BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Limba - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Limba X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://limba.net X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Limba REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20090308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20091101T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20100314T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20101107T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20110313T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20111106T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100820T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100820T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100820T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100820T040000Z UID:4417-1282262400-1282262400@limba.net SUMMARY:Dale Carnegie Speaker - Bob Ranieri DESCRIPTION:All you ever needed to know about human relations has been residing within your head all along.  At least that’s the way it feels after you’ve been told.  Today’s speaker was Robert Ranieri\, Regional Training Manager for Dale Carnegie Training.  Dale Carnegie was the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People.  Carnegie founded one of the world’s most famous business training institutions.  Within the pages of his book are concepts that are common sense\, and yet we constantly need to be reminded. \nThe discussion this morning was  entitled "Winning Formula to Attract Customers for LIfe".  The usual LIMBA format is that the speaker has the floor\, followed by audience participation during a "Question & Answer" period.  Today\, the speaker had a running conversation with the audience.  Each time he wanted to make a point\, he posed a question to the audience. \nAmong the items that were discussed was how we bring people to a decision.  The way you say something can make an enormous difference in the outcome.  In this morning’s session\, each person was given a list of phrases and alternative phrases.  On the one side you may see What you need to do…..as opposed to Might I suggest….  The second couching of the direction has a softer tone to it.  It also builds trust in the judgement of the person being guided.  This is very useful information to anyone pursuing a sales track  It is also useful in any argument\, from a political discussion to getting compliance from your children to getting your wife/husband to agree to a movie you want to see.  Ranieri suggested that we are all in sales in that sense.  If you get good at this\, yo may even get to see the movie you prefer. \nAt the end of the meeting\, Bob raffled off several copies of Carnegie’s famous book. \nErnie Fazio URL:https://limba.net/calendar/dale-carnegie-speaker-bob-ranieri/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100813T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100813T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100813T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100813T040000Z UID:4416-1281657600-1281657600@limba.net SUMMARY:Mark Lesko\, Supv Town of Brookhaven Blight to Light DESCRIPTION:Members and Friends\, \nWe often wonder where and when will we get enlightened leadership\, and once in a while it shows up.  Our speaker this morning was Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri\, filling in for Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko.  Lesko and Pontieri are the enlightened leadership we seek. \nMr. Lesko has created a vision that addresses several needs in one program.  Pontieri showed the award winning film "Blight into Light" that began by showing a beautiful pristine environment\, then segued into the blight that exists in the Town of Brookhaven…broken down factory buildings\, abandoned retail space and other eyesores dot the landscape. \nThe program that Lesko has advanced redefines the way permitting is done.  A point system has been developed where the value of certain conditions wins points.  Clearing an eyesore wins points\, use of property is evaluated against a weighted point schedule.  Job creation possibilities win points.  New housing plans win points as well..  Other conditions that are considered are location\, drug and crime problems and the potential for the area to be a plus in terms of generating tax dollars.  Where the property is so contaminated that housing would not be feasible\, another use could emerge. \nThe idea is to preserve as much still uncontaminated land as possible\, and clean up those areas that are no longer being put to gainful use .At the same time\, these derelict properties  often do not have current tax revenue streams coming into the Town.  When industry and high density residential properties are part of the redevelopment\, then the taxes from those properties reduce the pressure on all other taxpayers. \nThe process\, by its’ nature\, is complex and comprehensive in execution.  Yet the method promises to actually move proposals to fruition faster than the piecemeal approach that we have always taken.  Furthermore\, the scope of the project can be bigger if all of the elements are in place.  For example\, more units of housing can be built on an acre if there are sewers. \nMayor Pontieri is a natural partner for Town Supervisor Lesko because he uses some of the same principles in the Village of Patchogue.  As a result\, the planning and building in Patchogue has been very successful.  Pontieri credits several previous Mayors for exhibiting foresight in the moves that they made. An example:  providing sewer capacity in the Village that was about four times the size necessary at the time the sewers were put in.  Now they are much needed\, and already in place.  Saving the beautiful Patchogue Theater was another great move proposed by a previous mayor. \nPictured: Paul Pontieri\, Mayor of Patchogue; Yves Michel\, Suffolk Co. Dept. of Econ. Dev.; Joe Ogno\, Telcar Corp. Interiors \nErnie Fazio  \nATTENTION ALL: ERNIE NOW HAS HIS OWN BLOG.Check it out at fazio-op-ed.blogspot.com \nTHIS WEEK’S EVENT WAS SPONSORED BY TELCAR CORPORATE INTERIORS. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/mark-lesko-supv-town-of-brookhaven-blight-to-light/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100806T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100806T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100806T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100806T040000Z UID:4415-1281052800-1281052800@limba.net SUMMARY:Bill Schoolman MTA tax revisited- sponsor by LIBN DESCRIPTION:Our speaker this morning was Bill Schoolman.  His topic was the MTA Payroll Tax.  Bill is a businessman\, CEO of Classic Coach/Hampton Luxury Liner.  Last December he sued the MTA & New York State over the MTA Payroll Tax.  Here’s what he shared with us today on the subject: \nThe budget for the MTA is $13.5 billion.  They collect $5.9 billion from fares and fees to users.  The shortfall of $7.6 billion is collected from taxpayers. The MTA Payroll tax was instituted  to cover an additional $1.8 billion operating shortfall\, bringing the current total burden on taxpayers to  $9.4  billion. \nMr. Schoolman began by offering some staggering statistics on MTA wages and salaries. One example:  $183\,000 to a railroad mechanic .  This is the product of a corrupt system\, per Bill.  The MTA is called a Public Benefit Corporation.  The biggest benefit \, however\, according to Schoolman\, accrues to the people in the system. What the  Public gets is an inferior transportation product\, inadequate & diminishing service\, and filthy rest rooms.  The LIRR is among Bill’s competitors for the public transportation $.  And ironically\, he is being required to subsidize them. \nBridges and tunnels  that are part of the MTA system were fully paid for decades ago. Yet tolls are increasing again and the money is going to this corrupt entity called the MTA.  That states the problem. The tax is unfair\, poorly applied\, and levied in such a way that all of us can see the inequity.  The people that really look into this tax ‘get it’! They see the general state of incompetence\, ineptitude and arrogance in government at all levels.  How can we endure the fact that over 90% of all employees retire as ‘disabled’\, with each of them getting extra benefits for those imagined disabilities?  How can we see a railroad mechanic being paid $183\,000\, retired at $10\,000 per month and ever envision solvency for the MTA? Schoolman gave several other examples to make his point\, but this was not a venting session.  Bill came to us with a well researched and developed lawsuit that ! exposes that this tax\, itself\, is illegal.  He said: \n"We are on strong legal ground to have this tax annulled.  The procedures used by Albany to pass the law imposing the MTA Payroll Tax violated five sections of the New York State Constitution a well as the Public Authorities Law." \nThe people in the room saw the inequity as clearly as Bill did\, and they were as concerned by what the speaker was saying as was the speaker himself.  There are presently five other lawsuits (Nassau County\, the Towns of Southampton\, Southold\, Brookhaven & Smithtown\, & the William Floyd School District) that are essentially using the same wording Bill’s attorneys prepared .  