Northport Village basketball court expansion plan clears hurdle

A plan to expand a basketball court in Northport Village is moving forward after project organizers and the village mayor reached a compromise.

At a packed village board hearing Tuesday night, residents weighed in on a revised proposal to renovate and expand the court at Cow Harbor Park.

More than two dozen residents spoke for about an hour about the plan that was proposed last year by members of the 1995 Northport High School Long Island champion team. The revised plan calls for the court to go from its current 53 by 40 feet to 66 by 50 feet. 

The original proposal was for a 72 by 56 foot court, which Village Mayor Donna Koch said was too big. The new plan, she said, removes a lot of the pavers that would have surrounded the court and required removal of trees, a concern of some residents.

“It was definitely a 50-50 split for and against the plan,” Koch said. “But we’ve now turned a corner.”

Northport resident Doug Trani, a starter on the championship team, said the team is happy the plan is moving forward and that the court will be a little bit bigger and wider, which will allow for a three-point line. 

“The three-point line is a really exciting part of basketball and a big part of the game that people play today,” he said.

Koch met virtually with members of the team last week to discuss a revised plan.

At the Tuesday meeting at the American Legion post on Woodside Avenue, the village board approved spending $13,500 for Ronkonkoma-based JRH Consulting Engineers to create complete stamped plans for the project.

“Holzmacher [the engineering firm] will come in and put together a concept, and the commissioner of parks, Meghan Dolan, and myself and members of the board will take a hard look at it and make any revisions that we want," Koch said.

The concept will then be shown to the team and if everyone agrees, it will be put out to bid, Koch said. 

Koch said the plans will be paid for with funds from a $75,000 state grant secured by State Sen. James Gaughran (D-Northport) or money taken from the approximately $70,000 raised by the team.

Last year, the team raised funds to renovate and expand the court after it had fallen into disrepair. The group came up with a plan that was met with approval by village trustees.

But Koch, elected in March, called foul when she took office because she said the plan did not fit the small, quaint park.