The Bayview Civic Association chose not to engage in the political mud slinging that has resulted from the controversial sale of the former town highway garage property. However, I feel compelled to respond to a letter of April 3 from Supervisor May Newburger to Manhasset residents concerning the sale. In that letter, Supervisor Newburger makes certain misrepresentations regarding our association's position and the town's disclosure of the sale. First, I would like to make it clear that the Bayview Civic Association has always been opposed to any development of the subject property that would have an adverse impact on our community or the environment.

Supervisor Newburger states that a member of the North Hempstead Town Board served as a liaison to our association and kept us updated on the sale. The liaison she refers to was former Councilman Fred Pollack. In early December 1996, the Bayview Civic Association arranged for a meeting with Mr. Pollack to discuss the town's plans for the property and to voice our concerns. In addition to Fred Pollack and me, the meeting was attended by his assistant, Russell Klein, John Minogue and Sanjay Dult (BCA's former president and current treasurer respectively). At that meeting, we proposed that the town maintain most of the property to the east as open space, essentially creating a passive park that would dovetail with our association's proposal for improvements to the Manhasset Bay waterfront. We discussed the possibility of a modest commercial development along East Shore Road, assuming an adequate buffer was installed. I personally went so far as to bring along an aerial map prepared by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and sketched a layout to emphasize our point.

We offered to assist in drafting a proposal for the site. If that was not possible, we requested that our association be allowed to comment on any request for proposal. Mr. Pollack was agreeable to involving the Bayview Civic Association in the process. I want to emphasize that there was no miscommunication. Fred Pollack reiterated the town's commitment to involve our association in the process and to keep us informed in a letter dated Dec. 24, 1996 to John Minogue. Furthermore, in the letter he stated that "no action is imminent with the Thomaston property."

Despite an ongoing dialogue with the town on a variety of matters, it wasn't until reading about the same in the Dec. 25 issue of the Manhasset Press that we became aware of the fate of the property. We subsequently found out that the request for proposal that our association requested to comment on was drafted and sent to prospective developers on April 14. It's not our intention to criticize Mr. Pollack. He was a friend to the Bayview Civic Association and facilitated our achieving a number of our goals. However, the fact remains that for reasons unknown to us, the town did not follow through with its commitment to keep our association apprised.