Bethpage-Tribune_1973-11-01

              BETHP/GE
BT R8
BttHPAGl u r B
47 POWELL 4V
9ETHPAGE NV t » 7 j 4
also serving ISLAND TREES
OLD BETHBNGE PLAINM$# PLA1NEDGE SEAFORD
VOL. 7 NO. 50 Thursday, November 1, 1973 10 cents per copy
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Photos - In - The - News (Bethpage School
By Mary McCutchcon and Lorraine Carley Board Report
A'- I L A ^ I E A*B " -'*-•«&' „k
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The regular monthly meeting
of the Bethpage Board of
Education was held on Thursday,
Oct. 18, 1973. Mr. Iannello and
Mr. Gorman were not present.
Approximately 25 taxpayers
were in attendance.
Bethpage Association of Midget
Football:
Mr. Vincent DeVito, President
of the Bethpage Association of
Midget Football, appeared before
the Board on behalf of the
Association to clarify some
misunderstandings and problems
concerning the use of fields and
facilities by the Football
Association. Referring to the
School Board Report in last
month's Bethpage Tribune and
his subsequent letter, Mr. DeVito
said it was time to communicate
;- .presidentof the Board and.
, ironed out once:
;Si
AMMiVKRSARY MASS - (Picture No. 1) St. Martin of Tours R. C,
niversary Mass.
1974 Tobay Budget Adopted
Town Supervisor John W.
Burke today (Tuesday, 10/30)
announced that the 1974 general
Town tax rate will remain at the
same level as 1973,1972 and 1971,
while the Town highway tax will
be reduced next year by 3.4
cents per $100 assessed valuation
to 67.2 cents and the Part-Town
tax will also go down by 1.1 cents
to a rate of 7.2 cents per $100
assessed valuation.
Burke made the announcement
after the Town Board approved
the budget that reflected the
Supervisor's continuing em­phasis
on kepping taxes down
despite inflation and salary in­creases
mandated by the second
year of a two-year contract with
the CivU Service Employees
Association.
"I am extremely pleased by the
approval of this budget," Burke
said "Over the years it has been
increasingly difficult to maintain
our tax rate while costs for
materials and salary contracts
have continued to rise. It is only
through, improved management
and increased efficiency that we
have been able to maintain and
improve Town services while
keeping the general tax rate at
61.6 cents." . . . lUni
Burke further explained thai
(Continued on Page 7)
unfortunately when the problems
are resolved, It won't help the
Association for this, season since
it is half over. He noted also,
". the organization was 8 years
old and intended to go for another
80 the good Lord willing."
Mr DeVito made reference to a
letter from the school district
that resulted from a meeting of
July 25, 1973 with Mr. Gorman
and Mr. Chomsky and members
of the Association, authorizing
the use of the high school ana
Central Blvd. school fields, with a
key to Central Blvd. School to set
up a refreshment stand and have
accessibility to the corridor for
mandatory weigh-ins, (man­datory
rule of Long Island Midget
Football League which the
Association must abide by, us
purpose to protect the boys from
a tremendous weight advantage
over other boys). Mr. DeVito
continued; "...in the letter of July
we were cautioned when using
the high school field, namely, the
use of a ramp over the new track,
also, in the event we desired the
use of bathrooms, we would have
to assume the cost of custodian
fees...we thought everything was
going along well until the
publication of the School Board
Report of Sept. 27, it became
obvious to our organization tnat
there were problems we were not
aware of,.,my rebuttal in the
Bethpage Tribune was to set the
record straight-now I would like
to inquire as to the Board s at­titude
towards our
organization..." it
Mrs. Regan questioned, why,,
is the Association playing at
Borella, I thought the Association
was using the fields at Central
Blvd " Mr. DeVito informed her
the Central Blvd. field was never
ready and if it were not for the
Town of Oyster Bay coming to
their rescue this y £*..¥»«
Association could not h^ve
fulfilled their League obligations
of playing fields and would have
Seen forced to forfeit gam.*.
