By Karenlyn Barone
Lorraine Ubriaco is one of 200 estimated homeowners living on one of about eight blocks that have Lynbrook addresses, but are not part of the incorporated village. While she doesn't pay village taxes, Ubriaco claims since the pool is not supported by tax dollars her Lynbrook address should allow her access.
"I may not pay taxes to the incorporated village of Lynbrook, but that shouldn't matter," said Ubriaco. "It is my understanding that no village taxes go to pay for the pool, anyway."
That is not exactly right, according to Lynbrook Mayor Gene Scarpato. The pool was built on the promise that it would be self-sufficient and would not be fiscally supported by village taxes, but if enough revenue is not generated, then village taxes will be used to subsidize.
In order to increase pool membership this year, residents of School District 20 were invited to join. Those residents might not have a Lynbrook address at all since the district includes sections of East Rockaway and Hewlett. Ubriaco finds that incredulous.
"When I saw that membership to the pool was being opened to School District 20 residents, I couldn't believe it," said Ubriaco. "Some of those people don't even live in Lynbrook, but they can join the pool and I can't."
Tom Miccio, deputy mayor and pool committee chairperson, said that the decision to offer membership to School District 20 residents was due to the village's long-standing symbiotic relationship with the use of various facilities. "We decided to build on that relationship," said Miccio.
Ubriaco said that the worst part of being denied membership is that it keeps her children from enjoying a summer at the pool with their friends. "School friends from Our Lady of Peace will tell my girls, they'll see them at the pool and then I have to explain that we are not allowed to join," said Ubriaco. "It really isn't right."
Family friend, Filomena Moustakas, is an incorporated village resident and a member of the pool who believes that registration should be open to all residents of Lynbrook.
"I have belonged to the pool since it opened and don't see what the big deal is," said Moustakas. "Membership is poor and whomever lives in Lynbrook should be able to join."
The unincorporated village residents are a small group who live in the northernmost part of Lynbrook. They are zoned for the Malverne School District and often referred to as North Lynbrook.
"People refer to us as North Lynbrook," said Ubriaco. "But there is no such thing as North Lynbrook -- I live in Lynbrook and my zip code is 11563."
Scarpato suggested that perhaps he will bring that exact fact to the attention of the pool board. "Maybe we should offer membership to any resident within the 11563 zip code," said Scarpato. "Right now, we are abiding by the incorporated village residents' wishes. Through questionnaires sent out before the pool was open, residents told us they only wanted incorporated village residents as members. This year we included School District 20 residents because that is where all the athletic and summer programs are run."
So far 394 incorporated village residents 46 School District 20 residents purchased pool memberships for this season. Miccio said that the village doesn't want the pool to become overcrowded, but "expanding membership is certainly something we will discuss at length," said Miccio. "If we do anything it would be to extend membership privileges to anyone in the 11563 zip code."
That would include privileges for Ubriaco and a large section of people in south Lynbrook, also unincorporated, who Scarpato said have expressed an interest in joining the pool. Those unincorporated residents would pay the non-resident fee of $390, per season as opposed to a resident fee of $315. The pool membership issue will be addressed at the June 9 village board meeting.
