Legislature's Bipartisan Vote Allows Partial Renovation Of Summit Park Hospital For New Office Space

The Rockland County Legislature voted 16-0 Tuesday to approve the partial reconstruction of the former Summit Park Hospital and Nursing Care Center to accommodate county workers requiring alternative office space.

The county will spend $1.7 million to renovate the 7th and 8th floors of Building A at the Dr. Robert L. Yeager Health Complex in Pomona to provide offices for workers now based in the county-owned Sain building in New City. The Sain property is for sale, with a closing possible before the end of the year.

Legislator Ilan Schoenberger, chair of the board’s Planning and Public Works Committee, said the Administration sought $2 million in funding, but that a close review of the description of work to be performed under the bond led to many questions.

“Those issues included a possible addition to Building H, and then there was the question, what does that mean, what are we voting for, where is the money going to go and we wanted, as the appropriating branch of government to narrow the definitions so that it was not just a wide open grant of money,” Schoenberger said.

The result was a reduction in the amount to be borrowed, reducing costs to taxpayers by $300,000, he said.

Legislator Michael Grant, chair of the board’s Budget and Finance Committee, noted that Building A is ten stories and said he expects additional funding requests to be made in the future, noting the continuing need for scrutiny of all funding requests.

“It is our job to serve as a check and balance on behalf of Rockland County’s taxpayers,” Grant said.

He pointed out that it took until 2:57 p.m. Tuesday – just hours before the 7 p.m. Legislature meeting began – for the Administration to provide answers to questions that have been asked since February.

Those questions included which departments will relocate to Building A and which to the Allison-Parris County Office Building, how many workers will be effected, what changes will be needed to accommodate workers (new computer lines, phone lines, furniture, etc.) and the costs involved.

“If the Day administration was more forthcoming with information, more timely with delivery of that information, we could have resolved this issue some time ago,” Grant said. “The Day administration has not provided us with the information we need to make good decisions going forward and with the transparency and understanding that the public should have on what that long term plan will result in.”

Legislature Chairman Alden H. Wolfe said the repurposing of Building A would help restore the vitality of the overall Health Complex, which saw the departure of hundreds of workers, patients and residents when Summit Park was abruptly shut down by the Administration as of Dec. 31, 2015.

“It is my hope going forward, that additional appropriate uses will be identified for the campus,” Wolfe said. “Building A isn’t the only building to be left empty in recent years. We should be having conversations about the campus’ new uses and they should include both branches of county government, as well as stakeholders such as nonprofits and county residents.”