By:JOSEPH KELLARD
When Toback was growing up in the 1970s, he said, Wrights Field was one of the pre-eminent Little League facilities in Nassau County, "but it has since fallen into a lesser condition."
The county secured a $10,000 grant for improvements to the facility, which is part of the town's parks system. Additionally, New York state Sen. Dean Skelos and Assemblyman Bob Barra pledged $25,000 toward the project last fall. The town and county must now sign an intermunicipal agreement regarding how the town will make use of the county's grant money. The town has yet to receive any letters or drafts regarding such an agreement, but would be receptive to the grant, a town spokesman said.
The installation of underground sprinklers is one part of the project. "Hopefully with that money we'll be able to bring that facility back to its glory days, and make it one of the showcases of the town park system," Toback said. The legislator added that he hoped the work would be completed before the Little League season begins.
The town will open its new soccer field at Oceanside Park this spring. Construction of the $400,000 state-of-the-art field was completed in October, and the new sod is expected to be settled properly before the new soccer season begins. The project required that several trees be cut and that irrigation, drainage, bleachers and fencing be installed.
"It was a huge project that we completed, and we're very proud of that," said Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray.
A top priority for the town this year is to close the Oceanside Motel. In December, Nassau County Supreme Court Judge Burton Joseph denied the town's motion to seek a preliminary injunction to shut down the motel based on its public-nuisance-abatement law, and will set a date to bring the case to trial this year.
Meanwhile, the town continues to fight the motel from another angle, attempting to condemn and take the property for public parking using eminent domain law, a suit that began last May. After completing the necessary procedures for condemnation, including an environmental study, the town will file its case within the next two weeks, said Murray.
"After that we are strictly at the mercy and discretion of the court's calendar," Murray said. Asked for a timetable, Murray said the demolition and the building of the parking lot should be completed this year.
While the case is legally out of Toback's hands, the legislator cited the motel issue as his top priority for Oceanside this year. "I pledge to do whatever I can to get the facility closed down as soon as possible, and I trust that will happen in early 2005," he said. Toback added that he will keep an eye on the condemnation proceedings "to make sure they move as expeditiously as possible, and to make sure the residents are kept informed as to what's going on and that the town follows through with its action."
Something that hasn't been expeditious is the project to install a 20-foot-tall lighthouse and other nautical features at the triangle at Long Beach Road and Davison Avenue. After Toback and other legislators secured $100,000 for the project, they expected to start the project by the end of 2002. But ground has yet to be broken.
"It was much more complicated than I had imagined," Toback said when asked about the delay. "Underneath that property there are all sorts of electrical conduits that had to be dealt with. There's also the fact that the police booth that was there kept getting hit by cars, so we really had to make sure that the structure was engineered in a way to withstand unwelcome visitors in the form of cars."
Toback said that the architect and county engineers agreed last week on the plans, and the next process is to put it out to bid and have it built. "We are at a point where I can definitely say construction will be done this spring," Toback said.
Also among the town's new projects this year will be the reconstruction of Alberne Avenue, a dead-end street off Royal Avenue in Oceanside plagued by flooding when tides rise in nearby Powell Creek. The work will include increasing the grade of the road, rebuilding the storm-water drain, and repaving and curb reconstruction. The project is slated to start by March, weather permitting.
The town is in continuing talks with the Department of Environmental Conservation concerning grant money to restore and renovate a dock at the end of Phillips Place in Oceanside. "This restoration will allow public access to launch kayaks and small craft," Murray said. "We'll also be doing work to beautify the area."
Once the weather warms up, the town will complete its facade project work on businesses along the north side of Long Beach Road in Oceanside, which began last year as part of its downtown beautification project. "This spring we'll begin work on the Johnny Russell's Grill, Pasetti's Restaurant and then Oceanside Grocery," Murray said. "We'll also be completing Don Jay Auto, Vanella's Funeral Home and Topaz Florist."
The town has provided the beach on Waterford Road in Island Park with barbecues, picnic areas, a playground and gazebo over the years, and plans to provide more services if needed. "We've done a general refurbishment of the beach, and we're looking into what else we could do to refurbish that small beach," Murray said, adding that the town will look into other upgrades it can make at Shell Creek Park in Island Park.
While the town and Toback offered no specific goals for traffic issues in either community, Nassau County Legislator Denise Ford said that she put in requests to the Department of Public Work to have various traffic issues addressed in these areas and is waiting for the department to finish its study and make recommendations.
Early last year, Ford went to various locations with Barbara Rubin of the Island Park Chamber of Commerce to look into improving the flow of traffic on Austin Boulevard. Ford said that timing changes were made at lights at certain intersections on Austin Boulevard that would allow pedestrians to cross the street with greater safety.
"One of the other issues Island Park residents are asking," Ford said, "is to have some of the restaurants along Austin Boulevard keep the first parking space vacant near the corners of these streets so that it's easier for drivers to see and pull out. We're considering these and other requests."
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