Limba

Mathew Cordaro PhD. Update on Repowering
2005-02-11 00:00 (America/New_York)
There are new considerations that bode well for repowering

Roundtable meeting
2005-02-04 00:00

Dr Jon Gibralter Pres, Farmingdale Univ.
2005-01-28 00:00
Today’s speaker was Dr
Jonathan Gibralter, President of Farmingdale State University. Farmingdale was
an agricultural school, as times and needs changed, so did the
curriculum.The school has adopted many new programs, and redirected it’s
focus to technologies that are needed for today’s world. At the same time
standards for admission have been made more stringent. Remarkably this
approach has increased the size of the student body. Among the programs that
were strengthened was the aviation program. The school now has 13 aircraft to
use in the pilot training course.
The automotive development has been
created under a program with Diamler Chrysler. The automotive field is now high
tech. It is appropriate that the technology be taught at the university level.
This is the approach that is used in Europe, and Germany in particular.
Farmingdale, under Dr. Gibralter’s lead has built a strong relationship
with the business community. Medical innovator OSI, maintains offices in the Bio
Science Complex. The Bio- Science facilities are a big success and phase II is
going forward.
We had a lively Q&A and I know that the questions
could have gone on longer, but in keeping with a certain amount of disciple we
had to end it, more or less on time.

Bob Catell, Keyspan Chair will discuss Power Issues.
2005-01-21 00:00
This morning’s speaker was
Keyspan Chairman Bob Catell. Mr. Catell’s presentation addressed the growing
demand for natural gas. The demand for natural gas has been growing at a rate
that makes the supply of the commodity difficult. There are two pipelines under
consideration. Islander East is one of them. Islander East will bring natural
gas into the US through Canada, supplying points in the Northeast and
terminating on Long Island. About two years ago LIMBA made a commitment to
support Islander East. We are still awaiting approval of the facility. The other
pipeline under consideration is known as the Millennium Pipeline. The Millennium
will bring gas supplies in from the Midwest, where there is a surplus of gas.
With the way we are using gas on Long Island, both will be needed.
Bob
took an opportunity to praise the efforts of his field force for what they do in
general, but specifically how they handled the pipeline break in eastern Suffolk
recently. In that case Long Island crews had help in restoring service to
thousands of homes on the North Fork from crews brought in from NYC and
Connecticut. Bob expressed his thanks for their quick response to the
emergency.
Keyspan under Catell’s leadership has been an active part of
the community. Mr. Catell expressed his belief in community service as being the
right thing to do as well as the fact that we all live here, meaning himself,
Keyspan employees and the valued customers.
As Bob spoke about the gas
business he acknowledged his respected competitor in the person of Kevin Rooney.
Kevin is the Executive Director of The Oil Heat Institute. There was a little
banter back and forth, but what showed through was a deep mutual respect, indeed
a freindship, that these two excellent leaders have for each other.
There were several questions about alternative energy, distributed
generation and Internet access through power lines. As a result we went over the
usual time by about 10 minutes.
Mr. Catell, in collaboration with a
professional writer, wrote a book "The CEO and The Monk" I read it myself and
can tell you it is well written and interesting. Paul Townsend raised the
question about the book because he had read it too. It can be purchased on
Amazon and any profits will go the Keyspan Foundation.
This is the first
cosponsored event with Long Island Forum for Technology (LIFT) By any measure it
was successful and we will be cooperating with LIFT in the future.
Meetings like this are successful as a result of having an interesting
speaker, a timely topic, an orderly format, and an interested audience. We had
it all. I thank my associates Bill Miller, Bonnie Cornett, And Elsie Farrell.
And I thank you, the audience for being there, with your questions and your
humor.