Schoolman is taking every opportunity to speak to various groups and organizations in order to expose people to the strength of his argument. \nWhat should be done\, according to Schoolman\, is that 1) the MTA should be declared bankrupt and 2) the salvageable pieces should be bought by ‘people who can run a business’.  \nThis event was sponsored by Long Island Business News. \nMore information can be found on the special website of Bill Schoolman’s tax-exempt corporation: www.mtataxpayerabuse.org. \nPictured: Michelle Zere – Zere R.E.\, Shelly Sackstein – Action Long Island\, Bill Schoolman – Classic Coach\, Ernie Fazio\, Marie Zere – Zere R.E. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/bill-schoolman-mta-tax-revisited-sponsor-by-libn/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100730T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100730T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100730T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100730T040000Z UID:4414-1280448000-1280448000@limba.net SUMMARY:Steve Levy\, Suff Cnty Exec- governors race sponsor-Primepay DESCRIPTION:Mr. Levy is always an interesting speaker.  Today was no disappointment.  Steve’s opening remark was : "Politicians are always trying to satisfy the needs of voters while at the same time telling them that we can cut taxes".  His point was that you can do one or the other\, but almost never both.  According to Levy\, just as we need a responsible person at home\, there needs to be a ‘grown-up’ in the rooms of politics. \nHe compared how different levels of government deal  with revenue shortfalls: \n\nAt the Federal level they print money\nAt the State level they shove it down to the local level\nAt the Local level they raise taxes or do without\n\n  \nSteve cited California\, Illinois and New York as being financially strapped states where hard decisions will have to be made.  Under the Levy Administation\, taxes went from being 13% of the bill to 10% of the bill.  There were hard choices made to get there.  Among the steps taken was an attempt to get New York State to shoulder the cost of troopers on state roads.  That didn’t fly\, so Levy put Sheriff Officers on the state roads\, saving the high cost of Suffolk Police.  Mr. Levy says\, "The Public Sector jobs are living in their own bubble." The rest of the economy suffers as they go on thinking that they should be excluded from the pain-which of course just increases the pain for the rest of the economy.  $180\,000 annual salaries for Policemen are just not sustainable.  Pensions are funded in ways that most of the private sector gave up on years ago. \nThe Foley Nursing Home is another ‘craw’ in his throat.  Foley costs taxpayers $10 million per year. Steve said he will sell it to a private company\, and the residents will be no worse off than they are now. The Union is ready to mount a battle\, but he vows that it will be sold. \nSome trimming of Levy’s budget was met through early retirements\, which only works if you do not rehire the same number of people. He has been able to reduce the work force and keep it that way. \nHe spoke some on development.  While he considers himself an environmentalist\, that does not preclude development.  Patchogue Village was given as an example.  The future development of the Ronkonkoma Railroad Station is being planned\, and the prospect of affordable apartments\, retail stores\, entertainment  and transportation to New York City will make that location very desirable. \nLastly\, the ending of the Empire Zones is a big blow to Long Island.  Steve encouraged all of us to notify our state representatives and urge them to keep the program.  Under that program\, we were able to attract Canon\, a major employer.  The problem with ending Empire Zones is that not only will we not be able to offer the incentives involved\, but the removal of benefits is retroactive.  Because of this\, we will not be able to meet previous promises made under the Empire Zone provision.  This is patently unfair. \nDuring the Q&A\, the question of the MTA tax was brought up by Bill Schoolman\, who will be speaking on that subject next week.  According to Levy\, the County will be entered as a ‘Friend of the Court.’ \nErnie Fazio URL:https://limba.net/calendar/steve-levy-suff-cnty-exec-governors-race-sponsor-primepay/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100723T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100723T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100723T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100723T040000Z UID:4399-1279843200-1279843200@limba.net SUMMARY:Teresa Rizzuto DESCRIPTION:Today we had the pleasure of hosting Theresa Rizzuto\, Commissioner of Long Island MacArthur Airport (LIMA)\, giving us an update on what’s happening in and around the 50 year old facility.  Ms. Rizzuto opened with describing the transition of MacArthur at its opening as a "Nice to Have" to today’s status as a critical linchpin in the region’s economy.  It is a driver of private investment and  job growth for Long Island.  She followed with a more detailed look at the past ten years of ups and downs for the airline industry and economy.  Right now one of the bright spots is General Aviation\, experiencing growth among private jet travel.\n \nThe meat of Ms. Rizzuto’s presentation was a description of all the projects that are going on around the airport\, from the addition of free Wi-Fi access\, to the new Control Tower scheduled to open in early 2011\, the road reconfiguration project\, which will make it even more convenient to use LIMA\, the West Side redevelopment project\, where new private investment will replace old\, dilapidated facilities to the new Fuel Farm\, which to an airport administrator is the sine qua non of projects.\n \nIt was an engaging presentation punctuated by a description of the Town and Airport administration’s efforts to further market LIMA as both a departure point and Long Island as a destination.  Negotiations and interactions with airlines were detailed\, with an event called JumpStart described as "speed dating" between Airports and Airlines.  LIMA is a relatively unknown airport among airlines\, but Ms. Rizzuto and the town team are doing their best to make that a thing of the past.  Through social media tools like Twitter @LIMacArthur and Facebook Fan Pages the word is getting out along with traditional media campaigns.\n \nMs. Rizzuto closed with a call to action for the business community to lobby the airlines to reinforce the demand for a convenient alternative to the congested Port Authority airports in NYC.  Communicate with them on their feedback pages\, and when you make travel arrangements\, every voice helps.\n \nWe look forward to Ms. Rizzuto’s next visit where we hope she will have even more good news and additional travel destinations reachable by Long Island’s "Most Convenient Airport" URL:https://limba.net/calendar/teresa-rizzuto/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100716T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100716T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100716T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100716T040000Z UID:4419-1279238400-1279238400@limba.net SUMMARY:Steve Bellone -Supv - CANCELLED rescheduled to Oct 8th DESCRIPTION: Due to extenuating circumstances this meeting had to be cancelled. It is rescheduled for October 8 2010 URL:https://limba.net/calendar/steve-bellone-supv-cancelled-rescheduled-to-oct-8th/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100709T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100709T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100709T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100709T040000Z UID:4408-1278633600-1278633600@limba.net SUMMARY:Railroad Museum of Long Island. Don Fisher DESCRIPTION:Don Fisher\, President of the Railroad Museum of Long Island was our speaker this morning. He began by emphasizing the business side of operating a local museum. Raising money to create the museum environment is not easy\, but it is important. The museum hired LIA economist Pearl Kamer to study the multiplier effects of money spent by the railroad museum. She calculated that for every $1 spent by the museum there are $2.25 returned to the community. In other words jobs are created. \n  \nOn the soft benefits there is the educational considerations\, a sense of place\, and the inspirational aspects that children can appreciate. Mr. Fisher pointed out to us that whether we support his museum or some other local museum\, it is important that we do so. Museums are part of the fabric that makes our communities interesting  \n  \nLater is in his prepared remarks Don gave us an overview of the available activities. There are tours of the vintage models they have on the premises where you will see the actual operating mechanisms. There is a special train that was operated at the 1964 World’s Fair that is available for short rides. \n  \nThe museum is actually two locations\, one in Riverhead and one in Greenport. You can visit either one\, but merely by coincidence the Long Island Railroad has a scheduled train that stops at Riverhead on Saturday morning at 10.30AM  and terminates at Greenport. It lays-over on Greenport for an hour and ten minutes and stops again in Riverhead. Your $5 museum entrance fee in Riverhead allows you to see the Greenport division on the same ticket and the LIRR ticket is $5 for adults and $1.50 for children round trip \n  \nThis provides a great day of history education\, entertainment and recreation for a family with children\, without Dad forgoing lunch for the next week.      \n  \nEveryone there received a video of historic rail systems from various places in the world. \n\nMuch thanks to  Bonnie Cornett and the Boncor Group for sponsoring this interesting event \n\nHere is some Railroad Museum of Long Island contact info:\nwww.rmli.org \nLocated at 416 Griffing Avenue Riverhead  631 727- 7920 \nand  440 Fourth Street Greenport  631 477-0439 URL:https://limba.net/calendar/railroad-museum-of-long-island-don-fisher/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100702T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100702T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100702T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100702T040000Z UID:4410-1278028800-1278028800@limba.net SUMMARY:NO Meeting July 4th weekend DESCRIPTION: URL:https://limba.net/calendar/no-meeting-july-4th-weekend/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100625T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100625T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100625T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100625T040000Z UID:4409-1277424000-1277424000@limba.net SUMMARY:Meeting at LIFT Ken Morelly Homeland Security Unit DESCRIPTION:Today my friend Ken Morelly\, made good on his promise to have LIFT host a LIMBA meeting at the Homeland Security Center in Bethpage. Ken came to LIMBA in September of 2009 and explained what we would find there we came. Unfortunately Ken passed on in October less than a month after he appeared at LIMBA. \nLIFT"s Ray Donnelly was there to host the meeting. Deputy Nassau County Executive Patrick Foye was there representing County Executive\, Ed Mangano\, to welcome us as well. The center has been renamed The Morelly Homeland Security Center to honor Ken for his vision and dedication \nThe tour of the facility began in the "343 Lecture Hall" so named to honor the lost fire fighters on 9-11. This is a large room that can accommodate about 130 people with hard-wired Internet in every seat position. There are four large screens in the front of the room so that each person in the audience can follow the speaker’s presentation. They can also be accessing their own computers. The Center is equipped with it’s own satellite communications and various other connections to the outside world. In the event of local catastrophic interruptions of power and communications the Center would still be able to communicate with the rest of the world. The facility has a generator that provides 1/2 megawatt of emergency power that will turn on if the grid power collapses. \nWe then went to a room with fourteen command position where various professional would take up various tasks if there were a natural disaster or an enemy attack. In this room there are two tech desks with four positions of technical people that can be there to keep all of the communication access points operating. Next to this room is what will be the command center. This where the County Executive could conceivably be a time of an emergency. \nThe building itself was designed to DOD standards during the Cold War and can withstand enormous forces. The outside walls are two feet thick and there are only a few windows. The entities that are part of this effort include Globecom\, Siemens\, Brookhaven National Laboratories\, Cold Spring Harbor Labs\, Stony Brook University\, Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center\, FEMA\, US Coast Guard and LIFT. The center has an elaborate array of communications that provide information and coordination among the various entities that would be involved in major catastrophic events   \nIn addition there are small medium and large companies with a presence at the facility that work in concert with the center to further develop material science and other disciplines. The beauty of this center is that it will function as a technology generator that will provide new manufacturing job opportunities and new businesses. If we never have the need to use this facility for it’s worse case scenario it was designed to handle\, it will still be worth the effort. \nMany thanks to LIFT president Frank Otto\, Bill Wahling and Ray Donnelly who guided us through this morning’s presentation.\nErnie Fazio URL:https://limba.net/calendar/meeting-at-lift-ken-morelly-homeland-security-unit/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100618T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100618T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100618T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100618T040000Z UID:4413-1276819200-1276819200@limba.net SUMMARY:Johm Kominicki. Publisher LIBN -The Future DESCRIPTION:Our speaker Friday morning was John Kominicki\, Publisher\, and now\, also the editor \,of Long Island Business News.   We posed the question of how do newspapers compete with other media. Kominicki has a humorous\, and always interesting manner when he speaks\, even as he approaches a topic that is a serious business concern. \nLIBN\, as well as other print media\, have been seriously challenged by the coming of the Internet. During a period of trying to use the new media to augment the dissemination of information and accrue advertising dollars some missteps will occur. LIBN thought that advertisers that were holding back from print would transition to their electronic pages\, and to some degree that did happen\, but not enough to offset the print page loss. In a word\, that is not progress. The model had to be tweaked. \nJohn said we now knew that we had to follow the model of the only smart paper\, The Wall Street Journal\, and charge for internet content. In LIBN ‘s case you can only get a teaser line\, and can only read the whole story if you were a print subscriber. That strategy has worked. The print subscription sales  increased and so did the advertising sales by about 10%. In the meantime some valuable newspaper people were lost. The good news is that the remaining staff feels a little more secure since the situation seems stabilized. Those people that did leave are having mixed success with experiments in web based journalism. John truly wishes them well. \nKominicki pointed out that news is not in jeopardy of being compromised by editorials since the content of a paper is the lifeblood of a readable publication. People read stories that are factual because they see opportunity inherent in the story. If a developer is planning a big project engineering firms take notice and make contact. That would be true of materials suppliers and sub contractors\, and many others. \nWhen asked during the Q&A period about print medias viability over the long run\, John agreed with those that say print will find it’s place just as radio found it’s place after the advent of television. The common wisdom in those early days of television was that radio would disappear. It didn’t\, it changed. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/johm-kominicki-publisher-libn-the-future/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100611T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100611T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100611T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100611T040000Z UID:4407-1276214400-1276214400@limba.net SUMMARY:Bob Catell Chairman of AERTC DESCRIPTION:Bob Catell was our speaker this morning and when it comes to utility delivered power he has had the benefit of heading up a combined gas and electric company for about 14 years. His prior experience at Brooklyn Union Gas Company makes him an authority on that too. \nBob made a poignant comparison of the electric energy system and the telephone system. "Alexander Graham Bell would look around at today’s world and be amazed at the changes. Thomas Edison would look around and say everything looks like I left it" \nNow Catell is the Chairman of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center located on the SUNY campus at Stony Brook. The mission of that center is broad. Not only will the center be looking for new and innovative energy creation solutions\, but they will also be looking at ways to increase efficiency\, and decrease consumption for the same tasks. \nBob began his talk by enumerating the various carbon based fuels with their liabilities and benefits ( We did not discuss the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico\, but I am sure it was on everybody’s mind). The opinion expressed was that it will be a long transition away from oil\, but natural gas which is a fuel we are learning we have much more than we previously thought will likely be the "bridge" fuel. (Jim Powel one of the co-inventors of the Maglev was in the audience\, and during the Q&A period he suggested that with the use of electric trains and cars we could transition out of liquid fuels even faster) \nAlternative energy such as Wind and Solar has had a very limited use in the past. In fact it is still a small component of our energy picture compared to the capacity of conventional. On the other hand wind is growing very fast. There was a 50% increase in wind generation in the last year. Wind has grown in the United States from a miniscule 2500 Megawatts in 2006 to 35\,000 watts last year. According to Mr. Catell the United States leads the