.
Update: Hurrah! The community won this battle. The sale was postponed. The community voted NO on the school board’s plan to sell to a developer.
More information at the community group’s web-site: here.
“Let’s all go out and vote on [Thursday],
June 24th and vote NO.
The Commack School District “CSD” is putting forth a referendum to sell the Marion Carll Farm to the Holiday Corporation, the owners of the Hamlet Golf Community that the farm abuts on 3 sides. They plan on building 30 homes, restoring the Marion Carll Farmhouse and selling that as a private residence. They are brokering this deal because once the CSD tries to sell it, it reverts back to the heirs who are then selling it to Holiday . The CSD is getting a mere $750,000 for approximately 9 acres of prime real estate in Commack , a landmark to boot! The lawyer for the CSD said, in a meeting of the BOE last Thursday evening, that the property was appraised at $100.
This was not widely publicized within the community, and only placed on the website last month. The general public did NOT know about the deal until the Board of Education mailing the Commack residents received the week of June 7th. Why did it take the Board of Education so long to notify the public about a contract of sale signed between the Board of Education and the Holiday Corporation on April 24, 2009?
The very brochure to the CSD authored by its Board of Education states:
“The Commack School District will no longer be responsible for any costs associated with the property, saving more than $200,000 per year.”
At last week Thursday’s Board of Education meeting, they said that was a misstatement. The ACTUAL cost has been $30,000 per year. How dare they send out to the community a document that misrepresents their plans and misrepresents the facts!
The very contract of sale has NO language stating they will allow the community to visit the farm one day per year, it’s word of mouth! The Board of Ed said the 4th graders may visit the farm once a year, it’s word of mouth! Should the children visit the farm, what will they see? Homes and a golf course is what they will visit and a barn housing golf carts. They will not be able to see past a gated golf community to the rich history of Commack that the BOE decided to sell. They are selling our history and not even to the highest bidder!
It took the Board of Education 10 years to come up with this plan while year, after year, they did NOTHING to maintain the Marion Carll Farm they were so entrusted with. The disrepair that the property is in is because the BOE did nothing to maintain it. They sat idly by as the buildings deteriorated more and more to the state of it is in now.
They couldn’t come up with a better alternative than this? They say this is their last resort! Shame on them!
The Commack Community Association has come up with wonderful alternatives to save the farm and it did not take them 10 years.
Please visit their website and read all about the other possibilities.
www.commackcommunityassociation.org/marioncarllfarm.htm
The Commack Community has been paying for its paltry maintenance and upkeep since 1968 through our very school taxes each year. We paid for it, it belongs to the Commack Community.
Let’s all go out and vote on June 24th and vote NO.
Our Community deserves more as there are more reasonable solutions than selling our history!
Read about it in Newsday as well…see the extremely thought provoking comments on the blog….
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/li-life/sale-of-historic-farm-on-commack-school-ballot-1.2015868
Filed under: Action Alert!, children, Education, local, long island, Long Island Politics, Long Island schools, News, politics Tagged: | Commack, Commack BOE, Commack community, Commack Community Association, Commack School board, Commack School District, Commack School vote, CSD, farm preservation, Hamlet Golf, Holiday Corporation, land preservation, Long Island history, Long Island news, Long Island preservation, Long Island schools, Marion Carll Farm, school district accountability, transparency
We should vote no and see what else can be done…we are being snowballed into voting so quick it’s not fair. The Community should VOTE NO. The Holiday Organization will ALWAYS want that property. They will ALWAYS have a “UNIQUE” interest. They will NEVER go away.
They abut the farm on 3 sides. Let the community come up with an alternative plan and if that does not work, then sell it to them.
The Indian Nation has offered to buy the farm and share it with Colonialism….there is a burial site located on the farm….
The Holdiay told the Hamlet homeowners they are going to build 30 homes on their tennis court if they don’t get the farm to build them on…they are scared of that and are voting yes…the Holiday is strongarming everyone to get what they want.
The have twisted the Board of Ed to think they will really get to visit this farm once a year. READ the CONTRACT. There is NO language in there stating they will allow access. It’s at their discretion!
In addition, Holiday also makes reference to condemning the Marion Carll Farmhouse or any buildings if it turns out they are beyond repair. The way the Schood District mismanaged the home, it would not surprise me to find out they will condemn it….
VOTE NO!
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