Position Regarding Athletic Fields

To our Neighbors and Fellow Soccer Fans:

With all the rumors circulating, it is no surprise that you have asked for clarification on what our position is regarding athletic fields. Here is the simple and straightforward answer: we will make sure that the fields are built, first on the former compost site on King Street, and then we will also formulate a plan to see what other sites (Village-owned or possibly future Village-acquired) will be available for additional athletic fields and/or parkland in the future.

We want to see the so-called "field of dreams" turned into a reality, and quickly. Therefore, we endorse the concept of the $3.65 million Legacy Grant application for converting the compost site to the athletic fields. Unfortunately, despite all of the rhetoric we have heard over the past several months, the simple fact is all of the documentation and the approval process has yet to be completed. We must be pragmatic and face the fact that the Grant may not be approved (in whole or in part), so we must be prepared to take other steps if these fields are to be built. We are concerned, as are you, that there is no backup plan.

Like you, we think that now is the time to start considering alternatives, just in case things do not develop as we all would wish. For example, while going down the present path, we believe it also makes good sense to consider working out a possible agreement with the Blind Brook school district, which just this week announced plans to do a bond offering for new athletic fields. Such an agreement would include a contractual guarantee that the athletic fields would be available to all residents of Rye Brook. The agreement would include a specific "carve out" to make sure your soccer league has use of the fields on Sundays and on those Saturdays when Blind Brook schools are not using them. (If those fields were in use on a given Saturday, the contract would specify that the league would be provided access to other Blind Brook fields at no cost to the league.)

Upon election, we will also enter into immediate discussions with the Town of Rye and the Port Chester School Board to try to make sure that their respective facilities could also be used, again at no cost, by Rye Brook athletic leagues and individuals.

However, and this is the critical point, it is impossible to negotiate with other governing bodies if you are hardly on speaking terms with them. For too long, the relationship between Rye Brook’s Village Hall and our neighboring governments has been frayed and tense. There is no basis for a productive dialogue and mutual trust, and reaching agreement on such simple matters as doing what’s best for all of us and our children is difficult or impossible to achieve.

By contrast, Larry Rand, Joan Feinstein and Rick Buzin have demonstrated by their deeds, not just their words, that they can get things done because of their individual and collective ability to work with others. If you need proof, just check the record: A firehouse site was, after many years, selected (it was Rand’s resolution to the Rye Brook Board of Trustees that got the ball rolling); the firehouse is being built on time and on budget (Rand’s leadership as Chairman of the Firehouse Committee); Blind Brook’s budgets were in sync with the realities of the rapid growth of the district’s student population despite a declining tax base (Feinstein’s leadership); the Blind Brook High/Middle School reconstruction was done on time and on budget (Buzin’s leadership).

Rye Brook will have its athletic fields, not just dreams of fields, if these three people are elected to the Rye Brook Board of Trustees on March 16. You can help by supporting them in the election. You will be voting for a proven team…and for people who have already demonstrated that they deliver on their promises.

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