Cherry Valley Ball Fields, Parking Lot to be Appraised

Village trustees by majority vote agreed to have the two Cherry Valley ball fields and parking lot area appraised.

The board voted 6 to 1 in favor of trustee Dennis Donnelly's motion to hire an appraiser to assess the value of both properties. Mayor Don Brudie was the only nay vote and trustee Andrew Cavanaugh was absent.

"Why would you want to sell the property? You know my old expression: God isn't making anymore property in Garden City," mayor Brudie said. "I don't think we'd want to give any property up. That's my opinion. The few dollars you get it'll amount to 6 cents in their tax relief and the property is gone."

"It's just an appraisal for information," incoming mayor John Watras replied. "It's just an investigation."

"The land that we have there is being rented. If we don't use it...I think we should know what the value would be," trustee Nick Episcopia added.

Garden City has been leasing the fields to the Town of Hempstead for more than 50 years. In 2007, things got heated when the then-board granted a one-year extension -- rather than a multi-year term -- to the Town to enable the Garden City South Little League continued use of the Garden City-owned fields despite pleas from Garden City baseball program officials who said their growing Little League and travel programs were in dire need of the fields in order to accommodate the village's young players.

The Garden City South Little League established Cherry Valley as its home field through a Town permit back in 1958. The Town began leasing this property from the village for a period of five years at $2,500 per year.

At the Feb. 7, 2013 meeting, the board unanimously approved another one-year lease of the fields, from Jan. 1, 2013 through Aug. 31, 2013, for $23,000.