By Mark Hallum
At Community Board 11’s monthly meeting at MS 158, what began as a discussion about the expansion of St. Anastasia School turned into a proverbial dumpster fire when the question of how that expansion would affect the placement of the school’s garbage bins was addresed.The debate at Monday’s meeting was centered onwhether or not the new location of the bins would cause a “quality-of-life issue,”with garbage pickups taking place too close to neighboring residences.. The final status of the bins is to bedecided on by the Department of Sanitation
The motion carried on an application to permit the enlargement the school. Howere, the final status of the placement of the bins is to be decided on by the Department of Sanitation.
“While we can’t predict what our enrollment will be in a year because our families reregister every year, we’re hopeful that this will increase our overall enrollment,” Bob Sholten, treasurer of the academy, said about the expansion. “If it doubles the campus, we would probably witness expansion at up to 600 students at our Douglaston campus.”
Christine Haider, CB 11 chairwoman, briefly summarized recent activities in northeast Queens such as state Sen. Avella’s stand on upholding Bayside as a cease-and-desist zone for real estate solicitors, The Landmark Preservation Committee granting landmark status to the Ahles House, and Mel Meer’s status as a board member being declined for reinstatement by Queens Borough President Melinda Katz. The neighborhoods of Auburndale, Bayside, Douglaston, Hollis Hills, Little Neck and Oakland Gardens are all included in CB 11’s territory.
Anna Kaplan, who is running for the congressional seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Steve Israel (D-Melville), introduced herself to the community board at the meeting. Kaplan discussed the value of communication and trust between residents and elected officials.
Gregg Sullivan from QueensLiveTV made an announcement that Bayside High School would celebrate its 80th anniversary June 10-11. The celebration will include a performance of SING on June 10, and an alumni dinner on June 11. For more information, call the Alumni Office at the school (718) 229-7600.
As regards the rest of the meeting’s agenda. a motion also carried on the second item, in which a property owner and the architect she hired requested a zoning waiver to allow construction of a two-family home. Concerns were voiced about the waiver was that there may be too many vehicles on the street and in the driveway.
Two items were postponed: one on a variance to convert a building into an auto showroom and another for an auto repair establishment.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
