that would be similar to workers compensation. McMillan said that this topic is among the many tasks he tackled while on the AMA board. Medical Compensation is not supported by the trial lawyers and they have a very powerful voice in congress. He didn’t hold out much hope for that item. It appears that the 100 year dicussion on universal health care, which was first proposed by Teddy Roosevelt, will go on a little longer. All things considered the resolution looks bleak.
Pictured: Bill Miller, Bob McMillan, Phoebe McMillan and Ernie Fazio

Hubert Keen PhD- President SUNY Farmingdale
2008-09-19 00:00
Dr. Hubert Keen, president of SUNY Farmingdale was our speaker this morning. Some of us can remember when this institution was known as an agricultural school. The farm animals are long gone, and the march to progress has brought Farmingdale to a new and important place in the multi-billion dollar education industry on Long Island. After a long slide in enrollment the college is growing in enrollment at a rate that they literally cannot keep up with. Under this administration the enrollment continues to increase and programs are growing. Farmingdale, until recently, was issuing more associate degrees than bachelor degrees. That trend has been reversed in recent years.
The operating budget for the school is $64million and the present capital budget is $14 million. The capital part is being used to build a student center and a Business Studies school. There are 1100 employees at Farmingdale; half of them are full time. To accommodate the expanded bachelor programs there have been 30 new instructors hired in the last two years.
There have been solar photovoltaic trainning at Farmingdale for many years. In recent years the work in this field has expanded considerably. Research in solar PV and fuel cells has become an even more important part of the educational mix because of our present day needs.
Other important educational components are the Dental Hygiene school, Nursing, Bio Tech, Information Technology, and Security Systems. Each of these disciplines are in a collaborative relationship with other important institutions such as Brookhaven National Laboratories and North Shore LIJ.
The school has been designing degree programs to provide the variety of personnel that are needed for us to grow, and prosper as a region and a country, but the emphasis is on educating local people. The enrollment at Farmingdale is principally Long Islanders.
The present economic situtaion has been having a detrimental effect on the institution, and Dr Keen acknowledged, that has been a serious challenge

No meeting, LIBDC meets in Montauk
2008-09-26 00:00

Rich Kruse - The art of effective networking
2008-10-03 00:00
Rich Kruse is the creator of Execuleaders, an outstanding organization that uses process to achieve effective networking. Rich Kruse has given a lot of thought to the process of networking. According to Kruse it is not a haphazard endeavor, but rather, a thoughtful set of strategies. When you walk into a room of people you would like to network with, you may feel a little ill at ease, but you can still make quiet one-on-one encounters. These encounters have to be many because your odds of meeting some person who immediately needs your product or service is small. The process becomes more comfo! rtable as you do it more and more.
Appearance is very important too. We can’t all look like Robert Redford and Sophia Loren, but we can dress nicely, and make sure our shoes are shined. Good personal grooming makes us more attractive even if nature has not blessed us.
Thoughtfulness and being a good listener. – In the process of listening to a new aquaintance you may find that you have information that can benefit that person. Make a note and mail him a copy of an article, or name a website that will be useful to his efforts, or send him a book. Will you get business from this behavior? Possibly, possibly not, but you have established yourself as a quality person. Rich quoted an old sales axiom that says, Nobody cares how much you know, until the know how much you care.
Kruse advises to always carry a pen. In fact carry several pens. Be ready to give that pen to your new friend so he has one for the rest of the day. The give away of an inexpensive pen costs you little, and may make a very favorable impression.
We all can have a bad day and be less than enthusiastic from time to time, but avoid people who are "wet blankets," They are bad news, and sales is a business of attitude. Listening to a littany of negative comments does not help that person, nor does it do anything positive for you.
And probably the most important tip- Be consistent. Going out to a network event once never to return again will do you little good, regardless of the number of business cards, you collected, or gave out. Choose a few networking groups and visit those groups on a regular basis. You’ll get better at the process when you can create a smile on a persons face when you walk in the room.

