We hope you are marking up your calendar with upcoming events involving Saving the Jewel by the Bay. There is of course the Tuesday, Sept. 27 meeting at 7 p.m. in the town board hearing room. We hope you will be there.

There is also a round-table discussion that will take place on Sunday, Oct. 2 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Oyster Bay Community Center. It is co-sponsored by the Oyster Bay Historical Society and the Friends of Raynham Hall, Inc. The presentation is intended to provide factually correct information, representative of divergent viewpoints, regarding the future of the hamlet of Oyster Bay. In this way an informed dialogue can occur at future community meetings during the proposed moratorium on building and thereafter.

A group of panelists representing community planning and development, historical preservation and environmental safety will be asked to respond to selected questions such as:

What kind of development is appropriate for Oyster Bay?

What are the pros and cons regarding historic districting?

Explain the environmental issues regarding sewage, water use, etc.

What is a landmarks commission? Do we have one?

[Yes we have one and it offers something unique - out of the ordinary in New York State. It offers a rebate of about 15 percent on town taxes that the landmark homeowner can put into a fund for future repairs to maintain their historic building.]

Who should be involved in determining the future of land use?

Audience participation will be encouraged to enhance the dialogue.

It is good to note that the Town of Oyster Bay has been slow to encourage landmarking. The past chairwoman of the Town of Oyster Bay Landmarks Commission slowed the processes down and always took an overcautious stance and was definitely not pro-active.

As we look at what landmarks can do for you, we also have to consider what we can do for the town landmarks commission. It needs to be beefed up with informed residents who actually believe in the value of landmarking.

- DFK