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:20060402T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20061029T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20070311T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20071104T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20080309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20081102T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070831T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070831T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070831T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070831T040000Z UID:4251-1188518400-1188518400@limba.net SUMMARY:NO MEETING LABOR DAY weekend DESCRIPTION: URL:https://limba.net/calendar/no-meeting-labor-day-weekend-5/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070824T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070824T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070824T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070824T040000Z UID:4264-1187913600-1187913600@limba.net SUMMARY:Kevin Dahill Pres & CEO Nassau Suffolk Hosp Coop DESCRIPTION:This morning’s speaker Kevin Dahill\, President and CEO of Nassau Suffolk\nHospital Council spoke about a topic that is more and more a concern of all of\nus\, the cost of healthcare. In the past six years the health care system has\nleft out 5 million more people. The total of documented uninsureds is 45\nmillion. The actual number is believed to be much higher. \nDo these people go without care? No! We don’t do that in this country\, we accept\nthe indigent and otherwise uninsured in our hospitals. The problem is that this\nsituation creates sicker patients among the uninsured than the insured\npopulation. The cost of caring for these people is much higher than it may have\nbeen if they had ordinary access to care. Moreover that cost must be borne by\nthose that are insured. It isn’t difficult to see that such a system is destined\nto collapse on itself. \nMr Dahill pointed out another problem that comes in the form of how medical\ninstitutions are reimbursed. As an example\, a simple case of pneumonia will be\neasily corrected and reimbursement is minimal. The hospital is likely to lose\nmoney on such an admission. On the other hand interventional procedures are\nlikely to be a money maker for the hospital. In his words\, "We don’t have a\nhealthcare system\, we have sick care system. There is little or no incentives\nfor the long term health of our citizens"(not an exact quote). \nDahill advocates that our systems for healthcare be more transparent\, and\nconsumer friendly. He also believes that the present delivery system is failing\nus and some form of universal healthcare must be devised. I reminded him that\none of the smallest states in the union\, Vermont\, now has universal healthcare.\nI asked Kevin if it was working. According to Dahill\, it is. He went on to say\nthat he has looked at the efforts of other states and they are less committed\nand therefore are doing less well. His example here was Massachusetts. \nDahill suggested that we challenge every presidential candidate\, Republican or\nDemocrat on the issue of universal healthcare. The model we now have according\nto Dahill is not sustainable. \nWe also discussed the awards being made in malpractice suits\, and the impact on\ncosts. We suggested that a medical malpractice board similar to a workers\ncompensation board might work. Dahill had a slightly different take on that\nidea. he thinks a special awards court could be devised. Judges on that court\nwould have to have good medical knowledge. \nOne of Dahill’s final remarks was that prevention takes a backseat to\nintervention and that should be changed. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/kevin-dahill-pres-ceo-nassau-suffolk-hosp-coop/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070817T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070817T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070817T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070817T040000Z UID:4259-1187308800-1187308800@limba.net SUMMARY:Matt Crosson\, LIA president DESCRIPTION:Today our speaker\, LIA President Matt Crosson\, was asked to speak about\n the need to marshal the resources of all of the organizations that would\n like to bring about positive change. Matt buys into that notion and he\n has led the way that helps others find their voice. Personally I have\n worked with LIA over the years and gave my input.\n \n\n  \n\n Mr. Crosson chose to attack a specific area of concern to all of us\,\n workforce housing.  There are several facets that are part of this\n intractable problem\, and that makes it complex and difficult to solve.\n Not  getting it done will have consequences. According to Crosson our\n economy will suffer as we move into the future. He contrasted what is\n happening today to what has happened in the past\n\n  \n\n From about 1960 to 1989 there was an increase of 289\,000 people in the\n age range of 20-24. From 1990 to 2005 there was a net loss of the same\n demographic. What is involved is housing\, transportation\, and sewers.\n The problem becomes more difficult when you consider the negative\n attitudes that established residents have toward workforce housing. It\n doesn’t seem to matter that some of these people will be our own\n children. \n\n  \n\n There is an estimated shortage of 120\,000 living units. According to\n Crosson\, and I have heard this from builders as well\, there is no way we\n can achieve this without having a certain density. We cannot have this\n kind of density without good transportation and SEWERS. Sewers are\n everywhere in Nassau County but not in Suffolk.  Crosson also spoke\n about the livability of this denser housing. It can be quite attractive.\n \n\n  \n\n This is an area where LIA and LIMBA have had the same message. This\n is problem that must be addressed because negative long term effects of\n poor planning are too expensive in the long run to correct. Matt Crosson\n is well versed on the topic and a very good presenter. We thank him for\n his appearance at LIMBA \n\n  \n\n Of course there are other infrastructure items that align the purposes\n of LIMBA and LIA. Robust rail freight and increased  ferry\n transportation are two important issues we thoroughly agree on. \n\nPictured: Ernie Fazio\, Matt Crosson and Bill Miller. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/matt-crosson-lia-president/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070810T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070810T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070810T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070810T040000Z UID:4252-1186704000-1186704000@limba.net SUMMARY:NYIT Solar Decathlon Program; Mathew Mathosian Dan Ripka DESCRIPTION:Members and friends\nThis morning we had a presentation about building energy efficient dwellings. NY\nInstitute of Technology’s Dan Rapka told us about The Solar Decathlon This is an\ninternational competition to create the right design and combination of\ntechnologies to create a low energy use house. The competition includes\nprestigious engineering schools around the US and Europe. The NYIT entry was\nbuilt on the campus of NYIT and will be disassembled and reconstructed on The\nMall in Washington DC. NYIT alumnus and LIMBA Energy expert\, John Eff introduced\nthe speakers.\n \nOver the years we have seen the prospects of new sources of energy and new\nways to use this precious resource. Most of it was encouraging. The photo\nvoltaic technology has been a factor for about 40 years. Geothermal has been\naround in some form or another an equally long time. Structural insulated panels\n(SIP)\, as they are often referred to are also a known and trusted technology. So\nif these avenues of energy conservation are so proven\, why aren’t we using them\non a large scale? Actually we did not pose that question to our presenters this\nmorning\, at least not directly. However we are now at a juncture that may make\nthese technologies more commonplace in our structures. \n \nOne of the technologies that I thought was very interesting is Geothermal.\nGeothermal uses the same basic principles as a refrigerator or an air\nconditioner. The system can extract room temperature (72 degrees) from the\nground in even subfreezing weather even though the ground may not be any warmer\nthan 55 degrees. In the summertime the system can extract room temperature (72\ndegrees) and the ground temperature is again 55 degrees. The mechanical\ncomponents are pumps and compressors. They are far more energy efficient than\ntraditional furnace and air conditioning technology and there is no on site\npollution.\n \nIntegrating Solar PV and Solar Thermal systems into homes that require\nminimal energy by virtue of their designs. The idea that we supplant the energy\nuse in homes of a design that wastes energy is not the way to go. The Solar\nDecathlon project takes advantage of the building "envelope" technology that\nreduces the need for energy and then manufactures that energy\, or efficiently\nuses grid supplied power. By combining various technologies and then applying\nhighly sophisticated control systems we can deliver an energy efficient home\nwithin reasonable costs. By doing all of these things in concert we can create a\nbetter functioning home.