Martin Luther weekend NO MEETING
2005-01-14 00:00

Tunnel to Connecticut-Vincent Polemeni
2005-01-07 00:00
At LIMBA we usually take well conceptualized idea (I think that’s a word), and present it to our audience to evaluate, and hopefully, adopt. This mornings meeting was a little different. The proposal to connect The end of Rt. 135 to Rye NY by tunnel was presented by prominent builder, Vincent Polimeni. What was interesting about this meeting was the input from the audience. The presentation was relatively short. However the Q&A period turned out to be an open conversation with the speaker. The audience raised some interesting questions that led to this more "free form" discussion. Questions about tunneling under residential neighborhoods, such as; would it be possible to tunnel without causing vibration damage in dwellings nearby? What effect on the water producing aquifers would the tunneling have? How would you compensate people for the ground rights? ( Just as real estate has "air rights" it also has ground rights). What would be the financial impact on the existing bridges in Queens? And, would the estimated $8 dollar toll be a deterrent to using it?
This is an idea that is in its’ embryonic stage but it’s worth studying. After a study has been made, and these questions are answered, LIMBA could be supportive, because the reduced air pollution and new rail access the tunnel would provide are congruent with LIMBA’s greater vision.
Next week is a holiday weekend with Martin Luther King’s birthday being celebrated on Monday. Therefore there will be no meeting on the 14th. The following week, Jan 21st, Keyspan Chairman, Bob Catell, will speak about the electric and gas business, but he also said there were other important community issues that he may want to discuss. I’ll have more on that when we get closer to the date.
We have a new cooperative arrangement with LIFT they will be notified of our meetings and they in turn will notify their members of LIMBA meetings. LIFT will select one meeting per month to advertise jointly with us. LIFT is a not for profit member of LIMBA. Both organizations will benefit by this close cooperation giving our speakers more exposure and their members will increase networking opportunities. LIMBA has a high regard for the technical services that are provided by LIFT and we are very happy with this arrangement.
Our member gate price remains at $10 going into the new year. We have changed our gate price for non-members to $20 Lift members will pay $15 unless they are also LIMBA members In that case they will pay $10.

New Years Eve NO MEETING
2004-12-31 00:00

Christmas Eve NO MEETING
2004-12-24 00:00

LIMBA Holiday Gathering
2004-12-17 00:00
This morning the meeting room at the Hilton Garden was so festive with lots of delicious breakfast fare. Just the right setting for what was to take place.
The LIMBA Holiday party was held this morning in lieu of the usual speaker program. This morning’s program began with the beautiful violin music of James Everett Graseck. Jim began with "God Bless America" inviting everyone to sing. I had seen Jim play at a party given at Computer Associates two weeks ago. I described Jim, not as a musician, but as music itself. He is versatile, funny and enormously talented. I dubbed him "the Victor Borge of the violin"

After that an old friend of LIMBA, Harry Freedman got up and did a comedy routine that lasted about 1/2 hour. For those who may remember Harry, he did our Holiday Party in 2002. This time he brought two other talented people with him. Harry had the crowd up to full speed and turned it over to John, a man with a wooden dummy. John did some very clever lines with the dummy, and had us in rails of laughter.
There was one more comic, Chris who was also excellent, but by that time we were laughed-out. We brought Jim back with the violin and closed out the entertainment. The positive comments were numerous and the compliments to the entertainers was well deserved.
The next meeting is scheduled for January 7th and we will be hearing from Vincent Polemeni. He will discuss his proposal for a tunnel connection to Connecticut.

Major Charles Killian 106th Rescue Wing
2004-12-10 00:00
Today we had the pleasure of having the commanding officer of the Air Wing 106, National Guard. Col. Michael Canders gave an overview of the unit that works closely with US Coast Guard as well as local police. The unit is available for various search and rescue missions as well as it’s primary purpose of national security. It is reassuring that this organization is here for our safety. The colonel answered many questions after his prepared remarks and even stayed longer to speak to people on an individual basis.

Tom Kohlman, CEO Suffolk County National Bank.
2004-12-03 00:00
The president and CEO of Suffolk Banklcorp, Tom Kohlman was our speaker this morning. Suffolk County National Bank is the entity that is familiar to all of us.
Tom gave us an overview of how community banks differ from money market banks. Essentially these community banks have more control over the funds that they work with and the operate at better profit margins than the larger banks..
Mr. Kohlman was optimistic about the survival of community banks because of the services that they can give, and still be profitable.

He went on to say that consolidation of banks would continue, and given an economic opportunity that Suffolk Bankcorp would consider purchasing other banks "at the right price," even though they have not completed any purchases so far.
Tom Kohlman is a clear spoken man that has no trouble connecting with an audience. As usual we closed the meeting on time, but many of the audience stayed to ask additional questions on a one to one basis. Tom gratiously obliged.
Next week we will have as our speaker Major Charles Killian from the 106th National Guard Air Wing at Gebreski Airport. He will be telling us the function of the unit. More on that next week.

