(Editor's Note: The following letter is in response to article "Village Trustee Seeks Taxpayer Equity," which appeared in the Dec. 25, 2008 edition of The Westbury Times.)

My wife and I attended the July 8, 2008 community forum at Carle Place High School on the Lighthouse Project that was hosted by Nassau County Legislators Richard Nicolello and Roger Corbin. Following the meeting I wrote to Richard and Roger.

Part of what I wrote follows: Two concerns kept coming up: the fair distribution of tax revenue and increased traffic volume. Both concerns seemed to be answered by "we'll deal with that later." If we proceed with the project and then deal with these concerns I believe that they will never be resolved properly. As county legislators representing us, the only real leverage that you have is how the county's lease with the project's partners is written. That is when these issues must be dealt with (during the lease negotiations) or they will be given only lip service. The distribution of tax revenue to all those adversely affected is best dealt with the creation of a special tax district. If we "leave it up to the New York State Legislature" we will surely be disappointed. The tax district must be created and defined in the lease agreement or by a Nassau County Executive order.

We must resolve the issues of distributing the tax revenue to all the communities that will be adversely affected by this project before any agreements are made. "Dealing with it later" will certainly not result in anything fair to the adversely affected communities.

Currently, traffic on Old Country Road, Post and Merrick avenues, Glen Cove Road and the Meadowbrook Parkway is so heavy on weekends and holidays that many people that live in the surrounding communities would not venture out in the area. Adding more traffic is a bad idea!

Ray Muntz
Member
Westbury Historical Society Board
Westbury Neighborhood House Board