For months, the Town of North Hempstead has been facing pushback from a group of regular patrons of the town’s public golf course,Harbor Links, over the lack of tee times after Labor Day.
The town and Harbor Links’ new manager, Kelley Brooke, have denied that there was any issue requiring attention.
Charlene Prounis, an avid golfer at Harbor Links, has attended several recenttown board meetingsand met with town officials to voice her concerns.
Prounis said the “excessive” number of outings held since the town signed a 20-year contract with Brooke Holdings LLC amounted to a violation of the public trust doctrine.
“She is having as many outings as she sees fit,” Prounis said of Brooke.
The contract between Brooke Holdings LLC and the Town of North Hempstead does not specify how many outings may be held after Labor Day.
“The town is not doing their job right now to set standards,” Prounis said.“This failure of the town allows the golf operator to have exclusive control of the park three or four days a week.”
Umberto Mignardi, the public information officer for North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena’s office, submitted a statement saying “North Hempstead has just one municipal golf course, and it belongs to the entire community — not just a small circle of regulars.”
“Ms. Brooke has done an outstanding job in making sure this public course serves everyone. The people at these outings are neighbors — police officers, volunteer firefighters, nonprofit and hospital workers, and they’re all giving back. They have every right to support local organizations, and they have every right to do so on their public course.”
Brooke also said the complaints were unwarranted.
Source: LI Press
