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Displaying 1 through 10 of 83 records found.
Tax rate information
Thank you for writing a story about the proposed budget of the Cold Spring Harbor Library.
The total budget including the sixth payment on a 20-year bond is $2,420,667 or 4.88 percent higher than last year. We find it confusing to use the tax rates published by the Town of Huntington since 25 percent of our service area is in Oyster Bay. For more information, please call Helen Crosson, library director at 631-692-6820 or attend the Budget Information Meeting and Meet the Candidates program on Monday, March 22, at 7:30 pm at the library.
Helen M. Crosson, director
Cold Spring Harbor Library
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March 11, 2010
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The right thing: my first 45 days
During my campaign for Town Council I focused on the need to address both the financial crisis and crime crisis affecting the residents of Huntington.
When approached by Supervisor Petrone in December I wholeheartedly supported the decision to hold the inauguration at Jack Abrams Intermediate School to highlight the need to focus on the crime crisis in Huntington Station.
At my first two Town Board meetings I voted NO, with detailed explanations, on over 20 resolutions in furtherance of fiscal discipline.
I voted NO against contracts that were not being re-bid and awarded to the lowest qualified bidder. I voted NO to allow contracts that were being rolled over at the obscene prices that were established prior to the economy going into the tank.
I voted NO to save our residents hard-earned money.
My NO votes were against lucrative "part-time" jobs for political insiders to try to stop government waste.
However, the path toward job growth and fiscal discipline is not always a NO vote.
Most recently I voted YES to sponsor a resolution for the build-out of a branch of The First National Bank of Long Island in Cold Spring Harbor. This improvement will help to stimulate economic growth and to help the struggling area merchants.
I also voted YES to establish the Huntington Local Development Corporation. That is a vehicle that can be used to provide funding for qualified businesses to help stimulate the local economy. It will also be one of many funding sources incorporated into the Small Business Resource and Recovery Center that I am in the process of establishing.
These initial steps are the very beginning of what needs to be done to address the crises facing Town government.
There many challenges ahead and I will continue to advocate for all the residents of the Town of Huntington.
Councilman Mark Mayoka
Cold Spring Harbor
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February 24, 2010
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Outrageous affront
It is an outrageous affront to the residents of Huntington that the Town Board appointed former Councilman Stuart Besen to a position as a Special Assistant Town Attorney at its Feb. 9 meeting. It is political payback, pure and simple; obvious cronyism, and a continuation of the overt arrogance of this board. Once again the taxpayer gets ripped off, this time to the tune of $50,000 a year plus benefits, while friends of the board get paid off.
Since Supervisor Frank Petrone first took office, the salary of a Town Board member has gone from $28,000 annually to over $78,000, not including benefits — for a part-time job. The Board is taking good care of themselves at the expense of their constituents.
Mr. Besen is now the 28th attorney working for the town, yet the leadership claims the town is being run well. If it were being run well, would we really need 28 attorneys? This appointment was clearly made just to ensure that Mr. Besen's employment history with the town will justify his receiving a lifetime pension and lifetime health benefits. How many of our residents have that?
According to recent published information, Mr. Besen will be spending part of that time working on "a project to qualify the town for federal funds for downtown revitalization." The town is not qualified for federal funds already? How can that be? And, if the project actually involves simply filling out the applications for the funds, do we really need a $50,000 a year attorney to fill them out? Furthermore, don't we already have a community development department with its own lawyer? Why are we paying them if they are not doing the community development?
Lest we forget, Mr. Besen, and most of the current Town Board members in office, were serving on the board when the debacle at Crab Meadow occurred, which, by the way, led to litigation against the town. And, since nearly all votes of the board were 5-0 when he served, he actually voted for the hiring freeze that has been conveniently overridden to supply him a with very personal gain, while the town's highway department — a separate taxing entity — couldn't even plow the roads well during these past two storms because they are understaffed.
Shame on you Susan Berland. Shame on you Glenda Jackson. Shame on you Mark Cuthbertson. Shame on you Frank Petrone. Stop doing only what you want to do and think of the taxpayer for a change.
Mr. Besen has also been appointed to the New York State Judicial Screening Committee by Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy. That position is reportedly voluntary. Why should Huntington residents be subsidizing his time to work for free for the state when the state won't even give us our fair share of school funding? By making this appointment, County Executive Levy gives clout to the future political aspirations of someone that the voters have already decided should not hold political office. Shame on you too, Steve Levy.
Wake up people of Huntington, and remember all this come election time or you will continue to get your pocket picked, one political buddy at a time.
Eugene Cook
Greenlawn
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February 24, 2010
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Obscene practice
It is heartening to see William Naughton fighting back against the town board, which during an unscheduled meeting Feb. 3, voted to file a lawsuit seeking to block the superintendent of highways from hiring needed personnel.
As an independently elected official, the superintendent of highways is not beholden to the town board. Yet the board continues to usurp Naughton's authority. Its lawsuit is a cynical act of political retaliation against him for refusing to kowtow to its head honchos, Supervisor Petrone and Councilman Cuthbertson.