When questioned why the fields
weren't ready, Mr. • Lavin,
Business Manager stated that the
field at Central Blvd. School is
just physical education play
areas and there is no money in
the budget to do a renovation
job...Mr. Slavin interjected, the
Association should have come to
the school board rather than
write a letter to the Tribune and
Mr. DeVito replied "...we
deserved the same courtesy
before publishing in the media--if
there are complaints about an
organization, take it up with the
organization, not the
population..."
Mr. DeVito then asked, "in
general and specifically, what
fields can the association plan on
for next year; what fields will be
available for school programs;
Central Blvd. field was used by
the junior. High and : freshmen
lacrosse teams this season, butif
..., existing epnditions contiuu^ f&
the fields will be condemned by
the good doctor. What kind of
problems can the association
anticipate for next season?"
Mr. LoFasp commented,
*' ..you have a; concern as a
football association, the basic
responsibility of the Board .of
Education is primarily the
educational program. We are
interested in recreation and
sports, intramurals and struc­tured
school programs. The
Board of Education offered the
use of Borella Site to the Town
with the stipulation that they
develop the land and we would
only recall it if it was needed for
the education program; the
Board also offered the Borella
site to be developed for park and
park services for the community,
however, the Town of Oyster Bay
choose not to do this-they wanted
to open it up to the whole town­ship
of Oyster Bay." Mr. DeVito
interjected it was his un­derstanding
Bethpage would
have first preference of use; Mr.
LoFaso countered, "no, that is
not what the Town of Oyster Bay
offered us."
Mr. DeVito asked what
problems do we have now that
didn't exist overthe last 5 years?
Mr LoFaso answered, it is a
budget situation with less.aul
from the State, Mr. DeVito stated
emphatically, "the Association
has not cost this district a dime,
yet you have suggested that we
are costing the community
mMr.ysiavin noted that a Report
had been submitted by the
Business Manager and the Plant
and Maintenance Engineer
regarding the development and
utilization of district fields. Mr.
Cotton commented that it was
highly possible the association
may expect to have the utilization
of the high school and juniorjugh
fir'is next year.
Mrs. Regan said, "...we have
met with this Association when
we had problems with the junior
high field and at that time, we
encouraged them to use the
Central Blvd. field and w&sgpeed
to the use of the high school field
also. However, the grounds
department did not even cut the
grass at Central Blvd. so that the
fields could be used-the
Association has every right to hit
the ceiling.." Concerning school
facilities, Mr. DeVito noted,
"...the only bathroom used was at c_.-.
the junior high school and I was
personally responsible for the
facility and I may add we left the
facility cleaner than when we
found them."
A taxpayer noted that the
Association had received per­mission
to use Central Blvd.
however, the grass was not cut
and there were broken bottles all
over; the goal posts were pur­chased
a year ago-what does the
Board feel the estimated cost of
thevuse of Central Blvd. isT Mr.
Slawh implied wat the discussion
was getting out of hand and
Questioned what was in the way
of the Association conducting
their football games currently.
Mr; DeVito answered, "...in
order to meet League rules, the -
Association must have two fields;
we have excellent facilities at the
high school, as far as bathroom
facilities are concerned, we have
done without them for 8 seasons.
Referring to League rule
requirements for use in in­clement
weather, we oc­casionally
use the storage room
under the stands at the high
school, the corridor off the locker
room at the junior high and the
same at Central Blvd. We do no
require any school equipment
and on occasion, the Association
has loaned some equipment to the
school district. When we played
at Central Blvd. last year, he
bleachers were brought from the
junior high and they were also
utilized for the schoo lacrosse
games." Mr. Slavin asked if the
high school and Borella fields
would get the association through
this season and Mr. DeVito
replied yes, but suggested that
they address their remarks to
next.season, asking for a com­mitment
of two fields, not naming
schools, just a yes or no of the
availability of the fields for next
year. The Board felt they could
not make a commitment at this
time since they had just received,
that evening, a report on
development and utilization of
fields. Mr. DeVito said if the
fields are acceptable for the
school sports program, then they
are acceptable for the
Association. The Board resolved
that as long as there is no ad­ditional
monies involved, beyond
supporting what would be the
normal cost to fulfill the sports
educational program, fields will
be available. Mr. LoFaso com­mented,
"...you must understand
the reason the fields are in such
terrible condition is that for the
(Continued on Page 10)