The-Leader_1977-01-06

              FREEPORT
BALDWIN
ROOSEVEa
MERRICK
TJ
HASBAU^CT^ BISlOtllCAL UU5EUU
EISCHHOHER PAHR
EAST«eAW«, U t 1X55*
c-<.,. FREEPORT'S
dEFJcini
NEWSPAPER
4lstYEARNo.37 FREEPORT, NEW YORK, JANUARY 6.1977 PRICE 15* PER COPY
-Few^beolrAgainsrVill
FortyT?esiaerrtsiSteri^
Hage-BudgeUlearing^-—^^^-—T-FREEPORT
- The first few rows of the Conference Rooni at Village
Hall were reserved for department.heads and members of the lay
Budget Committee, but.there was no shortage of seating space at
Monday night's Annual Budget Hearing. About 40 residents attended
the meeting, but only six filled out cards that they had questions
or suggestions and opini9ns.
Five or six .other residents did
ask for time! to speak before
ther-Villago-r^oard-of-TrustceSr
but the hearing was. over, before
10pm. , : * ^^
JTheproposed 1977-78 budget
out back door garbage pickup.
Questions F^om Residents
^—^itbthictcopleiof-thc-budget,
both "available in the back of the
.room that night and Vaf the
Village! Qerk's office since
for ^ie~ Village - of . Freepoit—befdre^CKHstmas.- Tcsidents iind
had been unveiled the week taxpayers had a lirie-by-Unfe
opportunity^ to—t|ue5tlou mfai.t
- 36^^MU~S1CIANSANDNOCONDliOTOR.:Th0PraOU»ai^b«'.Drche5-
:.At»i^ vfrtuow rnbsicfanli wtftf?perfonti without a conducfbri^WlU be In
. concert at .the FrMport.HlottScho6l.~Aaidltorium3atui^ay,-.3ahuary;8,
i . beginning at 8;36 pm'.-AcclalmetfaJr .''one ot the.-finest musical en-
.;.' sembiM Iii the wiforld,'' the Orchestra Is acheduled aaVpartof the
;. 1976-77 serloaof the Freeport Community Concert Association. , - v
i^Mifh^
-The world,' paartidjiairlyj Free-. '
port, - is; a sadder - and/ emptier-place.
today, because.a .92-year-oid.
enciKetic . and cbmmtmity-•"
spirited lady :bas left it, Anna
Josephine Martin.>who,.in -Iher ;
lifetune • becaine Ja • Freeport •
"legend" dirf December 31; in
the vtflage she loved so dearly.: - •
There were few.areas in the '
village that did not bearjhe im- i.
-print of the Martin's' family
civic activities and ;generofflty.
Anna Martin and her husband,
• William •:— before his death in
1963 — were involved in cultural, .
civic; fraternal, and business
organizations, and their tradition,
of giving. of'. themselves was •:
passed . down to J their 'child­ren.
' '• •. . .'-• .'..'.-' •- '•'- •••
Anna Martin was ."liberated"-
in the same seilie that.women
today use the term. At ihe same
time, she was a devoted wife and
companion, loving mother and
caring grandmother and great-grandmother.
She'drganized and
was president of the local League
of Women Voters; was presi­dent
of the Ladies Auxiliary of
both Mercy Hospital, in Rodtville,
Centre, aiid South Nassau .Com-,
munities Hospital, in. Oceanside;
and was the first president of the
Chaminade Mother's Qubl
Attaining the position of pre-sidency
of an organization-was a
life-time "habit" for Mrs. Mart­in.
She was Grand Regent of the
Catholic Daughters of America
and president, of the Nassau
County Women's Forum in the
1950's. She started and headed
the Delphian Sodet>', a cultural
study, group,' and was intsident
of.the'MassapequaGardeii Onb.
She was appointed hcJad of the
Interracial Relations Coniinittee
in Freeport, for vtWch she attend­ed
a six ' months^ course at St;
John's Uniyersily;' - !: .''
:'Bnt one of her most important
accomplishtnients.. whidt' cpntri-
;:bnt°ed so • strongly fo Freeport's
litUeljeas^e:
Anna and Wniam Marjln Sr.
cultural life and to the enjoyment
of thousands of people! was the
founding, in 1948^rof the Freeport
Community Concert Association.
Anna Martin remained.president
of the AssodatJon.for the next
25 musically fruitful years and
was president and still actively
involved when she died. Concert
goers each year looked forward to
-seeing which of her. many spl
did hats Anna Martin would have
on as she attended each perform­ance.
Along with captaining all these
groups, Anna Martin was an
active participant-in • the Elks
(Cont.onPageS)
FREEPORT- Registratiori for
the 1977 little teague Baseball
and Soflball.-programs will be!
held at the Freeport Recreation
Center,^Saturdays and Sundays,.-
Januaiy 8 and 9, and 15 and,16.
