The Town of North Hempstead board will meet next Tuesday morning to ratify a $2 million contract to purchase 7.3 acres of property for the Roslyn Heights Park District.
At Tuesday night’s board meeting, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman said the board plans to ratify the contract and authorize issuing a $7.5 million bond to refurbish the park district facilities at the Aug. 20 meeting.
Kaiman said the board’s action follows certification of the park district, also known as the Roslyn Country Club, required by the state comptroller’s office.
“We couldn’t approve it because we didn’t have certification,” Kaiman said.
Kaiman said the state comptroller’s office reviewed documents the town provided to verify the 728 households to be included in the park district. Kaiman said the board will also ratify the park district as the state comptroller’s office defines it.
Kaiman said the board needs to “ratify everything just to make sure we dot every ‘I’ and cross every ‘T’ to close its $2 million deal to buy the property from owner Manoucher Malekan and issue the bond.
The town board voted to create a special park district and to renovate the Roslyn Country Club recreation facilities in December 2012. The board had voted to purchase the property from Malekan using a town environmental legacy fund in June 2012.
“There is a long review process. And now that review process is over,” Town Councilman Thomas Dwyer said of the state comptroller’s review of the park district.
Malekan will retain ownership of the Royalton at Roslyn Heights, a catering facility on 2.7 acres of the property. Malekan shuttered the recreation facilities several years ago in a dispute with residents over access fees.
Town officials have said residents in the park district will pay an average of $800 to $1,000 per year for the debt service on the $7.5 million bond to renovate the pool and tennis courts now in disrepair.
Dwyer and Kaiman developed the special district concept after civic association leaders from communities outside Roslyn Heights filed petitions for a referendum challenging a town council vote to create a town park on the site.
The original Roslyn Country Club development built by Levitt & Sons in the 1950s provided easement rights for access to the recreation facilities to 668 homeowners for an annual fee of $100 for each household.
In other developments:
• The town board voted to accept a $16,500 grant secured by Nassau County Legislator Wayne Wink for construction of a foundation and pedestal for an historic statue of a horse from the former MacKay Estate. The horse will be mounted on a pedestal in Gerry Park.
Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow1 and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
