Amityville wants Suffolk to reimburse village for old park acquisition costs

Amityville may finally be reimbursed by Suffolk County for hundreds of thousands of dollars the village spent almost a decade ago on land for Nautical Park, a 1.7-acre greenway at Merrick Road and Ocean Avenue, partly owned by the county but managed by the village.

Village trustees are scheduled to vote on a resolution at a special meeting Monday to transfer a section of the park it still owns to the county in exchange for payment of at least $233,000.

Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory (D-Amityville) said he expected a companion measure authorizing payment to go before legislators Nov. 18. A successful transfer would put to rest a matter Gregory called "unique."

In 1999, the county paid $1.4 million out of a land acquisition program to buy what was then less than an acre of land with dilapidated buildings on a prominent corner in the village.

Amityville acquired additional land for the park through eminent domain in 2001. For years after that, Amityville officials complained about a $400,000 debt they said the county owed them for costs associated with getting the additional land. As time passed, many of the officials involved in the original deal left office.

"When this started, [Robert] Gaffney was county executive, then [Steve] Levy," Gregory said. "It went through [Presiding Officer] Maxine Postal, [Legis.] Elie Mystal, myself . . . "

It didn't help that "it was never contractually agreed upon what the sharing of costs ought to be," Trustee Nick LaLota said.

The result, he said, was "a political football" that stopped bouncing only recently, after meetings that included Mayor James Wandell, LaLota, Gregory and County Executive Steve Bellone's office.

The $223,000 represents what Gregory said was a portion of the market value of the land at the time. "I am hopeful my colleagues will be supportive" of the county bill, he added.

LaLota said village officials were satisfied with the amount, which he said would roughly halve their budget deficit, and with the park: "It has a gazebo, waterfront access. It really is a beautiful park."