In a Rye City Hall room filled with more than 100 Rye and Westchester County residents, a legislative panel held its final public hearing on a plan to privatize management of Playland park.
Resident Russell Gold said he was concerned not so much about what was included in the contract, but what was not.
“There is no talk of seasonal employment for the county youth and no talk of expanding year-round use of the park,” he said.
- A public hearing was held at Rye City Hall to field opinions on the proposed plan to privatize management at Playland.
He was one of 15 who spoke of concerns to the county Board of Legislators”™ Labor, Parks, Planning and Housing Committee on June 2 over the proposed plan to hand over management of the park to Standard Amusements, a privately held company run by Harrison native Nicholas Singer.
Some residents felt the plan was not in the best interest of the city of 16,000, citing environmental impact, noise or issues with the financial intricacies of the deal.
Committee member Catherine Parker, a Democrat who represents Rye, said that traffic and noise have been two of the main concerns she has heard from constituents.
Rye resident Harold Buchholz said he supported Standard Amusements”™ plan because it has not tried to do too much, as he felt a previous plan by nonprofit Sustainable Playland Inc. that fell through last year did.
“Standard has taken the most modest approach,” Buchholz said. “They”™re injecting funds the county cannot provide and I believe Standard is here to improve the process for everyone.”
In the proposed 15-year contract, Standard will invest $25 million to improve the park, which is currently managed by Westchester County. Standard”™s current capital plan for the Rye amusement park calls for $5 million on new rides, $4.5 million on the pool and new water attractions, $2 million for the restoration of historic rides, $2.5 million for food stands and $1 million to renovate bathrooms in the bathhouse. The Board of Legislators is scheduled to vote on the proposed contract June 15.
Rye Playland Advisory Committee Chairman Steve Vasko spoke in support of Standard because of what he felt was the county”™s inability to serve as the landlord of the 85-year-old park without private investors. Vasko also said that if the plan were to be passed, then he hoped the youth workers who helped at Playland would be retained.
“If we do the deal, we”™re going to have a great park by the end,” Vasko said, admitting there were tweaks that still could be made before it goes to a vote.
The first public hearing on the Playland plan was held May 20 at the Board of Legislators”™ chambers in White Plains.
Before the meeting June 2, Rye Mayor Joseph Sack said Singer and Standard have “said all the right things” so far in the proposal process.
“We are very much concerned with protecting the quality of life in our city,” Sack said.
It was announced during the hearing that Legislator Peter Harckham, D-North Salem, chairman of the Parks and Planning Committee, had resigned from his position. Legislator MaryJane Shimsky, D-Hastings-on-Hudson, was named chairwoman of the committee and said many of the concerns addressed at the hearing confirmed those of the committee.
“Our role is to sit here quietly and listen to all of you and work your suggestions in with the other feedback we”™ve gotten over the past few months,” Shimsky said. “We want to put together a plan that works for everyone.”
Mr Vasko’s statement included the County’s obligation to invest the backlog of the capital projects for the amusement Park going back to 1995