In an open letter to Huntington residents last October, Naughton wrote that the town board has prevented him from filling a number of vacant and much-needed positions and has not allowed him "to spend the requisite funds to pave and rehabilitate more roads and improve drainage conditions in many areas of our town — which you have paid for with your tax dollars."
Naughton further noted that "While $35 million in capital spending was approved over the past several months — much of it towards a second ice rink that will serve just a small percentage of our residents — I have been unconscionably deprived of the use of monies in the highway budget to properly maintain and improve roadways that benefit residents in neighborhoods and communities throughout our town."
More recently, when a December snowstorm dropped a foot and a half of snow on Huntington roads, six highway department vehicles sat idle because there were no employees to drive them. While our town board is quick to spend money on pet projects benefiting a few favored people or communities, providing for the clearing of roads and public safety during a snowstorm is seemingly not a priority — especially if doing so interferes with its ability to seek to settle a political score with the superintendent of highways.
The town board persists in treating our independently elected superintendent of highways as just another appointed department head. While others may function within board-imposed financial restrictions, the shifting needs of the highway department are such that William Naughton can't — and won't.
Not content to interfere with Naughton's ability to run his department by blocking the release of funds for vacant positions, the town board, under the guise of a supposed mandate to do so, has the chutzpah to dictate whom he may retain as legal counsel to defend him against its mean-spirited lawsuit. As reported in The New York Times a few years ago, Huntington town boards have a predilection for legal action, retaining as outside counsel a number of lawyers who have contributed handsomely to the campaign coffers of its members. This obscene practice continues despite the fact that Huntington has more lawyers employed in its town attorney's office than any other LI municipality.
Michael Kornfeld
Huntington
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February 18, 2010
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Solution for Long Island
The future of Long Island and those who continue to live here will be determined by the changes in its population over the next several decades, and those trends do not indicate a healthy economic future. For a healthy future we must bring and retain income into the area in two ways that we are failing to do.
First, if more retirees with income from pensions, social security and accumulated savings stayed here instead of moving off-Island, their spending would support more service jobs and provide additional employment for local residents. Unfortunately too many retirees are leaving because they have no alternative to the high real estate taxes and upkeep efforts and expenses associated with their current single-family homes. Second, young people who are just starting their careers and families must be able to find reasonable and affordable housing here, or they will continue to leave the area at four times the national average and settle elsewhere.
The common solution to both these problems is a mix of both rental and owned housing that is affordable to younger workers and appropriately sized for singles, young families and retirees.
One such development is being planned for Huntington Station, where 30 acres that is currently zoned for over 100 single family homes could instead be developed by Avalon Bay into a combination of 538 rental and ownership units with one, two, and three bedrooms. The buildings would be clustered to allow for green space, play areas, a swimming pool with clubhouse and fitness center. The anticipated mix of residents would likely send fewer children but more tax dollars to the Huntington School District than the currently zoned single-family development would. Finally, the location of the development within convenient walking distance of the Huntington train station would encourage commuters to live there and walk to the train instead of living elsewhere and driving and occupying spaces in the station parking lots.
I urge all Huntington residents and the town board to support this important step in keeping on Long Island those people who are necessary for a vibrant future here.
Peter Gollon
Huntington
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February 18, 2010
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Poor timing, indeed
Last week, we learned that the town board approved the hiring of Stuart Besen as a part-time attorney at a salary of $50,000, plus benefits. It's not surprising that the board would try to find a position in town hall for Mr. Besen after he lost his re-election bid for the town board. It happens all the time in politics.
What is surprising, and quite frankly totally outrageous, is that they've done this at a time when people in the town are struggling with the current economic conditions, at a time when we are experiencing record unemployment on Long Island, at a time when we have a hiring freeze in place in the town and at a time when the town board is suing the Highway Superintendent for hiring people without board approval and labeling those hirings as "poor timing." Now, Mr. Besen is clearly a gentleman, obviously has knowledge of the inner workings of the town and is probably a very good attorney. But unfortunately, that still does not excuse Mr. Petrone's and the town board's move to create a new position to, in effect, "take care" of a former board member.
What will be interesting to watch is whether or not the public is finally tired of these kinds of antics in local government. I am, what say you?
Frank J. Stalzer
Huntington
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February 18, 2010
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Jan. 27 accident
Last Wednesday evening (January 27) at approximately 7:30 pm, a tragic accident occurred in Centerport on Route 25A just west of Centershore Road. The cause of the accident has not been determined. I represent the family of a victim in this crash and we are trying to gather information about the cause of this accident. If you witnessed this crash or have information about this crash, please contact me at 631-425-9775 or Carol@SchlittLaw.com. Thank you.
Carol L. Schlitt
Huntington
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February 03, 2010
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No axe to grind
Leslie Berliner is barking up the wrong tree when she impugns me in her recently published letter about "the doggone big deal" at Coindre Hall. Her letter poses several questions about me that I would like to answer for the record.
