Oakdale residents meet with former Dowling College property owners over years of security, maintenance issues

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Oakdale residents attended a meeting Tuesday with the owners of the shuttered Dowling College property, Mercury International, to discuss years worth of security and maintenance issues. Their meeting comes nearly four months after a court ordered for the property owners to sit down with community members. Members of the Oakdale Civic Association, including Civic Association President David Chan, say they were happy to finally have a chance to talk with them. "We're just asking for Mercury, (...) to be good neighbors," said Chan. Bram Weber, an attorney for Mercury International, said in a statement: “The meeting with the community representatives was cordial, informative to both sides, and an important step in establishing a line of communication between property ownership and the community.” Oakdale Civic Association Treasurer Al Kulfan said it did seem as if the property owners were unaware of some of the issues at the site. "It didn't seem as though they were aware of the condition of the building, the property, and the general feeling of the neighbors,” said Kulfan. Weber says Mercury will do its best to respect community concerns while balancing its responsibilities to reasonable economic return. New fencing went up outside of parts of the Idle Hour Mansion. Weber says additional security installations and maintenance upgrades are on the way. Oakdale Civic Association Vice President Thomas Alfano the community members are cautiously optimistic about proposed changes. "We've always asked for only two things. One, that the property is maintained and two that the property is protected. And that is our same message,” he said. Community members also hope the line of communication between them and the property owners remains open "