Larry Quinn to Continue Serving on Environmental Advisory Board

Former trustee Laurence Quinn will continue serving on Garden City's Environmental Advisory Board (EAB). He was officially appointed at the June 6 village board meeting.

"I am continuing as a member of the EAB because the issues are still present," said Quinn, who was EAB chair for each of the four years he was a village trustee.

He addressed many issues during his tenure on the advisory board but perhaps his hardest fought fight on behalf of the entire village was for a more equitable distribution of air traffic coming in and out of JFK airport.

"As the 'airspace redesign' and recommended arrival approaches change air traffic patterns, there is an increased risk that noise and pollution from planes will be concentrated over narrower corridors," Quinn said. "We already see that the plane noise over the Floral Park monitor (maintained by the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey) has jumped from a monthly average reading of 61 decibels to over 68 decibels for May 2013. This is a very bad sign for the future."

Quinn said he's pleased with the recent passage of a Senate bill that will require the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey (PA) to conduct a noise and land use compatibility study as set forth in 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 150.

Sen. Kemp Hannon, the bill's sponsor, said the study provides a mechanism for considering the issue of aircraft noise and developing a plan to address noise issues that give due consideration to residents affected by aircraft around the United States, including major Northeast and Atlantic region airports.

"I am very pleased that there are bills introduced that will require a Part 150 study to be conducted. This will help the schools in the area and some residences. The bigger issue is going to be safety. More planes mean more risk to the communities under the plane routes," Quinn said.

Trustee Robert Bolebruch, elected in March, is the advisory board's new chair. He publicly thanked Quinn for his years of hard work.

"In a nut shell this is probably the first real significant step we've seen in a long time in regards to this ... There is no one who worked on this harder than he did and I would just like to say thank you," Bolebruch said.

Regarding other EAB issues, Quinn said Liz Bailey and Ben Mahler have been pushing for more environmentally friendly planting strategies for the entire village.

"We already have a model municipal composting program but not many people in the village are aware of it. I personally want to see what can be done to encourage more solar energy use within the village," he said. "GC started as a model community for suburban living over one hundred years ago. It would be nice to see it become a model for the next hundred years as well."

He applauded the work Rob Alvey has done with the Garden City Bird Sanctuary over the last decade and thinks more people should be involved with creating their own "nature friendly" spaces on their properties by gardening responsibly and using plant species that help native birds.

"There is a lot to do and not being a trustee allows for more time for 'fun community work,'" Quinn said.