Village Profile
URBAN RENEWAL RELOCATION DIRECTOR:
Mrs. Henry (Harvay) Sinkler. Mother of
three children. Attended South Carolina
College and Fanaingdale Agricultural
Institute. Operated own business for
12 years. Served on Executive Board of
PTA, in Freeport and Roosevelt. A
founder of the United Action Front in
Freeport. Executive Board member of
Economic Opportunity Council. Member
of East Central Civic Organization
and Neighborhood Civic League. Re-cipient
of 'Human Relations Award from
Negro Business & Professional Women.
VILLAGE PROVIDES TEMPORARY YOUTH CENTER
The Village Board acted last month to provide a temporary youth
center for all those who wish to occupy their leisure time in a
sociable and constructive way. In a central location, at Henry
Street and Merrick Road, the quarters have been leased and reno-vated
by the village, and will be supervised by village personnel.
Mayor Sweeney reported that the Board had checked into other sites,
as suggested by interested youths, but they had been found unsuit-able
or unavailable. The search for an adequate building had been
going on for some time before the village was able to obtain the
Henry Street building.
Contrary to an impression in some published reports, the Mayor
said, the new center is not for the exclusive use of any group or
neighborhood, but is for all village youths. It will be utilized
until the permanent recreation and civic center, now in planning
stages, can be constructed.
An impression might also have been garnered from some newspaper
stories, the Mayor said, that the village did not have any indoor
recreation program for the winter months. In fact, a variety of
recreation programs is offered by the village, in conjunction with
the public school system, at the Atkinson and Bayview schools. These
programs are headed by professional instructors and supervisors
provided by the Village Recreation Department, and they are open to
all Freeport youths. The new youth center will supplement these
.recreation activities.
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A PUBLIC INFORMATION BULLETIN OF THE VILLAGE OF FREEPORT
46 NORTH OCEAN AVENUE TELEPHONE FReeport 8-4000 ROBERT J. SWEENEY, MAYOR
Public Meetings On The 1st and 3rd Mondays Of The Month, At 9:00 P.M.
January. 1969
TAX INCREASE HELD TO 5% IN NEW BUDGET
The Village Board announced a budget of $4,517,872.29 for the fis-cal
year ending February 28, 1969, which calls for a tax rate in-crease
of 20$ per hundred dollars of assessed value, from $3.82 to
$4.02, in the village property tax. This is slightly more than a
5% rise.
The 20$ rate increase will result in an additional annual village
tax of $10.00 on a home assessed at $5,000, for example, or about
83$ per month. It will be $20.00 additional on a home assessed at
$10,000, or about $1.67 per month.
j
In announcing the new budget Mayor Robert J. Sweeney said, "We are
subject to the same inflationary pressures as are other levels of
government, from the town to the federal, with sharply increased
costs for personnel services and materials. But we have been able
to minimize the effect on village taxpayers, by careful scrutiny
of every departmental request and by holding the line in every
area where we felt it could be done without impairing essential
services.
"We are also fortunate in having an increase of over $1,000,000
in total assessed valuation in the village, which reflects our
policy of broadening the tax base by encouraging desirable industry
and other desirable construction."
The Mayor also pointed out that half of the total increase of
$278,725.46 over last year's budget was in the Police Department,
up from $803,117 to $942,957, with most of the increase going for
more patrolmen and more overtime duty from the present force. "In
the face of a nationwide surge of criminal activity, we will not
short-change Freeport residents in the area of public safety," the
Mayor said. He also noted that increases in village population de-mand
proportionate increases in police personnel.
The total budget of $4,517,872.29 is partially offset by anticipa-ted
revenues of $1,064,918.94. This leaves a balance of $3,452,953.35
to be raised by taxation. The value of all taxable property in the
village (on assessed valuation basis) is $85,894,362.00.
Trustees: Henry M. Altengarten, Frank W. Somers, George H. Fairbefg, Thomas J. Lovdidge
Village Clerk: John J. MacDonald - Treasurer: Leonard D.B. Smith - Counsel: Oakley Gentry, Jr.