HAPPY THANKGIVING- NO MEETING
2004-11-26 00:00

Mary Scott "Wings of Their Own"
2004-11-19 00:00
This week we had Mary Scott give a presentation on the documentary that she produced with her co-producer Abby Dress. The film is “Wings of Our Own” and will be shown for the first time Monday Nov 29th. Their will be a reception with cocktails and the details are below. The film is about women aviators and the contribution that women have made to aviation over the years. The film features many Long Island women. Mary revealed some statistics that were new information to most of us. For example, in the early days of aviation 6% of the pilots were women, and almost all of them were not proffessional pilots. Today that percentage remains the same, but 85% of them, are proffessional pilots. On the other hand the majority of the male pilots are not proffessional pilots.

Best to allErnie FazioRemember to bring an unwrapped gift to the Holiday Gathering for the benefit of “Christmas Magic” on Dec 17th.ANNOUNCING
The World Premiere of “Wings of Their Own”directed by Mary Scott, produced by Abby Dress & Mary ScottMonday, November 29, 20046:00 to 9:00 p.m.at the Cradle of Aviation IMAX theateron Charles Lindbergh Blvd.Garden City, NY 11530Tickets are $20 and include a reception before the screening.For information and reservations call 516-572-4066or e-mail wings@makebelievetv.comfind out more about the film, go to www.WingsOfTheirOwn.com

Veterans Day Holiday Weekend NO MEETING
2004-11-12 00:00

Jon Gibralter, Pres SUNY Farmingdale
2004-11-05 00:00
This morning we were scheduled to have Farmingdale University’s President Jon Gibralter. He called a few days ago and postponed because of a commitment to be in Albany.
Never at a loss, we changed the format to a “round table discussion.”

Starting off with a brief rehash of the presidential election, we then discussed the items that LIMBA has on its agenda, and a few things that are not on the agenda. Among the topics, were the need for a LI Sound crossing. We will be having a presentation in January about a tunnel under the Sound. Bridges were also discussed and the inherent perceptional problems that would be faced if a new bridge proposal should emerge. Finally on that topic we discussed the ferries that LIMBA has been advocating for many years. The ferries are a political problem. As long as politicians can make hay on opposing the ferries, the likelihood of it getting done is not great.

Other topics were discussed as well. The dual use rail and highway link designed by Cliff Bragdon, that would releive highway traffic from the heart of the villages traveling from Patchogue to Montauk was described again for the audience. Jim Petry volunteered to get the animation graphics from Bragdon and make them accessible from our website.

I announced that Paul Townsend will commence writing articles from time to time that will appear on the LIMBA website. In my weekly recap there will be a hyperlink that will get you to the current article. From there you will be able to access other articles in the LIMBA website. Frank Imburgio from Desktop Solutions manages our website, so we will be seeking his advice.
NEXT WEEK THERE WILL BE NO MEETING because of the Veteran’s Day holiday weekend.
Thanks to all who attended for sharing your thoughts and insights.

Harry Davitian, Newly Approved Power Plant
2004-10-29 00:00
This morning our guest speaker was Ross Ain. Ross represents Caithness Energy, and has worked closely with LIA board member and president of Entek Power Systems, Harry Davitian. Harry and Ross came this morning equipped with an impressive, and easy to understand presentation. LIMBA”s Treasurer, Bill Miller conducted the meeting.
The presentation was a discussion of the building of a low emitting power plant in Bellport. The plant will be a 326 Megawatt plant. It is a “combined cycle” plant which means it will be the most energy efficient plant of its kind. The plant also addresses the use of water as coolant. The plant is designed to use 90% less water than a comparable plant using more commonly employed cooling.
The location of the plant will be close to rail lines and transmission facilities owned by LIPA.
A question on power plant siting legislation came up and was addressed. The question was about “article 10.” Article 10 allows the utility plant to override local rules for the sake of the “greater good.” This plant did not use the provisions of article 10, but was approved by the locality based on the benefits to the community. Those benefits are; improving the tax base, providing construction jobs, and providing operational jobs.

Caithness won the contract on a competitive bid. Caithness Energy’s representative also discussed the company’s role in wind and solar generating operations.

