Observer_1983-09-07; East Rockaway/Lynbrook Observer

              Official
Newspaper
INCORPORATED VILLAGE
East Rockaway
SCHOOL DISTRICT
INCORPORATED VILLAGE
Lynbrook
SCHOOL DISTRICT
'THE GOOD NEIGHBOR NEWSPAPER E a s t Ks j w a y P u b l i c L i b r o i
W a y , N . Y . 11518
E. R. Public Library
47 7 Atlantic Ave.
East Rockaway, NY 11518
Since 1967 by Mailed Subscription
Executive Officps: Seiffert Building, 2787 Long Beach Road, Oceansids, NY 11572
Post Office Box 91, East Rockaway, NY 11518 (51<?) 764-2500
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VOL. 31 NO. 43 WEDNESDAY/SEfTEMBER 1.1983 25c PER COPY
King Audit Attacks MTA for Improper
Station Maintenance Billing Practices
Charging the Metropoli-tan
Transportation Author-ity
with "improper bflling
and inaccurate record-keeping",
Nassau County
Comptroller Peter T. King
has urged County Executive
P u r c e l l to w i t h h o ld
$1,218,702 from the $12.3
million billed to the County
by the MTA for Long Island
Railroad station mainte-nance.
King's findings were
set forth in his audit report
of the MTA's station main-tenance
bills for the year
ending March 31, 1983.
King is also calling for
amendments to the Public
A u t h o r i t i e s Law which
would prevent the M'fA
from passing on inapprop-riate
and inflated cleaning
costs which resulted in over-charges
of more than
$637,000.
King stated that the
improper billings included
the following;
Supervisors
Approve Doxy
Brook Project
Hempstead Town Presid-ing
Supervisor Thomas S.
Gulotta today announced
County Board of Supervi-s
o r s a p p r o v a l of a
$2,380,000 project to pro-vide
"additional and per-manent
improvements" to
the Doxy Brook Drain in
Lynbrook.
Plans call for the total
rehabilitation of portions of
the brook from Olive Drive
to Rockaway Blvd. for a dis-tance
of 3,000 feet. Other
sections will be relocated
through concrete channels
emptying into box culverts
in some areas, Gulotta said.
Gulotta noted that the
brook passes through a
heavily populated residen-tial
area where homeowners
have complained about soil
erosion and the destruction
of fences and plantings on
their properties.
"Village officials have
also urged that the County
improve drainage condi-tions
in this area," Gulotta
said, "so we are pleased that
this project will be getting
underway."
(a) $678,658 for capital
projects. The MTA is prohi-bited
by law from billing the
C o u n t y for c a p i t a l -
improvements.
(b) $45,820 for labo" costs
u n r e l a t e d to s t a t i on
maintenance.
(c) $50,726 for police pro-tection.
The audit disclosed
mathematical errors, dupli-cation,
purchase of capital
items (cars and furniture)
and evidence that an officer
did not work on a day for
which the County was billed
for his services.
(d) $52,884 for inaccu-rately
computed back pay,
expenses and overhead.
(v) $26,099 foi- materials
for which there was dupli-cate
billing and insufficient
documentation.
(f) $249,477 for "esti-mated"
la^bor charges. The
Public Authorities Law
requires all such charges to
be certified. An estimate
cannot be certified.
(g) $41,100 in capital
e x p e n d i t u r e s improperly
charged as maintenance
expenses.
"The items which com-prise
the total of $1,218,702
are clearly improper," King
charged, "and the County is
obligated to withhold that
amount from the MTA."
King called for amend-ments
to the Public Authori-ties
Law to prohibit the
MTA from charging the
County with inflated and
unjustified cleaning costs.
Pointing out that the MTA
c h a r g e d the C o u n tv
$1,071,598 for cleaning costs
consisting of $762,179 for
labor. $4-;.319 fcV c'canin^
expenses and $260,000 for
overhead. King contended
that private contractors
could perform the cleaning
service for "less than half
that amouint." King dis-closed
the Laro Mainte-nance
Corporation, which
holds the County's cleaning
contract, estimated that it
could perform the LIRR
cleaning work for approxi-mately
$433,767 - - a savings
of $637,831. King further
noted that although the
MTA will not transfer this
function to the County, it
conceded in a recent report
that the County could per-form
the work at a lower
cost than the MTA. King
was also critical of the qual-ity
of the cleaning work per-formed
stating that it was
"all too often disgraceful".
"These inflated cleaning
costs for inadequate service
arc the result of labor con-ti^
rt^ b'i^wt-en the NiTA and
its unions. The County has
no say whatsoevei; in n ego-liating
these contracts and
yet we must pay the price.
The MTA buvs labor peace
(Continued on Page 16)
Gulotta, Weisbein Order Extension
of Hewlett Point Season
H e m p s t e a d P r e s i d i ng
S u p e r v i s o r T h o m a s S.
