The ongoing water rates dispute between Williston Park and neighboring Village of East Williston resurfaced when two residents from East Williston addressed the Williston Park Village Board concerning potential negotiations, at a recent meeting. Both villages are planning a meeting for Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m. in East Williston. The meeting would be closed to the public.
Mayor Paul Ehrbar and Village Attorney James Bradley were reluctant to reveal any new information, as Bradley said there is a possibility of future litigation. However, Ehrbar admitted the Williston Park board received a letter from East Williston, which contained a number of potential and desired meeting dates to hash out differences.
“We discussed it earlier in executive session, we will be meeting with East Williston, and we’ll go from there,” Ehrbar said. “We’ve been working on this issue for a number of years, going back to the administration before me and prior to that as well and I believe that both villages want to resolve this problem.”
East Williston recently held a public meeting on a proposal to construct $7 million water supply wells, breaking away from Williston Park and effectively starting their own water district. This received both rigorous opposition and support from their residents.
Williston Park is still seeking $300,000 in interest and penalties following a recent State Appellate Court decision upholding the second of two water rate increases imposed on East Williston. Village of East Williston Mayor David Tanner has said the village will only pay approximately $250,000 of the $300,000 Williston Park seeking to recover in unpaid fees based on the two increases.
“It could only be good for both villages for East Williston to continue using our water,” Ehrbar said. “We’re not making money on our water system. We’ve actually been running into a deficit, which when we’re in that situation, we’re taking money out of the general fund to cover those bills.”
According to Ehrbar, the village had a rate study done where their overall water system was studied, its monitory needs and what it costs to produce one gallon of water.
“For a rough estimate, it costs approximately $4 to produce one thousand gallons of water,” Ehrbar said. “When we’re giving you water at $2.99, and its costing us $4, the village is paying a dollar per gallon for East Williston’s water.”
