The Aug. 19,2016 issue of the Herald Courier’s front page gives an account of the results of the survey sent to New Hyde Park residents about repairs to the Clinton G. Martin Park complex.
However,the results given in the article give a very misleading picture.
Of the 12,877 surveys sent out to qualified homeowners in the district,only 1,717 surveys were returned.
That number represents about 13.3 percent of the qualified property owners.
Of those, 40 percent of respondents “back a $15 million plan.”
Based on the stats given,this translates to 686.8 respondents and that number equates to 5.3 percent of the qualified property owners.
Likewise,”about 24.6 percent support a $9 million plan,” which equates to 3.28 percent of property owners, or 422.4 respondents .
While those numbers are larger than the number of respondents who replied they wanted no renovations done,the bottom line is that only 8.58 percent of qualified New Hyde Park residents have decided that 100 percent of all property owners will experience increased taxes from the bond proposed to do the repairs.
That is by no means a mandate. Even a proposal for a “hybrid plan” does not mean there is a mandate.
Prior to this article, it was reported that only 10 percent of New Hyde Park residents even join the pool,so the survey’s positive votes do not even equate to the 10 percent who had purchased memberships .
It is interesting to note that this paper and another local paper showed photos of the renovated pool complex in Floral Park.
That complex -according to the papers-was renovated last year for $6.2 million which is a much lower figure than either of those proposed by the Town of North Hempstead.
That pool complex serves 60 percent of the residents in Floral Park.
Some investigation as to what was done there and comparisons to the CGM project might prove interesting if “apples are compared to apples .”
It is a shame that so few property owners returned their surveys and Ms. Bosworth and the Town Board are certainly not responsible for that.
However, it is a bit upsetting that the board is willing to go forward with so small a percentage of positive results. The board should be reminded that residents in New Hyde Park who are in the Sewanhaka school district just experienced a sizeable tax increase which resulted from the passage of a very large bond.
Exactly who is the board serving?
Karen Gulotta
New Hyde Park
Readers Write: NHP pool survey not valid