Congressman Tim Bishop- Congressional update
2004-10-22 00:00
Today I announced that LIMBA will have an occasional joint meeting with Long Island Forum for Technology (LIFT). This will expose more people to the LIMBA program. We will have our first joint meeting in January.

Congressman Bishop was our speaker this morning and he was a font of information. The congressman is a member of the House Transportation Committee, and also the House Education Committee.
Appropriations for the East Side Access, and the 2nd Avenue Subway have been made. These two issues are important to Long Island because they make rail travel for so many Long Islanders more viable. This in turn takes more cars off the road.

Mr. Bishop also informed us that funding for a third track on the Long Island main line was also mentioned in the request for funding. This is important for the movement of more freight on Long Island traveling by rail, instead of choking our roads with truck traffic. The third track will also facilitate reverse commuting. LIMBA has been an advocate of the Third Track for several years.

Congressman Bishop stated that he had sponsored a bill that would allow family farms, and small businesses escape estate taxes.

There were a number of issues that were mentioned and Tim fielded questions on many of those topics during Q&A.

LIMBA Holiday Gathering
2004-10-17 00:00

American Ref-Fuels
2004-10-15 00:00
The presentation this morning was about the benefits of using refuse to fuel electric power plants. John Waffenscmiodt of American Re-Fuels gave an excellent comparison of the environmental effects of this technology Vs landfilling. The portion of the waste stream that is burned to create power replaces 55,000 trucks burning 6.6 million gallons of deisel fuel. He also had sillmilar cost and evironmental comparisons if bargeing or shipping out the waste stream in trains.

The efficiency, and the pollution of the exhaust from a power plant depends on how well the waste products are burned. Modern power plants are producing 1/10 or less harmful components than the allowable federal standards. When comparing the pollution created by burning to that which is produced by trucking off waste from Long Island, the net environmental must be considered. While most of us in the audience had no expertise on the topic, the facts presented were impressive.
With the cost of $80/ton for removal of waste from Long Island burning appears to be worth considering. Mr Waffenschmidt pointed out that while no one welcomes an incinerator in their neigborhood the present plants are not noticed by the people living near them.

When I booked this speaker I was not sure the topic would attract a lot of attention. I was pleasantly surprised.

NO MEETING COLUMBUS DAY WEEKEND
2004-10-08 00:00

LIBDC Montauk- No Meeting
2004-10-01 00:00

Roger Tilles, Exec Dir Tilles Center
2004-09-24 00:00
Our speaker, Roger Tilles, began with a very humorous story and then went on to discuss some serious issues.Roger explained the law suit that resulted in Long Island residence being asked to help fund NYC schools. The inequity according to Mr. Tilles is that there are schools right here on Long Island that are starved for cash. Why should we neglect the underserved schools on Long Island while funding NYC schools? Mr. Tilles rightfully points out that the taxes in NY City are low relative to Long Island, and that’s where the money should come from first. Another important issue is workforce housing, which is wrongfully resisted on Long Island. Part of the controversy is that the issue brings out the racist instincts in some people. The argument can also be made that by resisting workforce housing we undermine the labor base that makes the region function. Moreover we undermine the ability for our own children to claim home ownership. Mr. Tilles spent some time on discussing the arts, and the importance of this segment of Long Island activity has on us, and what we perceive as quality of life. Theater dance and musical presentations at the Tlles Center and other Long Island venues are as good or better than almost anywhere in the country. A second class arts entity is not what we are, but we perceive ourselves as less than the best. It’s kind of a group inferiority complex.In the Q&A we asked numerous questions on the topics discussed, and it was lively as usual.Next week and the week after that is Oct 1, and Oct 8th there will be no meeting. On the 15th we will have John Waffenschmitt, from American Refuels. That meeting will be held at the dinning room at NYIT in Central Islip.

