Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman revealed at the Williston Park Civic Association’s “Meet the Candidates” night Monday that the town is seeking an environmental group or some other private entity to purchase most of the 10 acres of open space at the Roslyn Country Club.
Kaiman said town officials are still “adding up the numbers” on striking a deal to acquire the property and renovate the pool and tennis courts to create a town recreation facility. As part of that process, Kaiman said the town board is “seeing if there’s some environmental group interested in buying the space.”
Kaiman addressed the subject as he was about to field questions from residents at the Williston Park Village Hall forum.
Afterward, Kaiman said the town also has been casting around for grants to support the proposed acquisition. He said had group had stepped up to express an interest in buying the open space that constitutes most of the land on the Roslyn Heights tract that the he has said the town is intent on preserving.
Before any questions about the Roslyn Country Club were posed by residents attending the forum at the Williston Park Village Hall, moderator and civic association president Bob Mtichell told Kaiman that the subject was certain to come up. And Mitchell noted that the Williston Park Civic Association members were opposed to the proposed acquisition.
So Kaiman took the initiative to restate his position on the acquisition as town officials continue to negotiate with owner Manouchehr Malekan to strike a deal for acquiring the property to create a town recreation facility and leave the catering facility on the grounds in Malekan’s hands.”
“The question for the town is either there’s a way to allow the residents to use the pool without paying for it,” Kaiman said. “If we could somehow preserve the open space without costing anybody any money, we should consider it.”
He then revealed the search for some other entity to play a role by acquiring most of the open land. The town’s plan calls for renovating the pool and tennis courts and charging for annual memberships that would be available to all town residents.
“We thought we could market it,” he said, projecting annual membership fees of $1,000 or less for the pool with 750 members needed to make it a viable facility.
He said the town board members are “taking our time, exploring it, if there’s some private entity interested in acquiring it.”
“We’re certainly not going to waste your money,” he said.
But his Republican challenger, Lee Tu, seized the opportunity to hit on one of the recurrent themes of his campaign.
“Why should the people around town pay for the acquisition of a high-end pool?” Tu asked.
He said memberships at the existing town pool facilities at Michael J, Tully Park and Manorhaven are “relatively cheap to me.”
Tu said that it would cost between $1,000 and $2,000 for annual memberships at the prospective Roslyn Country Club pool “just to service it.”
“It’s not about preserving space,” he said. “Every dollar counts to me. And I think it all counts to someone.”
Repeating his contention that 90 percent of the general tax goes to pay debt service, Tu said, “We don’t need additional debt.”
One resident asked what he would do – if elected – if the town board struck a deal on the Roslyn Country Club before or after the election.
Tu said he would seek to “overturn” what he called a “midnight deal” that might be struck
Tu also revisited his criticisms of the town’s building department, recalling the bribery scandal that forced the resignations of five building department officials five years ago.
“Let’s fix this building department,” he said. “The haven’t fixed the department. It went from ‘pay-to-play’ to ‘nothing’s happening’.”
Tu has said that the building department is dragging its heels on issuing permits and has demonstrated a reluctance to make decisions on all applications. Kaiman has sought to debunk that, saying that the building department has been revamped to exemplary status.
“We can do more with less,” Tu concluded.
In his remarks before Tu spoke, Kaiman touted the responsiveness of the town’s 311 phone line, currently receiving 165,000 calls per year, and the effectiveness of Project Independence, the program aimed at lending seniors assistance to enable them to remain in their own homes.
Speaking before Kaiman, incumbent Democratic Councilman Thomas Dwyer said the town was running a “practical government” that “looks for solutions.”
“We’re finding ways to be innovative. We’re finding ways to saved tax dollars,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer’s Republican challenger, Edward Scott, didn’t appear at the forum. Also absent was Jason Watson, Democratic challenger to incumbent Republican County Legislator Richard Nicollelo, who represents the 9th county legislative district.
Nicollelo said the Nassau County Police Department 3rd Precinct in Williston Park won’t be closing.
“The 3rd Precinct isn’t going anywhere,” he said.
He did promise “massive layoffs” among county employees if the unions balked at renegotiating their contracts.
He also panned the proposal to relocate the Nassau Coliseum at Belmont Race Track.
“It’s never going to Belmont in my opinion,” Nicollelo said.
