East Williston Mayor Bonnie Parente said during the Monday night board of trustees meeting that previous plans for a dog park at Roslyn Road Park in the village are being reconsidered.

A Girl Scout’s proposal for a dog park can still be put forward to the North Hempstead Town Board, but other options are being evaluated, Parente said.

“The Scout is considering what her plan will be, whether that may be a dog park or some other dog or beautification-related project,” Parente said.

Bree Janicek, the Girl Scout organizing the project, is working on her Gold Award in honor of her friend, Anthony Leva Jr., of East Williston, who died from cancer in 2021 and originally had a goal of establishing a dog run for his Eagle Scout project. 

Michelle Janicek, Bree’s mother,  said the project remains flexible.

Earlier this year, North Hempstead’s Town Board authorized the creation of a dog park at Roslyn Road and Lee Avenue park once funding had been secured. The project will be funded privately and not with taxpayer dollars, Janicek said. 

Two residents Monday night expressed their concerns with the project, which has not had site plans yet proposed to the town. 

Bob Sedacca said the dog park is a quality-of-life issue over canine behavior for residents on Roslyn Road and Lee Avenue and asked for Parente to speak against the proposal.

Parente said she will not take a position on any project until site plans are presented and that she looks out for the interests of the entire community

“There are still an overwhelming number of people in this village that support this project,” Parente said. 

Anthony Leva Sr. said previous complaints about the project, which include noise in the area and dog waste going into the water, are “complete hyperbole” and “baseless in fact.”

“The Scout has the best intentions to make improvements to our community,” Leva said. “We should all appreciate and welcome the efforts of young people to do such a thing.”

In unrelated village news, the board passed a local law that requires commercial companies that trim, remove or alter trees in the village to get a license to do so.

The board also approved a contract with Amport Painting to paint the interior of village hall for $17,435 and authorized the village clerk to seek bids for exterior painting and repair of village hall.

The village will be holding a ceremony to support Childhood Cancer Awareness Month on Sept. 6 and a memorial event on Monday, Sept. 11. Both events will start at 7 p.m. and the board meeting that Monday night will begin at 8:30 p.m.