By:Laura Lane
But John Pinto, the North Merrick school-board president, adamantly defends the vote, saying in an interview last Sunday that he believes it was lawful. And board members who voted against the bond referendum are standing by their decision, he says.
The school board voted 4-3 against a request by the library to put a $3 million bond up for a public vote. The board's decision surprised some, including Ingham. He said he had worked on the bond proposal with the school district's attorney, Albert D'Agostino, since last winter. "We've been in contact since January of 2004 regarding the library's bond," said Ingham. "We've agreed to try to schedule the bond vote. The Aug. 25 board meeting was the first I heard of a disagreement."
D'Agostino had not returned three phone calls from the Herald as of press time.
Margaret Cincotta, the North Merrick Library director, was surprised and disappointed by the board's decision. "The school board is blocking taxpayers," Cincotta said. "It's not legal for them to make the decision to vote down a bond referendum."
Pinto disagreed. "The school district has the title to the library's building, and although state Education Law says we have no rights in regards to what the library says are their problems, we are liable for the building," he said. "The library is there with no lease agreement. A few years ago, we asked them to take the title, and then the liability would be out of our hands, but they didn't want it."
Lisa Areford, a library development specialist with the state Education Department, said state Education Law, Section 260(9), gives "library trustees the authority to compel the board of education to bring propositions to finance the construction of improvements to the library before the district voters, regardless of who has title to the library building." Areford added that it wasn't too late for the board to reconsider its vote.
David Feller, the North Merrick School District superintendent, didn't rule out the possibility that the board might vote again on the matter. "There's a genuine desire by the board to help the library," Feller said. "Both boards might work this through." Feller said the boards had met before the vote, adding, "I'm optimistic."
Ingham said he was preparing a legal brief to address the school board's decision. "I looked into the state comptroller's opinions and the statute itself, which was amended in 1970 to avoid this situation," Ingham said. "The only choice the school board has is to discuss this with the voters. They can tell them to vote it down, but they can't stop the voters from being able to vote on it."
In his brief, Ingham is requesting that the board vote again on the bond proposal at its October board meeting. If it refuses, Ingham said, the library board might go to state Supreme Court in an attempt to compel the Board of Education to put the bond proposal up for a public vote.
Pinto hopes the board's recent decision will lead to changes in the relationship between the district and library. "Something should come out of this - either a title transfer or a lease transfer," Pinto said. "The state Education Law is unfair. If the boiler blew up tomorrow, the library could have it fixed and then give [the school district] the bill."
Ingham said the library has insurance for such emergencies.
Jackie Thresher, director of Nassau Library System, said the relationship between the North Merrick school district and library is common. "There are 33 school district libraries in Nassau County out of 54 libraries. But the school district doesn't control the public library board of trustees; the library does," Thresher said. "I've never heard of a school board refusing the library. I have heard of them giving the library a hard time and have also heard that some districts try to influence the decision of what the library puts before the public."
Thresher added that school and library boards generally try to maintain a conciliatory relationship to help each other achieve goals. "Sometimes a school district will say to the library, 'I'd rather you don't ask for a bond this year because we have a bond issue.' The two have to get along."
At least some local residents believe the school board was right. "The board wanted to look at the big picture and prioritize all capital improvements," Walter Dobkowski said. A frequent library patron, Dobkowski believes the school board wasn't trying to stop library renovations. "I think the board is doing what it's supposed to be doing; they aren't rubber-stamping it," he said.
Trustees said they voted against the library's bond proposal to save the district money. Pinto believes combining school district and library renovation projects could glean better bids from contractors.
But Ingham doesn't believe a combined bond proposal is possible. He said, "I'm looking to get confirmation from the state Education Department, but I think it's not legal. And I think this is the crux of the misunderstanding with the school board."
Dolores Paeth has lived in North Merrick for 13 years. She has mixed feelings about the issue. "I'd like to see the library's roof and boiler replaced if it becomes a dire emergency. The pipes could freeze, and a leaky roof could cause mold," Paeth said. But she noted, "I'm concerned about the amount of money."
The North Merrick Library building was built 48 years ago. It still has its original roof, boiler, windows and bathroom fixtures.
Cincotta said because the building is old, it's almost impossible to repair. "When I tried to get the boiler repaired, they told me we couldn't get the parts to do the repairs. The roofers said the roof has been patched as much as it can be," she said.
The library director added, "Our windows aren't insulated, and they leak, and some of our bathrooms have out-of-order signs because we can't get parts to fix the fixtures. We're not planning on making the building the Taj Mahal. We just want to make it functional."