- With all this the house is in a symbiotic relationship\nwith the utility grid\, using grid power when needed.\n \nThe emphasis is on comfort\, dependability\, and cost. The implication is we do\nnot require a sacrifice in comfort to achieve what is needed for our times. We\ncan do more with less URL:https://limba.net/calendar/nyit-solar-decathlon-program-mathew-mathosian-dan-ripka/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070803T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070803T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070803T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070803T040000Z UID:4258-1186099200-1186099200@limba.net SUMMARY:Michael White\, Long Island Regional Plan Director DESCRIPTION:This morning’s speaker was Michael White\, Michael is the Executive Director of\nthe Long Island Regional Board. Mr White outlined the breadth and scope of the\nplanning group. Workforce housing\, transportation\, energy issues\, and\nenvironmental planning are all considerations. All of the planning must consider\nthe ramifications that each piece of the planning puzzle creates for another\npiece. \n \nWorkforce housing must take into consideration the ability of the schools to\nabsorb the children that will be new to the district. That means having a tax\nbase that supports that move. In turn there is a need to create industrial\nviability to provide the taxes that will be needed. It’s a complex puzzle. The\ntransportation needs of any such development must be addressed too\, whether the\nsolution is road access or public transportation.\n \nWater supplies and waste water management are essential to good planning. The\nstigma of the Southwest Sewer District scandal still hangs over any planning to\ncreate new sewers. This timidity on the part of policy makers may be\nunderstandable\, but that does not change the fact that these infrastructure\nneeds must be met. \n \nMr White spoke about the need to work with\,and communicate with Nassau County\nas well as the towns and villages of both counties. The Regional Plan\nAssociation of New York is a big player in the city’s planning and has been\neffectively guiding development for many years. A few years ago the RPA made an\noutreach to Long Island to help us with issues that affect both regions. (the\nRPA has also reached out to northern New Jersey and western Conecticutt). LIMBA\nis a part of the RPA Long Island Committee\, and we have been looking at issues\nsuch as ferries\, road and rail transportation. Seeing ourselves as part of a\nlarger region is useful and instructive. Mr White seems to have the scope and\ntechnical trainning to take advantage of the input that is available. \nWe questioned Michael with the fact that planning in the past\, as good as it may\nhave been\, it went largely ignored. Our question to him why was "Why is this\ntime different?" His answer was that "We are probably ready". Maybe? We’ll see!\n\n \nIn Today’s Newsday\nIn today’s paper there was an article citing support by Senators Flanagan\,\nTrunzo\, and Johnson for disgruntled activists who do not want to see a freight\nrail/truck transfer at Pilgrim State. Blocking the building of that facility is\nthe wrong way to go. Politicians who demonstrate no vision and courage have sunk\nthe planning process in the past. Perhaps we are seeing more of the same.\nLIMBA’s position on rail freight is established. We believe that more rail\nfreight will reduces wear and tear on our roads\, cut down on pollution\, reduce\nair pollution and lower the cost of goods. LIMBA will give the Senators a forum\nto explain their positions\, if they are interested. We will publish exactly what\nthey say. I placed the calls to each of their offices this afternoon. \nPictured: Michael White and Ernie Fazio URL:https://limba.net/calendar/michael-white-long-island-regional-plan-director/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070727T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070727T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070727T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070727T040000Z UID:4247-1185494400-1185494400@limba.net SUMMARY:Subi Chakraborti\, NY State DOT\, Regional Director DESCRIPTION:Members and friends\n\n This morning’s speaker\, NY State Department of Transportation Regional\n Director\, Subi Chakraborti\, gave us an overview  of the\n responsibilities of the NYSDOT. We also discussed specific projects that\n are either planned or in progress.\n\n  \n\n The department does not have direct responsibilities to rail service\,\n however where rail service has an impact on the roads there is\n cooperation. One of LIMBA’s long standing goals has been increasing rail\n freight because it significantly reduces the impact of pollution and\n road damage caused by trucks on the roads. The NYSDOT believes strongly\n that an inter-modal rail truck transfer station would be a good idea for\n the Pilgrim State hospital property. We agree! With less than 2% of all\n freight coming to Long Island by rail\, an increase to 10% would remove\n 325\,000 trucks each year. (these statistics were developed by NY &\n Atlantic RR)  \n\n  \n\n While a lot of NYSDOT’s works are not ribbon cutting events because they\n are maintaining the enormous infrastructure we already have\, there have\n some noteable changes. The HOV lane \, like it or not\, was one of them.\n Most the  of the NYSDOT budget is devoted to rebuilding the roads and\n briges that we have in place. There was the redecking of the southbound\n Robert Moses Causeway bridge a few years ago. There are now plans to\n rebuild the northbound lanes of that structure. They will be redesigning\n the traffic circle at Jones Beach. The revised situation is called a\n "Roundabout"The nature of the changes will produce less accidents. One\n more thing on Jones Beach\, there will be a bicycle path built along\n Ocean Parkway from Jones Beach to Captree\, a 12 mile link. Now what we\n need is a bicycle path over Robert Moses Causeway.\n\n  \n\n Other projects around Long Island include the rebuilding and redesigning\n Rt 347. This is a very large project involving at least 2 overpasses and\n additional lanes. That contract will be let in sections.\n\n  \n\n The NYSDOT has already converted 80% of its traffic signals to Light\n Emitting Diode technology (LED). This technology reduces power\n consumption by about 90% and reduces service needs significantly.\n\n  \n\n Subi or someone in his department will now be giving LIMBA updates on an\n annual basis. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/subi-chakraborti-ny-state-dot-regional-director/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070720T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070720T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070720T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070720T040000Z UID:4245-1184889600-1184889600@limba.net SUMMARY:Duke Dufresne\, Northrop Grumman DESCRIPTION:Members and friends \nFriday morning at LIMBA\, on the 38th anniversary of the first moon\nlanding\, we had\nDuke Dufresne\, the current chief of Northrop Grumman\nCorporation’s Integrated\nSystems Eastern Region (Ticker NOC)\, the current incarnation of the\nLunar Module\nbuilder\, give us an update on what is going on with the storied\naerospace\ncorporation\, long a mainstay of the Long Island economy.\nDuke is head of the eastern region of NGC Integrated Systems\, which is\na 2\nBillion dollar division of the company\, working with the Navy and Air\nForce to\nconnect the warfighter on the ground\, sea\, and air\, with the\ninformation they\nneed to execute their missions.  Today\, there are\napproximately 4\,600 employees\nin the Eastern Division of which 2000 are on Long Island.  A\nrecent highlight\nwas the win of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye pilot production contract\,\ntotaling 408\nMillion dollars to build 3 new aircraft.  Duke expects the\nNavy to buy 75\naircraft in the full production program\, and the Bethpage location will\nhave a\nstrong role in the engineering functions\, with the airframes being\nbuilt in St.\nAugustine in Florida.  The team is busy pursuing opportunities\non the Navy’s\nBAMS project and the AF’s Tanker replacement program\, which\nare both due to be\nawarded later this year.\nDuke discussed some of the challenges that doing business on Long Island\npresents\, such as the cost of housing\, and the recruiting problems that\nthey\npresent.  He also detailed some of the programs that Northrop\nhas in place to\naddress these issues\, such as a grant program for employees that are\nfirst time\nhome buyers.  One of the great programs that they run is an\noutreach program to\nget school kids interested in careers in engineering\, that not only\ngoes into\nhigh schools\, but starts in the middle schools\, catching their interest\nearly\,\nand hopefully recruiting more local talent that will stay on Long\nIsland.   