Kevin O'Neill - John Engeman Theater in Northport
2008-10-10 00:00
Today we had the pleasure of hearing from a passionate advocate of fine Theater experiences in a local jewel setting – The John Engeman Theater. Mr. O’Neill, an ex bond trader turned theater impresario, plays Bloom to Richard Dolce’s Bialystock, filling the house and running the infrastructure, where Mr. Dolce concentrates on staging Broadway quality productions in a luxurious four hundred seat theater space. The seats are roomy, and the ladies will appreciate the more ample bathroom facilities, long a bane of the Manhattan theater scene. The only year round Actor’s Equity house on Long Island, the renovations that took the single screen seven hundred seat movie theater to its current stage incarnation included the previously mentioned bathrooms, and a warren of dressing rooms underneath the building, to make its New ! York based troupes more comfortable. Casting and Rehearsals are done in the city, with a cast shuttle bus to make sure everybody makes curtain.

The business angle is to cultivate the season subscriber, with seven shows a year, flexible seating and scheduling. The reasonable price of $355 per seat per season makes it a low-risk purchase. Reviews have been consistently good of all the productions, and surrounding restaurants like Skipper’s are running dinner + show packages. The theater is a great complement to the village, a beautiful physical presence, and a vital social component. The inviting piano bar, "The Green Room" is open to ticket holders an hour before curtain, closed during the first act, reopens for intermission, and then opens to the public after the show. You may get a treat from a cast member who hangs around to belt out a couple of specials from time to time.

Mr. O’Neill used a sports venue analogy to the marketing of the theater. Season subscribers, single ticket purchasers, and groups are the three target markets. Quality, entertaining theater in a luxurious environment are the drawing cards. Angst-ridden Chekov plays will probably not find themselves staged here. Flexible plans for groups are available for fundraisers and such. Corporate rewards or entertainment programs can arrange a private performance of the current run based on the size of their audience.

The Q&A was threaded throughout the discussion, focused mostly on the differences between the Engeman and other Long Island houses, and the merits of quality theater without the schlep into Manhattan. Once again, another well-spent Friday morning at LIMBA.

Recap Written by Craig Plunkett of cedx.com.

Sub note; John W. Engeman was a 28 year veteran of the military when he was killed in Iraq. Mr. Engeman is the brother-in-law of theater founder Kevin O’Neil. The theater bears Engeman’s name as a tribute.

Jim Staudenraus, 1st Assm. Karen Kerr-Ozimek9 dis. candidate
2008-10-17 00:00
This morning’s meeting at LIMBA was a little different from our usual format.
We had two speakers Jim Stadenraus Republican Candidate foe the 1st Assembly district and Karen Kerr-Ozimek, Democratic candidate for the 9 Assembly district.
Each candidate was given 15 minutes to introduce themselves, and their immediate concerns.
Jim began by outlining his program for reform. He supports the 4% tax cap proposal that Governor Paterson has put forth. He would also like to see districts amalgamating their purchases for supplies and services to increase buying power. This would not root out the many redundant administration, but it would likely reduce costs of school operations.
According to Stadenraus, the taxpayers would be better served if there were a single state teachers system. The salaries would be higher on Long Island because a cost of living factor would be built in, but the difference of salaries between local school districts would be small or non-existent. Neither Kerr-Ozimek nor Stadenraus mentioned anything about teachers salaries being too high, but they are convinced that the school system can be reformed to get the taxpayers a lot more mileage from tax dollars by virtue of better management.
Karen Kerr-Ozimek suggested that a review of the entire school system was in order. There are no effective internal checks on this enormous system, and the fruits of that neglect were demonstrated when the investigation into school lawyers was uncovered by Newsday.
Both candidates were more or less on the same page despite the fact that they are running in opposing parties, though not against each other. Jim Stadenraus quoted that old chestnut, “Nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of being hanged.” Being under the yoke of the highest taxes in the country with the real possibility of it getting worse, does not have the same severity of being hanged, but the problem has gotten us a little more focused.
The economic stress the country and this region is experiencing has given us an opportunity to reassess what we are getting for our money. Anytime we are stressed by adversity we are either crushed, or we gather the resources and imagination to do better than we ever have. Perhaps we are at that critical juncture.

Congressman Steve Israel - Energy Policy for the US
2008-10-24 00:00
Congressman Steve Israel has been concentrating on putting his efforts into creating a robust national energy plan. That plan will have a dramatic impact on business opportunities for Long Island. LIMBA has asked the congressman to address his remarks to some of the specifics that he would like to see happen. Please join us on Friday Oct 24th. Pre registration is a must for this event
Ernie Fazio

Video of the event is available thanks to MyLITV.com.