THE COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Date Place Time
Jan. 6 Village Board, Annual Budget Hearing 8:00 p.m.
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, meet each
Monday night at the Chase Manhattan Bank in
the Community Room (1/13, 1/20, 1/27) 8:00 p.m.
Jan. 9 Freeport League - Film from North American
Bank. For information call Miss Neary,
MA 3-0657 or Mrs. Donald Riley, 379-3223 8:30 p.m.
Jan. 10 Freeport Inter-Agency Coordinating Com-mittee,
Freeport Library noon
Jan. 13 Neighborhood Civic League, at Greek Ortho-dox
Church 8:30 p.m.
Parent Involvement Committee, at Columbus
Avenue School 8:30 p.m.
PTA Executive Board meeting, at high school 8:00 p.m.
Jan. 14 Freeport Harbor Civic Assoc., at Giblyn school 8:30 p.m.
Jan. 15 School Board meeting, at Atkinson School 8:15 p.m.
Stamp Club, at the library 8:00 p.m.
Jan. 20 Public Meeting of the Village Board 9:00 p.m.
PTA Executive Board meeting, junior high school 8:15 p.m.
Jan. 27 Long Island African Violet Society, meeting
at the library 8:00 p.m.
Jan. 29 Luther Woodward School Card Party, at the
library 8:00 p.m.
Attractive evergreens enhan-cing
Vietnam Memorial at li-brary,
donated by Mrs. Cecil
Bostick (l) in memory of her
husband. Former Regent of
Ruth Floyd Woodhull Chapter,
DAR, Mrs. Bostick is shown
with Mrs. Elfrida Phelps,
also a member of DAR and of
the Village Beautification
Committee.
URBAN RENEWAL NEWSLETTER
When a neighborhood deteriorates to the point of being detrimental
to health, safety and welfare, and when socially and economically,
rehabilitation is neither practical nor feasible, that neighbor-hood
has become a slum, and all of the ills inherent in a slum
create additional problems. When this happens, as it has in the
Bennington Park section of Freeport, Urban Renewal is the appro-priate
solution. But what, precisely, is Urban Renewal and how will
Freeport gain by it?
One authority defines Urban Renewal as, "A village-wide effort in
which all available municipal and federal resources are applied,
no.t only to eliminate slums and blight, but to prevent their fu-ture
formation as well."
In our last newsletter we discussed your stake, as a resident, in
the economic and physical well-being of the Village. This time the
focus is on what is to be gained by a progressive community and
how Urban Renewal fits into the overall picture.
A community that is economically and socially stable attracts re-sponsible,
civic-minded, hard-working persons as residents who
assume positions of leadership within the community, support the
local businesses and contribute to a more skilled labor market. In
addition, these residents make a substantial contribution to our
tax revenue. These citizens become contributors to, rather than
dependents of, the local community.
A thriving community also attracts higher quality and more compet-itive
retail stores and high-skill industries. These, in turn,
help broaden our much needed tax base. Such revenue supports your
schools, fire department, police force, sanitation department and
all other municipal services required by the residents of the Vil-lage.
In the case of your child's education these revenues provide
for the maintenance of dynamic, modern school facilities and this,
in turn, encourages the influx of top quality teachers. Skilled
teachers and good schools mean a better choice of a college or
career for your youngster. Last, but not least, is the fact that
when a Village is on the rise economically and physically, the
value of your home increases.
While this newsletter has concentrated primarily on the economics
of Urban Renewal, we must not lose sight of. our responsibility to
provide a decent, safe and sanitary home in a suitable environment
for all. Urban Renewal, of course, will not solve all of a commu-nity's
problems— the problems of poverty, crime, prostitution,
dope taking, etc. - but it will eliminate the breeding grounds
where these conditions are most prevalent; the areas of slums and
blight. A lot will be gained from Urban Renewal, and you, as a
citizen of Freeport, can use it to make your Village a truly better
place to live and work.
(Next issue: Bennington Park - This Is Like It Is)
