In a unanimous vote, the Town Council of North Hempstead approved a capital improvement bond for the Great Neck Park District for $15,440,280 after a lengthy public hearing that started on Tuesday evening and ran into the next day at 12:45 a.m. The bond will provide monies to renovate, repair and upgrade the Parkwood Complex, which includes the pool and ice rink, and to expand the Beach Road office thereby consolidating the administrative offices.

The park district commissioners withdrew their request to be bonded for another $1 million that would have been used to construct a garage/storage facility at the former Peninsula Pool property. Supervisor Jon Kaiman, upon hearing many speakers object to that aspect of the proposal, indicated that the construction of such a facility would constitute a change in use and should be considered on its own merits, separate from a bond proposal. From his remarks, it appeared that the door is not shut on the proposal, with the park district reserving the right to be heard on the issue at another time.

In time-honored tradition, almost every speaker prefaced their remarks with their years of residency, 20, 30, 40, and 50 years in Great Neck.

The majority of the residents who spoke at the hearing were in support of the plans for the pool and rink; however, there were some who, while in support, expressed misgivings about the "bells and whistles" to be added to the pool area. While no one actually defined "bells and whistles," they may have been referring to the Lazy River, a concrete, meandering slue that provides opportunities for floating or for therapeutic resistance walking and a water slide. On the other hand, some residents who said that they were not swimmers, stated that they would join the pool just for the Lazy River feature.

The testimonials seesawed between those who like John Handler felt the projects should be pared back because of the cumulative tax burden and the "historical shift" in the reassessment, to others like retired school teachers Shelly Sobel and Phoebe Wenoker who entreated the decision makers to be open-minded and think of the children and the future needs of the community. Ms. Beecher, who serves on the pool advisory committee noted that because of the public meetings and opportunities for input, the new areas at Parkwood would have something for everyone, from the toddlers to the oldsters, from the bridge players to those with physical handicaps, and Louis Waxman declared the park district and its holdings "a paradise."

Advocates for an upgraded rink spoke as well. Gail Berman who is the current president of the figure skating club stated that many younger residents who could not attend the hearing were in support. Past president of the club, Jules Birnbaum reminded the board that two Olympic skaters were nurtured at the rink with a new star emerging as well, Jesse Berman.

Some people felt that the process used by the park district commissioners to garner the desires of the residents to be the gold standard for boards in the community. Martin Sokol, who serves on the library board, complimented the commissioners for their "vision and their decision making process."

On the other hand, Rebecca Rosenblatt Gilliar challenged the commissioners' adherence to the results of a 2004 survey and a 2005 balloting initiative in which voters were asked whether they favored specific proposed features to the pool area. According to Ms. Rosenblatt Gilliar, in both the survey and balloting system, the majority of the households did not support the add-ons to the pool. In the balloting system she said,"58 percent opposed the Lazy River, 55 percent opposed the Water Slide, but both of these water-park features have been reinserted on the plans despite how residents voted." Some 386 ballots were given out to pool users by the district and "others were distributed by some residents." According to Ms. Rosenblatt Gilliar, the ballots numbering 440 that were presented to the board by Lisa Levine Bernstein were not accepted. In the batch of ballots collected at the pool, 21 percent were in favor of renovation only, 42 percent for the Lazy River and 45 percent in favor of the water slide. In the batch collected by residents in the parks, 92 percent said to "renovate only" with only 5 percent favoring the Lazy River and 2 percent favoring the water slide.

Supervisor Kaiman stated in response to this presentation that it was not the role of the town board to interpret the results of surveys. "We're not here to micro-manage the park district...that is beyond our scope." He went on to add later in the meeting that the town board was "not an appeals court ... if people don't like what the park commissioners do, there is a public process to make changes. The question tonight for us is whether or not to secure this bond."

Michael Zarin noted that the park district commissioners are elected officials and that problems and concerns can be brought before them on the local level and can be solved. He said, "There's no chicanery here. It's all above board."

Elliot Rosenblatt criticized the park board for including "repairs and maintenance" in the bond saying that a bond should only include improvements and additions. It was his contention that the park district's 2007 budget was not really just a .02 percent increase, but a 5.2 percent increase because repairs were included in the bond. He was also critical of the rounded-off estimates for the expansion of the Beach Road office, $600,000, and the Peninsula Park maintenance facility, $1 million, because the request had "virtually no detail for these items." He stated that the Lazy River, estimated at $940,000, should not be done because the pool has a two-month season that does not warrant such an expenditure. He went on to add in conclusion that the park district was going to undertake a forensic audit, but it should instead conduct a management audit, which would analyze whether money is being spent prudently, appropriately, excessively and with oversight. He said, "The spending in the Great Neck Park District must be brought under control!"

Stu Hochron also decried the park board's "lack of transparency" and spending. He also seemed to call for a gated park district saying, "In 19 of the park district's facilities anyone can get in as there are no provisions to stop non-park district residents from entering. At Grammacy Park in New York City, all residents of the Grammercy Park Association are given a key to unlock the gate to gain entry into the park. And heaven help anyone who tires to get in without a key. Maybe if the commissioners stopped those Great Neck residents whose villages do not belong to the park district from free access, they would have an incentive to join. At the very least, residents who reside outside the park district and do not pay for the upkeep should not be allowed to use the facilities without paying a fee. It would probably cost less than the $150,000 budgeted to put a bathroom in Wingate Park, where none has existed for over 25 years, to lock all of the park gates and require residents to swipe their park card to gain entry."

Elizabeth Allen called the charges of "lack of transparency," a distortion. She said that there were hundreds of hours devoted to honing and revising the plans. She also called for more of a spirit of generosity saying, "I don't use the pool ... I'm no hockey player, but I pay for my neighbors entertainment and they pay for mine. I don't resent paying for common assets."

Perhaps one of the evening's most persuasive speakers to council members was Corrine Coe who was one of the shareholders in the Peninsula Pool property. While in support of the bond for the Parkwood Complex, she informed the board that the 4-acre parcel was zoned for 12 houses and at the time the majority of members of the pool did not want to see the property developed although she "would have been considerably richer today" had that direction been taken. Instead, they agreed that it should be an open space and should be kept as a recharge area for the Manhasset Lakeville Water District's wells downhill. She noted that the Nature Conservancy had provided a bridge loan to the park district to allow them to acquire the property. She felt that using it for a storage garage would violate a "sacred promise." She implored the board to protect the "little open space we have."

A few days after the meeting, the park district released the newly calculated numbers for the cost per household for the bond. It would raise a homeowner's taxes by $100.89; condo owners by $71.23; and co-op owners by $50.64.

(Editor's note: For more detailed information about the design plans for the Parkwood Complex, you may visit the Great Neck Record archives for the June 2, 2006 issue, "Parkwood Redux" at www.antonnews.com.)