An\navid boater\, the southern California transplant was effusive in his\npraise for\nhis new home\,  a reminder that some of us natives take what we\nhave here for\ngranted because we grew up with it.  \nThe aerospace community was well represented at our meeting\, with many\npartners\nof Northrop Grumman on hand to educate us on the extensive programs\nthat affect\nsubcontractors during the Q and A session.  It was again\, a\nvery well spent\nmorning at LIMBA with a chance to meet and greet Duke Dufresne\, one of\nthe region’s most\ninfluential people\, and NGC’s partners. Included in the mix was; \n\nJoseph Battaglia — President\, Telephonics\nEd Palacio — Vice President\, EDO \nJohn Capacchione — CAPY Machine \nPeter Rettaliata — President\, Air Industries \nKenneth Nevor — NDIA (National Defense Industrial\nAssociation) Conference \n \n\nalso in attendance were Northrop Grumman associates: \n\nDiane Dufresne\nPatricia McMahon  \nDianne Baumert-Moyik \nStacy Simpson  \n \n\n and of course  the ever curious and involved LIMBA\nmembership\n \nOfficiating for LIMBA\, Bill Miller\, Pres \nPresiding over meeting Dick Dunne\, LIMBA Board Member\nReport Written by;Craig Plunkett\, CEDX Corporation\n \nThanks to all. The meeting was a big success URL:https://limba.net/calendar/duke-dufresne-northrop-grumman/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070713T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070713T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070713T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070713T040000Z UID:4249-1184284800-1184284800@limba.net SUMMARY:Frank Boulton\, Owner\, Long Island Ducks DESCRIPTION:LI Ducks owner Frank Boulton began with a 5 minute news piece that\n appeared on CNBC. As Boulton put it\, "this was coverage you cannot buy."\n Frank’s affection for the game of baseball\, the players\, and the\n community is undeniable. Bud Harrelson and Boulton came to LIMBA eight\n years ago and made a presentation on what they hoped to accomplish.\n Today the dream they had\, creating excellent and affordable baseball on\n Long Island is a reality. The tickets are $10 and they maintain the low\n cost through good corporate sponsorship.\n\n  \n\n This is not amateur baseball. Sometimes a player gets bumped from the\n majors\, and instead of languishing waiting for his million dollar plus\n contract to return\, he will opt to work for $2100 to $3000  per month\n just to keep up his skills. A player may restart his big league\n career after playing a year or two\, and little or no restrictions are\n put on them. Frank did not say this\, but I’m sure that the fair\n treatment gives them an never ending supply of talent. \n \n\n  \n\n From a business point of view\, whatever they are doing is working.\n Maxing-out on the income revenues is always tempting\, but to be\n sustainable in a sector of the economy\, that is not  notably successful\,\n (minor league baseball)\, they have done very well. Most of their seats\n are presold. They are technically\, usually "sold out." Although\, if you\n come to the park as a Standing Room Only customer\, you can find a seat\n after the first inning when they can identify the "no-show" seats. This\n also explains why they have a 103% sold capacity.\n\n  \n\n The owners are very sensitive to the community in which they operate.\n They have hosted large events for Breast Cancer Awareness as well as\n other charities. They really get into the spirit. The players all wore\n pink campaign shirts and used pink bats. It was a big success. \n\n  \n\n The team has 3 million fans and that number was reached in less time\n than any team in history in the country. I came away believing these\n owners care about the players. They want to provide quality family\n entertainment. They routinely test for drugs such as marijuana\, and\n reprimand players when drugs are found. Steroids tests have not been\n routine\, and every year the debate the value of doing so.\n\nPictured: Bill Miller\, LIMBA & Frank Boulton URL:https://limba.net/calendar/frank-boulton-owner-long-island-ducks/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070706T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070706T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070706T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070706T040000Z UID:4248-1183680000-1183680000@limba.net SUMMARY:4th of July Week - NO MEETING DESCRIPTION: URL:https://limba.net/calendar/4th-of-july-week-no-meeting/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070629T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070629T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070629T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070629T040000Z UID:4243-1183075200-1183075200@limba.net SUMMARY:Dr Joseph Mcdonell\, Associate Dean of Bus. at Stony Brook DESCRIPTION:Our speaker this morning was SUNY Stony Brook\, Associate Dean of Business\, Joseph McDonnell Phd.\nChina\, the fearsome juggernaut? Maybe\, maybe not so much\, According to Dr McDonnell. While China is being recognized as the “worlds factory\,” they have a long way to go before they surpass or marginalize the economic giant that is the United States. That was my take on the talk given at this morning’s LIMBA breakfast. \nChina is growing at an unprecedented rate over the past 25 years\, and with that rate of growth are numerous problems. Dr W. Edwards Deming introduced management techniques to Japan that made them a formidable competitor\, China has not embraced the “quality” idea yet (pet food\, toothpaste etc). More than that\, they are not the great innovators that they consider the Americans to be. According to McDonnell they admire us. On the other hand America is treated with wariness\, as are many western countries. They almost expect others to rake them over the coals (my words\, not his). As a result the Chinese are difficult to deal with. \nMcDonnell went on to say that the Chinese desire to save\, has made them small consumers. China being a low cost provider of goods is actually a double edge sword that tends to give them great growth. But there is not a lot of wages paid out to support a home grown demand for products. That fact will limit growth going forward. And now they are beginning to deal with pollution. \nAs we work to make trade with China\, safer and fairer\, we probably have perceived them as a bigger threat than they actually are. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/dr-joseph-mcdonell-associate-dean-of-bus-at-stony-brook/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070622T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070622T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070622T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070622T040000Z UID:4246-1182470400-1182470400@limba.net SUMMARY:Bob Boerner\, Conservation Services Group DESCRIPTION:New Page 1\n \n \n \n\n\n On Friday our expected speaker did not show up. This rarely happens at\n LIMBA (I can’t even remember it happening without any notice). \n\n  \n\n We have the most astute\, speakers that respond to our call. Fortunately\n we have an equally astute group of people who attend our meetings. The\n topic was the Energy Star Program that has been adopted by several of\n the towns\, and what it means. The contractor that will be training the\n new personnel that will make the program work is Conservation Services\n Group. Bob Boerner works for the company and he is in charge of the\n program. Bob immediately told us that he does not ordinarily do public\n speaking\, but his ability to convey a cogent message was immediately\n apparent.\n\n  \n\n The mandates of the Energy Star Program sets a standard of energy use\n efficiency in new homes that must indicate a 30% reduction of energy as\n opposed to a standard code constructed house. Bear in mind the present\n code is substantially more efficient that the codes of 25 years ago.\n According to Boerner\, we could even do better.\n\n  \n\n Among the criteria that will be evaluated are the air infiltration of\n the house. This can be measured by the use of a device that sucks out\n the air in the dwelling and air filtering into the house can be\n measured. If the infiltration is too high\, the house will fail\n inspection. Boerner also addressed the need for air conditioning to be\n efficient. The integrity of the system can be lost to leaks in ducts.\n These leaks may not be obvious\, but they can be measured. If the house\n fails\, the leaks must be fixed. Air conditioning systems must also be\n properly sized. The conventional wisdom is "bigger is better". Not rue\,\n says Boerner. A smaller system will take a little longer to cool the\n house but the humidity will be driven out of the house due to the longer\n cycling. Moreover the installed system will cost less to buy and cost\n less to run. And\, as a result of the lower humidity the comfortable\n temperature will be slightly higher\, further reducing operating costs.