Budget Up Despite Cuts
The Freeport Board of Trustees, following budget
meetings which began in October and a public
hearing held early last month, adopted a 1976-
77 municipal budget of 911,798,136.83 raising
the real property tax rate by $1.05 for a total
of 310.08 per hundred dollars of assessed valu-ation.
The tentative budget as discussed at the
public hearing reflected a 1U.27 hike, but
further cuts of $218,000 reduced it to the final
figure.
With 52? of the budget reflecting payroll and
the ever-rising costs of employee benefits,
several positions, including supervisory ones,
were abolished in the new budget through reorgan-ization,
retirement or elimination. The tight-ening
of the total payroll resulted in a savings
of 5i221,3't3 in salaries alone.
major eguipment purchases.
Of the total budget, ii2,308,121 represents allo-cations
over which the Village has no control
and which have risen $5'»'»,639 over last year.
The items are insurance, payments into the re-tirement
system, social security, health insur-ance,
higher interest payments on bonds and notes,
and sludge disposal costs to Nassau County. Also
to be dealt with is a 25* telephone rate increase,
an y/f% hike in electricity, an increase of 8? in
water rates, a postage hike of 30?, a 10* rise in
service contracts costs and the unstable price
situation of gas, oil and fuel oil. The Village
enters the fiscal year while still in negotia-tions
with the Freeport Police Benevolent Asso-ciation
and the Civil Service Employee Associa-tion',
and is therefore facing possible higher
personnel costs.
Other cuts taken were the closing of the Recre-ation
Center for one day beginning in June, the
postponement of any major improvements to the
parks and the Stadium, the reduction in overtime
and part-time payroll in the Recreation and
Parks Department and the elimination of any
Bicentennial Bits
"The British Are Coming," and Freeporters are in-vited
to attend the spectacular display of swirl-ing
kilts and precision drills while aiding the
treasury of the Village's Bicentennial Committee.
The massed bands, pipes, drums and dancers of Her
Majesty's Royal Marines and the Black Watch of the
Scottish Highlands are touring the United States
"to salute America's 200 Years of Independence in
a spectacular display of pomp and ceremony." The
two regiments, who have not been in this'country
together since the American Revolution when they
participated in the Battles of Lexington and Con-cord
and others in the New York area, will perform
one night only, March 19, at the Nassau Coliseum.
The Village's Bicentennial Committee has taken a •
block of tickets at boxoffice prices of 86.50,
35.50 and ^.50 with a portion of the funds being
retained by the Committee. There is a reduced
rate for children. Tickets are available by call-ing
Mrs. Hong at MA 3-5663 or may be purchased at
the Bicentennial Boutique, South L0ng Beach Avenue
and Merrick Road. If enough Freeporters show in-terest,
low-cost transportation will be provided.
The Village municipal budget is separate and
apart from the School District, Town and County,
all of which are autonomous governmental units
with their own taxing authority and own tax
rates.
On March 21, the Freeport Historical Society will
have a Grand Reopening of its Museum at 350 South
Main Street from 2 to 5pm. The brand new exhibit
will include an authenic thirteen star American
flag, British cannon balls from the Revolunary
period, and a 1735 Book of Common Prayer bound
with a 1739 Oxford Bible. ?-T h*e•*.--featured event
will be "A Day With Eleanor Smith," the ayiatrix
who gained international fame by her flying
skills while still a school girl in Freeport.
Now Mrs. Eleanor Sullivan, she will be on hand
to describe her experiences as well as life in
the Village in the 1920s. Refreshments will be
served. There will be no charge but donations
are always appreciated. . .y
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Save the weekend of May 15 and 16] The Village's
Bicentennial Committee is planning a massive par-ade
for that Saturday to kick off the two-day
Old Fashioned Fair to be held at Randall Park.