Gulotta and Town Coun-cilman
Eugene L. Weisbein
today ordered extension of
the season for customers at
the Hewlett Point Pool,
beyond the normal Labor
Day closing, up to and
including September 14th.
The pool has been closed
several times during the
summer due to problems
associated with the pool
water.
"I have arranged to have
our Parks and Recreation
Department keep the pool
and facility at Hewlett Point
open beyond its normal clos-ing
date as a convenience for
those who utilize the facil-ity,"
Gulotta said. "During
this summer, the pool was
inoperative for eight days
out of the 86 day season. In
view of the inconvenience
suffered by some of our pool
patrons, it is only fair that
Hewlett Point season be
extended."
Gulotta noted that the
problems associated with
the Hewlett Point facility
stemmed from a new paint
iised in the pool during the
oast year.
"An examination of the
c o n d i t i o n s at the pool
revealed that a new type of
paint used to paint the pool
reacted improperly with
undercoats of paint that had
previously been used. This
reaction resulted in a milky
film in the water," Gulotta
said.
"While, according to the
Nassau County-Department
of Health, that film did not
present a health hazard, the
Parks Department neverthe-less
u t i l i z e d d i f f e r e nt
methods to clear the film
from the water. Accord-i
n g l y , the D e p a r t m e nt
closed the pool at intermit-tent
times to change the fil-tration
system and alter the
chemical balance in the hope
that the problem would be
resolved. While it was hoped
that these temporary mea-sures
would permit the pool
to operate until the end of
the season, it became clear
that all temporary efforts to
stem the problem were hav-ing
only a short-term effect.
Accordingly, to avoid con-tinuous
interruptions and to
bring about a final resolu-tion
to the problem, the
Commissioner of Parks
recommended closure of the
pool in August for several
days in order to sand and
repaint the facility. I am
pleased to say that since the
sanding and repainting of
the pool, no further prob-
(Continued on Page 16)
Connor Promoted
Suburbia Federal Savings
and Loan Association has
announced the promotion
of Kathleen Connor to
Administrative Assistant of
their Savings Special Servi-ces
Department. In this
capacity, she supervises the
work flow of the department
which processes transac-tions
made to N.O.W.
Checking Accounts; Money
Market Accounts; handles
S t o p Payments; Direct
Deposit of Social Security
Checks; Mortgage Transfers
and Rental Securities.
Ms. Connor, who joined
Suburbia Federal in 1981,
was formerly associated
with Pennisula National
Bank. She has studied at
Marist College, NY Tech
and The American Institute
of Banking.
Ms. Connor resides in
East Rockaway with her
family.
KINti AUDIT ATTACKS MTA. Nassau County comp-troller
Peter T. King held a recent news conference to release
the findings of his audit of the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority. King assailed the MTA for the "disgraceful con-dition"
of the LIRR stations In Nassau County and cited
$1.2 million in improper costs which the MTA billed the
County.
Cuomo and Moynihan To Host
Forum At Hofstra
The 1984 Presidential
campaigns are beginning to
shift into high gear. One of
the key states upon which
the candidates will focus
their attention is New York
due to its having the second
largest delegation at next
year's National Convention.
As the leaders of New York's
Democratic Party, Gover-nor
Mario M. Cuomo and
U n i t e d S t a t e s S e n a t or
Daniel P. Moynihan have
arranged for the candidates
seeking the Presidential
nomination to appear at a
number of forums across the
State during September and
October.
On Monday, September
19, 1983, at 7:30 P.M., Gov-ernor
Cuomo and Senator
Moynihan will present
Senator Ernest Hollings of
South Carolina to the voters
of Long Island at a forum to
be held at Hofstra Univer-sity
in the Multi-purpose
room. Student Center,
North Campus. Senator
Hollings has served in the
United States Senate since
1966 and is the ranking
Democrat on both the
Budget and Appropriations
Committees. Prior to his
election to the Senate, he
was the Governor and Lt.
Governor of South Carolina.
The forums, open to the
public and at which there
will be no solicitation of
funds, are designed to pro-vide
the voters with an
opportunity to meet the
candidates and learn about
each candidate's position on
those issues of importance
to New Yorkers. It is hoped
that by this early participa-tion
in the selection process,
voters will be able to make
an informed and educated
choice when the time comes.
After a brief opening state-ment
by Senator Hollings,
the entire forum will be
devoted to answering ques-tions
put forth by the
audience. Governor Cuomo
and Senator Moynihan will
be attending the forum to
monitor the responses by
each of the candidates.
A festive atmosphere will
prevail at a reception which
will honor Governor
Cuomo and Senators Moyn-ihan
and Hollings at the
conclusion of the question
and answer period. Spon-sored
by the New York State
Democratic Committee,
everyone in attendance will
be invited to enjoy the food
and drink and to meet the
guests of honor. At the same
(Continued on Page 16)