world in operating wind power. That’s impressive\, but it still pales in comparison to conventional installed generation. \nCatell spoke about what is being called "Smart Grid." Smart grid is not easy to simplify\, but it will be able to detect where there is stress on the system\, and redirect power from other available connected sources. No one seems to know exactly how it will work so AERTC will construct a model of a grid and create the software that it will need. By having this model we can learn what works and improve upon it before it is deployed as a worksble technology. What I got from the discussion was that "smart Grid" would be able to integrate all available methods of generation. \nThere will be a clean energy incubator located on the AERTC campus that will be paid for with a $26 million grant from DOE. Among the things we expect to see developed here are solar systems that are much more productive. The modern high performing solar panel is able to convert about 16% of the sun’s potential energy. With new technologies we expect to increase that output substantially. The net effect would make solar more competitive with fossil fuel generation. \nThe AERTC is looking for technology partners that will create the future of energy. The environment where like minded people of science trade ideas will allow them to feed off each other. The results of this formal and informal symbiosis is knowledge that can\, and most likely will advance the societal goals that are needed for us to have sustainable growth. We are very fortunate to have this shared enterprise on Long Island.. \nErnie Fazio URL:https://limba.net/calendar/bob-catell-chairman-of-aertc/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100604T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100604T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100604T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100604T040000Z UID:4398-1275609600-1275609600@limba.net SUMMARY:Lee Zeldin Republican Senate Challenger to Brian Foley DESCRIPTION:Lee Zelden was our speaker this morning. He is challenging Brian Foley in the 3rd NY Senate District. \nZelden began by introducing himself emphasizing his roots on Long Island and his military service. He proceeded to discuss the MTA tax that his opponent had voted for. He vowed to overturn that tax as a matter of it being so pervasive and that it is a business killer. He pointed out that being a payroll tax\, the MTA tax also affects other government costs as well. The cost is tacked onto every municipal worker’s payroll. Teachers\, policemen\, librarians\, park employees\, and every other payroll in private industry are affected by the MTA tax. He made a few suggestions on how the MTA could otherwise raise money including the increase of rail freight. \n  \nHis comments and disgust with Albany’s disfunctionality was in keeping with what the rest of us already feel. \n  \nHe went on to discuss the amount of money we\, (Long Islanders) get back from Albany. In the past Long Islanders were responsible foe 17% of the state’s revenues and 13% was returned. I guess considering the comparative wealth of Long Island that was acceptable. Now the return is\, 5% according to Zelden. "That’s a 62% decrease\,” said Zelden. When asked about the overall cost of schools and the tax burden placed on home owners and business\, he said he would be for reducing administration cost by creating a countywide school district\, while retaining the local identities of school teams \n  \nSewers were another one of his issues. Lee thinks that swears should be built to encourage good growth\, and that while the benefit would be local to the place receiving sewers so should the cost. \nErnie Fazio URL:https://limba.net/calendar/lee-zeldin-republican-senate-challenger-to-brian-foley/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100528T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100528T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100528T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100528T040000Z UID:4396-1275004800-1275004800@limba.net SUMMARY:NO MEETING MEMORIAL DAY weekend DESCRIPTION: URL:https://limba.net/calendar/no-meeting-memorial-day-weekend-2/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100521T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100521T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100521T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100521T040000Z UID:4406-1274400000-1274400000@limba.net SUMMARY:Dr Hubert Keen\, Pres Farmingdale College DESCRIPTION:Our speaker this morning was Dr Hubert Keen President of Farmingdale College. We asked him to speak to our group and tell us what challenges and opportrunities the college faces. \nAccording to Dr Keen only 32% of the school’s budget comes from state funding and that is down from 80% just a few years ago and it will continue to diminish. The upside is that the college is free to enter into partnerships with business. These partnerships create industry specific programs that provide cash for the college. \n  \nIn the past there was only a miniscule amount of charitable funding that was available to the college. Over recent years that source has grown\, and it will have to continue to grow. \n  \nPresident Keen told us that people will occassionally ask if they still teach farming at the school. That got a chuckle out of a few people in the audience because there hasn’t been a moooo heard on the campus in 30 years. There were two professors in the audience that more clearly demonstrated that the school was more rooted in current technology. One of them was conducting work in fuel cell design and innovation\, the other was in bio-science. Solar technology is another field of work that has been part of the curriculum for years and it is the largest in the state system. Professor Tawflik told us about work being done bio-gasification\, and some of the potential benefits of that work. \n  \nMisconceptions about the school include the idea that most degrees are associate degrees. That is not true. In addition the age make up of the student body has become more typical of other colleges. That is the 17 to 24 year olds\, while still having an older age group of students. Last year they enrolled 10\,000 students. \n  \nThere is a very ambitious building program under way spanning a 6 year period to the tune of $190 million. These buildings are being built to the Silver rating of the of the LEEDS building codes. As usual the Q&A was lively. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/dr-hubert-keen-pres-farmingdale-college/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100514T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100514T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100514T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100514T040000Z UID:4383-1273795200-1273795200@limba.net SUMMARY:John Cameron\, Chairman. LI Regional Plan DESCRIPTION:Today our speaker was John Cameron\, President of the Long Island Planning Council. Mr Cameron seems well suited for the position because of his understanding of how things work. He is the founder of Cameron Engineering a formidable engineering firm that was begun 25 years ago. \nJohn began by giving us a little history of the Planning Council. In the past much was planned\, but too little was done. "We don’t want another study collecting dust on a shelf". He sees the role of the Planning Council as a facilitator that can bring various groups and governing bodies together. He cited the two most obvious examples of long drawn out struggles\, those being "The Lighthouse" and the "Heartland Development" According to Cameron\, "these projects have been around so long that the market has changed". With a diminished demand the prospects of moving forward are hampered. \nHe then took on the "Third Track" on the main line of the LIRR\, which has been stalled for a long time. The second track that has been proposed for the Farmingdale line is also stalled\, but Cameron believes these will be done. "They need to be done. We just can’t add three more lanes to the Long Island Expressway" These infrastructure needs must be built by local engineering firms because they know best what works best for Long Island. \nTaxes and multiple governing bodies are among the impediments to growth on Long Island\, according to John. He stated that the level of property taxes is simply not sustainable. 