Oyster Bay issues thousands in refunds for canceled spring hockey program for youths

Jaxon Blasi was looking forward to a spring on the ice playing hockey when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Oyster Bay’s rink on March 13.

“It would have been the first time he was playing on an actual team,” said his mother, Heather Blasi, 42, a public school counselor and Bethpage resident. Jaxon, 7, had been taking lessons but hadn’t yet faced off against a team, Blasi said. “He was pretty bummed about it.”

Blasi was one of more than 150 parents and guardians to whom the Town Board approved paying refunds at its Aug. 18 meeting because the town’s spring hockey program was canceled. Blasi’s refund was for $350, the price of the program for a resident child age 8 and under.

When the pandemic shut down the Bethpage ice rink as well as programs at the Hicksville athletic center, no one knew how long it would last.

“We kept on pushing it off, hoping that we could pick it up in the late spring, early summer, but that didn't happen,” Oyster Bay Parks Commissioner Joseph Pinto said in an interview. “So we decided to give the refunds back to the people who had registered for our classes and our hockey programs.”

Pinto said the spring hockey program, which had about 300 youths signed up, would have generated about $100,000 in revenue for the town.

“But we're giving all that back now so that's going to … hurt the hockey program from a revenue standpoint,” Pinto said, adding that refunds are not automatically given but must be individually requested.

The town plans to resume hockey training in September but not team play, Pinto said.

The town board has also approved refunds for boating slip rentals, event permits, preschool, a summer recreation program and snowmobile rentals due to COVID-19.

Oyster Bay is not alone in returning money. Hempstead Town was forced to cancel numerous events and curtail the sale of season passes for beaches and pools due to the pandemic and state directives, spokesman Greg Blower wrote in an email.

“In addition to the revenue that was not realized, there were over 1,300 refund requests representing approximately $150,000,” Blower said.

Glen Cove has refunded about $30,000 for its baseball and softball programs that were scheduled to start in April with 278 participants, spokeswoman Shannon Vulin wrote in an email. Parents were offered refunds in April, but only two took them as there was still hope for a late season in July and August, she said.

“When the neighboring towns that we play league games against — Sea Cliff and Oyster Bay — opted not to have a summer season … refunds were automatically issued,” Vulin said. Sponsors were also refunded, she added.

The pandemic has hurt municipalities’ revenue with the loss of permit and licensing fees, taxes, fines and programming fees, Sarah Brancatella, legislative director and counsel for the Association of Towns of New York State, wrote in an email.

“Towns take their responsibility to protect public health, safety, and welfare very seriously and, unfortunately, that means canceling community programs in some cases even if it means losing out on revenue,” Brancatella said. “There is a lot of uncertainty looking forward.”