County parks, public works making do with less

Brian Schneider, a hydrogeologist with Bellmore-Merrick roots, knew he was stepping up to a “daunting” challenge when County Executive Laura Curran chose him to oversee Nassau County’s parks and public works departments.

With budgets already tight across the board, and the state board that controls the county’s finances forcing $18 million in cuts to all departments, Schneider said that parks and public works would have to get creative.

“We’re looking to get grants and form public-private partnerships — we have to find a way,” Schneider said. “That’s going to be my mantra: For us to build new, we’re gonna have to maintain.”

As deputy county executive for parks and public works, Schneider will oversee the county’s 60 park properties, which cover 6,000 acres, and include Eisenhower Park — the park system’s centerpiece, Schneider said. Most of the parks operate year-round as well, he added.

“We don’t shut down our parks because it’s cold,” he said. “The majority of them are free to the public. We really provide an amazing resource to county residents at a very low cost.”

At the Public Works Department, Schneider will also coordinate design, construction and repair of county facilities, snowplowing, bridges, drainage, the county’s three sewage treatment facilities, traffic safety and the division that manages the NICE bus system’s contract. “On its own it’s pretty daunting,” Schneider said. “While the portfolio isn’t as sexy [as the Parks Department], it does perform a critical function to the infrastructure of the county.”

Woodlands and recreation

Schneider, who has lived in Merrick for 33 years, has strong connections to the South Shore, in addition to having “explored every inch of this county.”

In 2011, he helped spearhead a task force that explored the woodlands off the Meadowbrook Parkway, which are controlled by the state, and had fallen victim to littering and teenage partying. The group aimed to develop the woodlands as a recreational resource, with hiking and biking trails.

The movement stalled, according to Schneider, even after a number of events aimed at engaging the community.

“There was a lot of momentum, and the right people were in the room,” he said of the task force, which included former Legislators Norma Gonsalves and Dave Denenberg. “Your biggest challenge, though, for that entire operation, was that New York state controlled the majority of the land. They had the right of way of the parkway.”

Schneider said that even though state officials “kind of put their toes in the water,” and were interested in hearing the task force’s ideas, at the end of the day the political will was lacking to push forward with the development and recreational initiatives.

“We can certainly re-engage, if that’s something the state is willing to back us on,” he said. “But to be honest, I think they were looking more toward putting another lane on the Meadowbrook in both directions at the time, and they didn’t want to limit themselves.”

Schneider still shares the task force’s general goals. “We’re open to any type of recreational expansion to help residents of the county get out of their homes,” he said, “and to provide recreation that’s low-cost and will get people to appreciate the environment more, which was one of the goals of the task force.”

Protecting the environment with infrastructure

The most significant single environmental project the Public Works Department will undertake this year, Schneider said, will be piping treated sewage effluent from the Bay Park treatment plant in East Rockaway to be discharged into the Atlantic Ocean, rather than Reynolds Channel.

Redirecting the waste will result in major environmental improvement to recreational areas on the South Shore, he said.

The project, which will involve a new piping system diverting the effluent to an existing aqueduct under Sunrise Highway that will connect to the Cedar Creek plant, will be largely handled by the state, according to Schneider. The county will also be pitching in substantial funds, however (see sidebar).

“Governor Cuomo, in his foresight, believes that the project can be done cheaper and quicker using the state’s design-build capability,” Schneider said. “The county needs state legislative passage to get the authority, and we’ve never approached that. If we wanted to do it now, it would take months.”

However, “the county will be an integral part and stakeholder to make sure residents who are somewhat impacted will be informed of the process from the early stages and throughout construction,” he added.

Basically, “we’re not just going to punt it off to the state and wipe our hands and say, ‘Good luck to you.’”

And the considerable state and federal aid the project will draw is more than welcome, as Schneider’s departments — and all county departments — tighten their belts and try to do more with less after the Nassau Interim Finance Authority’s budget cuts.

“From my vantage point . . . the finances are in rough shape,” Schneider said. “They’re really in bad condition. We have to rise above that, and that’s going to be my mission: To find a way to provide the goods and services that the residents deserve, are used to and are paying for.”

He said he remains confident that Curran and her new administration are up to the task. “These are the challenges we’re going to have to deal with,” he said, “and I can guarantee you, we’re going to do that.”