No Meeting
2008-10-31 00:00

Charles Wang- The Lighthouse Development
2008-11-07 00:00
This morning our speaker was Paul Lancey, Senior VP of The Lighthouse Development Group. The proposed building of a large multi-use site at what is sometimes referred to as the “Nassau Hub” has impressed many, and at the same time caused others to object.

Mr. Lancey went through the various elements of the plan, which included the central part of this vision. A modernization and renovated of the Nassau Coliseum, residences of varying cost and size that can be purchased and a sizeable number of rental apartments.

There is, as part of the plan to have addedional office space in the mix. These offices would lend themselves to use by people occupying the residential section. There will be open recreational areas, a canal with architecturally appealing bridges. The canal will have a promenade with café’s adjacent the canal to accommodate outdoor dining in good weather.

There will be a sports oriented business center devoted to fitness, sports medicine, and sports technical equipment. These sports oriented businesses will be useful to the surrounding universities and the professional sports teams located at the coliseum

All of the infrastructure will be tied together by being a generally walkable 150 acre complex. In addition it will be served by buses. The need for transportation links to the Long Island Railroad has not been included in the plan, but it is apparent that a light rail connector would greatly enhance the overall plan.

This proposal has been around for about 5 years and though it has been modified somewhat to answer the concerns of critics, but it still has not come to fruition. The frustration of the developers was apparent in the presentation.

William Cronin The NY Port Authority
2008-11-14 00:00
This morning our speaker was William Cronin from the New York Port Authority. Mr. Cronin’s expertise is in the shipping operations of the Port, but was quite knowledgeable on other aspects of the NYPA operations.
Bill began by giving us a little history. The NYPA was originally created to coordinate rail service from New Jersey to New York, and facilitate a smooth transfer of goods through several jurisdictions. Then the Holland Tunnel was built to create a better revenue stream and subsequently the Lincoln Tunnel was added, as was the George Washington Bridge.

Idlewild Airport, and LaGuardia Airports were owned by the city of New York and Newark Airport was owned by the city of Newark. All of these became NYPA properties. In the 70’s The World Trade Center was built and a companion project was the PATH train link to NJ

Today Port Newark and Port Elizabeth is a big part of the NYPA responsibilities and the security for all of these operations is a formidable task.

Recently NYPA acquired New York- New Jersey Rail LLC. The purpose of this acquisition was to reactivate a, long out of use, rail link and bridge that would bring rail freight traffic to Staten Island where it could be barged across the Narrows and delivered to Brooklyn. Brooklyn has rail links that connect to Long Island. In fact these are the very same rail links that congressman Nadler referred to when he made his presentation at LIMBA for a tunnel from New Jersey to Brooklyn. Nadler has made federal money available for the initial study of this idea, but Cronin told us the NYPA was not interested, indicating that it was not a viable idea, so they refused the money.

During the Q&A portion of the meeting I asked Mr. Cronin, “If this barge link is such a good idea, why not get behind Mr. Nadler’s proposal for the tunnel?” Bill Cronin said the NYPA simply did not think it was a good idea.

I wrote this piece late in the afternoon and by the time I put my recap together I found in my Email in-box two notes dated yesterday and today, that were attached to an email from Bill Cronin. NYPA reversed their decision to complete a feasibility study on creating the tunnel that congressman Nadler proposed. The study will now go forward. This is very good news for the region and Long Island. Mr. Nadler was thrilled with the decision.

It is true Long Island can substantially increase rail freight with quicker and less costly fixes, but this is the kind of robust infrastructure the region needs to support the growing economy of Long Island. This is a scoop folks and you heard it here first. You’ll be reading about it.

