By Karenlyn Barone
"Why do I go down to the complex during the day to play ball with my sons and find the gates locked?" asked Christopher Galligan. "What's going on?"
Galligan's concern echoed that of other residents who complain that the village has recently put harsh restrictions on field access, after it more than willingly gave up quality control of the field several years ago.
East Rockaway Recreation Director Frank Pignataro said fears of field vandalism caused the village to put up gates around the field and the rest of the complex, which also contains basketball and volleyball courts. The gates are open for recreation department-sponsored activities or by permit only. Area residents agree this could be a reasonable rule, but not for a baseball field the village didn't pay for or maintain up until last month.
In early 1999, Jimmy Mammes, an East Rockaway resident and father of two boys, wanted to build a baseball field for the children of the village. He approached the village board with his proposal, assuring them that the field would not cost the village any money to build. True to his word, through tremendous effort and significant personal expense, Mammes had the field completed for the 2001 spring baseball season.
As president of the C.Y.O. St. Raymond's/East Rockaway Baseball League, Mammes has organized league games and maintained the field with the help of volunteers for the past two years. However, when he applied to the village for his usual seasonal permit this January, the village's response was to issue a permit with new, stringent restrictions and to transfer the duty of maintaining the field from the league to the village.
"There was talk that the village might want to maintain the field starting this year, but we never had an open dialogue with them," said Mammes. "They waited until three days before opening day, April 12, to notify us."
For reasons still unclear to him, the village took over maintenance of the field and restricted any activity that was not authorized through village permits. Notably, any requests for use of the complex must first go through the recreation department.
The league contends that the recreation department and the village have now placed unnecessary restrictions on it, thus hampering the services it provides to the children.
"This baseball league provides more entertainment to the children of the village than any other local organization," said Mammes.
According to Joe Jonas, player agent for the baseball league, it currently boasts 403 paid family memberships, with registration increasing 15 percent this year alone. "We understand that the field is village property, but with all things considered equal, we did finance the field, and now we are being crucified," said Jonas. "This is an injustice which has to be corrected."
Pignataro maintains that every action taken by the village board and the recreation department has the children's best interest and welfare at heart. He expressed his concern over insurance liability issues and proper upkeep of the field. The village department of public works, he says, is capable of maintaining the field and assisting in its daily operation. Bill Long, East Rockaway village clerk, was unable to attach a dollar amount to what it will now cost the taxpayers of the village for the maintenance.
Some parents were less concerned with policy and more concerned with the bottom line of providing accessibility to the field for the children. "You give wonderful programs to the children and then you take them back," said Marilyn Marra, the mother of a boy who has played in the baseball league since the field opened. "For such a small village, we are burdened with too much red tape and bureaucracy."
Echoing that sentiment, league assistant coach Mark Gelb said, "We take one step forward and then are forced to take two steps back, when it should just be about what is best for the kids."
Carrigan assured the residents that their concerns were not falling on deaf ears, and that an investigation would be necessary before anything could be resolved.
Mammes said the baseball program is not running as smoothly as it did when the volunteers maintained the field. In the past two years there were people tending to the field during every scheduled game, able to take care of whatever field issues might arise. Currently, the village public works department prepares the field for scheduled games, but is not on site to re-condition the field in between games, nor at all on weekends. On any given day there may be as many as five games scheduled, and by the last game of the day, the field is in sad shape.
In fact, at a game held this past Monday night, the second-base bag came loose. Although many league representatives were at the field, they could not fix the problem, owing to the new village restrictions.
"They won't even let us go out and rake the field in between games," said Hank Armindinger, who is on the board of directors of the baseball league. "People are making decisions here to suit themselves and not thinking about what is best for the children."
Pignataro says he is proud of the program the league runs, but argues that the maintenance should in fact be handled by the village. "With all due respect, they did volunteer to do the work, but they were mavericks," said Pignataro. "They were not maintaining that field according to code, and the village had to exert some authority."
Pignataro, however, could not cite any specific codes that the league had violated.
"We don't get paid for this," said Armindinger. "We just want a safe field for the kids to play on, and the village is keeping us from doing that."
Parents at Monday's game were dismayed, as well, that the volunteers could not go on to the field and fix the base. "If the village wants to maintain the field, then they should be here for every game," said Christine Chmielewski, mother of one of the players. "This is now a risk to the children."
The village has also stopped the sale of any unwrapped food and beverages, like hot dogs and coffee, at the field, because the league does not have the proper permit from the Nassau County Board of Health. The snack concession is the only source of daily revenue the league has in place, and it relies on those funds to stay operational.
At the village meeting, Jonas expressed frustration with the additional burden being placed on the league. Santino jumped in and offered the services of his own office to help the league obtain the necessary permits. At press time, Santino had also arranged a meeting among village officials, the league and himself to try and work out the concerns of both sides.
"East Rockaway Baseball is a great program," said Santino. "It is incumbent upon everyone involved -- the league, the village, the parents, the coaches and the players -- to work together, because it really is about the kids."