70% of our taxes go to schools and 70% of that money goes to salaries and pensions. As bad as that is it is going to get worse. As far as the schools producing a quality product Mr. Cameron questioned why we have so few students that are prepared for science and engineering. \nGetting back to local government\, Cameron likes working with Steve Bellone\, Supervisor of Babylon\, "Bellone gets it". Too many of other elected officials are marking time and not ever challenging the status quo. \nThe Q&A was lively\, which is often the case at LIMBA. This audience is always polite to the speaker\, and they were today as well\, but the legitimate anger and frustration among the people asking questions was palpable URL:https://limba.net/calendar/john-cameron-chairman-li-regional-plan/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100507T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100507T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100507T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100507T040000Z UID:4395-1273190400-1273190400@limba.net SUMMARY:LIMBA May 7 Long Island Comm Real Estate Update DESCRIPTION:  \nThis meeting featured some "players" in the Commercial real estate field. They included Jack O’Connor of Newmark Knight and Frank\, Marie Zere-Zere Real Estate Services and David Hunt-Hunt Corporate Services. Each person gave his openning remarks on the state of the economy as it relates to commercial real estate. Later we engaged in a lively conversational back and forth with the audience. \nJack O’Connor began with some illustrations of how the market in Suffolk County has deteriated in cost. The effect being that many properties were "under water" having a lower assessed value now than when the property was purchased. When asked "how significant a problem that was"\, O’Connor stated as long as revenues are sufficient to pay the mortgage it is less significant \, but at the same time the businesses are hurting and many cannot meet their mortgage commitments. He gave an example of where a building was sold a couple of years ago for $150/sq ft was now being sold for half that amount. It wasn’t clear that this trend was going to reverse itself anytime soon. \nMarie Zrere spoke next and while she was in general agreement with O’Connors remarks stated that reciting the present market conditions can lead to it becoming worse "A self fulfilling prophecy". Later in the program during Q&A she emphasized the importance of working with a broker no matter what the market conditions may be. According to Zere\, there are no savings in going it alone\, without a broker. The broker will be able to accomplish better outcomes having a more complete knowledge of the market. \nDavid Hunt\, who focuses on business in Nassau County gave us a somewhat more optimistic veiw. Nassau County properties have lost a much smaller percentage of their value than in Suffolk. Even with the high taxes in Nassau County there is still a high desire to purchase in Nassau. That really is good news for both counties. As Nassau holds its values there is a tendendency to support values in Suffolk.  \nThere was a high degree of interest in this program judging by the turn-out and the number of questions from the audience. After we adjourned there were knots of people who connected with the speakers\, and each other to continue the conversation. \nSpecial thanks to our sponsors Belfor Property Restoration Services. In addition Tellers Chop House gave a door prize of dinner for two They also Gave  a $24 coupon for lunch in promotion for their $24 Business lunch program to each person attending the breakfast. Teller’s other fine resaurants; Prime Steakhouse\, Verace & H20  \nIn the photo: Bill Miller M&T Bank\, Jack O’Connor Newmark Knight & Frank\, Marie Zere- Zere Real Estate Services\, David Hunt- Hunt Corporate Services and Ernie Fazio\, LIMBA \n  URL:https://limba.net/calendar/limba-may-7-long-island-comm-real-estate-update/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100430T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100430T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100430T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100430T040000Z UID:4394-1272585600-1272585600@limba.net SUMMARY:Roundtable DESCRIPTION:On this date we had a last minute cancellation from our speaker\, but managed to have a fruitful and interesting meeting in spite of that.  In the rare instances where we encounter speaker issues\, we hold a roundtable discussion on a topic of interest\, usually related to one of LIMBA’s development goals.  In this case we addressed the prospects for local implementation of magnetic levitation transport (MAGLEV).  In light of the Long Island Rail Road’s impending purchase of lightweight self-propelled cars to preserve east end service\, we kicked around where would be the best place to install a demonstration project that would provide real value. \n \nThe Port Authority is reviving the Cross Harbor Rail Float operation\, and the Bay Ridge branch of the Long Island Rail Road could be used to move cars from the float bridge to the New York and Atlantic yard at Fresh Pond.  Revamping the Greenport to Ronkonkoma line was also discussed.  As a home grown technology\, we discussed the prospects for domestic production of this high speed\, high capacity infrastructure component as opposed to importing other countries’ high speed rail technology and materials.\n \nWe also went around the room and introduced our selves and our businesses.  A couple notable folks and businesses were Ray Palumbo and Jaime Rodriguez from AT&T Advertising solutions. Who knew AT&T sold Search Engine Optimization?  Peggy Sutherland gave us some insight on her business\, Long Island Science\, which is currently working on radiation exposure management solutions for Brookhaven National Labs.  A fascinating topic very important to the workforce out there. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/roundtable-2/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100423T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100423T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100423T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100423T040000Z UID:4393-1271980800-1271980800@limba.net SUMMARY:LIMBA April 23 Yves Michel Suff County Economic Dev DESCRIPTION:LIMBA Meeting Recap – Yves Michel\, Commissioner\, Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Workforce Housing – April 23\, 2010 \nCommissioner Michel began with an offering of thanks for the opportunity to get community input.  For the uninitiated\, Yves listed all the various functions that come under his department in addition to the titled ones: The Inventors Club\, the Aviation Department\, and the Department of Film and Television production are just a few.  The Film and TV production department is admittedly the most glamorous job in the portfolio.  He recounted the story of the production of the movie Paper Man\, opening today and starring Jeff Daniels.  Filming generates direct revenue to the county from permitting and  property rentals\, but also indirect revenue by production spending.  There was a run on ladders among Hauppauge hardware stores when Sean Penn was filming the forthcoming Fair Game at the Dennison building. \nThe Department works with state and town departments to accentuate the good aspects of Suffolk County\, mitigate the bad to the extent that it can\, and help people deal with the ugly. The main mission is to help foster “Suffolk-Grown Businesses”.  In keeping with the premiere theme\, the Commissioner announced the launching of the department’s new website\, www.suffolkbetterforbusiness.com a virtual tour of the county for those considering locating firms here. \nOne of the major efforts of the department is to develop a county-wide unified permitting web portal\, that will make it easy for developers to find the information they need in one place for all the levels of government that they have to deal with in a particular building location in the county.  This effort is in its nascent stages and the commissioner is working hard to pull together the various groups necessary to make this work for all the towns and villages that make up the county. \nThe major theme of Yves’ talk was providing information about all the programs that business can take advantage of for financing\, the coordination that his department provides for business to access programs at different government levels and the open door policy that his office has.  He invited the audience to call in with questions at 631-853-4800\, or submit them via email at ecodev@suffolkcountyny.gov \nThe general impression was given that in these tough times\, the Commissioner and his staff are doing their best to make the most of scarce resources\, help businesspeople access those resources\, and be a strong marketing advocate for the county. \nThe Q&A was centered around using accessory apartments for workforce housing\, and sewers. \nThe Commissioner expressed his support for fostering accessory apartments in each town\, but emphasized the need for the towns to get on board with the concept so it could be county-wide. \nBob Bender brought up sewers being a chokepoint on development\, and the commissioner concurred\, describing the draft report on the county’s sewer situation.  Mitch Pally gave kudos to the commissioner for helping to use the innovative concept of Sewer Credit Rentals in keeping an important development project on track while waiting for sewers to arrive at the project’s location. \nA well spent Friday morning meeting one of our important county officials in a conversational setting\, getting a good view of county government and the efforts it makes to foster business here.  Join us at LIMBA and be a part of a well-informed electorate. \n\n— Craig Plunkett URL:https://limba.net/calendar/limba-april-23-yves-michel-suff-county-economic-dev/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100416T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100416T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100416T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100416T040000Z UID:4412-1271376000-1271376000@limba.net SUMMARY:Regional Plan of NY scheduled NO LIMBA MEETING DESCRIPTION: URL:https://limba.net/calendar/regional-plan-of-ny-scheduled-no-limba-meeting/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100409T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100409T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100409T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100409T040000Z UID:4401-1270771200-1270771200@limba.net SUMMARY:Frank MacKay\, National Chair of the Independence Party DESCRIPTION:LIMBA Meeting Recap – April 9\, 2010 – Frank MacKay\, National Chairman of the Independence Party of America \nOn this rainy spring morning\, we were treated to a master class in Political Science by Frank MacKay\, the leader of the Independence party.  