Bethpage-Tribune_1987-02-05

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BETHPAGt l !B
4 7 P 0 W r. L L A V
[iHTHPAGE NY I I 7 I4
4 C O P I ES
Island Trees Plainedge
also serving
Seaford Old Bethpage Plainview
VOL. 31 NO. 41 Febraary 5,1987 to Febmairy 11,1987 20 cents per copy
Development Of Affordable Housing
Proposed By Town
LI. Toxics Coordinator Named
"As the real estate market
spirals upward the dream of
many young couples raised
in the Town of Oyster Bay
evaporates," said Oyster
Bay Supervisor Joseph
Colby. "Older residents who
children are now grown are
often confronted with
homes too large for their
present needs. If they wish to
remain in Oyster Bay their
options are limited to
expensive condominiums
with hefty mortgages."
Solving these two socio­economic
problems can be
accomplished through a
program currently being
formulated in whhich
homeowners in the Town
can buy one of the new sin­gle
family homes or con­dominiums
the Town pro­poses
to build on a parcel of
land it owns in Plainview
and sell their present home
to a young married couple
who are either Oyster Bay
residents or who have grown
up in the Town.
Colby said, "Home
builders who do business in
the Town will tell you that
the major cost in any hous­ing
construction is the price
of the land. If we can offer
the land to the builder we
have eliminated that factor
and reduced the sale price of
the units. Since the Town
owns a 65 acre parcel just
north of the Long Island
Expressway, west of Round
Swamp Road, which is cur­rently
undeveloped, this
would be an ideal location to
build a combination of two
Long Island Railroad
Back On The Track
By Rep. Norman F. Lent
After nearly two weeks of enduring 40-mile traffic jams
and overcrowded buses and subways. Long Island commu­ters
can once again get to work aboard the Long Island Rail
Road (LIRR). last week, President Reagan signed into law
emergency legislation I introduced to end the LIRR strike
after Congress took quick action to ease the burden on
commuters angered by the walkout and beset by severe
winter weather.
Over 112,000 daily commuters had been left without rail
service since January 18th when LIRR employees went on
strike over a dispute with management over wages, health
benefits, sick leave and pensions.
Nearly 80 percent of the workforce had agreed to new
contracts, but settlement with the remaining 20 percent
proved elusive and there appeared to be no end in sight.
Throughout the strike, both labor and management were
represented at the bargaining table. Unfortunately, no one
thought to represent the commuters, many of whom reside
in the 4th Congressional District. Therefore, I decided that
federal action was both necessary and appropriate, and on
January 21,1 introduced legislsation in Congress to and the
walkout and restore service.
The LIRR is subject to federal law under the Federal
Railway Labor Act. Under the Lent law, LIRR employees
were ordered back to work, thus restoring rail services dur­ing
a special 60-day cooling off period.
In addition, my bill requires the National Mediation
Board to appoint an emergency three-member panel that
will report to Congress within 50 days with recommenda­tions
for a proposed solution to the dispute. If no agreement
has been reached by the end of this period. Congress will
then have 10 days to review the situation and impose a
settlement if necessary.
I'm hopeful that management and these unions without
contracts will be able to sign an accord before the end of the
60-day period so that rail service can continue without inter­ruption.
In the meantime, Congress will be monitoring the
negotiations' progress and will be ready to act in an effort to
ensure rail service for area commuters.
1 am grateful to my colleagues. New York Senators
Alfonse D'Ainatoand Daniel Patrick Moynihan for their
help in assuring prompt Senate action. During the days
ahead, you can be sure that I will be following this situation
closely and will do everything I can to protect the public
interest.
and three bedrom single
family homes and one and
two bedroom condominium
units."
"The new units (which
would have a higher market
value than many of the older
homes) would be made
available to Town residents
who presently own their
home through a lottery sys­tem.
Selected homeowners
would be able to purchase
their new home at substan­tially
below.current market
value (because of the dona­tion
of land) and they, in
turn, would then sell their
home to a young married
couple for the same price.
'*As an e x a m p l e ,"
explained Colby, "let us
assume that a resident cur­rently
owns a home4ft Betii'
page that is appraised at
$165,000. Allowing for land
costs of $50,000 that resi­dent
could purchase a new
home or condominium unit
for $115,000. The young
married couple would then
buy that home from the
owner for the same
$115,000. In both instances
the new owners would be
required to remain in their
homes for five years, after
which their equity would
begin to accumulate."
If the young married cou­ple's
home is sold or trans­ferred
they would be
required to pay back to the
Town the $50,000 they saved
on the purchase price. How­ever,
they would be entitled
to all equity growth over the
market value as of the date
of their purchase. The
Plainview resident, upon the
sale of is new home or
condo, would receive the full
sale price since he sold his
original home for below
market value.
