Serving Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola, Albertson and Searingtown
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Friday, July 19, 2019
Vol. 68, No. 29
SCHOOL YEAR
VILLAGES ADDRESS COUNTY GOP INTRODUCES SOLICITATION ASSESSMENT CHANGES
PAGES 31-34, 39-42
PAGE 2
Martin pool contractor sues town
PAGE 7
APOLLO’S 50TH
Seeks $2.8 million for unpaid work, claimed shortcomings in contract BY T E R I W EST The contractor that renovated the Town of North Hempstead’s Clinton G. Martin pool has sued the town, seeking damages in the amount the company says the town owes it for completed work. Gramercy Group filed the lawsuit in federal Bankruptcy Court July 3 after declaring bankruptcy May 17. The complaint chronicles the contractor’s experience working with the town from when it was awarded the initial contract of $20.7 million. Upon starting the renovation, the contractor encountered what the document describes as shortcomings in the contract that caused delays and extra expense and work. It ends with its current situation in which the town is withholding $1.3 million for construction issues the town says Gramercy failed to address. That is in addition to about $1.5 million that Gramercy Group
says the town has not paid. Gramercy Group is seeking more than $2.8 million in total. “The town has refused to meet in good faith to negotiate any payment, whether for contract balance, change order work, or otherwise,” the complaint says. It was disappointing that the conversation had to become a lawsuit, said Gramercy Group’s attorney, Michael McKenna. “The positions that they were taking were to me indefensible, and we had no choice but to proceed in this manner,” he said. The town has not yet responded to Gramercy Group about the complaint because the time period to do so has not yet expired, said spokesperson Carole Troterre, who declined to comment further. In its bankruptcy filing, Gramercy Group is a debtor-in-possession and not liquidating, which allows it to collect debts, McKenna said. Continued on Page 58
PHOTO BY JESSICA PARKS
Bart Cosolito, a Port Washington resident and former Grumman engineer, recollects his experience on the Apollo program. See story on page 20.
Town board approves Willis Ave. plot subdivide BY T E R I W EST The owner of a Willis Avenue property in Albertson that hosts a BP gas station and Milk ‘N’ Things convenience store is seeking to divide the parcel in
two but not make any immediate physical changes. Subdividing the parcel would allow the owner to keep one part of the property and sell the other if desired, said Kevin O’Brien, an attorney rep-
resenting the applicant before the Town of North Hempstead Board. “The prior property owner operated both businesses – he operated the dairy barn and Continued on Page 69
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