The Oyster Bay Town Board voted unanimously at its July 31 meeting to adopt the first round of the recommendations by the Save Environmental Assets (SEA) Bond Committee for the expenditure of $20 million in Environmental Bond Funds for the acquisition and preservation of open space for active and passive parks and recreational uses.

The board voted to accept a list of eight properties recommended by the committee. The properties are the KeySpan property in Glenwood Landing, Jericho's 81-acre Underhill Property, the Liberty Industrial site in Farmingdale, Mill Neck Marine, Andrews Road in Hicksville, the United Vanguard Property in Hicksville, the South Oaks parcel in Massapequa and the Old Sunrise Highway/Kabro Parcel in Massapequa.

The residents of Oyster Bay voted overwhelmingly last November to approve a $30 million Environmental Bond referendum, of which $10 million would be allocated for park improvements and $20 million would be used for the acquisition of open space.

The seven-member SEA Bond Committee, including four residents of the Town of Oyster Bay, was created to advise the town board as to which properties would be appropriate for acquisition pursuant to the guidelines established by the board.

The SEA Bond Committee held a series of three public meetings throughout the town during the spring for residents to offer their suggestions. The properties approved on Tuesday represent the first recommendations for the acquisition of open space by the SEA Bond Committee.

"I know all of the residents of Oyster Bay join me in thanking the members of the Committee who have volunteered their time and energy on our behalf," said Democratic Town of Oyster Bay Councilwoman Bonnie Eisler. "They have all absorbed an enormous amount of information in a very short period of time, and we are all grateful that they are so diligently carrying out the mandate the voters sent us last November to preserve and protect our environment and to enhance our parks. I am particularly pleased to see that their recommendations include properties from so many different sections of our town... As I assured residents when I traveled the town last fall to encourage passage of the SEA Bond, everyone in the town benefits when we make environmental preservation our highest priority."

The town board approved the committee's recommendation to allocate half of the $20 million designated to purchase open space toward acquiring Jericho's Underhill site and Farmingdale's Liberty site. The vote gives the committee permission to negotiate on behalf of the town to purchase the properties.