NEWSDAY
BY CYNTHIA DANIELS, STAFF WRITER

December 14, 2005, 9:07 PM EST

The Huntington Town Board has approved a plan to purchase 8.7 acres of property owned by Mohlenhoff Greenhouses Inc., pleasing most residents, but concerning some who fear a fire district training facility will occupy the remaining 2.3 acres on the site.

"It's the best thing, we're really thrilled with it," said Eileen Darwin, a member of the Task Force For Groundwater Protection, which helped lead the preservation effort. "The only problem is the firehouse substation."

The board unanimously passed the resolution at its Tuesday meeting.

Residents launched a fight to save the 11-acre property in July when the South Huntington School District announced it intended to purchase the property and place a 110-bus depot, athletic fields and a Huntington Manor Fire Department substation there.

In September, the school district voided its contract after state Education Commissioner Richard Mills, whose approval was required for the final sale, said he would not authorize the purchase of the land at the corner of West Rogues Path and Oakwood Road because it was not within the school district's boundaries.

Residents fought on to ensure the land remained natural. The property sits above one of the nine aquifers on Long Island and next to the 300-acre Froehlich/Wicks Farm Nature Preserve, part of the West Hills/Melville Special Groundwater Protection area.

Town board members resolved Tuesday to spend no more than $1.63 million to purchase the property with the county and to enter into agreement with the Huntington Manor Fire Department and the Cold Spring Harbor-Huntington Soccer Club Inc.

"We love the idea that it doesn't go to developers," Harvey Gardner, president of the Cold Spring Heights Civic Association, said. "We don't like the idea of a substation on the property."

The Huntington Manor Fire Department did not return calls for comment, but Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone said all parties "embraced the idea" of a training site on the property.

Don Vogel, president of the 29-year-old soccer club, said he thought both groups could "come to a mutual understanding of how we could best use the property."

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said the county was "negotiating vigorously" and hoped it would be in "public ownership very shortly."

Meanwhile Mike Mohlenhoff, a member of the family that owns the land, said several offers were still on the table. When asked about the fire district's possible training site, Mohlenhoff expressed his own frustrations.

"I'd like to have a say over how we are able to take the property and allow it to move into the future," he said. "Unfortunately, that isn't what it is. ... You have the say of those down the street ... they are not necessarily looking at what will serve the community the best."