As members of the Planning Committee of the Nassau County Legislature, we wanted to commend its chairman, Richard Nicolello, for conducting such a thoughtful and evenhanded meeting of the Planning Committee regarding the Nassau Hub Study.

Having sat through the testimony, we are more concerned than ever that at its core the study fails to address the budgetary, economic and practical realities that any further development of the Hub area must confront. It was unnerving, to say the least, to hear Dr. Koppelman state, in response to the question about the possibility of cost overruns in the construction of any new mass transit system, that he "did not want to be held to any numbers." Well, he many not want to be, but let's not kid ourselves, the taxpayers of Nassau County will be.

The study itself, even if only in its last sentence, states that the question of funding may be "the determinant issue" on whether we should go ahead with any sort of new mass transit system for this area. Based on the nonanswer that we received at the hearing, this is definitely an instance where "the last should be first." In light of the resistance of most residents of Nassau County to new or higher taxes, there should be a thorough and candid discussion that fully informs the public of the potential cost and the potential sources of revenue for any new mass transit system before, and not after, the county makes any further financial commitments in support of the construction of such a system.

We are similarly concerned by and for the residents of the surrounding communities who expressed fears of the impact of the study's plans on their economic vitality and quality of life. Some may call this NIMBYism, but that criticism generally comes from folks who can sit in their own backyards and not hear the noise, or fear the potential impact of auto congestion on the safety of their streets or on the value of their homes.

Finally, we are very much concerned by passages in the study such as the one which indicates that a "prerequisite" for a light rail mass transit system in the Hub to be efficient and effective is the "capture of a larger share of the job growth expected in Nassau County than has occurred in the past." If this means to say to the downtowns that have struggled to survive the onslaught of box stores and national chains that, "you ain't seen nothing' yet," then we must stand arm-and-arm with the downtowns and their merchants in opposition to the kind of new mass transit system, and the magnitude of development that the Hub Study envisions.