Colby said that one of the
benefits of this program
would be the distribution of
new families throughout the
Town, thereby eliminating
the burden on any one
school district. This has
been the objection of several
smaller proposals in com­munities
on eastern Long
Island.
"If we expect to stem the
tide of young people moving
out of the area because they
cannot afford to live here
then we must begin to take
action. This creative plan
will encourage older resi­dents
to remain in the Town
and will result in an influex
of,young families."
The New York Public
Interest Research Group,
Inc. (NYPIRG) today
named a full-time Toxics
Project Coordinator for
Long Island.
The Coordinator, Steven
A. Romalewski, has been a
researcher for NYPIRG's
waste alternatives program
for the past two years. Along
School Aid Cut
Governor Cuomo's pro­posed
1987-88 State budget
includes large cuts in state
education aid for local
schols. Senator John R.
Dunne (R-Nassau) and
Assemblyman Fred Parola
(R-Wantagh) have an­nounced.
Dunne, the Senate Dep­uty-
Majority- Leader, ajnd=
Assemblymen Parola said
the Governor's proposed
education aid formulas
would slash state aid to
schools in Nassau County
by millions of dollars.
"The Governor has again
proposed to eliminate save-harmless
aid for local schoi
districts," Dunne and Par­ola
said, "Such a move
would cost schools in our
county over $12.3 million in
operating aid alone,"
Senator Dunne and
Assemblyman Parola said
the Governor's plan would
also eliminate $2.6 million in
(Continued on Page 12)
Gasoline Prices
Increasing
Nassau County Executive
Thomas S. Gulotta today
warned motorists that gaso­line
prices in the County are
increasing faster than they
have at any time since 1979.
While Gulotta hesitated to
place the blame for the
increase on any segment of
the gasoline supply system,
he cautioned motorists to
shop around for the best
prices.
"The weekly survey by
our Department of Consu­mer
Affairs confirms that
gasoline prices, which have
remained relatively stable
for many months, suddenly
took a dramatic upsurge
during the past week,"
Gulotta said. "Leading the
average increase was regular
gasoline which increased 6<t
per gallon, to 81.3<p a gallon;
(Continued on Page 12)
with Toxics Project Direc­tor
Walter Han, he co-authored
NYPIRG's land­mark
study on garbage
incineration and recycling
alternatives to landfilling.
The Burning Question,
Romalewski resides in his
hometown of Baldwin, and
will be'based in NYPIRG's
regional Long Mend office in
Huntington.
NYPIRG Executive
Director Thomas Wathen
stated that "this move to
commit rnore resources to
Long Island represents our
increased emphasis on a
region with some of the most
pressing environmental and
public health problems in
New York State. A full-time
toxics coordinator will
enhance NYPIRG's ongo­ing
efforts to provide a tech­nical
and community organ­izing
assistance to citizens
interested in helping to
safely and sensibly solve the
Island's pollution problems
once and for all."
According to Roma­lewski,
"Long Island's
environment and the health
of its citizens are threatened
by some of the most hazard­ous
garbage dumps in Amer­ica,
a deteriorating drinking
water supply, and proposed
garbage incinerators that
could result in unprece­dented
economic and toxic-contamination
hazards. But
Long Islanders have in the
past, and can in the future,
muster the political power
essential to solving these
problems." He emphasized
that "NYPIRG ,will continue
working together with a
broad range of local com-munity
organizations- in
order to achieve this goal."
For more information on
NYPIRG's activities, on
Long Island, contact the
group's regional office
located at 1389 New York
Avenue, Huntington Sta­tion,
NY 11746, or call (516)
673-5536.
NYPIRG is the largest
not-for-profit environmen­tal
and consumer organiza­tion
in New York State.
Over 150,000 members
throughout the state work
with more than 100 full-time
lawyers, scientists,
researchers, economists and
.organizers to help' shape pub­lic
policy. NYPIRG's main
office is located in New York
City, and a legislative office
operates year-round in
Albany. The group main­tains
three offices on Long,
Island, and a total of 24
statewide.
Since 1980, NYPIRG's
Toxics Project has released
twomajor reports detailing
t o x i c contamination
hazards on Long Island,
entitled Toxics on Tap:
Chemical Contamination of
Long Island Drinking
Water Supplies and The
Environmental and Public
Health Implications of the
Port Washington Municipal
Landfill.
BFD Poster Winners
Three students in Mrs. Nesnick*s Central
Boulevard class are the proud second grade
winners of The Bethpage Fire Prevention Poster
Contest. They are from right to left: Matthew
Heller - 1st place; Kara Zuaro " 2nd place and
Dina Knapp - 3rd place.