Dr, Albert Donor, Pres of Dowling
2004-09-17 00:00
This morning’s speaker was introduced by Dr. Al Donor, Dowling College’s president. Dr Donor proudly introduced the college’s new dean Dr. Debra Fleming.. Dr. Fleming, an engaging “Our Miss Brooks” type, took charge of the room and demonstrated her skills in involving the audience. The meeting was a little different from the usual format in that their was no clearly defined formal remarks, followed by Q&A. Dr Fleming, skilled public speaker that she is, quickly moved to a running conversation with the audience.The conversation began on the theme that the “product,” the student, is not matched to the “customer,” the employer. Moreover, the college business model is out of date.Dr. Fleming showed the LIMBA audience some studies demonstrating some important aspects of the education process by states. New York, not surprisingly, showed a quality that rated an “A.” On the other hand, another important aspect of education, affordability, New York rated an “F.” This is an important factor in getting education to the population that will need to fill the jobs that are to be created. All the time, while this was being discussed, the audience was part of the presentation. This a skillful way of keeping the audience engaged Dr, Fleming appears to be a promising new addition to the institution and will have oversight of the Paul and Terry Townsend School of Business, that has recently been established. Our best wishes to Dr. Fleming.

Alan Hevesi, Comptroller, State of NY
2004-09-10 00:00
Mr. Hevesi presides over the 2nd largest pension fund in the nation, and by changing some rules the fund was able to save local governments about $1 billion, while protecting the fund. Hevesi gave an insightful and informative overview of how major events such as the tech collapse, and the events of 9/11, have major impacts on jobs, and state and city revenues. From tech collapse we lost about 160,000 at an average rate of compensation of $253,000. All of these high paid jobs have an enormous effect on the amount of tax dollars collected. He also spoke about my favorite gripe, which is the gaming of the stock market. While Hevesi stated that most corporations are run with integrity, those who have used the system dishonestly, have discouraged investing in the market. This lack of confidence has left the wall street workers with 1/2 the number of trades they were used to. They suffered a proportional loss of income and that translates to a smaller number of dollars in taxes. He pointed out that a properly regulated market, makes for confidence among the investor class. Hevesi spent a little time on the importance of auditing schools, and that about 20 of them have been scheduled for complete audiits. My guess is that more than a few school officials are losing sleep. As is the case in most LIMBA meetings, the Q&A period was lively. Hevesi seemed to really enjoy this part of the program, as did the audience.

LABOR DAY WEEKEND-NO MEETING
2004-09-03 00:00

Assemblywoman, Pat Acompora
2004-08-27 00:00
This morning’s speaker, Assemblywoman Patricia Acompora, began the meeting by referring to the dysfunctional operations of Albany. If you recall, in a recent LIMBA meeting, assemblyman Steve Englebright spent considerable time on that topic. This indicates to me that this not a partisan issue. Not enough has been said outside of Albany, but it looks like the attitude among the legislators is, enough is enough. Good! Ms. Acompora has been trying for some time to establish an Empire Zone in Nassau County, but has not been getting the required support from Mr. Gargano. A big frustration for a person that prides herself with achieving goals. The rules on shipping interstate the wines produced on Long Island have hampered the growth of that industry. The rules put LI wines at a disadvantage. Acompora has been working on that too.Another topic is the proposed closing of the “air wing” at Gabreski Airport in West Hampton. This aircraft support has been very useful for rescue work and civil emergencies, and could be helpful in the event of terror attacks. She wants it to continue to functionHank Boerner was in the audience and asked about advancing coordinated transportation facilities. Pat said that kind of visionary thinking is the outcome that will be the result from several initiatives she is interested in. The assemblywoman has a litany of achieved goals. It is to her credit that she chose to speak about what needs to be done, as opposed to, what has been done.The audience thanked her and we gave her the traditional LIMBA mug.

Stuart Levine
2004-08-20 00:00
This morning our speaker, Stuart Levine, made an excellent presentation on fundamentals of successful business dealings. Hearing about the “fundamentals” may sound corny to the jaded, but it is all grounded in principles that most of us do, or did, subscribe to. According Mr. Levine the our primary goal is to “add value.” Bringing to the business environment such values as, integrity, and appreciation for the efforts of others, and investing in relationships. This all sounds too simple to be true, but it is this very simplicity that makes it true. Stuart referenced a passage from a book written by Keyspan Chairman Bob Catell. In his book Catell refers to the union president Ralph Ranghelli as a “partner.” A term, according to Levine, that is entirely appropriate. Each man protecting his own interests have a larger mission to make things work for all of the stakeholders for the long term. During the Q&A session there was a question about rehabilitating a corrupt corporate culture such as existed in Enron’s accountants, Arthur Anderson. Levine answered by saying it could have been, and should have been resurrected under a new CEO and a fresh board of directors. Stuart’s wife Harriet was there too and she commented on how insightful the questions were. I agree, we provide our speakers with a good audience. I thank our knowledgeable, and well versed speaker, and all who participated in the Q&A.

