Doubts over swim club-aquatic center deal

A tentative deal allowing a nonprofit swim club to install and operate an Olympic-size pool on county land next to the Nassau Aquatic Center, which is shutting down for an overhaul, is raising new questions about the private use of public property.

Long Island Swimming Ltd., an elite training organization, was the sole bidder for the project. The president of the group, David Ferris, resigned in 2003 as manager of the aquatic center, located in Eisenhower Park, during a county investigation into his financial dealings and possible conflicts of interest. In the end the matter was settled, Ferris said, with no admission of wrongdoing. A report was never issued.

"Even if he [Ferris] had no past, I'm not sure why you allow a privileged club to control a public facility on public land," said Saul Lerner, director of athletics at the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District.

Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick), meanwhile, is criticizing County Executive Edward Mangano, a Republican, for crafting the deal with Ferris in a way that he believes won't require legislative approval. Mangano spokesman Brian Nevin countered, "The Nassau County Legislature would ultimately have to approve any contract."

Long Island Swimming argues that while it's paying Nassau nothing for the land, it's saving taxpayers money by footing the bill for a new pool.

The prefab pool will be above ground and surrounded by a deck that will help support it. It will be enclosed in winter with a glass structure that can be removed in summer. It will provide a short-term haven for all swimmers during the eight months starting July when the aquatic center pool is under renovation, Ferris said.

Longer term, the new pool will be available for limited use by the public, relieving cramped conditions at the aquatic center and providing the county with new revenue through additional pool-use fees, he said.

How the new pool's usage would be split between the swim club and public still needs to be negotiated.

Ferris called the tentative deal with Nassau a "win win" for the county and Long Island Swimming, whose members pay $1,000-$3,000 a year for coaching that many consider world class. Once the aquatic center is reopened, Long Island Swimming would have a 20-year license to use the parcel in Eisenhower Park.

"We're just trying to keep kids swimming," Ferris said. "What an opportunity this is. It makes that facility better."

'Water under the bridge'

In the warehouse of his swim center on Stewart Avenue in Garden City recently -- home to his Hobieswim products store and the for-profit Long Island Swim School -- Ferris said talks with the county remain active as the two parties hammer out terms.

Ferris called his departure from the aquatic center eight years ago "water under the bridge," noting that the Department of Investigations probe was settled with no admission of wrongdoing. He said he's bound by a nondisclosure agreement from discussing it.

Nevin declined to discuss details of a request for proposals for the temporary pool issued last year, saying the contract had not been awarded. Nor would he discuss Ferris or Long Island Swimming.

However, Nevin said, "the entire cost of construction of the indoor/outdoor pool will be borne by the vendor. This includes utilities. The county will not be responsible for any costs." Nevin said six other entities attended a pre-bid conference last year on the proposal, but he declined to name them.

But Denenberg says he's concerned that Mangano may be putting the deal together as a 20-year license for Long Island Swimming -- which Denenberg says would not require legislative approval -- when he should be arranging for a lease, on which lawmakers would have to vote.

"This is a concoction of the county . . . where you can give away portions of a park without even following state law on alienation of parks," Denenberg said, pointing to the state law that requires state legislative approval for leases of public land.

The request for proposals for the pool calls specifically for it to be awarded to a not-for-profit, according to county documents, an element Denenberg said limited the award and seemed crafted for Long Island Swimming. Denenberg said he plans to ask the state attorney general to look into the matter and is advising constituents to consider legal action to block it.

Nevin said the terms took into account a 2010 county ordinance "prohibiting for-profit organizations from operating day camps on county properties."

Nassau County once considered a deal to allow Long Island Swimming to put a pool on county land at Christopher Morley Park. But the negotiations ended when former County Executive Thomas Suozzi left office. Suozzi declined to comment for this story.

A troubled tenure

Ferris himself has been a sometimes controversial fixture in competitive swimming in Nassau.

During his tenure at the aquatic center, from its 1998 opening to his resignation in 2003, other local swim teams complained that Ferris favored his aquatic club when scheduling pool time, according to a Newsday report at the time. Some parents also claimed privately that they felt pressured to buy equipment from Hobieswim to ensure that their children were included in meets, news reports said. Ferris denied any impropriety.

Ferris also has longstanding ties to family members of state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre).

Ferris grew up with and remains a close friend of Skelos' brother, Associate State Supreme Court Justice Peter Skelos, whose daughter Alexis is a coach for Long Island Swimming and an instructor at Ferris' for-profit school.

Ferris says his relationships have nothing to do with approval of the pool project, and notes that the political wind blows both ways.

"I would like to say there are good Democrat and Republican swimmers," said Ferris, who donated $1,500 to Mangano's county executive campaign in 2010.

The 2003 probe into Ferris examined financial affairs at the aquatic center.

Then-county Investigations Commissioner Bonnie Garone filed papers in State Supreme Court seeking to compel Ferris to turn over banking records of his companies and swim club. The probe also sought documents concerning the sale of merchandise by Hobieswim and any communications with people who had made Hobieswim purchases and had asked to rent pool time. Ferris denied any wrongdoing. A final report was not released by the county, and Ferris resigned from his post.

Nevin declined to answer questions about Ferris' background. But the Mangano spokesman said that as part of the bidding process, "all vendors are required to respond to a questionnaire seeking information regarding the history of their business and the principals in their business."

Deidra Clark-Towers, who took over management of the aquatic center after Ferris resigned in 2003, called Ferris "one of the better swim coaches" on Long Island. Clark-Towers, who now works for Lifetime Athletic in Syosset and whose son swims on Ferris' team, said the plan for the prefab pool could work, "as long as the contract is clearly defined."