There are many issues being debated around East Norwich and Oyster Bay but the one that seems to keep coming up all the time is the lack of adequate athletic fields in and around the area. Apparently the school district needs more space because they are taking down trees at the Vernon School to provide more ball fields.

Monsignor Ribaudo is also looking for additional vacant land to develop playing fields.

In the middle of this problem, there are two other major controversies. One is the Bermingham School property and its future development and the other is the apparent reluctance of the Village of Muttontown to grant St. Dominic's the variance it needs to develop land on Route 25A into a playing field.

Has it not occurred to anyone besides me that we should join all these issues and solve all these problems with one solution.

Many people, especially along Highwood Road, are opposed to housing going into the Bermingham School property. The school district would like to have the asbestos problem removed at someone else's cost and get money for the property too. Selling the property to a developer is not the only answer.

I understand that Msgr. Ribaudo of St. Dominic's was once interested in the Bermingham property. It seems the people in Muttontown would rather have housing than a ball field.

So why are we trying to force feed a ball field on the people of Muttontown and at the same time trying to force housing on the people of East Norwich.

Let's just reverse this a little bit.

Offer the Bermingham property to Msgr. Ribaudo for an athletic field which apparently the people along Highwood would rather have and allow housing to go into Muttontown which apparently the residents there desire.

Isn't this a simple solution?

I'm sure that Msgr. Ribaudo and the church benefactors would pay the school board whatever the developer has offered and would also remove the asbestos problem.

In the end, St. Dominic's would have an athletic field closer to "home" in a neighborhood that wants it and maybe, just maybe, some agreement could be made between the school district and St. Dominic's for the school district to use the fields when St. Dominic's is not.

And the people in Muttontown, who came to an incorporated village for the life style it offers, would have houses inhabited by people with a similar desire of life style.

How simple! Solutions are many times quite easy to achieve if you simply take one or two steps back and abandon those "locked in" positions.

I trust the participants won't just dig in their heels because they feel "committed" to a project but rather look for alternate solutions.