I am hereby replying to the letter of William E. Colfer, Administrator of the Village of Massapequa Park, which letter appeared in the Post on June 5 which reply was a vain attempt to answer my written statements that the Village is not obtaining insurance protection from organizations and individuals using Village facilities and are not collecting fees for same. Mr. Colfer is a highly qualified and competent Village Administrator, who has rendered valuable services to the Village for the past 33 years, but his reply is misleading, inaccurate and untrue.

1. It is not true that any overtime situations for the use of Village facilities are always billed at a predetermined hourly rate to the individual or organization utilizing the Village facility and alleged by Mr. Colfer. To my knowledge, when Village facilities are used after hours, the individuals and organizations do not pay any fees to the Village. In fact, on or about June 7, the Village allowed the Lion’s Club, which is an excellent philanthropic organization, to use the community center for a "Chinese Auction" which is a money-making function for the Lion’s Club. It is my understanding that no fees were collected from the Lion’s Club and unbelievably, no insurance was obtained from them on behalf and for the protection of the Village of Massapequa Park. I am informed that the Lion’s Club has its own 10 million dollar liability policy and the Village failed to have the Lion’s Club name the Village as an additional named insured so that the Village would be covered under their policy rather than its own in the event of an accident or calamity. Naming the village on the Lion’s Club insurance policy would prevent the rates of the Village’s policy from increasing in the event of an accident or calamity. Increased Village insurance rates could possibly result in additional taxes to our residents.

2. It is untrue that the Village rooms and facilities are not available for the benefit of private individuals or for commercial purposes. The Village is allowing private organizations and politicians to use the Village facilities at Village cost after hours while the Village is incurring labor, heating, utilities and maintenance costs.

3. To date, the Village is continuing its policy of not obtaining insurance to protect the Village during utilization of its facilities and is acting in an arrogant and imprudent manner in refusing to change its policies. Two different entities have used Village Hall without paying any fee to the Village which negates the allegation by Mr. Colfer that overtime situations are always billed at a predetermined, hourly rate.

This Village Board seems obstinate in not protecting the Village in reference to maintaining insurance coverage and in charging fees for its facilities. Since many school districts and library districts act in a prudent financial manner, why is the Village neglecting to obtain insurance protection and to enrich the Village coffers?

Wake up Village Board and enter the 21st century.

Robert M. Leff

The writer is the former attorney for the Village of Massapequa Park