LIMBA Round Table
2008-11-21 00:00
This morning we conducted a LIMBA RoundTable Discussion. There was much to report.
This week the new Advanced Energy Research and Development Center that is being built on the campus of SUNY Stony Brook held a 2-day conference at the Hyatt Windwatch in Hauppauge. There were many interesting ideas presented on alternate energy, conservation and innovation. One of the issues that have been the concern of large-scale wind and solar providers is the robustness of the transmission grid, or more precisely, the lack thereof. One of the speakers addressed that very topic. Ed Reinfurt, Executive Director of the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation made an impassioned speech on building a power highway that will get our renewable energy plants power to our major centers of population. He claimed that the system has not kept up with the times. He will be speaking at LIMBA in January.
We also discussed the Mag-Lev train. I met with the inventors at the conference after they made a presentation on the “2nd Generation Mag-Lev” Drs. Danby and Powell have designed and built a prototype of the new concept in Florida. The new guide way system can be built at a fraction of the cost of the original design. The new design allows the Mag-Lev to operate on the same track as conventional rail when entering cities using a modified guide way between the tracks. This will make the vehicle capable of entering Grand Central and Penn station at conventional speeds and then ramping up to 350 m/p/h on its own dedicated guideways outside of the city.
Mag-Lev is important because it is an electric technology and uses 1/10 the fuel per passenger than conventional rails. The vehicle can also transport trucks in a roll-on roll-off operation. This technology plays into the new energy initiatives being promoted by congressman Israel. We, at LIMBA, intend to make Mag-Lev a focus of our efforts going forward because Long Island has the knowledge base to make it happen.
We also discussed congressman Nadler’s proposed tunnel from Bayonne to Brooklyn. All of the elements we discussed have a symbiosis and present enormous opportunities for the Long Island region. Look for a detailed presentation of Mag-Lev on the LIMBA website within a few weeks.

Thanksgiving weekend-no meeting
2008-11-28 00:00

Gerry Fitz - High Speed Fuel Efficient Ferries
2008-12-05 00:00
Friday morning’s speaker was Gerry Fitzpatrick. Gerry is a principal in SES, a company that has ownership in a new ship technology that would not only go fast (excess of 50 MPH) but would do so using considerably less fuel than a conventional vessel. Getting vessels to go fast has been done in the past at the cost of using engines with enormous horsepower, but that means using a lot of fuel. Fitzpatrick’s design actually uses less than the conventionally powered ships.

Fitzpatrick is well versed in the technology and provided an interesting and understandable explanation of how it would work. The vessel is a version of “surface effect” technology. Surface Effect vessels operate on the principle that if the hull can be lifted out of the water than the drag of plowing through the water is greatly reduced. So while surface effect technology is not new, SES’s technology is new.

I asked Fitzpatrick to cite the advantages and features that make the design desirable. The problems caused by ship wakes are almost eliminated with his design. Another feature is that because the draft (how deep it sits in the water) is much less than conventional craft, it can navigate in shallower water.

We discussed the viability of using such a craft between Shoreham and New Haven. The answer was that the trip could be a short as 35 minutes, and it would work very well. But according to Fitzpatrick it’s greater benefit may be in using it to connect places along the Connecticut shore to Manhattan, or places along the Hudson Valley to Manhattan. Using larger ships of this design may be useful in moving trucks along the ports of the east coast and removing them from the I-95 corridor.

Under the same ownership is a company called Greenworld Marketing. The company sells lubricating oils derived from animal fats. Disposal of animal fats have been an on-going problem for the meat industry. Greenworld products make use of these oils and the end product is completely biodegradable when they are eventually discarded. The added benefits are that these oils are less expensive than petroleum oils and can be used in a broader array of applications than vegetation based products. Fitzpatrick says the products are already being well received.

Holiday Party Breakfast
2008-12-12 00:00
Jim Graseck demonstrated his highly trained abilities with the violin. He played traditional music of the season and some other works. With Jim it’s not just about playing superbly, but connecting to the audience. His ability to speak to the audience in humorous exchanges while playing intricate pieces has earned him the moniker “The Victor Borge of the Violin”

Jim was there early and played for the guests as they found their friends and seating. Then he played an opening set of songs and fun exchanges with the audience.

Vince Dantona is a remarkably witty ventriloquist with a dummy named George. He did about 30 minutes of tailored routine. I gave him a list of people I knew would attend and something personal about them. That gave Vince a place to start from. While speaking to the audience, if anybody threw Vince a curve by saying something unexpected “George” had a slapdown witty reply. But I scared George when I asked him if he knew what a wood chipper was.

Vince was the opening act for Ray Romano when he worked the club circuit and LIMBA has asked him to perform in the past. Jim closed the breakfast with some additional songs leaving us all a little more uplifted that the times dictate.

It is a pleasure to have these talented individuals for our otherwise serious forum. I’ll paraphrase a bit here. Man does not live on bread alone; sometimes we need laughs and music. That’s what we had on Friday morning

Enjoy your holidays. These are precious moments
Ernie Fazio

Pictured: Jim Graseck

More photos available here….
