I.P. residents question restrooms, new village hall

At board meeting, questions are raised about still unrepaired storm drains

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Island Park residents showed their displeasure with the plans for a new village hall and for repairs to the restrooms at Masone Beach at the village board meeting on Nov. 20.

Hurricane Sandy wrecked the original village hall. The new building will be funded mostly with $1.5 million in bonds, while the restrooms will be paid for with a $117,000 grant from Nassau County.

About 30 people attended the meeting, which was dominated by a public comment period in which residents repeatedly questioned Mayor Michael McGinty and the village trustees about the cost of the projects when they are still waiting for storm drains to be repaired. McGinty has said that the bond measures would not increase residents’ taxes, because the village plans to pay for them by reducing spending.

Some residents, including Chamber of Commerce President Glenn Ingoglia, have said that people have offered to fix the restrooms for free, but were turned down. McGinty said that the village could not accept free work because of liability issues. “Nassau County came to us with an opportunity to rebuild the bathrooms on Masone Beach, and we took that opportunity,” McGinty said. “And the rehab and renovation of those bathrooms includes changing tables in the men’s room as well. So we’re bringing everything up to the 21st century.”

Ingoglia, who is also the president of the Voice Party and ran for mayor in March, told the Herald, “It is the opinion of the Voice Party that a $1.5 million village hall is exorbitant. They will have to raise taxes to pay for bonds … We don’t need bathrooms fixed, we need our streets fixed.”

McGinty has said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is providing an additional $300,000 to build Village Hall. “We began review and appeal process on that because we’d like to see additional funding, of course,” he said. There is also discussion of requesting help from Nassau County and the Town of Hempstead to help fund a new village hall.

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