After standstill, Northport Village mayor, '95 state championship team to meet over basketball court expansion

A dispute over the size of a basketball court in Northport Village may be heading for a resolution.

Plans for the expansion of the court at Cow Harbor Park have pitted Village Mayor Donna Koch against members of the 1995 Northport High School state basketball champions. Team members have raised money to fix the court and make it bigger but the mayor has resisted the plan because it doesn't fit the space.

The two sides are now set to meet virtually Friday morning to try to come to an agreement ahead of a village board meeting on Tuesday. 

Koch said she and two village trustees have come up with a plan that would have each side making concessions.

“We think we have a good alternative which is a smaller court, not by much, but smaller,” Koch said. 

Chris Wiebke, a starter on the championship team who now lives in New Rochelle, told Newsday he is hopeful about Friday’s call.

“When we’re done, I hope we’re all agreed on an appropriate-sized court that works for the residents of the village and works for the youth of the town to get out and play basketball games, hopefully by next summer.”

The dispute arises over the court, built in the 1980s, that has fallen into disrepair. According to Wiebke, the court is too small to have 3-point lines; the plan calls for expanding the court to accommodate “a real pickup game.”

When Wiebke and his teammates from that winning season — Doug Trani, Greg Dunne, Rob Sanicola and Tom Radman — saw the condition of the court they decided to take action.

Last year they raised nearly $70,000. State Sen. James Gaughran (D-Northport) got a $75,000 State Aid Municipal grant to help with the effort. Huntington-based The Laurel Group donated thousands of dollars in labor for color renderings.

The proposal was met with approval from the village board and plans moved ahead.

But Koch, who was elected Mayor in March, pushed back on the plan.

“From the beginning I’ve been very loud in saying that I feel that the court is too big,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of opposition from people that want the court saying I have ulterior motives.” 

Koch said a local woman pledged $250,000 to the village at a recent village board meeting on the condition the court is not expanded.

“Whether or not this woman, or this person, is going to donate money to use remains to be seen,” Koch said. 

Koch said she does not have any ulterior motives.

“It’s a small quaint park that was built probably in the 1970s and I think it should remain a small park,” she said. “As mayor I have to do what I feel is right for the majority of the village residents."

She said one major concern is a bathroom. 

Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth said there is an agreement between the village and the town for the use and maintenance of the park that allows the village to make improvements at its discretion.