Richard Kessel
2004-08-13 00:00
Well, It was another stellar performance by our speaker this morning. Richard Kessel addressed LIMBA today. The volume of information that Richie can intelligently present is remarkable. Richie spoke about the mainland link to New Jersey (Neptune) which is almost completely permitted with final approvement expected next month. He also brought us up to date on the Connecticut link that has been reenergized on a permanent basis, through the political intervention of our senators, Clinton and Schumer. We also got an overview of alternative energy efforts including a huge solar photovoltaic application in Huntington. Fuel Cells in Babylon, and education efforts training craft people in installation of renewables at SUNY Farmingdale. Kessel spoke about the bond rating improvements. And he also gave us a sobering assessment of the potential for lengthy outages in the event of a hurricane. There was actually a lot more, but I can’t scribble that fast. The Q&A period gave the audience an opportunity to ask a lot of questions on the topics discussed by Kessel, and a few that were not. We extended the meeting 10 minutes as the questions were many. In attendance we had union officials Ralph Ranghelli and Everett Lewis, Suffolk County legislator Angie Carpenter. LIPA people including Bert Cunningham and others and Keyspan was represented by Vincent Frigeria. The attendance was good and in addition to those already mentioned there were many old friends in the audience. Thanks to all for coming and making this such a successful meeting. We are now discounting the gate. Any member that would like to purchase a 10 meeting certificate can do so by paying $85. Non members can purchase a 10 meeting certificate for $130 Next week our speaker is former Dale Carnegie president, Stuart Levine. Mr. Levine now heads up his own company Stuart Levine Associates. His knowledge of business communication is extensive and he is an enjoyable speaker to listen to.

Judy McEvoy "Stony Brook The Economic Engine of Long Island"
2004-08-06 00:00
This morning our speaker, Stony Brook’s Economic Development Assoc VP, Judy McEvoy, gave us an enlightening insight on the impact of the university on Long Island. For example, the hospital supplies bills accounts for $300 million in purchases. The vast majority of those dollars are spent on Long Island. There is a total of $200 million pledged from government to pay for the wireless technology efforts at Stony Brook. This commitment will have a serious impact on the fortunes of the university and Brookhaven National labs which is partnering with Stony Brook.Stony Brook is also involved with workforce training. The needs of industry for special training are often not readily available without the help of the school. These and other aspects of the Stony Brook’s impact on the Long Island economy are impressive, and most of us are hardly aware of the importance of this positive impact.After the close of the meeting LIMBA’s Education Committee met. Today the discussion was to identify the most pressing reform needs and what would be the best approach to address those needs Finally, we established that the members would build a telephone chain to encourage people to attend. This is important because our speakers have a reasonable expectation of having a substantial audience.

Assemblyman Steve Englebright
2004-07-30 00:00
Our invited speaker this morning was Assemblyman Steve Englebright. We opened the meeting while we were waiting for Steve to arrive. Mr. Englebright was caught in traffic that was caused by a policeman’s funeral. In the meantime we began to discuss the logjam in Albany. Fortunately we had some expertise in the audience in the person of good friend, and LIMBA board member Bob Gaffney. We had an interesting give and take between us, discussing what is essentially a dysfunctional, or if you prefer, a broken system. When Steve Englebright did enter the room, he offered additional insights and added greatly to the discussion.We still do not have a budget, and the rancor in Albany from the powers that benefit from this dysfunctionality are in no mood to work for the benefit of the people. The problem lies with the hold the governor and the leadership have over the senate and the assembly. By having the governor and the leadership control the funding to the various assembly districts, the legislators dance to the tune of the music, or else.At this point there is a feeling that the situation is headed to open revolt.. In any event we are not being properly served. As it turns out this is not a partisan problem. This is raw power politics, and they should be told, we are not happy.So what started out as a meeting without a speaker, turned out to be a most interesting and enlightening morning. My thanks to all who participated.New members this week include Sue Hanley from Baldassano Architects and, Gerry Fitzpatrick from Harley Ship Builders(SES Logistics & Marketing)