'FREEPORT MEMORIAL LIBRARY,
WEST MERKlCK KOAO,
EREEPORT, L. Li.Ss^
Village
REFERENCE ONLY
News
A PUBLIC INFORMATION BULLETIN OF THE VILLAGE OF FREEPORT
46 NORTH OCEAN AVENUE TELEPHONE FReeport 8-4000 WILLIAM H. WHITE, MAYOR
Public Meetings On The 1st and 3rd Mondays Of The Month, At 9:00 P.M.
Homes Available At Low Cost
FEBRUARY, 1976
The Freeport Community Development Agency is
still accepting preliminary applications for the
presently boarded-up homes in the northeast which
will be rehabilitated under federal Community De-velopment
Act funding and sold to prospective
homeowners at low, bargain prices. All applica-
^tions received from non-residents will be con-sidered
only after those submitted by (1) Free-port
residents and (2) those presently working
in the Village.
The houses are being made available to the Vil-lage
at no cost in some instances and at below
market prices in others, allowing them to be
turned over to potential homeowner-occupants at
a cost far below their true worth. The homes
will be..completely, rehabilitated, up to Build-ing
Code standards and beyond, by the Village
prior to occupancy. The low price of the house
will be based upon the acquisition costs and
the repairs done prior to occupancy such as
ination of any structural defects. Freeport1s
Homesteading program does not require any con-struction
knowledge or do-it-yourself abilities,
as the homes will not be offered until they are
in move-in condition. They will be available
for inspection and Homesteaders will apply for
the house or houses of their choice.
Only those applicants proving the financial
status and credit rating to carry a small mort-gage
will be considered. While no minimum or
maximum income levels will be set, the program
is geared primarily for those of moderate and
middle income who, because of high rent and
other factors, are not in a position >to accum-ulate
a large enough sum to purchase or finance
a home through conventional methods.
Preliminary applications are available through
the Community Development Agency, 50 Liberty
Avenue and a reguest for the form may be re-turned
with your electric payment, for your
roofing, plumbing, electrical work and the elim- convenience.
Alcoholism Seminar
The Freeport Drug Education and Counseling Center
will conduct a three session seminar on alcoholism
at the Ffeeport Memorial Library, March 16, 23 and
30 from'8 to 10pm. Speakers will include Center
Acting Director Marion Harvie, and Marion Reilly,
.Alcoholism Counselor and Coordinator of the Alcohol themselves. Refreshments will be served.
Education Series of Mercy Hospital. Other speakers
Trustees: Thomas J. Lovelidge. Ralph P. Franco, Dorothy Storm, Wayne Jordan
Village Clerk: Thomas DeVincenzo-Treasurer: James J. Lyons - Counsel: Oakley Gentry Jr.
will represent various aspects of recovery includ-ing
youth, family members and rehabilitated per-sons.
The serios is a community awareness pro-gram
that is intended to direct itself to the ef-fects
of alcohol on people other than alcoholics
According to the Recreation Department, while
only 88 season Discount Tickets were sold for the
use of the Recreation Center's Health Wing complex
during the summer of 1975, the fall season saw
that number soar to 5820 At the end of January,
with the season not yet begun, M8 winter Discount
Tickets, which include free skating and are good
until June 15, had already been sold. Those hold-ing
yearly memberships total 372. The number of
non-residents from Baldwin, Merrick, Bellmore and
beyond equal the number of Freeporters holding
seasonal 'and yearly Discount TicketSo *Th'g Recre-ation
Department encourages wider utilization by
Village residents of this unique facility which
was the cause of at least one family moving to
Freeport, changed on Bellmore man's plans of retir-ing
to Florida and made a Garden City woman drop
her spa membership,,
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Two economy measures have been instituted at the
Freeport Recreation Center, The main telephone
line, 223-8000, will not be manned after <t:30pm
weekdays or on weekends. The Center may be
reached by calling either the Health Wing office,
Hale Smith, Chairman of the two-year-old Free-port
Arts Council, has announced that the group
has received a $1^,01? grant from the New York
S|ate Council on the Arts. The state funds have
been designated for use in the music, dance and
visual arts programs of the Freeport group,, The
Arts Council is equally funded by the Village
and the School District and under the law the
funds received from the State Council may not be
used to substitute for or reduce usual sources
of support but are meant to fill the gap between
income and constantly rising costs.
