The Gordon Heights Fire District is a special taxing district that funds Gordon Heights Fire Department, the county's first all-black fire service. The district was originally set up in 1947 in response to claims that the community was discriminated against by local fire departments. In recent years, the district has been scrutinized for its taxes, which are as much as triple those of some neighboring districts.
Similar moves to dissolve the Gordon Heights Fire District were mounted in 1986 and 2006. In 2006, town officials invalidated the petition by ruling that it did not comply with state election law. In a renewed effort this past July, the residents hired an attorney and set out collecting signatures once again. However, this time the residents were collecting signatures for two petitions: the first to dissolve the fire district and the second to create a fire protection district, allowing the town to either take over the district's fire service or put the service out to bid for other departments in the event the fire district is abolished. Both petitions, which featured more than 751 signatures and totaled more than 2,000 pages, were filed with the town clerk's office Dec. 31.
Brookhaven Town spokesman Kevin Molloy confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Brookhaven town attorney Karen Wilutis' office approved the signatures submitted with the petition to dissolve the district.
"The town attorney's office has reviewed the petition," Mr. Molloy said. "They have found the signatures legally sufficient and have forwarded them to the assessor's office, who will now make a determination as to the percentage of assessed valuation."
In order for the dissolution petition to be considered by the Town Board, the assessor's office must prove that there are signatures representing 51 percent of the assessed valuation of property of the fire district. Once that threshold is confirmed, the petition will be forwarded to the Town Board. The town can then decide to call a public hearing on the dissolution of the district. The second petition, which is to create a fire protection district, must wait until after the first petition is decided in order to go forward.
Fire Commissioner Carter Brown said Wednesday that the district would not comment on the certification of the signatures on the dissolution petition.
Huntington Station attorney Paul Sabatino, hired by the residents to advise them through the petition process, said he was glad to hear that the residents were able to "leap-frog past the problems that they had the last time when they were on their own."
"It's an important first step on the road to consolidation," Mr. Sabatino said of the certified signatures. "At the same time, it's an uphill battle. If it was easy, it would have been done by the state already."
Mr. Sabatino noted that even though the town attorney's office has signed off on the legality of the signatures, the town assessor's office must still calculate the percentage of properties represented -- a threshold he is confident the petition meets.
Rosalie Hanson, a resident who organized the petition drive, said she was relieved that the petition has made it to the next step. "After three years of hard work, this is the first time I am feeling a sense of hope," Ms. Hanson said.
Claudette Price, another resident involved with the petition drive from the start, called the news that the petition made it past the hurdle of legality "wonderful" and felt confident that the group's attorney researched the issue properly, so as to ensure that the petition will pass to the pubic hearing stage.
"I am ecstatic," Ms. Price said. "It's the first time it's been done in New York State."
peggy@northshoresun.com