The Citizens for the Preservation of Open Space at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park are ready and willing to go to court to fight to maintain the 1942 deed signed by the Theodore Roosevelt Association and the Town of Oyster Bay. The group met at the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Public Library on Wednesday, March 14, to assess how their campaign is going. Fran Leone explained the beginnings of the group, as a committee of the Oyster Bay Civic Association aimed at preserving the park according to the 1942 deed.

Ms. Leone has petitions signed by over 500 people and the backing of the Florence Park Association and the Oyster Bay Civic Association and the East Norwich Civic Association. Kathy Prinz, co-founder of Save the Jewel by the Bay (SJBB), said in a telephone interview, that her group will not poll its members, that they intend to keep focused on one issue, preservation.

Fran Leone said some of the SJBB street captains helped the open space group. They were given petitions that they returned signed by both older seniors and younger parents with children. Ms. Leone said the issue is "It's the law and to me it's about the deed. And, the Town of Oyster Bay still hasn't made a statement on how they are looking at the deed and what their decision is."

She has been trying to get a copy of the Main Street Association's answer to the town's Request for Proposals to see how much taxpayer money will have to go into things such as liability, bathroom use, more staffing to clean up the park. "Who's paying for that? What if the bathrooms break down? Who pays for that? Who determines who does that and where do school buses park. And who pays for moving and rebuilding the picnic pavilion? Are those costs taxpayers townwide will be paying for?"

At the meeting, attorney John Palmer, a member of the group's executive committee, said he is ready to go to court to have a judge determine if the deed can be gone against. The deed states that there be "no carousel" in the park. Mr. Palmer explained he cannot go to court until the proposal becomes a project.

Ms. Leone reported on the story of the town's sending out Request for Proposals to companies across the nation that appear to be groups that run carousels, not build them. The town received only one response to the RFP, from the Main Street Association. Ms. Leone requested a copy of the document from the town following the Freedom of Information Law but they said it would take two or three weeks for Town Attorney Fred Mei to determine whether or not they would give her a copy of the document.

This reporter called Robert J. Freeman, executive director, of the committee on Open Government. When asked about the town's refusal to give out the Main Street Association response to their Request for Proposals, he asked a few questions of his own.

He said, "Part of the point of seeking bids and proposals is to acquire a variety of proposals so the government can get the best value for their project.

"In this case, they received only one proposal; so the question is will an award be made or will they start off all over again. If there is only one response, they could say we could really use more, different proposals.

"There are usually potentially two ways a government buys something - either the old-fashioned way of buying pencils. They put in a notice and set a deadline for bids. They have no choice but to accept the lowest bid. At the bid opening all the bids are public and the government discloses the bids for the public to see/check/assess if they chose the best bang for their buck.

"In the case of an RFP - they are looking for their best value and not the best price. They can say some look good and some look weak. When the deadline is reached and the bids are in - that is when the negotiation process begins. The proposal suggested is not necessarily the proposal to be used. There is flexibility involved.

"The exception to releasing information on an RFP is when it would impair contract awards. For instance, you have three answers and a fourth comes in and asks to see the others before the bids are opened."

Mr. Freeman added, "The RFP deadline is not the end, but the beginning of the process. When only one proposal is received they may say 'we don't really have enough to think about. Maybe we need to think before we accept the proposal'."

He asked if they have accepted the proposal.

He concluded, "Everything should be available to the public unless the disclosure would hurt someone. What is the down side to disclosure of this," he asked.

In light of his information this newspaper called a town spokesperson and asked if the town has accepted the MSA carousel proposal. The spokesperson said, "It is still being reviewed to see if it will meet all of the requirements set in the RFP. The request for a copy of the response is still being reviewed in the attorney's office. Until that is done it is not considered available to the public."

She said the town has "not decided if they are accepting only one response. Currently they are reviewing the RFP to see if it is complete."

She said, "Then the town board will decide if they will accept the RFP by resolution." The town publishes its calendar for town board meetings on their website: OysterBayTown.com The next few meetings of the board will be on; March 27 - 7:00 p.m.; April 17 - 10:00 a.m.; April 24 - 7:00 p.m.; May 8 - 10:00 a.m.; May 22 - 10:00 a.m.; June 12 - 10:00 a.m. and June 26 - 7:00 p.m.

FYI: The board often amends the rules and adds a town resolution at the last minute.