Mr. Smith praised the State Council for its rec-ognition
of the wide variety of cultural services
provided by the Freeport group. Most outstanding
has been a series of concerts, five during the
197V-75 season and six in the current, which pre-sent,
at low cost, an opportunity for Freeporters
to see performances in the Village by outstanding
artists in the fields of music and dance while
also involving students in the School District
with the performers. In addition, the Council,
which is a volunteer, non-profit group, sponsors
free lecture-demonstrations, life drawing ses-sions,
workshops for writers and choreographers,
or the Skating Rink office, 223-1777?
Freeport Recreation Activity Cards, formerly.ob-tainable
each evening, will now be processed
only on Wednesday and Saturday nights as well as
during the Recreation Department office hours of
8:30am and <»:30pm weekdays.
Residents are invited to try their hand at sculp-turing
under the direction of Rosalind Danzinger
each Thursday, 1 to 2:'t5pm, at the Recreation
Center. Works are done in all media including '
clay, wood, and papier mache. Students must pro-vide
their own materials and hold an Activity
Card.
The Recreation Department's Red Raider Lacrosse
program for boys ages eight to 15 begins in
March. Members of the Junior, Intermediate and
Senior Divisions compete in the L.I. Midget La-crosse
Leagues. Boys chosen for the team are
required to purchase 35 Lacrosse jerseys. Infor-mation
is available by calling 223-8000 or by
picking up a flyer at the Recreation Center.
and courses in art, printmaking, recorder, dance,
etching and film making. A film festival is
planned for the spring as is the first production
of the Council's Little Theater Group.
With inflation endangering the group's future
programming, a "Friends of the Freeport Arts
Council" fundraising drive has been launched
whereby those making tax deductible contributions
of $10 or more receive a "I Am A Friend of the
Freeport Arts Council" tee shirt and will be in-vited
to a post-concert reception to meet the per-formers.—
In addition, "Friends" receive notices
throughout the year about Council activities.
The "Friends" program is doubly important to the
future of the Council as many state funding agen-cies
look for evidence of local support.
Contributions may be sent through P.O. Box 97,
Freeport. The Council may be reached by calling
223-2522.
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FORHELPISG i
US TO EXPANP
CEL£BRATE OwTIw
HOME «p a BONANZA
OF VALUE
It was a snowy Sunday morning when the first step towards Freeport's downtown shopping Mall was
taken by the moving of a retail business from one location on South Main Street to another to make
way for a walkway from the Church Street parking lot. Construction, under the Community Development
Act, will begin on the walkway and the municipal parking lots on Henry and Church Streets in the
spring. Second year plans for the federal funds will be the subject of two public hearings shortly.
•(•See-storyi) - •" ~ "" ""
The Freeport Board of Trustees will hold two pub-lic
hearings to hear suggestions from residents
as to how the 31.3. million in federal funds for
which the Village is eligible during the second
year of Community Development projects should be
allocated. The first meeting will be at 8pm,
February 26, Village Hall, and the second at 9pm,
March 1. The meetings are the first in a long
series of activities needed to be accomplished
before the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development will release funds. Public hearings
were held in January of last year with the funds
not received until late November.
Prior to the hearings, Mayor William White's Task
Force and the Citizens Committee made up of repre-sentatives
of all civic groups, will hold a~series"
of meetings to formulate their suggestions, and,
using the input received at the public hearings,
meet again to draft recommendations for the Board's
consideration.
The projects and monies allocated for the current
CDA year are: northeast housing and neighborhood
rehabilitation, $386,500 or 29? of the funds; N.
Main St. development, 5^,000 or 3^; downtown
improvements, ij27'»,900 or 20#; waterfront, $20,-
000 or 1%; beautification, $20,000 or \%; admin-istration
and management, 386,600 or 6t; and 9?
in contingency as required by law.
