N. Shore villages proceed with police plan

The North Shore villages of Laurel Hollow and Oyster Bay Cove are moving forward with a plan to have Oyster Bay Cove provide police protection for its neighbor, replacing Nassau County police.

An analysis by a consultant hired by the villages in April showed they would save a combined $1 million annually with the change.

The Oyster Bay Cove village board is expected to authorize the mayor to negotiate an agreement at its meeting Thursday. If that happens, "we will meet with the consultant" and develop a proposal to present to Laurel Hollow, Oyster Bay Cove Mayor Rosemary Bourne said. She said that would take about a week.

Laurel Hollow Mayor Harvinder Anand said "the consultant is showing a savings of about $1 million a year combined for the two villages."

There has been no discussion yet on how that savings would be allocated between the two villages, he said. "All that has to be worked out," he said. But "the protection level will be the same as we get now with Nassau County."

The analysis was conducted by Michael Fleming, a retired Nassau County police officer and attorney who lives in Laurel Hollow.

"This was triggered by an unprecedented increase from Nassau County this year, which was in excess of 12 percent," Anand said. He stressed it had nothing to do with the county's coverage.

Laurel Hollow now pays more than $1.6 million of its annual $3.2-million budget for police protection by Nassau. Anand attributes that to problems with the county's assessment system. He also cited the county's shift of almost $30 million in costs into a district budget that includes the community.

Laurel Hollow was also approached by Old Brookville about an arrangement with that village's police department. That move follows Muttontown's decision to pull out of the Old Brookville department and form its own department on June 1.

Such switches are not uncommon on Long Island. Laurel Hollow's own department was disbanded 13 years ago because of high costs. Upper Brookville considered ending its coverage arrangement with Old Brookville because of costs and pursuing Nassau County police coverage instead. Village leaders chose to remain with Old Brookville.