Dvirka and Bartilucci issue revised report
The Village of Williston Park held a special water hearing on Aug. 6 to discuss the revised report of engineers Dvirka and Bartilucci.
The main reason for the meeting was to report on the revised report and to announce an adjusted rate for the water supplied to the Village of East Williston.
History Of Water Usage
The Village of Williston Park owns and operates a water supply system, which serves the residential and commercial customers within the boundaries of the village.
The village supplies water to approximately 2,099 residential and 234 commercial customers. Additionally, the village has been supplying water to the residents of the Village of East Williston located on the eastern border of the village, on a wholesale basis.
The Village of East Williston consists of approximately 845 residential customers. Water is provided to the village through a single 8-inch meter located in a vault on Hillside Avenue. The Village of East Willliston owns and maintains the distribution and metering infrastructure for the customers within the village boundaries. Water is purchased from the Village of Williston Park based on readings from the meter on Hillside Avenue. The village reads the residential meters and invoices their customers separately.
The purpose of the report by Dvirka and Bartilucci is to determine an appropriate water rate for all of Williston Park water customers. A previous rate study report was prepared by Guastella Associates, Inc. in April of 2006 and is no longer considered valid due to the significant age of the data for its preparation.
Revised Report Addresses Concerns Of Village Of East Williston
The revised report has been updated to address numerous comments the Village of Williston Park has received from the Village of East Williston by way of a July 2012 report prepared by Guastella Associates, L.L.C. which states, “While we do not believe there are any errors in the original report, we do believe that there are some areas where concessions can be made to the Village of East Williston in an effort to be fair and reasonable. Therefore, this revised report includes changes to the original calculations only in those areas that are considered flexible by the Village of Williston Park and not all comments contained in the Guastella report have been accepted.”
Therefore, the following rates are what have been proposed with the rate for the East Williston reduced from $4.43 to $4.33. As Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar explained, “In the interest of being fair.”
Summary of Proposed Water Rates:
Residential Customers
Tier No. 1-Up to 10,000 gallons – $39.20 (min)
Tier No. 2-10,000 gallons to 50,000 gallons – $3.92 /1,000 gallons
Tier No. 3-Over 50,000 gallons – $4.09/1,000 gallons
Commercial Customers
Tier No. 1-Up to 10,000 gallons – $43.30 (min)
Tier No. 2-Over 10,000 gallon – $4.33/1,000 gallons
Village of East Williston
Flat Rate-Flat Rate-$4.33/1,000 gallons
One resident, Joseph Heery, complained about the rate change for East Williston. He said he didn’t think it was right since East Williston is in the midst of a lawsuit with Williston Park. Mayor Ehrbar said he didn’t want to discuss that at this time, due to the lawsuit.
The board voted on the rates as noted.
