And herein lies the rub: Residents have for a long time complained that the Hardwick Administration has made an accurate assessment of the situation all but impossible.
As early as February, rumors began to circulate that the Village may construct an incinerator. On April 7th, a meeting was held wherein Trustee Robert Kennedy outlined the facts: No proposal had been submitted, it would have to be approved by a myriad of governmental agencies including the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers, and would be subject to a final vote by the Board of Trustees assuming said proposal - which was yet to be made - satisfied these agencies' criteria for a safely operating facility.
According to this article from The Business Council of Westchester by Laura Rivera, "Deputy Assembly Speaker Earlene Hooper (D-Hempstead) had agreed to supply the $60,000" spent by the administration on trips to China and Germany, home to Zhong-De Waste Technology. The disbursement of these funds have become a thorn in the side of Freeport residents who feel this money has now been wasted; but, there is a level of responsibility placed upon those who promised the money, one that could be argued to justify the expenditure. Its easy to say, "hey, I was told the money was coming - blame them." And "they" would rightly take the lions' share of the blame. And this was an article written in April about problems dating back to the previous September.
Next, however, is this LI Herald article by Scott Brinton on the Incinerator's status, dated May 13th. In spite of multiple denials of such a proposal existing or a project being under consideration, nobody who Mr. Brinton spoke to could confirm that the idea of an incinerator was completely trashed, to use a small pun. Still, there was little proof of any goings-on; just that the Mayor insisted it wouldn't happen.
And then there's this: Today, while looking into a likely-unrelated issue, I discovered an un-dated, un-titled clip from an interview between New York State Assemblywoman Earlene Hooper and Mayor Hardwick. The clip in question is the second one down. What was the topic? The incinerator. Upon previous examinations of Ms. Hooper's page, no such video was found - this indicates that the video is relatively recent.
For reference, this is the same Earlene Hooper who sponsored New York State Bill A10034, referring to the hiring of police officers, and who has just sponsored legislation that would sell the New York State Armory at 63 Babylon Turnpike to the Village of Freeport for one dollar, Bill AA11379. The stated purpose of this purchase is for the Police Athletic League to provide athletic and educational opportunities to the village's children - and that is a noble endeavor!
However, there are rumors circulating that the Department of Public Works (DPW) could be relocated to this area, and that the immediate fall-out would be the opening of more Village land to ZhongDe's planners. This rumor is at best a theory, but reports have surfaced of ZhongDe planners visiting Power Plant Number Two, the DPW's current base of operations and presumed home of any unproposed incinerator. Additional reports place the Mayor at the armory itself - and being shooed out by Armory officials - just before the bill came to light. Will the mayor be purchasing an abandoned building to use for childrens' athletics, or will he be deceiving residents and using it as a dumping zone for a department in order to start taking in trash.
In truth, its impossible to say. The Mayor and Assemblywoman Hooper have, at best, a record of serious misunderstandings of where and how to acquire state resources, but there have been no corruption charges filed, let alone concretely proven. It is easy to assume the worst of people with a spotty record, but I'd rather hear it from the Village itself - as would the residents of Freeport who are concerned about this lingering inconsistency. There are two issues that The Weekly Freeporter would like to see answered:
The first is this new video we've discovered where our mayor is quite plainly discussing the logistics of a "new business" - in transporting and disposing of waste.
The second is the acquisition of a possibly (or possibly not) abandoned building for a tremendously low sum of one dollar (if its really one dollar), to be used to fund an important childrens' program (that residents are under the impression you've cut funding to (and have you cut funding to it?)). In short, what -exactly- is going on with this armory, now?
There is much for you to explain to your fellow residents, but rest assured that we want to hear your side of the story. We at The Weekly Freeporter are perfectly willing to accept, answer, and publish (un-edited, I might add) any letter of clarification provided to us by the Hardwick Administration. You may contact us at JPohlmanWriting@Gmail.com, either to send a written clarification or to arrange for an interview to address both this and other issues facing the Village. We hope very much to hear from you, so that you can balance out the record.
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