On both Saftirdays, re^stration is
scheduled. for 10 am to 4 pm,
while on Sundays the .time will be
1 to4pm. " • ,
ITiere will be no increase from
last year's" registration fee of
SIO per player of SIS maxiriium
per family.
. This year, there will be four age
groups in baseball. The Rookies
must be 8 years old; those in the
Minor League,-nine and ten years
old; all Majors, 11 and 12 years'
old; and in -the Senior, league,
participants must be 13 .to 15
years old (boys only).
Li Softball, the ten to 12 year
old Major League will continue.
In addition, if there is a sufficient
. registratiori of ^rls ages 13 to
15. tiiere will be a Senior Softball
Program.
Age limits are based on a play-
.• er reaching the minimum-age of
eight before August-31, 1977,
and the maximum age of 15 on
Angust31,1977.'
Players must be accompanied
by a parent or guardian and must
have birth certificates or proof of
age when registering.
Young persons of high school
age, interested in working as paid
umpires, are asked io register on
the same dates. Adult volunteers
for administrative and managerial
positions are also urgently
needed.
before. The $12.525.758 tentative
• budget would mean a 16< _ per ;.
, $100 assessed valuation tax in- •'•
crease -. for- \ Freeport property,.
.owncrs>-'br a total.tax rate of
-Jld:2*, for; tftfe-^agc-biidget;
The; 16* increase would cost a
taxpayer,.whose house.is assess-.>
' ad at $7,000, .ail additional-
93f per month. ' " : . • ; '
In' bis preliminaiy. remarks,.
Mayor William White pointed
out that the 16< increase "must
be compared ta one^Sl.OS last
.' year and-the .one-.-bf .31.12-the -.
- year.before." He explained that
•the village's answer to increasing ;
costs of . gdvemment was to -
. "broaden the- tnx base" by.
paiduging several parcels of
.indusMally-zoned, . Village-owned
land and offering them for
- sale. A figure, term^ by.the
.Mayor ' as "conservative, nf
$440,000" was added to tiie
revenue side of - the 1977-78
budget, r^ecting the negotia­tions
that were at a stage' where
: a sale would probably be realized. .
WithoutJh^^adjiltional revenue,
White said/There would have
been an increase of 66< per $100"
- of assessed valuation, instead of
16<. Another advantage of the,
- lajyd safe,' according to the Mayor,
- "and the others <Jiead, will be
the adding of the land and the
structures to be buUt upon it,
to tiie tax rolls."
'.White also pointed to the re­duction'of
the village's bonded
indebtedness as a "bright
spot in our financial picture."
From a "high" of over $25
million in 1974, it is now approxi­mately
$21 million, "The .Village
is legally authorized to borrow
up to $32 million and we are
well below the limitj" the Mayor
explained.
A cutting of over $529,000 in
requests from department "heads
was also cited by. White. "It
was our philosophy that while
all Village services must be
maintained, where a cutback
could be made, without a major
impact on the residents, it
would have to be made." The
week before, in an interview with
the press. White had suted that
he would not be in favor of cutting
age expenses.
Most of the qiiestions that did "
arise wcrtjbase^ oh those itdms'•
that wc£|,'niAt as'finely, sj^uafied
as others "iori the;printe3 oudget. .
Several people asked questions
abdtit the contract -^ for - services
tite" Village had" witii tiie. Fire
Department aitd White explained
that a line-by'-linie breakdi^
is rarely expecteid of those "the
Village piirdiAsessietvices firom.
Ken Bagatelle, of East Wood-bhje~
BWver*iked'abo«t • the "a-mount
listed' tinder- Gmtin-gencies..
Pohiting to thie $575,000
figure. Bagatelle said, "My civic
association "(Northwest Civic)
cannot figure out why .you need
so much."-He said that-a one-page
sheet available that even­ing,
explaitdng the amount spent
thus far this year Iroih the Con­tingency
Fund, showed a balance
of »^311.42. "We tiibik tiie
conthigency sum should be re­duced
SaSO.OOO ta $300,000,"
Bagatelle said.
- White ekplained that amounts
poveringythe• Police '. Depart­ment's
9vi%-pay raise had not
: yet beim deducted* from Contin-gencw
and would ."drastically
redufe" the balance.;' Other
not., yet resplyed muiiJdpal
. employee's salaries would also
have to. be included in a con-tinency
figure, according to
White:
Stating that many, of thcvcon-tingcndes
in government are
offset l>y insurance : and that -
when people retire, those hired to'
take their place come in on a
lower salary line, Bagatelle in­sisted
that the contingency
amount could be .cut. White and
Village Treasurer Jim Lyons
pointed out that even when jobs
arc not filled (such as in the
Police Department), the sepa­ration
pay due. those retiring
offsets vacant job lines.
James. Knoclkr, a resident
of Connecticut Avenue, asked
how the buying and cleaning of
police uniforms could be justified
on salaries to policernen of at
least $17,000. "It's in tiieir
contract," White told him, "and
(Cont. on Page 16)