By ARIELLA MONTI
In a March 5 letter from the village to Assistant Superintendent Robert Bartels, the village requested that 20 parking spaces at the field no longer be used for student parking due to safety concerns of the village fire department. The area in question is used by firefighters for tournaments and training, and the department claims that driving in the area could damage the surface, resulting in injuries. The department also claims that it does not have the money to make repairs should they be needed.
The 20 spaces are among 53 allotted by the school for student parking, and the new restriction caused an uproar among students and parents, who claim that school parking is already sparse, and that the loss of the spots would exacerbate the problem. To date, 83 seniors have been issued parking stickers that allow them to park on campus. Due to a change in village parking regulations, students who could not find spots on campus and were once able to park on the streets, even for a short time, can no longer do so.
Fireman's Field is owned by the village, but a written agreement has allowed the school district to use a portion of the property for parking since the 1950s. The agreement was updated in 1989 and again in 1990, when it was extended until 1993. At that point it expired, but the school district has continued to use the area.
According to an amendment to the agreement in 1990, the village allowed the school to use 17 spaces, though the fire department claimed there were sometimes as many as 25 cars parked there. The agreement also outlined the district's responsibilities regarding upkeep and maintenance of the area as well as security during the day and at night.
The agreement allows the fire department to use the area during school hours, which, according to 1st Fire Chief Mark Murray, the department has done sporadically for required testing. On March 20, the Malverne Fire Department used the site for hose testing. According to Murray, the testing can only be done during daytime hours.
"We try to watch out for the concerns of the school district," Murray said, explaining that hose testing should not disrupt school activities. "But there are times we need to do stuff up there."
South Side's PTA has said it is opposed to testing or training during school hours.
Village and school officials have been meeting almost weekly with Village Administrator Frank Quigley since the March 5 request in an attempt to reach an agreement that addresses the concerns of both sides. Both sides seem to agree there has been a communication breakdown since the expiration of the contract in 1993.
"We believe a lot of this is lack of communication," said Board of Education President Mark Masin at the board's meeting on March 26.
Comments about this story? AMonti@
liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 282.
