The-Leader_2008-07-10_001 |
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by Douglas Finlay
The issue of a county-owned 35-acre parcel of land in North Baldwin called Coe's Neck that Molloy College wants to lease from the county to build athletic fields was addressed front-and-center at the community level again last Wednesday, July 2, when .over 75 residents from the communities of North Baldwin and Roosevelt met at Coe's Neck Park Community Center to speak in no uncertain terms of their opposition to the plan by the college.
Armed with a recent survey.and report conducted and published by the Baldwin Oaks Civic Association with assistance from county Legislators Kevan Abrahams and Joe Scannell, the report concluded that - aside from an absolute disdain for any . type of housing development - the majority of residents are in favor of some sort of park/preserve;
Of the 991 responses to the six surveys conducted - which included interviewing households in Baldwin and Hempstead and
;breaking d6wh:arpas into four zones depicting varying distances from the 35-acre site - 360 were in favor of a park/preserve, while only 85,were in favor of athletic 'fields. • ....
In fact, more were in favor of a golf course, 302, or swimming facilities, 215, than athletic fields. j
Ed Thompson, vice-president of advancement for Molloy, was invited to the meeting to explain the college's decision to seek a lease for the 35-acre land, a spirited meeting at times raucous but always civil.
Mr. Thompson, only days -earlier had written a letter to many in the communities involved of the college's need to lease the property. Yet many who received the letter did hot know of the issue within their community and were moved to attend the meeting.
In the letter Mr. Thompson explained that the college would build athletic-fields, one of which would be open to the community at all times; that a walking path would also be built for the residents; that two nature
overlooks would be constructed to view and enjoy the pond; and that the $12 million cost of remediating the condemned county site to build the fields would be borne by the college.
That's as faras Mr. Thompson would be allowed to go to persuade the residents, many of whom were not amused by his depiction in the letter of the 35-acre parcel as an "eyesore."
But Mr. Thompson, in his concluding statement, would issue ah apology on calling it an eyesore when at least two residents told him earlier that their sons and daughters had made honor rolls, and.had become successfial career people because that "eyesore" was actually a wetlands with a lake and grass the county mows that remained silent from activity, enabling their children to sttidy in quietude. (Legislator Kevan
Abrahams later told The Leader the site was essentially an old landfill fiiom debris from the 1966 Garden City Hotel renovation.)
Mr. Thompson added in the letter that "there will be some who disparage the idea with innuendo and rumor." But the stark reality of the issues residents talked about were anything but innuendo and rumor. He added that the idea of the college leasing the property would amount to a "win-win" for both the community and the college, and that it was a model example of a public/private partnership.
One resident exclaimed at the meeting, however, that because the college would pay no taxes on the property, it would not be a win for any residents, but only for the college. Cheers arose
from the gathering.
continued on page 5
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page 3
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Object Description
| Rating | |
| Title | The-Leader_2008-07-10 |
| Subject | Newspaper |
| Description | This is a Newspaper distributed locally within the Village of Freeport and Baldwin. |
| Creator | Linda Toscano |
| Publisher | L & M Publications, Inc. |
| Contributors | Scanned by Imaging & Microfilm Access, Inc. (Bohemia, NY 11716) |
| Date | 2008 |
| Type | Periodical |
| Format | PDF; TIFF |
| Source | Freeport Memorial Library |
| Language | English |
| Coverage | United States |
| Rights | This digital image may be freely used for educational uses, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this image is permitted without written permission of the Freeport Memorial Library, 144 W. Merrick Road, Freeport, NY 11520 or email: frreference@freeportlibrary.info |
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