Letters to the Franklin Square/Elmont Herald: March 8-14

Great work, Herald editor

To the Editor:

Once again, the Herald — specifically the Franklin Square/Elmont Herald — leads the way for the “big” newspaper. Your thorough coverage of the Walgreen’s story (“Pharmacy fiasco in Elmont?” Feb. 23-29) most assuredly led Newsday to devote quite a bit of space to the same story.

Naturally, yours was better told. Your references to the points of view of local elected officials showed that there is a major political agenda wrapped up in this story. Great work.

By the way, how does Jackie Nash get the time to do all of the writing she does for the Herald? Astounding quantity and quality.
 
John Walsh
Stewart Manor

Sewanhaka budget proposal is intolerable

To the Editor:

Once again, the Sewanhaka Central High School District’s budget process begins. According to the Sewanhaka district Board of Education’s four scenarios, the state-mandated 2 percent tax cap will likely be exceeded in order to avoid $3 million in cuts (“Sewanhaka district unveils budget plans,” Feb. 16-22).

The four budget scenarios range from $168.7 million to $165.7 million, a difference of $3 million. The crux of the whole budget boils down to this amount. The spending plans, including mandated costs, for any of the four budget scenarios are as follows: a 5.3 percent increase in employee salaries, from $92.2 million to $97.1 million, a total increase of $4.9 million; a 7.1 percent increase in benefits from $35.9 million to $38.5 million, a total increase of $2.6 million; and a 3 percent increase in employee retirement costs, with no numbers given by the board, and a whopping 12 percent increase in health-care costs, again, with no numbers provided by the board.

Total spending on mandated employee salaries and benefits is $135.6 million, not counting health care and retirement — an increase of $7.5 million.
If you add the $26.3 million in state aid and the $3 million for capital reserve, the base amount for any of the budgets would be $164.9 million. The school tax levy is the most contentious item on every homeowner’s tax bill, but if you take a hard look at the budget, almost 95 percent of it is already mandated, and almost all of the increases go toward teachers’ salaries and benefits.

Taxpayers are actually voting on about 5 percent of the budget, and are left to squabble, looking for substantial savings in areas that no one wants to cut, such as after-school programs.

Further adding insult to injury is the budget vote. Every year, the same scare tactics are employed to assure passage of the budget. “The children are going to suffer if the budget is voted down.” If the budget gets voted down, it’s resubmitted for a second vote. Where else in America can you vote twice on the same issue, if you don’t like the outcome of the first vote? I seriously question the legality of this.

The Sewanhaka district Board of Education has said the budget will likely exceed the state-mandated 2 percent tax cap. Obviously, based on the numbers provided, teachers’ salaries and benefits are the cause of the budget being over the 2 percent cap, yet they are also mandated. This situation is intolerable. Consolidation of school districts must be put out to a vote now. If the consolidation vote fails, then there should be a second vote, just as there would be a second budget vote.

After all, what good is an education to our children when we can no longer afford to put a roof over their heads?

Christopher Gioia
Franklin Square

Rath Park needs major cleanup

To the Editor:

I am writing in response to the recent article about Rath Park (“Revamping Rath Park,” Feb. 2-8). During the summer and fall of 2011, I spent a great deal of time gathering hundreds of signatures on a petition to make improvements to the pool at Rath Park. Residents were very receptive to the ideas with some adding their own suggestions for additional needed improvements. In early January, I presented this petition to Councilman Ed Ambrosino; Joe Ra, an attorney for the Town of Hempstead; and Mike Zappolo, deputy commissioner for the town’s Parks Department.

When I got to the meeting, Jerry Monaco of the Morton Civic Association and Lisa Modica from the Franklin Square Warriors were also there, representing their groups’ concerns about the conditions at the park. We were also informed that the town is working with the Franklin Square Little League to address their issues with the fields. As a result of this meeting, Jerry, Lisa and I agreed to put together a Rath Park Improvement Committee. This committee is comprised of individuals representing organizations such as the Morton Civic Association, Little League, Warriors and Carey Dad’s Club.

Many areas of the park are being underutilized because there has not been any upkeep or improvements in a significant amount of time. As I was obtaining signatures for the petition, individuals who have been residents for 40 or 50 years told me the pool looks the same as it did when they moved here, minus the diving boards. I was amazed at how many people told me they spend a great deal of money to go to county pools because they had so much to offer. Once the kids reach 10 years old, they are bored with our pool.

It is my hope that, through the formation of this committee, we will make improvements to the pool and the rest of the park so that the whole community will be able to enjoy it. Our children need someplace fun and safe to grow up. There is no reason to pay taxes on a pool and park if it is not being utilized.
  
Diane Hansen
West Hempstead

Commend town officials for Elmont rezoning

To the Editor:

The community of Elmont is a charming bedroom community in the shadow of the world’s capital. At the same time, residents who call the Gateway to Nassau their hometown have established a forward-looking identity that embraces a challenge to create a downtown with an enhanced level of vitality and character. Accordingly, I am writing to add my voice to the chorus of people who support the Town of Hempstead’s work to create a new building zone along Elmont’s Hempstead Turnpike corridor.

Elmont’s business district will respond positively to zoning changes that will encourage private-sector investment by developers and stimulate the economy through construction and reasonable growth. Simultaneously, a sensitivity to the suburban character of this desirable hamlet under town zoning enhancements will preserve the area’s identity. This identity is one that is guarded and cherished by homeowners who value their stake in the American dream.

