Great Neck Parks District commissioners removed the acting before Peter Renick’s title by voting unanimously on Wednesday to make him the newest parks superintendent.
“Peter was absolutely outstanding in his performance and his dedication through the entire period as the acting superintendent,” said Robert Lincoln Jr., who had earlier in the meeting been sworn in for another term as parks commission.
Lincoln ran unopposed for a three-year team.
Renick, who has worked in nine positions since he began with the Great Neck Park District in 1972, became acting superintendent in June after Superintendent Leonard Celluro Jr., resigned unexpectedly in May.
He thanked the board for their support.
“I definitely appreciate the board’s faith in me,” Renick said. “I love the park district and will do my best.”
The other two board members joined Lincoln in welcoming Renick to the position.
“The board has had complete faith in Peter,” Commissioner Ruth Tamarin said. “Peter stepped right up and hasn’t missed a beat in the process doing two jobs as superintendent and assistant superintendent.”
“I’m absolutely ecstatic that you’re taking this job. We’re very proud to have you as our superintendent,” Commissioner Dan Nachmanoff added.
Renick began with the parks district three decades ago as a skating instructor at what is now known as the Andrew Stergiopoulis Ice Rink. He then assumed a wide variety of new positions before becoming the park district’s assistant superintendent for the past 12 years.
“Basically over that time,” he said in June, “I have done every job in the park district.”
Earlier in the meeting, Lincoln thanked voters for their support in returning him to the park district board.
“It’s an honor to have been re-elected and to have received support from the community and the board, but most important the voters to place trust not just in me but in local government,” he said. “I appreciate it and I will do my best to exceed expectations.”
The meeting also saw the rotation of board positions with Tamarin moving from treasurer to chairperson, Nachmanoff from secretary to treasurer and Lincoln from chairperson to secretary.
Tamarin made a state of the parks address focusing on Hurricane Sandy, which caused major damage to the parks.
“This year was a challenge for the Great Neck Park District as well as the entire community. Superstorm Sandy brought high winds creating power outages, floods, devastation of many home and once again damage to our parks,” Tamarin said. “The park district is committed to continuing to work with other community entities for our residents in time of need.”
She said the park district also intends to repair parking lots in 2013.
Tamarin said the commissioners are also exploring the possibility of moving the farmers’ market, which started last year, to Sundays during the summer.
