A reminder to all East Hills residents: The referendum on a $17 million bond for the proposed Úquot;Park at East HillsÚquot; will take place Wednesday, Oct. 8 at the Village Hall, located on 209 Harbor Hill Road. Voting will take place from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The bond referendum represents the culmination of a process that began four years ago when the village purchased the 50-plus acre site off Harbor Hill Road where, for many years, an Air National Guard station stood. In 2000, the village, with the help of Rep. Gary Ackerman, purchased the site for $3 million.

From the beginning, the village had hoped to construct a state-of-the-art park where the Air National Guard had its East Hills headquarters. However, Nassau County's budget problems, plus the countywide property reassessment forced the village to postpone any bond vote. With the reassessment process over, with village bond ratings in good shape, and with interest rates at historic lows, village officials decided to go ahead with the Oct. 8 vote.

The final draft of the park, whose fate will be decided in the upcoming vote, represents a 50 percent reduction in size and scope from earlier drafts. The new park plan eliminates such indoor amenities as an indoor swimming pool, a fitness center, a new courthouse, and a roller hockey rink, while retaining ball fields, an outdoor pool, basketball courts, bicycle paths, a hill for snow sledding, an amphitheater area, and a seniors' lounge. The changes also resulted in the bond being lowered from its original estimate of $28 million.

In the weeks leading up to the vote, village officials held two public meetings to both present their case and to take in public input.

Those who supported the park cited a need for ball fields, a place with activities for people of all ages, plus their feeling that such a park would create a greater sense of community in the village.

Opponents of the park plan claimed that the village didn't need such a park, that it would cause more traffic and unnecessary noise, and that the cost of constructing and maintaining the park might increase in the coming years. Either way, the debate has sparked a great deal of public interest. (See Úquot;Letters to the Editor,Úquot; page 26.)

The Roslyn News will go to press before the vote totals can be recorded in the Oct. 9 issue. A roundup of the referendum will be written for the Oct. 16 issue of the paper.