Additionally, the inclusion of mixed-use development in any proposal adopted by the board will demonstrate a commitment to smart-growth principles and a dedication to progressive development. Finally, the proposed zone’s focus on increased development density and building height regulations in certain sections of the zone appears to be well-balanced, with the preservation of suburban-development priorities in other sections.

Moreover, I would like to commend Town Supervisor Kate Murray and Councilmen Ed Ambrosino and James Darcy for having wisdom and sensitivity to work with Elmont neighbors to create a zone for the Hempstead Turnpike corridor that respects the historical character of Elmont, while embracing the promised of this great community’s future.

Ed Ra
State Assemblyman, 21st District

Power and greed versus the little people

To the Editor:

Clover Associates, LLC has applied for variances to waive off-street parking and demolish existing structures on the southwest corner of Meacham Avenue and Hempstead Turnpike (“Pharmacy fiasco in Elmont?” Feb. 23-29). The town’s Zoning Board of Appeals, which is currently reviewing the proposal, held a hearing regarding this matter on Feb. 29.

The decision of the Board of Appeals will affect the safety of all people who walk and drive on Meacham Avenue and Hempstead Turnpike, including the many children who go back and forth to Covert Avenue School and Sewanhaka High School; the people who use the buses to travel back and forth to work, or to go shopping or visiting; and the senior citizens who walk for shopping or exercise.

The people who must drive past this area will encounter much more traffic with many delays and poor visibility. Bus stops and curb cuts will have to be moved, which will increase danger and add to already poor traffic movement.

The Elmont Fire Department firehouse on Meacham Avenue and Scimitar Avenue makes many calls using Meacham Avenue. Adding to the traffic problems at this intersection is surely increasing a danger to the community.

If Walgreens is allowed to build their proposed 18,000-square-foot structure, they would have no parking, and customers would have to use the town parking lot located next to the proposed development site. The town requires new construction to have a parking space for every 200 square feet of the building, and taxes are paid on the spots. Walgreens will get free parking at the expense of taxpayers.

Trailers making deliveries to Walgreens will have to travel on residential streets too small to accommodate them, and inconvenience the people living on those blocks who bought homes in a residential area, not a commercial area. Healy Street and Oakley Avenue will surely be adversely affected.
Another consideration for denying these applications is the future of the business owners who occupy the storefronts of the plaza, the proposed Walgreens site. They will have to either relocate or go out of business. Many friends and neighbors will be affected by this takeover of big business. A few will profit at the expense of many.

Don’t let this happen. Send letters to town Zoning Board of Appeals Chairman Mr. David P. Weiss, 1 Washington St. in Hempstead. Call and express your concerns for safety to town Councilman Ed Ambrosino (R-North Valley Stream), at (516) 663-6675.

Joe Benincasa
Elmont

Economics can’t trump environmental safety

To the Editor:

In the South, if you were to make a plan that isn’t particularly sound or useful, you might hear someone utter, “That dog don’t hunt.” 
For example, if a husband planned to golf on his wedding anniversary, that’s definitely “a dog that don’t hunt.” His decision to smooth things over by telling his wife he’ll take her along? Even more so. If she responds with tickets to a Broadway show on Super Bowl Sunday? Well, you get the picture.

In my 10 years as an elected official, first as a mayor, now as a senator, I’ve seen quite a few bad ideas, or proverbial dogs that don’t hunt. The most recent among these was the reported possibility that wastewater from hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” in upstate New York might be processed at treatment plants on Long Island.

If you’re unfamiliar with the issue, hydro-fracking involves injecting water and sand along with chemicals into rock formations at high pressure to fracture the shale and release the natural gas trapped within it. The resulting flow-back of liquid slurry is a dangerous mixture of chemicals that could, if not handled properly, contaminate the underground water supplies of nearby communities. The process has not been approved in New York and is currently a source of debate, much of it centering on that liquid slurry.

In fact, in April 2010, the state Department of Environmental Conservation concluded that hydraulic fracturing would not be permitted in the drinking watersheds for New York City. That’s probably one of the reasons why New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg supports hydro-fracking. His city’s water supplies are already protected.

So the obvious question is, why on earth would we accept millions of gallons of that wastewater here at our Long Island treatment plants? Long Island is surrounded by saltwater, so we derive all of our drinking water from groundwater.  In fact, Nassau and Suffolk counties depend on a sole source aquifer for drinking water and consume an estimated 375 million gallons of water per day just from this source. Clearly, communities like ours that rely almost exclusively on a single water source can’t afford the possibility of hazardous waste seeping into their supply.

Now, there are certain things I am willing to accept from upstate. More money from Albany in education aid to our schools would be one, and additional funding to rebuild our deteriorating roads would be another. Contaminated wastewater would not be one. 
That’s why I introduced a bill — S.6583 — that would ban the treatment, storage or processing of that drilling fluid as well as any waste resulting from the exploration, development, extraction or production of crude oil or natural gas, in areas that rely on a single water source such as Long Island.

You’ll often see me stress in my letters the need for people, especially in government, to listen to each other’s ideas. It’s not just that I’d like to see us return to a more civil discourse, but the fairest solutions to the most difficult problems are usually compromises. And I think it’s safe to say that we’ve seen a lot more of that mindset in Albany this past year than we have for a long time.   
But there are occasions when some ideas are simply not palpable to me or to my constituents. Those dogs don’t hunt, and this is clearly one of them.

When it comes to fracking, my philosophy is simple: we can’t let economics trump environmental safety. I hope you’ll agree that protecting our water supplies is job one and that this bill merits your support.   

Jack Martins
State Senator, 7th District