The goal of the party is to become the third Major party in the USA.  Lest the audience scoff at their goal\, Frank opened his talk by suggesting we turn our time machine back to 2008\, and ask: would anyone have guessed correctly who today would be the President or Governor of New York. \nThe  rapidly changing nature of politics and the electorate feeds MacKay’s confidence that the events necessary for the party to achieve national prominence will present themselves at some point in the near future.  The current disaffection of the populace from the two major parties feeds the membership ranks of the Independence party.  Frank’s talk was wide ranging and covered many areas of interest\, ballot access\, the New York gubernatorial race\, focusing on the conditions that need to line up in order for Steve Levy to run in the general election as a Republican candidate.  Some of the aspects of election law in New York were covered\, such as the necessity of a party to get 50\,000 votes for its candidates to survive and maintain a line on the New York State ballot. \nThis fed into lessons in candidate endorsement techniques and timing by parties and a lot of “inside Baseball” talk about the current machinations around what the rest of the parties in New York are doing in the gubernatorial race. The possibility of Mike Bloomberg emerging as a Presidential candidate was discussed\, along with the general conditions necessary for the party to field a Presidential candidate\, Bloomberg or not. \nIt was again\, a very-well spent morning learning about the mechanics of electoral politics from a well-versed speaker.  This is the stuff that generates what you read in the newspapers and the people behind the scenes come to LIMBA and educate us on topics that genuinely affect our lives.  LIMBA shows how to make a difference and introduces you to the folks that can generate momentum and effect change in our lives\, in business\, politics\, and the environment.  Get out of the house early on a Friday morning. Join us for breakfast and get educated. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/frank-mackay-national-chair-of-the-independence-party/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100402T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100402T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100402T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100402T040000Z UID:4400-1270166400-1270166400@limba.net SUMMARY:GOOD FRIDAY - NO MEETING DESCRIPTION: URL:https://limba.net/calendar/good-friday-no-meeting-6/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100326T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100326T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100326T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100326T040000Z UID:4387-1269561600-1269561600@limba.net SUMMARY:Helena Williams\, President LIRR DESCRIPTION:LIMBA Recap March 26\, 2010 Helena Williams\, President of the Long Island Rail Road\, East Side Access Update \n Ms. Williams last came to LIMBA during her stint as the Interim Executive Director of the MTA.  Today\, she opened her talk with the tale of helping to recruit Jay Walder from Transport of London to the MTA\, bringing him from the frying pan into the fire.    Her introduction was a good segue into a description of that fire\, and the dire circumstances that the MTA and its member agencies are facing.  Preservation of some service to Greenport was a small victory\, to give that up would have severed a long standing historical tie for the LIRR.   Right now\, Ms. Williams is fighting a holding action to keep the LIRR in good shape while waiting for the economy to turn around and be robust again. \nAddressing some of the transit-oriented development advocates and freight rail enthusiasts in the audience\,  she spoke of Transit Oriented Development as bringing future LIRR customers into the fold and having plenty of capacity to support more rail freight to take more trucks off Long Island roads.  More rail freight means more revenue for the LIRR. \nThe main topic of her talk\, East Side Access\, helps the Suffolk County housing market because it makes commuting from eastern long island more possible to the east side of Manhattan\,  preserving that quality of life in the suburbs.  The new LIRR terminal in Grand Central Terminal will be served by the current M7 electric cars\, which the railroad is very happy with\, and they are beginning to design the next generation of cars\, the M9 fleet.  The entire railroad is eagerly anticipating the connecting of the LIRR and Metro-North Railroads\, but there is lots of system integration work to do.  Harold Interlocking needs a tremendous amount of work to connect the new tracks that will run to GCT\, and a new platform will be built in Jamaica to serve Brooklyn with a new type of shuttle service.  The creation of Moynihan station will primarily benefit intercity rail run by Amtrak\, but the LIRR is looking to get some Penn Station improvements out of that project! \, particularly an expansion of the main Penn Corridor that runs between the E and 2&3 subway lines to increase pedestrian capacity. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nunderground construction\n\n\n\nThe next phase of her talk was the presentation of a great video on the progress and methods of construction of ESA.  Animations of the tunnel boring\, maps of the rail routes\, and depictions of the new concourse were shown.  It is a great project that Ms. Williams is justifiably proud of being a part of.  It is a grand new public works project\, a great expansion of the railroad\, a very positive development.  Funding for the next two years is fully in place\, for the present capital program\, but the final years of the project need to be implemented and funded in the next MTA capital program.  Ms. Williams asked us for our support for this funding.  Another project that will require financial support is the double tracking of the mainline between Ronkonkoma and Farmingdale.  Unlike the third track project\, this does not require additional land\, and will help reverse commuting and take better advantage of East Side Access. \nClosing her talk\, she referred to the upcoming collective bargaining negotiations;  where there really needs to be some relief for the railroad around work rules and penalty pay.  These efforts will help the LIRR ease some of its costs.  The Q &  A portion of the program opened with a tough assault on the MTA taxes and some large ticket projects by the MTA\, which Ms. Williams ably handled\, although the projects mentioned were not LIRR projects. \nA follow up question on disability reform progress was again tackled by a frank discussion of what the LIRR could and could not control.  The LIRR has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the State AG’s office to cooperate in its investigation of disability fraud.  A lot of this is out of the control of the LIRR and under the jurisdiction of the Federal Rail Road Retirement board. \nAgain\, a well spent Friday morning at LIMBA\, where we got to hear from and talk to an important leader of one of the most vital links in our region’s economic health and stability. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/helena-williams-president-lirr/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100319T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100319T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100319T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100319T040000Z UID:4402-1268956800-1268956800@limba.net SUMMARY:Bill Schoolman -STOP THE MTA Tax DESCRIPTION:Bill Schoolman is the owner of Classic Coach and Hampton Luxury Coach. He has been successful as a businessman and in that pursuit he has shown himself to be an innovator.  He came to LIMBA this morning with a message that is difficult to refute or ignore. He accused the MTA of having a 45-year history of fiscal irresponsibility. \nThe MTA tax  was recently imposed on businesses of all kinds\, not for profits\, municipalities\, and in fact any entity that has employees. Mr. Schoolman is appalled by the tax\, and believes it should be repealed. However he has no faith in the legislature in rescinding the tax\, but he believes a lawsuit could be successful. He then went into some detail as to why we should expect very little from the legislature. The biggest factor is that the NYC politicians want the tax and they would be able to prevent a 2/3 vote it would take from happening. \nSchoolman bases his case on the apparent unconstitutionality of the legislation that created the tax. After researching the state law and the authorities law Schoolman concluded the state constitution was violated 5 times\, and once under the Public Authorities law \nAfter focusing some intention on the viability of the lawsuit\, Schoolman asked the question\, "How is the money at MTA spent". He then cited several bizarre examples for the audience on how they have spent money in the past \n\nExample 1. A train mechanic had a gross income $283\,000. By manipulating the overtime rules he was able to generate that income so that his retirement can be boosted to $10\,000 per month.Mr. Schoolman pointed out that the maximum labor cost in the transportation business should be 41% or less\, at the MTA it is 67%\nExample 2 The MTA uses dogs as part of their security program. The spent $7 million on a new dog house.