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BEACH -
WHAT BEACH?
One of the real treasure's of the Point is to witness the
magnificent gifts Mother Nature provides. Riding home from work on
the Loop Parkway this time of year one can often catch a glimpse
of an Ocean Seal bobbing like a cork in Swift Creek. Running or
walking on our magnificent beach from the Point to the Lido Hotel
often provide a marvelous panorama with the Jersey Highlands
looming like a great whale on the Southwestern horizon or watching
impressively as group of Polar Bear like Surfers master the break
at Lido West. Winter provides us with these jewels but also brings
some harsh realities as the mighty Atlantic takes huge hungry
bites out of our shore. Middle Beach has seen a breech of the dune
berm and during a full moon high tide where sunbathers resided in
September there is now only Ocean!
There are
some who advocate "DO NOTHING" let nature take it cause,
the Spring tides will replenish. The Civic doesn't subscribe
to this theory. We believe we need to support and take definitive
steps to strike a balance between what Mother Nature takes back
and what we can do to offset this reality.
INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS
Gerry
Ottavino, Chair of our Beach Committee, has worked with the Town
of Hempstead in setting up a series informational meetings
designed to educate and solicit opinion with interested parties
regarding the Federal Storm Mitigation Project. The first of these
meetings was held on January 16th and provided an overview of
regarding what's transpiring now and how important it is to
understand the need to have a definitive course of action to
address these concerns. Please take the time to see for yourself
or join us at our next session. Our next meeting is scheduled for
March 1st. If you have any questions please communicate with Gerry
Ottavino or myself.
STREETSCAPES
The Point
was never more beautiful as it was this holiday season. The
Village Gardeners work tirelessly in transforming our town into a
Norman Rockwell pictorial. The Town of Hempstead in conjunction
with Sen. Dean Skelo' s also contributed by installing decorative
lighting on either side of Lido Blvd. from the end of the Loop
Pkwy. to the Deli. This lighting is identical to what the TOH has
planned as part of their STREETSCAPES initiative. We were informed
by the Supervisor's Office that the T.O.H. has submitted an
application with N.Y.S. Dept of Transportation for a "Traffic
Calming" Grant which will assist in covering part of the cost
of this STREETSCAPES initiative.
Bill Waite,
Chair of our Civic Committee worked with the Village Gardeners,
Chamber of Commerce and all interested parties to develop a
conceptual design for Lido Blvd. They have submitted an approved
rendering to the T.O.H. for their consideration. A copy of that
rendering is available on the mypointlookout.com website.
On a
related matter, Bill Waite at the suggestion of Sue Marcotte wrote
to Long Island Power Authority Chairman, Richie Kessel to discuss
the feasibility of removing the overhead wires in conjunction with
STREETSCAPES. We want to explore the economic practicality of
burying these lines which we believe would improve the overall
ambience of our main thoroughfare. A meeting is being scheduled
with Mr. Kessel for next month to explore this concept.
TAX ISSUE
Our most frustrating issue continues to be the unfair burden our
community has been subjected to with respects to our property
reassessment. Our Civic members have worked tirelessly in
conjunction with our elected officials to convince Cole-Layer-Trumble,
(the firm performing the reassessment) to re-examine it's
treatment on how they initially reassessed vacant lots as if they
were buildable parcels. Sen. Dean Skelos and Assemblyman Harvey
Weisenberg sponsored legislation which will offset this inequity.
We were informed it would be a priority during the 2003
Legislative session. Please continue to write or call
Sen.Dean Skelos (766-8011) and Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (
431-0500) to secure passage and to ensure the Governor signs it
into law.
Our Civic
General Meetings continue to provide our residents with a
clearinghouse of information as well as several legal avenues to
pursue in fighting this injustice.
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Our
January meeting hosted attorney Fred Perry who outlined what
an individual needs to formally challenge your assessment.
Formal grievances must be filed with the Nassau County Dept.
of Assessment between January 2 and March 1st. Interested
parties may reach Mr. Perry at 1-631-271-9500.
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At a
previous meeting the Civic hosted Attorney Dan Dillon and his
pursuit of the 6% Cap rule which he believes has been violated
by this reassessment process. This provision is contained in
Article 18 of the Real Property Tax Law and limits the amount
that homeowners may see their assessment increase to a maximum
of 6% and no more that 20% over five years. Dan Dillon is
pursuing this in the Courts; interested parties should contact
Dan Dillon at 1-212-371-0200.
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Since
many questions regarding reassessment have focused on the
school aid portion of our tax bills which equates to almost
60% of our costs, our March meeting will have Long Beach
School Superintendent or his representative available to
address issues pertaining to how the school portion of our tax
bill gets allocated to Point Lookout.
HISTORIC
CALENDAR
Our 2nd annual historic calendar has been mailed to all our member
households. Thanks need to be extended to Tom Bauer, Rosemary
Dowling, Phil McCaffrey and a huge vote of gratitude to Peter
Healy for all he did in bringing this to fruition. We received
many wonderful photos and appreciate your contributions. We hope
to include more of your photos next year.
CHANGING OF THE GUARD-DINO
On January 13, Town of Hempstead Supervisor Rich Guardino resigned
his post to accept a position with Hofstra University as Director
of the Skodnek Business Development Center. It has been reported
that former Assemblywoman and current Hempstead Town Clerk, Kate
Murray will replace him as Supervisor. The Point Lookout Civic
Association is extremely grateful for the invaluable assistance
the Supervisor has provided on behalf of our community and the
Township he served for over twenty years. We know his leadership
will be missed at Hempstead Town Hall but we hope he will continue
to take an active interest in the town he calls his home. Mr.
Supervisor thanks.
NEXT GENERAL MEETING MARCH 6TH - 8:00 P.M. REC HALL
Respectfully submitted,
Francis X. Ryan
President
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