Several months ago we wrote to you advocating for the community to support Proposition #3, the Town of Oyster Bay - SEA Fund Bond on Election Day 2000. This proposal for $30 million ($20 million for environmentally sensitive land acquisition and $10 million for parks improvements) was overwhelmingly approved by nearly 2/3rds of the town-wide voters. We would like to commend the town for proposing this referendum and for the excellent job they have done after the passage of the bond in communicating and executing the selection and allocation process to include as much resident input as possible.

First, they went through an extensive town-wide search for four residents of the highest caliber to sit among town officials and the Nature Conservancy on an advisory panel. The panel formulated selection criteria, heard residents' input, reviewed the data, visited the sites and made recommendations to the town board. A town-wide mailer was sent to every household asking them to forward their suggestions and/or inviting residents to attend any, or all of the three public forums held at strategic locations across the town to address the panel.

The Concerned Citizens of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Community seized this opportunity to attend all of the meetings, as well as sent in our list of recommendations for various acquisitions and park improvement projects. At last week's town board meeting the board voted on the recommendations made by the advisory committee for park enhancement projects. We are delighted to report that one of our proposals has been selected. Plainview-Old Bethpage has been granted a portion of these funds toward the construction of a Town of Oyster Bay Community Center to service town activities as well as provide a site for local groups to meet including youth, senior and athletic clubs and, of course, our own Community Center group. Throughout the process the town has exhibited the highest commitment to our quality of life; and we are convinced that this is only the first of many similar future initiatives on the town's agenda to preserve our environment and continually enhance and maintain our park system. As the town makes further decisions on the acquisition portion of the bond we will keep you informed. In the meantime, I hope you will join us in thanking the Town Supervisor John Venditto and town board members: Leonard Symons, Christine Preston, Angelo Delligatti, Joseph Muscarella, Bonnie Eisler and Anthony Macagnone for this generous and well needed project that ours and future generations of families will enjoy.

After learning about California's energy shortage I am sure all Long Islanders are concerned about the same, especially as we are approaching the air conditioning season and want to avoid brownouts and blackouts. LIPA recently reported an annual 3.5 percent increase in demand on Long Island, which is twice the state average, that has resulted in a real need to generate additional electricity. As part of a solution, they announced a proposal on May 10 for a new 250 megawatt power plant to be built, if approved, on Spagnoli Road in Melville by 2004. With this plan comes some potentially very positive outcomes; additional power for 250,000 homes served by LIPA/KeySpan with the remaining 50 percent to be sold to other customers, and a more energy efficient clean burning plant with near zero NO/OX emissions which will produce far less pollution than older plants. However, it is still introducing, though very little, new pollution into the area, its tallest stack will rise 250 feet, the storage of two million gallons of kerosene and a new connection to the Route 110 natural gas pipeline will be added. All of the aforementioned may be negligible in creating a concern for the environment. However, it is still only just over a mile to the local Old Bethpage Elementary School and homes in Old Bethpage. It is also near a federal "Superfund" site that is being remediated and that doesn't need any further potential threats to our ground water. We do hope that residents will avail themselves of the stringent environmental review process that this proposal will be subject to, and will attend meetings to learn more about the plant and offer their input. As dates are announced we will share them with you. In addition, we are planning on inviting representatives of LIPA/KeySpan to address our community at an informational forum in the near future.

On the subject of environmental pollution, the Town of Oyster Bay has announced Sunday, May 20 as "STOP Day" (Stop Throwing Out Pollutants). On that day the town will offer a safe way to dispose of hazardous household waste at the TOB-DPW Facility, 150 Miller Place, Syosset from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Additional dates for this program include June 16, July 14, Aug. 11, Sept. 8, Oct. 13 and Nov. 18. If you have any questions regarding this program, please call the town offices at 624-6300.

On Monday, May 28, the Plainview-Old Bethpage Community will once again salute our veterans of war through our annual parade spearheaded by Councilman Leonard Symons. All residents and community groups are welcome to participate in this special event. We will be marching in the parade to honor the men and women who served our country, and we hope you will as well. If you have any questions, please call us at 433-6001.

A happy Memorial Day to all.

Carol Meschkow, president

Concerned Citizens of the

Plainview-Old Bethpage Community, Inc.