First, I am not "pushing" a ban on dogs at Coindre Hall. I did suggest at a recent park trustees' meeting that as an extreme solution to the problem of off-leash dogs we could ban them entirely if dog owners continue to defy park personnel and regulations, a somewhat Swiftian modest proposal.
Dogs are welcome at Coindre Hall – on leash. The site is not designated as a natural borders off-leash dog park. Dog owners who use the park are well aware of the situation yet many continue to disregard the leash requirement and have little regard for the neighboring homeowners. As a park trustee, it is my concern that parks rules and regulations be observed and enforced. That is the only and "real" reason for my modest proposal of a ban on dogs.
Leslie asks who my supporters are. There is no nefarious plot here. I have no supporters whom I am aware of. I am 75 years old and have been a park trustee for almost half of those years and have been known locally as an environmentalist and advocate for open space preservation and parks for even longer. I have served on many town boards and committees over the years, have written numerous articles, columns, and letters on environmental issues, and have taught natural history to children and adults. I have no anti-dog ax to grind. I hope my supporters would be all law-abiding citizens who have a bone to pick with dog owners. ATV riders, vandals, and others who abuse our parks and disregard the rights of others.
Leslie, that's the doggone big deal.
Alex McKay
Northport
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January 28, 2010
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Compelled to respond to ‘barking’ remarks
Your reporter did a very good job on the story on Coindre Hall ("The Quandary? Man and dog vs. man and home," Dec. 1, 2009, Times of Huntington). The article was balanced, accurate and interesting.
I need to respond, however, to several points made by neighbors and one county official. First, the only excessive barking we've heard has come from neighbors' yards. Dogs confined in a backyard are more likely to bark than dogs that are playing. Second, contrary to Huntington Trustee Alex McKay's contention, LI-DOG is not determined to make all the grounds at Coindre Hall "a dog park". What we are determined to do is get a solution that meets the needs of dog owners, as well as other park patrons. That solution — our Share the Park proposal — is an off-leash program that establishes hours and areas for off-leash activities in the park.
An off-leash program would:
• Create a structure for what the neighbors complain is an unstructured situation
• Limit any noise in the park to certain times of day
• Leave the historic status of the park unaffected. It would be a recreational program similar to the exercise, soccer and basketball programs already run in the gym.
• Allow dog owners to give their dogs the exercise they need without worrying about getting a ticket.
Off-leash programs are run in multi-use parks throughout the country including New York City's beautiful and historic Central Park. That program, which provides off-leash hours in the morning and evening, has been a resounding success because it meets the needs of non-dog owners who can enjoy the park throughout the day when dogs are required to be on-leash as well as dog owners who can give their dogs the exercise and socialization they need during off-leash hours.
The problem with the hard line approach the County has taken at Coindre Hall — an approach that Huntington Trustee McKay has continually pushed the Parks Dept. to take including issuing $90 summonses to dog owners for being off-leash — is that it fails to address the needs of the park's historically largest user group, dog owners. Banning dogs completely, as Trustee McKay also proposes, would do nothing but escalate the situation. Mr. McKay should temper his hostility toward dog owners and play a more constructive role in the situation.
It's time for a solution at Coindre Hall that addresses everyone's needs. An off-leash program is the only way to finally put an end to the quandary at Coindre Hall.
Ginny Munger Kahn, president
LI-DOG
Huntington
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January 12, 2010
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Wonderful issue
Congratulations on a wonderful issue of The Times Huntington (Dec. 24). You did an amazing job!
I've been out of the office the past four days and when I returned this morning I found your paper with Norman Soule on the cover as Man of the Year.
Your wonderful article touched all the salient points of Norman's life and career at the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery.
Working with him and the rest of the Hatchery staff has further opened my eyes to the many wonders of Long Island's freshwater ecology, which in turn has influenced the subject matter of the watercolor paintings I somehow manage to do in my "spare" time.
The article about environmental award winner, photographer Michael Fairchild, was also wonderful!
Programs at the Hatchery have been greatly enriched by Michael's presentations. His work illustrates his commitment to the preservation of the natural environment and inspires us all.
It's notable to see how the Hatchery sustains and is sustained by such outstanding individuals. I also thought all the other award winners were deserving of the honors bestowed upon them.
The articles concerning the award winners were well written by The Times Huntington staff and your publisher, Leah S. Dunaief, must be as pleased as she is deservingly proud.
Diane Lundegaard
Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery & Aquarium
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January 05, 2010
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| 1858: Rudolf Diesel, German engineer who designed the compression-ignition engine. |
| 1869: Neville Chamberlin, British Prime Minister (1937-40). |
| 1893: Wilfred Owen, World War I poet. |
| 1932: John Updike, American poet and novelist. |
| 1936: Frederik W. deKlerk, President of the Republic of South Africa. |
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