\n \n\n  \n\n There was some discussion on the training program for the technicians\n that will be needed for the task of rating these new homes so that they\n are in compliance. In that discussion we covered the compensation these\n techs could expect doing this work. It appears to be a high paid\, high\n skill job for technically oriented people. That sounds like a plus all\n around. \n\n  \n\n Bob Boerner did an excellent job in his presentation and during the Q&A\,\n particularly since he was a last minute substitute. We did well by\n having him. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/bob-boerner-conservation-services-group/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070615T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070615T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070615T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070615T040000Z UID:4244-1181865600-1181865600@limba.net SUMMARY:Dr Andaz\, Nassau County Medical Center (Hilton Gardens) DESCRIPTION:Dr Andaz an oncologist from South Nassau Hospital gave a talk on\n cancer. the focus was on lung cancer and the devastating statistics\n on smoking. Smoking however\, according to Dr Andaz\, accounts for a\n lot more than lung cancer. Primarily all the cancers associated in\n the mouth and upper respiratory as well as cancers we often\n do not attribute to cancer. Namely pancreatic cancer and bladder\n cancer. \n\n \n Lung cancer is so often lethal because its detection is usually too\n late to stop the progression. The hospital is embarking on an\n ambitious study to screen cancer by using low-dose CT scans. The\n belief is that while the stats on breast cancer have improved\n dramatically\, lung cancer sufferers are not  experiencing the same\n success rates. Early detection\, it is believed\, will change lung\n cancer to a chronic rather than a deadly affliction. \n To enter the screening you must have been a smoker of 20 or more\n years and the screening is free. The participants must contact the\n South Nassau Hospital and ask Gail Carlin at Community Relations at\n 516 377-5371 URL:https://limba.net/calendar/dr-andaz-nassau-county-medical-center-hilton-gardens/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070608T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070608T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070608T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070608T040000Z UID:4253-1181260800-1181260800@limba.net SUMMARY:Keyspan-National Grid merger/acquisition DESCRIPTION:Friday we had a most unusual meeting with no scheduled speaker we\n used the opportunity to discuss any major issue facing Long Island.\n The topic of the Keyspan-National Grid merger/acquisition was\n introduced and as luck would have it\, Dr Matt Cordaro was in the\n room. Cordaro began his career with LILCO\, and left LILCO more than\n 25 years ago. Since then he has headed up several other utility\n companies. \n\n In recent years he has made his mark in academia\, as a dean at LIU.\n There was an interesting discussion about whether or not the\n Keyspan-Grid transaction would be good for Long Island. We asked for\n his comments.\n\n  \n\n Cordaro gave us his insights on the matter and while he said there\n are very little benefits to Long Island\, his take was that it was\n not particularly scary either. According to Matt there are some\n doubts that the deal can be completed due to some conditions imposed\n by the state agencies that regulate these matters. Conditions that\n make the end result less attractive to National Grid. We’ll see.\n\n  \n\n Later  an idea was introduced  by Carol Lucca. An idea that would\n promote local talent\, while at the same time help a charity. Her\n premise is that in a population the size of Long Island there is\n theatrical and performing talent that is excellent\, but because of\n great economic opportunity outside of the world of entertainment\n "went corporate" as the expression goes. Technically these folks are\n amateurs\, but many of them practice their skills and play among\n friends keeping themselves sharp. Her idea is to give them a format\n that allows them to demonstrate their abilities in a major showcase.\n The process would allow the really good performers to be selected\n for such a showcase. The event is scheduled for Oct 1\, 2007 and will\n benefit Breast Cancer Help Inc. Anybody who would like to audition\n or help the effort can email\n \n brestcancerinc@optline.net URL:https://limba.net/calendar/keyspan-national-grid-mergeracquisition/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070601T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070601T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070601T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070601T040000Z UID:4241-1180656000-1180656000@limba.net SUMMARY:Ray Kenny\, acting President\, LIRR DESCRIPTION:This morning we had a presentation from the acting president of the LIRR.\n Mr Ray Kenny started with an overview of the railroads performance\n records. The performance can be summarized here by saying that the best\n year on record was 2002 at 94% for on time trains. Currently we are on\n schedule to do slightly better than that. Customer satisfaction is\n presently at 6.6 out of a possible 10.\n We spent some time on customer accidents particularly accidents caused\n by the platform gap. The immediate response to the gap problem is\n creating public awareness of the possible danger. But Kenny realizes\n that that is not enough.   He then explained the technical fixes that\n may be used\, including moveable platforms and the hazards associated\n with that fix. Weather\, signaling\, and high speed trains through a\n station are all things that must be considered.\n What I considered to be the most important part of the presentation was\n the future developments of the railroad.\n We discussed East Side Access\, Third Track on the LIRR main line\, and\n the community resistance to any changes. \n East Side Access would allow LIRR trains to go into Grand Central\n Station. By having that access\, the LIRR could route an additional 300\n trains per day. Presently 736 trains enter Penn Station. With the East\n Side Access the total number of trains would be 1056. This would have a\n very large impact on the road use of cars\, as mant more people convert\n their traveling habits to rails. \n The Third Track on the main line would allow the possibility of moving\n passengers in the opposite direction\, that is going to Long Island. As\n long Island creates more jobs\, the employers of Long Island\, and workers\n in the city will have better access to each other. \n These projects are so large\, they are reminiscent of our fathers and\n grandfathers efforts to build this region. Their efforts have served us\n well when you think of the bridges\, tunnels\, and subways our forebears\n created.\n The leadership that has been shown in New York City and at the state\n level has been better in recent years than the long malaise we have seen\n in the past. Frankly it is exciting and  encouraging. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/ray-kenny-acting-president-lirr/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070525T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070525T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070525T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070525T040000Z UID:4240-1180051200-1180051200@limba.net SUMMARY:NO MEETING Memorial Day celebrated DESCRIPTION: URL:https://limba.net/calendar/no-meeting-memorial-day-celebrated/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070518T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070518T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070518T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070518T040000Z UID:4242-1179446400-1179446400@limba.net SUMMARY:Hon. Steve Bellone\, Supv Town of Babylon DESCRIPTION:This morning’s speaker was Town of Babylon Supervisor Steve Bellone. Mr. Bellone began by telling us of his efforts to bring green thinking to the town. The town has ordered Hi-Brid vehicles for it’s fleet\, and is installing green technologies in all it’s new construction. Babylon is setting an example according to Bellone. The rationale for the Supervisor appears to be\, that setting an example of what should be done is more productive than preaching\, or even the legislation Babylon has embraced requiring Energy Star building standards. \n \nThe town will oversee the building of an energy self sustaining house. Steve did not go into a lot of details on the technologies that would be used in the house\, but it will be opened when completed for the purpose of displaying to the public what can be accomplished. Solar photovoltaic\, solar thermal\, geothermal heating and cooling\, heat sinks\, and orientation to the sun are all possibilities.