Serving Great Neck, G.N. Plaza, G.N. Estates, Kensington, Kings Point, Lake Success, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock and Thomaston
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Friday, December 1, 2023
Vol. 98, No. 48
GUIDE TO THE HOLIDAYS
PANETTA PLANS LIBRARY SANTOS FACES 3RD RESIGNATION VOTE HOUSE EXPULSION VOTE
PAGES 21-32
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Berger, Welner to face off
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ALC GIVES THANKS
Challengers vie for GNWPCD BY C A M E RY N O A K ES Mark Berger and Robert “Bob” Welner, are racing to fill one of the seats on the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District’s Board of Commissioners, with both touting how their different career experiences will make them the better candidate for the position. The two contenders are vying to fill the seat held by Jerry Landsberg, who is retiring from the board after 16 years of service. Berger has been a resident of Great Neck since 2010. He is a public interest attorney, currently supervising a team of 50 attorneys, support staff and paralegals. Welner, a Great Neck resident of more than 40 years, is a professional civil engineer and executive vice president of Jobco Incorporated – a realty development and construction services company based in Lake Success. He said he has been an active member of local temples working with them on construction projects, finances and fund-raising. Welner said he is not a political person. “I just like to do the job I have to do,” Welner said. As a civil engineer, Welner said he has already worked with the district in prior projects. One such included his designs for a sewer connection and disconnection. Continued on Page 42
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GREAT NECK PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Adult Learning Center faculty serve their students all the components of a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
Thomaston questions park lease Village, residents discuss apportionment of tax dollars, parkland amendment BY C A M E RY N O A K ES The Village of Thomaston held a discussion on the controversial new lease for Kings Point Park, providing an opportunity for the board to ask questions about the park and express their concerns, while also gathering questions from the community. Mayor Steven Weinberg said questions have arisen regarding the
lease itself, as well as environmental-based questions. “The questions may or may not be able to be answered at this time among the board of trustees, but it is something we would then seek answer to or seek what it is, if anything, village residents themselves may wish to pursue with respect in any other form or any other jurisdiction,” Weinberg said. The mayor said the purpose of the discussion held Tuesday night during the board of trustees meeting was to raise awareness of the lease, which has garnered backlash from community members. The Great Neck Park District approved a 10-year lease agree-
ment with the Village of Kings Point on July 26 to continue the district’s responsibility in managing Kings Point Park. The lease is able to be extended in the future upwards of 40 years. The lease is set to continue the district’s responsibility from what was a month-to-month basis over the 173-acre Kings Point Park and allow for future park projects. After managing the park without a lease since 2015, the district finally struck a deal with the village following a year of negotiations, Park District Superintendent Jason Marra said during a parks commission special meeting in July. Under the new agreement, dis-
trict residents will retain access to the park, and the district will make an annual payment of $350,000 to the village. Both the village and park officials confirmed that they independently obtained appraisals before settling on this amount. Throughout the past eight years without a lease agreement, the district had been making approximately $37,000 in annual payments, according to Marra. Weinberg said that he was informed by Marra that the district is pursuing an amendment to the lease that would change the maximum acreage of alienated parkland from 5 acres to 1.32 acres. Continued on Page 43