The New Hyde Park Fire District has voted to create a 9/11 Memorial to be erected in the parking lot of New Hyde Park’s Fire Department Headquarters.
While I have previously commended at open board meetings the sentiment of wanting to memorialize the sacrifice of the three firefighters and seven community residents that gave the ultimate sacrifice on that faithful day, I do not agree with the location of the proposed memorial or the improper manner in which the Fire District approved it.
Moreover, the fire department already maintains a memorial for these lost fire fighters in the same parking lot, as well as in the main entrance to the firehouse.
It is my opinion that this type of memorial belongs in the serene setting of a park and not in the back parking lot of a firehouse on one of the busiest main streets in New York.
Placing this monument in a park provides the proper setting for department members, community residents and outside guests to reflect on the loss of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
The Fire District would have been better served by coordinating with the village, Town of North Hempstead or county to find a more suitable and appropriate location for such a solemn memorial.
Moreover, this proposed memorial should not proceed without the consultation of the families that will have loved ones enshrined in the memorial.
Their input is key to having the proposed memorial truly celebrate and memorialized the lives of those who were lost on 9/11.
Therefore, I asked the Fire District to work with the village, Town of North Hempstead or the county to find a more suitable location for this solemn memorial.
More concerning, however, is how construction on this memorial was improperly commenced and tax payer moneys expended prior to the Fire District Board providing the appropriate notice to the residents of the Fire District.
During an open board meeting held on Tuesday, March 15, 2016, a status report on the work relating to the monument was offered by Commissioner John Waldron.
According to Commissioner Waldron, the project which will cost tax payers a total cost of $131, 925, was approved by a unanimous motion made by all five members of the Board.
A motion was then made to move forward with the project and to have a permissive referendum for the 9-11 memorial not to exceed $150,000 was then made at the same meeting.
To clarify, New York State law requires when a resolution is a subject to permissive referendum, a fire district must comply with certain public notice requirements.
Voter approval is not required unless a fire district receives from resident taxpayers a timely petition, meeting statutory requirements, protesting the resolution and requesting that it be submitted to the voters for their approval or disapproval.
If the district does not receive a timely and valid petition, the resolution takes effect without actually being submitted to the voters.
At the open board meeting of Tuesday, April 5, 2016, Commissioner Waldron stated he wanted approval to go ahead and sign the contract with the architect, National Installation & GC Corp. — all five sitting board members approved, and Commissioner Waldron stated he would meet the architect within the next day or two to sign the contract.
Since that meeting, construction has commenced.
However, no permissive referendum was published in the local papers, as required by law, at that time and construction on the project was commenced.
The required legal notice was only first published in Newsday on Friday, April 22, 2016.
Legal notice was not present in their official local paper, neither before or on, said date. In short, construction on a $150,000 project started without public notice, as required by law.
The process of procuring a public contract is daunting, but must be met with proper legal notices — especially when the Fire District residents and taxpayers are ultimately footing this vast expense.
As reported in this and other newspapers, this Fire District posted the second-largest tax increase of any special district in the Town of North Hempstead.
These recent actions are not the first time the board has made errors in its operations. It is just another example of the problems with the Board of Commissioners and its staff, not only of its incompetence through its failure to properly post a formal financial legal public notice, but also of their continued lack of openness and transparency in their governmental operations and budget process.
Why is there constant constraint in communicating with the community the Fire District serves? Where are the actions ‘in the best interest of the residents and taxpayers’?
If you recall, this same District board, which all consist of fellow firefighters of the Department, denied the formal petition of 512 signatures of its community citizens requesting easily accessible information relating to Fire District operations and finances, as well as public safety information, on its antiquated www.nhpfd.com website.
There is no excuse in failing to meet the needs of the District residents and taxpayers, and consistently block proposals by residents, even those requesting, for nearly 3 years now, on much-needed open transparency onto the website.
This district needs to agree to make the necessary changes that would facilitate improved public relations with their constituents and provide easier and much more modern access for them to the governmental process. I will continuously remind this board that one of the most important, if not critical, responsibilities an elected District official has is to comply and provide an open and transparent government for the public— most especially regarding matters concerning the budget.
Deirdre Dolan
New Hyde Park
