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Plainedge land swap deal is put on back burner; officials seeking more public support for plan It's back to the drawing board for the Plainedge School District and the Town of Oyster Bay. The Packard-Picken land swap has officially been shelved for further study, the school's Assistant Superintendent for Business and Administration, Patricia Rufo announced to residents at the January board meeting. Jim Moriarty, a spokesperson for the Town of Oyster Bay, said the Town decided to dramatically slow down the process because it became apparent that Plainedge residents were still strongly divided on the issue. "When we first entered into discussions about this proposal, we made it clear that Supervisor John Venditto wanted consensus on it," he said. "It became clear in the ensuing months that the community was divided and the last thing John (Venditto) wanted was to force something on the public." The land swap originally proposed that the Town purchase the Packard property and convert it into a Town Hall South. In exchange, Plainedge would get back the Picken property, originally an elementary school but now being used as a Town facility, and $1.5 million dollars. The Town was also planning to build state of the art fields at the Packard property for Town of Oyster Bay residents, including those in Plainedge. Evidence of the disagreement about the proposal within the community came at the recent Packard- Picken community meetings. In addition, the Town received numerous telephone calls and letters concerning the issue, many raising questions about it, said officials. Fred Treubig, a Plainedge resident and a voice of opposition, was said he believed the lack of information, including exactly how much the swap was going to cost taxpayers, was never made clear. He also thought that other alternatives should be discussed before entering into the initial deal. "All I'm suggesting- explore the options," he said. The Town was also concerned that the plan called for signing a contract on the deal before a public referendum was presented. Moriarty said that the Town is still interested in working with Plainedge to explore other options, and School Superintendent Christine P'Simer said the school has been in contact with Andy Rothstein, Director of Operations for the Town of Oyster Bay, to begin new discussions. "We're not going to give up on this," she said. As far as what those other alternatives might be, Town Spokeswoman Phyllis Barry said that the Town will be looking into the possibility of getting some additional athletic fields for the district. No other specific ideas have been raised at this point, however."[I] can't even speculate what those [other options] might be," said P'Simer. Moriarty said the Town will be looking to the community for direction on "what they want to see hap- pen with those properties." The plan had the support of many within the community who saw it as an opportunity to get more athletic fields for the district, which are sorely needed. "We have a lack of fields," said Joe Karam, a Plainedge resident and parent at the last Packard-Picken community meeting who spoke in support of the plan. He also supported the deal due to the fact that the district still maintains some property, rather than selling it altogether. "It's a terrific idea [to keep] a piece of property in case [our district grows]." The news of the plan's slowdown came as a sigh of relief for others who wanted it to be reviewed more carefully and give the public time to assess it before the referendum vote, which was scheduled for this month. "I would love to have these fields, just, maybe this is not the best deal," said Donna Macpherson, a Plainedge parent who said she was also concerned about the additional traffic and people that the new Town Hall would bring to the residential area.
"It's not just moms and dads waving to the kids," said Macpherson. "There will be other changes that concern me."
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