\nExample 3 The MTA is building or has built an employee lounge at Grand Central Station costing $20 million\nExample 4 The MTA built a headquarters building in Manhattan that was scheduled to cost $145 million\, but the final cost was $845 million.\n\n\nSchoolman alleges that these extraordinary contract costs are caused by fraud and total lack of oversight. "The business model is a failure. The MTA should go bankrupt and be sold off to people who know how to make money" according to Mr. Schoolman. \nHe has a website for his not for profit he has created to fight back. Anyone who would like to join him in his lawsuit go to  www.mtataxpayerabuse.org \n— # — \nVideo taping by Pro-Image Group\, Bart Pellegrino\, President. Thanks for your proffessionalism in your craft. Link to video will be available here on the wbsite as soon as it is available. \nMike Allen of Soundview Studios will be helping us with the video in the future. Photography for our website is provided by Eagle Eye photography- Jim Mooney\n \n  URL:https://limba.net/calendar/bill-schoolman-stop-the-mta-tax/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100312T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100312T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100312T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100312T050000Z UID:4391-1268352000-1268352000@limba.net SUMMARY:Richard Kessel\, President & CEO NY Power Authority DESCRIPTION:Members and Friends: \nWe were pleased to welcome again Richard Kessel\, electricity maven for the state of New York. The unsinkable\, energetic Richie gave the capacity crowd a rundown on the what the New York Power Authority (NYPA) is\, where its going\, and what its pressing issues are. \nVery fashionably late\, Richie joked about knowing how to get to ALCOA’s North Country plant in Massena\, New York better than the Long Island hometown hotel we met at this morning. Opening with a hello to the many people that he has worked with on Long Island over the years\, he emphasized that in the energy business you are only as good as the crew that works for you\, and was effusive in his praise for the folks running LIPA and the Transmission and Distribution ( T&D ) network for National Grid. Richie was also proud of LIPA’s record of performance\, having resisted a base rate increase for the twelve years since its founding in 1998\, and the $12 Billion invested in the T&D network on Long Island. \nNYPA is a statewide enterprise operating T&D and electric generating facilities. Richie estimated that he spends 30-40% of his time traveling the state\, and the challenges in running NYPA are much the same as running LIPA. The main thrust and mission of NYPA is to utilize energy to keep and create jobs in New York. Returning to Massena\, he described NYPA’s agreement with Alcoa that allowed the smelter to remain open\, preserving hundreds of jobs. He estimated that over two thousand jobs have been kept in New York during his tenure at NYPA so far. \nRichie went on to describe the efforts of NYPA to help Globe Metals to stay in New York\, Computer Associates to retain and expand its data center on Long Island\, and keep International Wire and Cable in Camden\, New York afloat. Job creation was a theme also with attracting Yahoo’s newest Data Center to Lockport\, NY. \nAlong with utilizing electric subsidies to preserve and create jobs\, building electrical infrastructure is another job creation strategy. Richie defended his record of T & D and generation investments at LIPA\, while describing the repowering efforts in Astoria Queens\, and his championing of the creation of a new "Electric Thruway " between Long Island and Canada along existing rights of way. Working closely with Hydro-Quebec and National Grid\, the thruway would bring cheaper hydropower from new projects in Canada down through New York state and Long Island. Richie also described a new Trans-Hudson cable that is estimated will save ConEd ratepayers $2 Billion over the next 20 years and increase the reliability of the grid. \nHe also detailed his long time efforts to bring renewables and energy efficiency to the fore with the LED Traffic light program in Nassau County\, upgrades at the Bergen Point Sewer Plant in Suffolk\, and the new 100 Megawatt Statewide Solar Project\, which will quintuple the solar generation in the state. An infamous supporter of wind projects\, he also described the Great Lakes offshore wind project\, which is targeted to generate between 120-500 Megawatts of power in an area where wind power is already embraced. \nThe meeting contained a lively\, wide-ranging Q & A with Richie addressing local issues of ESCOs and strategic efforts of financing solar power\, extending the meeting past its close but being very gracious and generous with his time and knowledge. Again\, a friday morning well spent at LIMBA in the company of one of the state’s literal power players\, and a room full of movers and shakers of the local economy.  \nSee the video for this meeting at http://www.proimagegroupinc.com/limba/3-12-10/ \nCraig Plunkett URL:https://limba.net/calendar/richard-kessel-president-ceo-ny-power-authority-2/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100305T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100305T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100305T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100305T050000Z UID:4403-1267747200-1267747200@limba.net SUMMARY:Joint meeting with LIMBA/LICA (L I Contractors Assoc) DESCRIPTION:LICA Executive Director\,Mark Herbst has invited all LIMBA members to attend a legislature meeting at the Melville Marriott located at 1350 Walt Whitman Rd. \nThere is no charge\, but please confirm your attendence \,by; \nFax 631 7573607 \nPhone 631 757 1698  or \nEmail ernie@limba.net  \nDo not attempt to register on the website URL:https://limba.net/calendar/joint-meeting-with-limbalica-l-i-contractors-assoc/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100226T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100226T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100226T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100226T050000Z UID:4405-1267142400-1267142400@limba.net SUMMARY:Program Cancelled because of weather DESCRIPTION:Anticipating sever snow particularly in Nassau County we cancelled the meeting that featured Regional Plan chairman\, John Cameron. Mr Cameron will join us on May 14th and there will be some other items to report at that time. \nAnyone who was preregistered will be given credit to that meeting or another meeting. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/program-cancelled-because-of-weather/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100219T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100219T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100219T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190315T061024Z UID:4389-1266537600-1266537600@limba.net SUMMARY:Assembyman Michael Fitzpatrick DESCRIPTION:  \nPension Reform for the Political Class \nMr. Fitzpatrick arrived this morning to speak to us about what is wrong with New York State\, and how to fix it.  In a refreshing perspective\, he described to us how the pension system for the Political Class works.  In opening\, he said if you want to change politics\, you need to change the defined benefits plan pension system. (DBP).  The path of least resistance is the road most often taken in Albany.  DBPs are the place to focus on.  Term limits are not the answer\, because as we have seen\, politicians move to find jobs within the patronage system as they are term limited out.  This keeps them in the pension system and it operates at all levels of NYS government\, from the state down to the town and village levels.  Term limits don’t remove people from politics.  Mr. Fitzpatrick handed out reprints of! several articles that appeared in the Wall Street Journal ( Henninger\, Merrick )and New York Post regarding political spending and benefits.  He also called DBPs “Fiscal Carbon Monoxide”.  Very few members of the public understand how the system works\, and we need to get people to focus on the issue.  Moving the Political Class to Defined Contribution Plans like 401K’s would clean up the system and eliminate the practice of “pension spiking”\, where an official in the system moves to a high paying job for the last three years! of their career to boost their pension. \nMr. Fitzpatrick is happy to be known as one of the most conservative assembly members and is sponsoring a pension reform bill.  Right now\, there is no incentive to be fiscally responsible in government.  The unions and the government don’t really negotiate with one another for the common benefit\, instead there is much public posturing and threats to oust the incumbent.  The reform bill is designated A.06932.  