2012-05-10

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FREEPORT LIBRARY '
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FREEPORT NY 11520-3726
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School budget vote
slated Tuesday
77th Year, No. 19 Freeport, N.Y. 11520 The Community Newspaper Thursday, May 10, 2012 75C
Freeport marches for peace
FREEPORT SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT Dr. Kishore Kuncham joined with
Board of Education members, local officials, faculty and several hundred stu-dents
and parents for the annual Peace March promoting community unity.
THE CAROLINE G. ATKINSON SCHOOL Sixth Grade Select Chorus, led by Dr.
Talonda Thomas, performed "He Ain't Heavy...He's My Brother" at the annual
Freeport Schools Peace March. See story on page 16.
Waterworks property back in county hands
by Laura Schofer
Nassau County has negotiated a deal
with developer Gary Melius to acquire
the property where the Waterworks build-ing
once stood on Brookside Avenue in
Freeport. The county will pay $6.2 mil-lion
for the 4.2-acre lot that sits between
the Long Island Rail Road tracks on
Brookside Avenue and the 22 acre
Brookside Preserve. Money for this pur-chase
comes from the 2006
Environmental Bond Act.
The county legislature's two commit-tees
- the Environment and Land Use
Committee as well as the Rules
Committee - met on Monday, May 7 and
unanimously passed the motion to pur-chase
the land. Now the resolution will go
before the entire county legislature on
Monday, May 21, and then be signed into
law by County Executive Edward
Mangano.
The 2006 environmental bond act
raised $50 million to a^H*ire open space,
protect water resources and improve park
spaces.
"We are really excited. This is great
news," said Freeport resident David
Chauvin, from the Freeport-Baldwin
Water Works Coalition, a group that
opposed the development of this property
for an apartment building.
"We had a lot of support from many
people, including Legislators Dave
Denenberg and Joseph Scanell and County
Executive Edward Mangano," he said.
"We also want to thank Town of
Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray and
Councilwoman Angie Cullin. Even though
this was not a town issue, they understood
our desire to preserve this space. It's an
important part of our history."
The land is owned by developer Gary
Melius, who bought the property along
with the Brooklyn Waterworks building
in 1986 for $1.5 million. The Brooklyn
Waterworks, a brick building designed in
the Romanesque Revival style, was built
in 1890 and was used as a pumping sta-tion
to bring water to New York City res-idents.
It was decommissioned in 1929
and was used as a standby system up until
1977 when the property was sold to
Nassau County and machinery removed.
Thereafter it was allowed to fall into dis-repair
until Mr. Melius bought the proper-ty
at an auction. He had intended to build
condominiums but then decided to build a
nursing home. However, the state
Department of Health put a moratorium
on nursing home construction. The build-ing
also suffered severe damage in a fire,
and the property languished for years.
In the meantime, Mr. Melius became
embroiled in litigation with the Village of
Freeport when it tried to take the proper-ty
in a tax lien dispute. Although a lawsuit
is still pending between Mr. Melius and
former Mayor William Glacken and other
village officials, the Village of Freeport
and Mayor Andrew Hardwick settled its
part of the lawsuit and paid Mr. Melius
$3.5 million. Mr. Melius also received a
payment of $500,000 from the county.
In 2010 the building was in such disre-pair
it had to be destroyed and in 2011 Mr.
Melius moved forward on the develop-ment
of an 128-unit apartment building
which drew much criticism from the com--
munity. Although it reluctantly was passed
by the village's Landmarks Preservation
Committee, a full environmental review
needed to be done and a lead agency with-in
the village had to be named.
In the meantime, several organizations,
including the South Shore Audubon
Society and the Freeport Baldwin
Waterworks Coalition, along with county
"and town officials, worked behind the
scenes to preserve the land.
"It has taken years to save this proper-ty,"
said Nassau County Legislator David
Denenberg. "The committee [who
reviewed all possible projects for preser-vation
with bond act money] set aside this
money in 2007-2008, but then the litiga-tion
set in and;we couldn't move for-ward,"
he said.
Mr. Denenberg said the village
arranged for an independent appraiser to
value the property and then, based on that
offer, made an offer to Mr. Melius. He
believes the property will be allowed to
lay fallow and return to nature.
"Maybe we are all a little happy," said
Mr. Melius. "I did it after being .urged by
the mayor and Dave Denenberg-and in
the best interest of the community."
"In a united voice, Freeport made itself
heard," said Mayor Hardwick. "I am very
pleased that Nassau County has agreed to
purchase this land for open space. My
only request to the county executive
would be to reserve a portion of the land
for recreation for our children."
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