\n \nMr. Bellone did not speak favorably of the LIPA plan to build a wind farm in the ocean off Fire Island and Jones Beach. Esthetics were not the motivating argument against the LIPA Wind Farm. Steve’s Point was that the wind farm would be for less productive than advertised. The LIPA plan calls for the installation of enough windmills to generate 140 megawatts\, but because of the variances in wind conditions the average output could be very low\, 25% of the stated amount. If that is true the average cost/KW to produce this electric would even be much higher than even the much criticized Shoreham Nuclear plant. \n \nDesigning downtowns that have apartments over retail space such as we have in Babylon\, Northport\, Patchogue and other places are being considered by Bellone for places like Wyandanch\, Copaigue and other places in Babylon town. These arrangements are friendly to pedestrians and allow for the density that is required to house our citizens while still capturing open space for posterity.  \n \nPublic transportation\, and class A building office building proposals on Rt 110 south of Conklin Street were also discussed. Mr. Bellone laid out a very ambitious vision for Babylon. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/hon-steve-bellone-supv-town-of-babylon/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070511T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070511T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070511T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070511T040000Z UID:4236-1178841600-1178841600@limba.net SUMMARY:Larry Austin\, Chairman of the LI philharmonic DESCRIPTION:The Long Island Philharmonic at LIMBA\n\n\nLarry Austin\, chairman of Austin Travel and The Long Island Philharmonic Board of Directors\, came by to give us an update on the Philharmonic close to the finale of their 28th season.  Larry is a past president of LIMBA\, like the Philharmonic\, a long running show.  The final two concerts of the season will take place at the Staller Center on Saturday\, May 19th\, and at the Tilles Center\, Sunday\, May 20th.  Mr. Austin opened with the story of how he got involved with the Philharmonic\, relating stories about its founder\, Harry Chapin\, and his philosophy of having a base for the classical performing arts on Long Island\, consisting of the Eglevsky ballet\, the Philharmonic\, and the PAF playhouse.  The philharmonic has had its ups and downs\, over the years\, with the past three being on an uptrend\, on the way to erasing what was a $900\,000 deficit when Mr. Austin took over as director.  David Wiley is the current music director\, producing an eclectic program of classical symphony pieces\, pops concerts and children’s outreach in the schools.\n\nThe Philharmonic also takes pride in both its stability\, having only 4 music directors over its history\, and its quality of those directors.  Marin Alsop\, the current music director of the Baltimore Symphony\, was the director from 1989 to 1995\, leaving after winning a MacArthur Fellowship.  The turnaround in the fortunes of the Philharmonic has been led on the creative side by Mr. Wiley and the business side by the stewardship of Mr. Austin and the excecutive director\, Stephen Belth.  Corporate and governmental sponsorship has been instrumental in turning things around\, with Sen. Hilary Clinton’s steadfast support\, along with State Senator Carl Marcellino\, having delivered grants at both the federal and state level.  UBS made a generous 5-year challenge grant of $250\,000\, which was matched by individual donors such as Charles Dolan\, David Lerner\, Marvin Sussman\, and Billy Joel.  Mr. Austin let us know about the formation of a Chairman’s council\, in an effort to form a larger core group of supporters.The Q and A session was mostly a bunch of suggestions from the audience on how to help build the community of the philharmonic\, modeling some aspects on the success of the Gateway Playhouse\, and the adoption of iPod culture in an effort to stay connected with the audience and draw them out to live performances.  The final concerts in the season will be Great Moments In Opera\, with a full chorus.  This morning’s meeting was sponsored by www.Islip.tv and Waldo Cabrera. There is a wealth of local information at that website. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/larry-austin-chairman-of-the-li-philharmonic/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070504T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070504T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070504T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070504T040000Z UID:4239-1178236800-1178236800@limba.net SUMMARY:Wayne Horsley\, Suffolk Legislator DESCRIPTION:On May 4th\, we had the privilege of Suffolk County Legislator Wayne Horsley give us a perspective of how important sewers are to the ecology and economic growth of Long Island.  Wayne apologized for picking such an unsavory topic to be the subject of a breakfast meeting\, but as usual\, the large crowd of LIMBA faithful ate it up.  With his perspective as an adjunct professor of Modern World History at St. John’s university\, we got some ancient history as well.  The earliest known sewers were found in the Indus valley\, around 3300-1700 BC\, but Suffolk County still is not widely sewered in this modern age.  To preserve the open space that is left by concentrating development\, we need sewers.  The recent development of the Route 110 corridor’s new hotel and pharmaceutical plants would not have been possible without connecting them to the Southwest Sewer District.There are 1.5 Million people in Suffolk County\, 400\,000 of them are served with sewers.  This is distributed among the Southwest Sewer District (SWSD)\, and about 22 other smaller plants sprinkled around the county.  The new Tanger retail development in Deer Park\, on the old AIL Property\, will be connected to the SWSD\, consuming .5% of the total daily capacity of 30.5 million gallons.  The development is expected to generate 250 million in spending by completion.  Without the district connection the development would not be possible at all.  The benefits of sewering are clear\, so are the obstacles.Money is the foremost barrier.  Sewers are expensive and disruptive to put in.  Back in the day\, 87% of the projects were funded by the State and Federal governments.  Plus\, the history of corruption that is one of the legacies of the SWSD is always present when you talk about sewers on Long Island.  The total cost to build the district was over a billion dollars\, but the district is functioning well today.  To overcome the stigma of sewers\, Wayne is forming a “Sewer Club” with Mark Herbst of the Long Island Contractors Association to help Long Island learn to love sewers.Wayne closed with a short discussion on the issue of Coal Gas Plant cleanups\, the addressing of which he is trying to make a condition of the National Grid/Keyspan merger process.  Vincent Frigeria of Keyspan gave us some details on the work that is being done to clean up the Clinton Avenue site in Bay Shore.The Q & A session was fruitful\, touching on “What else can we bury\, along with the sewer lines?”  “What are the treatment plant siting issues?”\, and “How do we focus on the ecological benefits\, rather than the history of corruption?”  An altogether appetizing session about an unsavory subject.  Another well-spent Friday morning at LIMBA. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/wayne-horsley-suffolk-legislator/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070427T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070427T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070427T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070427T040000Z UID:4238-1177632000-1177632000@limba.net SUMMARY:Phillip Cardinale\, Supervisor\, Town of Riverhead DESCRIPTION:This morning Riverhead Town Supervisor Phil Cardinale made a presentation on the planning and restoration projects in Riverhead. There are a number of things being planned\, including riverfront improvements\, Calverton airport redevelopment\, and Rt 58 transportation improvements. \n    In the downtown Main Street\, which is relatively small\, there are plans for the restoration of the theater. Mr. Cardinale would like to see the parking be located on the north side of Main Street\, leaving the riverfront available for park-like amenities. A three part zoning plan would accommodate retail\, commercial\, and residential uses in the downtown area. \n    Much of the cost that would ordinarily be borne by the municipality\, is being shouldered by the winning redevelopment company. That company\, Apollo\, is a multi-billion dollar company that will have an opportunity to earn back some of their outlay from other development companies that may appear in the next three years. This arrangement has been applauded by the supervisor because all the risk falls on the shoulders of the developer.\n    Later in his presentation Mr Cardinale gave us some insight on the redevelopment of Calverton. There appears to be no attempt to destroy the excellent runways at the airport. We told him that this was important to us\, because they can accommodate any size aircraft and would be essential if their were an emergency that warranted their use. The airport development will be multiple use. They expect to build out 7.5 million square feet in industrial park space\, and commercial space. \n   I asked about rail freight\, and light rail for passenger movement. There has been some planning and thought on that issue\, but other than a rail spur in Calverton\, I did not get the impression that that planning had been given high priority. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/phillip-cardinale-supervisor-town-of-riverhead/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070420T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070420T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070420T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070420T040000Z UID:4237-1177027200-1177027200@limba.net SUMMARY:Phil Nolan- New Initiative to keep Islip vibrant. DESCRIPTION:Phil Nolan\, the recently ( November 2006 ) elected Supervisor of the Town of Islip\, came to speak at LIMBA this morning\, introducing himself and talking about his experiences to date.  Islip is a town of about 330\,000 people\, with many challenges and bumps in the road\, some of which were discussed today.  Phil is a super busy fellow handling the day to day issues of government in a progressive town.  Rather than a standard stump speech\, the session was conducted mostly as a Q and A session.  He brought some key people in his administration to help him address some of the questions posed today.  The most frequent ones were prompted by the largest asset that the town has\, MacArthur Airport.  There are two developments regarding the airport\, the resolution of the concrete apron problems at the new terminal\, and the west side redevelopment project.  \nThe apron problems are in the beginning stages of being resolved\, and they will be because the problem is putting a crimp in the ability for the airport to be better utilized.  Phil would like to see the marketing focus of the airport be changed to start selling it to carriers instead of passengers\, to attract a more diverse base of airlines.  The Smithtown Avenue side of the airport will get a makeover\, which is in the planning stages of finding a new home for the existing businesses there\, and then making way for new structures. \nIn the Q & A portion of the meeting\, Charlie Widener’s question about the Plumber’s Examining Board prompted a long give and take about the day to day machinations of government\, the challenges of two-party politics in a town long dominated by one party\, and the difficulty of separating the actions necessary for the greater good from the impacts on the narrow groups sometimes affected.  This is going to be an issue when talking about the ground leases on the islands of the Great South Bay that are in Islip\, Captree\, Sexton\, and Havemeyer Islands\, as the families that have deep roots on the islands will have to pay quite a bit more to lease that ground\, as the market value of the leases has grown substantially since they were last priced.  \nWalter Bernstein brought up the question of addressing the "Youth Drain" on Long Island by reducing the cost of living through regional consolidation of government departments.  Phil addressed this by describing the "Collisions of Power" that happen when you actually try to make changes.  The higher the dollars at stake\, the better the advocates are at arguing for the status quo.  It is apparent that there are savings to be had\, but what is the correct formula to achieve it\, is the question. \nThe last question was regarding how the working relationships are going between the new guy in town and the traditional incumbents that are still a large part of town government.  After being the first Democrat elected in the town in 35 years\, Phil has done a few things to upset the apple carts\, but he feels that he is there to do his job\, and that they have a mostly good working relationship.  Out of every twenty resolutions brought to a vote\, nineteen are unanimously agreed on\, but that twentieth one that has a sticking point is usually a high profile issue that is attractive to the news media.  Phil says he isn’t needlessly confrontational\, but won’t back down when he feels his convictions are challenged.  His formula is to say what you are going to do\, and do it. \nWhen we have a LIMBA meeting that has a focus on a person in the public eye rather than a subject focus\, we always get a  good sense of the person that is unobtainable by  reading press accounts.  You hear the person\, get to talk to them\, and really get a feel for their character.  Our thanks are extended to the affable and plain spoken Mr. Nolan in coming out to talk to our group about his town and his agenda in governing it. \nPictured\, left to right: Al Werner\, Gene Murphy\, Bill Mannix\, Ernie Fazio\, Phil Nolan\, and Gina La Vecchia \nVideo supplied by MyLITV.Com: URL:https://limba.net/calendar/phil-nolan-new-initiative-to-keep-islip-vibrant/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070413T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070413T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070413T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070413T040000Z UID:4233-1176422400-1176422400@limba.net SUMMARY:Keyspan- Bob Teetz\, Director of Environmental Engineering DESCRIPTION:Today at LIMBA we had the opportunity to hear about what is going on with Keyspan Energy’s Emissions and Air Quality initiatives.  Bob Teetz\, Directory of Environmental Engineering and Compliance for Keyspan\, gave a broad and deep presentation of where our electricity comes from\, what fuels are used to generate it\, and what is being done to make the on island power generation cleaner.  An overview of the external interconnects for power importation\, Keyspan’s own plants and third party plants was the first part of the presentation.  Keyspan doesn’t use any coal to fuel their plants\, only #6 fuel oil\, Jet Fuel\, and Natural Gas are used.  These more expensive\, cleaner fuels\, contribute to our higher rates here.  The imported power is generated in several ways\, including nuclear and coal.  Lower priced imported power is projected to serve a larger percentage of demand as the Neptune project comes online.  Most of Keyspan’s larger plants are dual-fuel\, switching between Natural Gas and #6 low-sulfur oil.Given this setup\, an over view of emissions was presented\, with some controversy.  In total pollutant output\, Keyspan has the #2 producer\, in the Northport power station.  This is mostly unavoidable\, because it is the largest power station in the system at 1500 Megawatts\, and I believe the largest station on the east coast.  When compared on a pollution quantity per megawatt generated\, Keyspan comes out better than the national average\, but you are also comparing that to coal-fired plants.  There was some contesting of the measurement of pollution and Keyspan’s standings in it\, but a good picture of what is going on in general was presented.We moved on to a primer on repowering generating stations\, describing the way that the current power plants are architected.  Older technology conventional power plants run at approximately 34% efficiency.  Newer\, combined cycle plants run at about 50% efficiency\, and produce 90% less pollution.  They also use higher priced fuel\, either natural gas or jet fuel.  Newer plants\, also cannot use what is called once-through cooling\, which takes massive amounts of seawater in and out of the plant to cool it.  They must use cooling towers\, which sap efficiency\, but don’t impact the aquatic environment as much.  The options for repowering each of the older base load stations were discussed\, pros and cons.   Mr Teetz pointed out that some locations are not suitable for repowering. Northport would have to improve transmission lines to the site and the cost would be several hundred $million dollars. Port Jefferson on the other hand is less amenable to repowering because there is no more flat land on which to build.The opportunities for the future in terms of increasing capacity\, burning cleaner fuels and scrubbing emissions were outlined.  A lively Q and A was held throughout\, with our resident skeptics holding Bob’s feet to the fire\, which he handled with aplomb.  In sum\, there are some opportunities to make great strides in reducing powerplant pollution on Long Island\, but there is some debate about whether this will make a big impact on air quality here\, as our regional air quality is affected mostly by wind-borne pollution from the west\, and locally generated transport pollution\, cars and trucks.  Again\, an important presentation on issues that affect us directly\, in both our lungs and pocketbooks.  Another Friday morning well spent and well informed at LIMBA. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/keyspan-bob-teetz-director-of-environmental-engineering/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070406T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070406T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070406T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070406T040000Z UID:4232-1175817600-1175817600@limba.net SUMMARY:GOOD FRIDAY - NO MEETING DESCRIPTION: URL:https://limba.net/calendar/good-friday-no-meeting-3/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070330T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070330T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070330T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070330T040000Z UID:4234-1175212800-1175212800@limba.net SUMMARY:Sharon Cates-Williams and Doug Miller DESCRIPTION:On Friday\, March 30th\, we had the distinct pleasure of hosting the CIO/Comissioner and Director of MIS\, respectively\, of Suffolk County.  The indefatigueable Sharon Cates-Williams\, and the engaging Doug Miller. Doug spoke about the work the county has done in the GIS field\, creating a very rich database of geolocated information and making it available to all the municipalities and first responders in the field.  The applications are manifold\, from helping tax assessors make accurate assessments\, ( groans from the audience… ) to helping first responders possess critical knowledge on residents with special needs.  Fire departments can now have maps of their districts with an overlay of the houses that contain folks with disabilities\, an extremely helpful feature.  Doug also detailed some of the automated tools that the police are using\, such as OCR camera that scans license plates as a cruiser drives\, checking those plates against the State’s databases for outstanding warrants and other issues\, and then notifying the officer that there’s something to be attended to around him.Ms. Cates-Williams came to speak about the Long Island Wi-Fi project\, which has been a focus of my attention since the county executive mentioned it in his state of the county speech in 2006.  Her vision for the project\, is an outdoor focused network with three tiers of service\, a free tier and two paid\, higher speed grades\, is one that enables mobile county workers to be more efficient\, and timelier in their responses to changing conditions\, with the ability to stay connected to data on the road.  Department of Social Services workers and Probation officers were just two of the departments where she illustrated the benefits of mobility. She detailed the steps involved in the county issuing the RFP\, first producing a lightweight RFI to gauge interest\,  and based on the healthy group of responses\, spurred the formation of the committee\, the addition of Nassau County to the project\, and the RFP’s issuance.  At the February 8th pre-proposal conference\, it was evident that the project had attracted many of the major players in the industry.  Sharon is expecting some good responses that address the issues of security\, privacy\, and a full coverage requirement.  Of course\, the LIMBA audience peppered her with questions\, on both the technology and business sides.  Ernie’s question in absentia was “How much will this cost?”\, and the answer is that it won’t cost the taxpayers anything because it is being built with private money and there will be a free tier of service.  A quick tutorial about the differences between WiMAX and Wi-Fi was gone through\, and discussions about mounting assets and real estate also ensued.It was a tremendous coup for our group to have Sharon and Doug come and speak about these vital initiatives to an engaged audience\,  where at LIMBA\, you learn something every time you go. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/sharon-cates-williams-and-doug-miller/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070323T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070323T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070323T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070323T040000Z UID:4235-1174608000-1174608000@limba.net SUMMARY:Round Table discussion DESCRIPTION:This morning we conducted an “round Table” discussion. These meetings tend to have a tentative agenda\, that is\, we wind up talking about things other than what we thought we would discuss. No matter. There are so many issues that are important to Long Island\, we could start anywhere.\nTaxes and multiple layers of government\, and numerous school districts is where we began and that dominated most of the meeting.\nThe general consensus was that taxes are hampering our competitive edge and discouraging some people from moving here.\nHere are some of the observations on schools;\n\nWe have too many layers of management in our schools.\nTeachers use the example of the wealthiest districts to set the pay scales of teachers in less wealthy districts. In the next round of negotiations the process is repeated\, jack-sawing the pay scales ever upward. \nThere are far too many school districts\nPoliticians see the same problems as the rest of us\, but are fearful of being removed from office if they serve the people and not those vested interests\nWe spoke briefly about fire departments and how inefficient the resources are spent there. \nPaid fire departments in wealthy northern Virginia spend less per capita on fire safety services than their “volunteer”  counterparts on Long Island with no compromise in the service to the community. In fact the service is better because their is always a staff available.\n \nThese two issues are large burdens on the taxpayers and they can be addressed without compromising quality. Furthermore\, there are some districts that are poorly run and corruption is no stranger.  Regardless of the assets thrown at them they under perform. There is no agency big enough to audit all these entities. \n \nFinally we spoke about energy. Alternative energy was discussed and we agreed that government bodies could lead the way by putting high efficiency projects into their own buildings. Alternative energy generation has not been fostered in any significant way. (Exceptions are the towns of Brookhaven and Babylon have adopted “Energy Star” specifications in their residential building codes.)\n  URL:https://limba.net/calendar/round-table-discussion-3/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070316T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070316T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070316T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070316T040000Z UID:4231-1174003200-1174003200@limba.net SUMMARY:Jim Banks Cutural Diversity Officer at Suffolk Community Col DESCRIPTION:This morning’s meeting was a little unusual\, but I’ve said that in the past about other meetings. So maybe unusual is the norm for us. James Banks is the Coordinator of Multicultural Affairs of Suffolk County Community College. We had the pleasure of hearing Jim at this morning’s LIMBA meeting. Mr. Banks began by giving each of us a list of stereotypes and groups and asked us to match the stereotype with the group. Among the matchings were; policeman =donuts and Pakistanis= 7-11 franchisees. We all had the matches nearly the same. He then went on to tell us that a group of new arrivals to America would have not done “as well” as we did in the matching. Their preconceived notions would not have been developed yet. He then gave us a little exercise in non-verbal communications to demonstrate that messages are given and perceived even when nothing is being said. The purpose to these exercises are to demonstrate that we hold beliefs that are prejudicial. The word “prejudice” or pre judge really tells the story. By sensitizing ourselves to these pre-set traps we can avoid responding in a stereotypical way.Jim is a muscular looking man and is a former US Marine Sergeant. He belies his own masculine stereotype by engaging in non traditional activities for a man. His hobbies include\, sewing\, crocheting and quilting. He even organized an all male crocheting club. On the other hand he also enjoys pocket billiards\, basketball\, singing\, and poetry writing. Each of these activities summon up an image and conclusions that\, as they say in the song\,  “It Aint Necessarily So”Learning things about perception\, as we did this morning is fun\, even though at a deeper level we already knew them to be true.   It was a tough morning to get out on the road\, but for those of us who did\, it was worth it. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/jim-banks-cutural-diversity-officer-at-suffolk-community-col/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070309T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070309T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070309T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070309T050000Z UID:4230-1173398400-1173398400@limba.net SUMMARY:Kings Park Discussion at LaQuinta DESCRIPTION:This morning’s meeting was held at LaQuinta instead of our usual location.The meeting was sponsored by Joe Oliveri  and LaQuinta\, as well as Cliff Sondock from The Land Use institute and Mike O’Reilly of Trade winds Environmental Restoration.\nThe topic was; “What Should Be Developed at Kings Park Psychiatric Center.” Most of the hospitals and facilities buildings were abandoned years ago. The property was severely polluted during its service life and the responsibility for cleaning it up is the source of most of the rhetoric that pervades any discussion.