The bill would cap present pensions and introduce a Defined Contribution Plan for retirement.  Changing the rules of the game is what is needed\, and this bill will be a start on the road.  Term limits don’t change the game rules\, they simply force the players to find new spots.  He gave the illustration of an elected official moving to a patr! onage job to boost that last three years of salary\, which determines the pension payout. \nAllowing pension contributions to be amortized over time\, simply makes them more expensive and puts it on the governmental credit card.  Government is operating on an antiquated business model and the time of reckoning is arriving quickly.  Quoting Herb Stein\, “Anything that can’t go on\, won’t”.  His bill is not addressing the vast majority of public employees yet\, it is addressing the Political Class.  He is expecting a fight over the State Constitutionality of the bill around the diminishment of benefits\, and described a debate that he had with a staffer in the Comptroller’s office around this.  His assertion is that if you don’t carve out the Political Class from DBPs\, you will not change the culture of Albany.  The Political Class will no! t do anything against their self-interest unless it is forced to. \nThe Assemblyman wound up his passionate pitch by emphasizing that pension reform is the place to start.  As an ex-banker he understands the pension system\, and how it works.  The Political Class’s benefits are far outstripping the benefits available to the general public\, and it is sowing the seeds of revolution.  To have a healthy public sector\, you need a healthy private sector\, and the path that the government is on is the wrong direction.  A Defined Contribution Plan stops the gaming of the pension system.  Starting with the Political Class\, create new tiers of pension systems\, eventually moving the entire state employee system to Defined Contribution Plans.  He closed with a plea to ask candidates for office their stand on the following question:  “Should taxpayers continue to fund Defined Benefit Plans for Politi! cians?” and listen very carefully to their answers. \nThe Q&A portion of the program was excellent\, as usual. \nA question from Jovanna Little about Section 211 waivers prompted an explanation.  A section 211 waiver is something that allows a pension collector to draw a salary from a new job\, essentially double-dipping.  This is often illustrated by the case of a police officer retiring from the force in their mid-forties and starting another career in the public sector while drawing their police pension.  The Assemblyman related that the screams about these waivers will get louder as the fiscal walls keep closing in\, and that State Senator Jeff Klein is leading the effort to close this loophole. \nOnce again\, a revealing look at a subject that not many of us know about\, but affects us all greatly.  LIMBA offers you the chance to interact with knowledgeable people in positions of power for a very reasonable price.  The heaviest price is getting an early start on a Friday morning\, but it is well worth the effort. \n\nCraig Plunkett\nTest URL:https://limba.net/calendar/assembyman-michael-fitzpatrick/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100212T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100212T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100212T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100212T050000Z UID:4388-1265932800-1265932800@limba.net SUMMARY:Presidents Day Weekend NO MEETING DESCRIPTION: URL:https://limba.net/calendar/presidents-day-weekend-no-meeting-5/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100205T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100205T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100205T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100205T050000Z UID:4385-1265328000-1265328000@limba.net SUMMARY:Congressman Tim Bishop DESCRIPTION:Members and Friends\, \n \nThis morning we were pleased to welcome Congressman Tim Bishop\, of the 1st District in New York.  Mr. Bishop’s talk today was on the economy and job creation. You can see the entire meeting on video including the feisty Q&A session on Pro Image Studios website:  http://proimagegroupinc.com/limba/2-5-10 In his opinion\, there are three keys to recovering from the recession:\n \n\n\nPutting people back to work so they can begin to spend again and get economic demand stoked.\nStabilizing the banking system to get lending moving again\, providing working capital to business.\nForeclosure mitigation\, keeping homeowners in their homes.\n\nMr. Bishop went on to describe the stimulus program (ARRA) as a modest success against those three goals\, and a singular success at pulling our financial system back from the brink of a total depression.  It is easy to take shots at TARP\, but it worked to avoid a complete collapse.  The ARRA has served to begin the process of bringing us out of a deep hole\, with GDP swinging to a positive direction during the year since its announcement.  The Congressman provided many statistics to reinforce his assertion.  He claimed the best evidence for the ARRA’s influence on Long Island is to look at education on Long Island.  He said that the program backfilled the cuts that would have had to happen without the injection of $157 million dollars to the local education authorities.  It saved local jobs\, avoided a property tax increase\, and preserved the quality of education on Long Island. \n \nTim went on to say that until the recovery of jobs takes place\, we can’t claim to be out of a recession.  We desperately need infrastructure investment\, as these are investments whose benefits remain with us for a long time.  The ARRA didn’t include enough for infrastructure\, the Jobs for Main Street program does.  This program also has money in it to continue to backfill education cuts at the state level.  This will hopefully help us avoid a double dip recession which is possible with the upcoming negative stimulus of state budget cuts.\n \nThe congressman went on to describe the differences between the Obama administration’s budget proposal and the House and Senate versions.  The President’s budget focuses more on small business and less on infrastructure.  Four important points in the budget are tax credits for new hiring\, rebates on the employer portion of the Social Security tax\, an increase in the SBA’s 7A loan program\, and the creation of a small business credit facility from the remainder of unissued TARP funds.  This facility would be geared to small businesses of under 500 employees and administered by smaller community banks.  He described this year’s budget as a set of efforts among the administration\, House and Senate that he feels confident will be hammered out into a set of good policies to get us back on track.  Time will tell us whether it is successful\, we have begun to turn things around today.  In closing\, the Congressman said nobody s! hould be crowing about where we are now\, but he asserted that we are in a better place than where we were a year ago.\n \n\nThe Q&A program was feisty\, focusing on infrastructure investment and research. There were questions on MAGLEV\, the Gas Tax\, and the US National debt. It was punctuated by a sharp exchange between one of our guests and the congressman.  See it for yourself on your computer or smartphone at http://proimagegroupinc.com/limba/2-5-10  Come to a LIMBA meeting to participate\, network and greet our elected officials and community leaders. \nCraig Plunkett \nOur efforts to provide the video of these meetings has been very helpful in getting our comunications to our readers. This would be a high profile opportunity for you to sponsor the efforts of our video team.  Pro-Image Studios have been sponsoring the work themselves. and we thank them. Call me I’ll tell you what is involved. \nErnie Fazio 631 757-1698 URL:https://limba.net/calendar/congressman-tim-bishop-3/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20100129T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20100129T000000 DTSTAMP:20260422T182637 CREATED:20100129T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20100129T050000Z UID:4392-1264723200-1264723200@limba.net SUMMARY:Neil Sieden Jan 29 Financing Challenges & Solutions DESCRIPTION:Neil Seiden gave an illuminating presentation that explored the means of financing that may not be that desirable when things are easy but are used when the going gets tough. He ticked off the various means of financing stating the pro and con of each method. He starting with traditional bank financing\, SBA Financing\, Friends and Family\, Angel Investors\, Purchase Order Financing\, Factoring\, Venture Capital\, Trade Financing\, Asset based loans\, Monetized Foreign Receivables\, and Mezzanine Financing. Each situation has its own useful niche and Neil gave an excellent walk through of each example. The lesson taken from his talk for me was that when the banker says no\, it is not the end of the road. The questions that followed indicated to me a high level of interest in the topic. \nNeil’s company is; Asset Enhancement Solutions LLC and they can be reached at 516 767-0100 or fax 516 706-0028  neil.seiden@assetenhancement.com \nErnie Fazio URL:https://limba.net/calendar/neil-sieden-jan-29-financing-challenges-solutions/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR