Lawrence Assoc. may be charged to meet at LVCC

The Lawrence Association has long had free use of the Clubhouse meeting room at the Lawrence Village Country Club for its monthly meetings, but that may soon change. The Lawrence Village Board of Trustees voted to institute new fees for use of the Clubhouse at its Dec. 10th session, and later denied a request to wave the expense for the civic group's Dec. 16th meeting.

The new Lawrence village fee policy is $200 for four hours of use of the Clubhouse meeting room. Village administrator David Smollett said he studied other Nassau County villages that operate country clubs such as Sands Point and Lake Success, to determine what a fair fee policy would be.

The new rules allow not-for-profit groups such as the Lawrence Association the ability to request a waiver from this fee. However, village trustees Michael Fragin and Joel Mael were unconvinced by the civic group's argument that it only holds meetings for an hour and a half each month when the country club is operating, when its restaurant is open. The resolution to wave the Lawrence Association's fee for the Dec. 16th meeting did not meet the required three votes with Mayor Felder and deputy mayor Martin Oliner supporting the measure, Mael and Fragin abstaining and Klar not in attendance since he left the meeting early.

The thought of being charged to use the Clubhouse meeting room angered the leadership of the Lawrence Association who believe they are being targeted since they have been known to challenge many decisions made in village hall. "This is a vindictive action," said Lawrence Association president Rochelle Kevelson, who added she plans to not pay the village any money for holding meetings at the country club. "They don't want a watchdog in this community."

Fragin said he did not have enough information to support the Lawrence Association's request and hopes at the next village board meeting that the issue can be resolved to either have the civic group pay the new fees or be waived going forward. "I objected on procedural grounds," said Fragin. "I don't like to vote on things where I haven't been properly briefed."