\nThe format of having a panel discuss any problem opens up the opportunities of having a “food fight.” This particularly true when you have strong personalities on the panel such as;Jack Kulka\, Smithtown Supervisor Pat Vecchio\, Land Use Director Cliff Sondock and Carmine Martuscello from  Racanelli Construction. Then there were the local people who are emotionally involved in the issue. It was a spirited discussion to say the least. The good news is\, we all walked out of the room with the feeling that we agreed on at least one thing. That is;The property must be cleaned up\, and the state has the responsibility of doing it. It is the state’s responsibility because the pollution was put there on their watch.\nThe discussions about whether or not any construction should take place and what that development should consist of\, gave rise to some sharp exchanges. Despite that we were able to carry out a dialogue that gave us good information. Some of that information was new to me and new to a lot of other people too. For example the state has already set aside $25 million to be applied to the environmental clean-up. It was pointed out that the true cost estimate was over $50 million. Jack Kulka suggested that the money we have be applied to the first stage of the work at once\, instead of waiting for the rest of the money. Later we can petition for the rest.\n\nThe prospect of developing the land for commercial use\, or the building of homes for that\, matter did not resonate well with most of the crowd. \nWe also learned that there is a power plant on the property that was completely modernized in the 1990’s and never used. It is a gas fired unit\, and It has been “mothballed” and could be used if needed. \nIn any event the final use precludes total development\, except for about 92 acres. The rest of the almost 500 acres would remain park. Perhaps that’s the way it should be\, but that would only happen after a clean-up is completed. If this property ends up being a park then let’s make it a magnificent place where all of us can be proud of it.\nPictured: Carmine Martuscello (Racanelli Construction)\, Pat Vecchio (Town Supervisor)\, Jack Kulka (Kulka Construction)\, Clifford Sondock (Land Use Institute). URL:https://limba.net/calendar/kings-park-discussion-at-laquinta/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070302T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070302T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070302T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070302T050000Z UID:4228-1172793600-1172793600@limba.net SUMMARY:Geri Reichbach\, Brookhaven Medical Center. DESCRIPTION:This morning we tapped into one of our many hospitals for information on what they saw as their role in their particular community. \nBrookhaven Hospital’s Colleen Valdini spoke at LIMBA and told us of specialties that have been developed at the hospital\, and also the depth of services in facilities that are not attached to the hospital. \nThe hospital is a 321 bed facility and employs computerized patient information systems. Each patient is issued a bar code. That bar code is read for properly identifying a patient when dispensing medication. This avoids overmedication as well as contraindications caused by concurrent medications.\n \nThe hospital has developed expertise in stroke care. There  that takes place when a stroke occurs is reversible if treated quickly. Rehabilitation of a stroke victim is greatly diminished after the first six weeks. They have learned that the rehab efforts must be intense during that period because the rehab results beyond six weeks is small.        \n Another area of expertise that has been developed at the hospital is the care of diabetes. Brookhaven has establishes several outreach units that serve  Coram and two other locations. It is not always convenient for patients to come to the hospital. We expect “state of the art” medicine in large\, well endowed colleges\, but we are pleasantly surprised when the care we need is available and local.\n \nThe hospital owns a hyper baric unit where they can exert pressurized 100% oxygen on wounds that are difficult to heal. The oxygen helps in the topical contact to the wound as well as the inhaled content of the pure oxygen in the blood while the patient is encased in the treatment unit. This unit is being used to help diabetics with wound problems. \n \nStill another expertise has been developed in obesities. Surgically remedied weight loss strategies have many important aspects to be considered. The doctors at Brookhaven have developed the knowledge base needed to perform these procedures with a safe successful record. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/geri-reichbach-brookhaven-medical-center/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070223T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070223T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070223T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070223T050000Z UID:4220-1172188800-1172188800@limba.net SUMMARY:Dr Sam Aronsen - Director of Brookhaven national Labs DESCRIPTION:This morning we heard a presentation on the economic and scientific benefits of having Brookhaven National Laboratory in our backyard. \nThe director\, Dr Sam Aronson came to LIMBA and within the fairly limited time we allot our speakers\, gave us a good overview. \nBNL has an annual budget of about $500 million and much of that goes to paying for high value people that contribute directly to the economy. The economic benefit of the science is enormous as well. In combination the total economic value to this region over the past 10 years has been about $10 billion.\n \nBNL\, is very diverse in the science that is done there. As the director pointed out some of the science is curiosity based and the final outcome cannot be explained because no one knows exactly where a particular area of inquiry is going to go. And while that pursuit of science is harder to explain and get funding for\, it is the area of research that new ideas emanate from\, according to Aronson.\n \nPresently the lab is building a new collider and will phase out the old one when the new one is built. This is where a lot a basic research is done. The collider is able to create elements that have only existed within seconds of the “Big Bang” at the start of the universe. The practical purpose of this hard to explain\, but it useful in studying things that are known to us.\n \nThe study of structure and properties of materials is important to the discovery of new materials\, and is also very much a part of the labs goals.In this part of the discussion we talked about the significance of Nano Technology. According to Dr. Aronson\, by being able to assemble materials at the nano level we can take materials that are known to us and cause them to behave in a way that is beneficial to new applications that would otherwise be impossible.\n \nCreating a secure energy source for the purpose of energy independence was also discussed. We asked about the probabilities of new energy sources emerging. The director implied that he was optimistic about the long term prospects\, but the short term prospects on energy reduction and independence would probably come from “bridge technologies” such as plug-in automobiles\, bio-mass\, solar panel efficiency improvements\, and other known and improvable energy technologies. Fusion did not seem like a very promising technology\, but a new and very large effort in this arena is being done on an international basis in France.\n \nLife sciences and brain study at BNL has gotten a lot of attention from the press\, and BNL scientists have been  studying and observing the functions of the brain under normal and drug effected brains. Brains of people with addictive behavior apparently has a different look to it when studied under an MRI than a brain that is not subject to addiction.  \n \nPractical solutions to everyday problems are handled at the Lab in the Applied Science area. Better oil burners\, homeland security devices\, and many other developments come from this department\, but the solutions are based on some “basic research” mentioned above that now are solutions looking for a place to be useful. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/dr-sam-aronsen-director-of-brookhaven-national-labs/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070216T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070216T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070216T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070216T050000Z UID:4229-1171584000-1171584000@limba.net SUMMARY:Presidents Day Weekend NO MEETING DESCRIPTION: URL:https://limba.net/calendar/presidents-day-weekend-no-meeting-2/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20070209T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20070209T000000 DTSTAMP:20260423T095918 CREATED:20070209T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20070209T050000Z UID:4226-1170979200-1170979200@limba.net SUMMARY:Steve Schrier Ex Dir Suff Center on the Holocaust ...... DESCRIPTION:This program will address matters of  race and mutual understanding between people. \nSteve Schrier is the \nExecutive Director of the Suffolk Center on the Holocaust\, Diversity & Human Understanding\, Inc URL:https://limba.net/calendar/steve-schrier-ex-dir-suff-center-on-the-holocaust/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR