By Richard Tedesco
The East Williston Village Board will move forward on plans to construct a $7.5 million water system as it attempts to nail down a formal agreement to receive water services from the Village of Williston Park. That was the consensus expressed by board members during a public hearing to discuss both alternatives at East Williston Village Hall yesterday.
“For the first time we have a choice. There are two viable options,” said East Williston trustee Robert Vella.
Vella said the decision comes down to choosing “independence” or remaining subject to the water rates set by the Williston Park Village Board, noting that long-term water rates would be lower if the village operated its own system.
At the outset of the hearing, East Williston village attorney Jeffrey Blinkoff revealed that a formal agreement submitted to the East Williston Board by the Williston Park Village Board included an “opt out” clause that would enable Williston Park to cease providing water services to its neighbor village after giving 12 months’ notice. East Williston trustees said the clause is predicated on Williston Park’s inability to continue providing water services to its own residents.
Blinkoff said the proposed agreement also included a clause obligating East Williston to indemnify its neighbor village against disruptions to the Williston Park water system, presumably caused by problems with the East Williston infrastructure.
East Williston officials were unresponsive to the Mineola American’s request for release of its contents, despite assurances that its contents would be made available. East Williston officials remained confident that a final agreement could be reached with their Williston Park counterparts, despite the “surprise” opt-out clause that was never discussed during negotiations to resolve the long-standing dispute over water rates between the two villages.
“If we can iron out these differences, and I believe we can, we can reach an agreement,” said East Williston Deputy Mayor Bonnie Parente.
Parente said being independent from Williston Park is a “great idea,” but added, “We don’t have a well. And there are too many variables.”
But she said the village’s proposal to build its own well forced the Williston Park board to the negotiating table to strike a deal.
“We have an agreement on the essential terms,” Vella said.
Those terms, negotiated in a face-to-face meeting between both village boards on Dec. 17, would make Williston Park the exclusive water supplier for East Williston over the next 25 years. It would also freeze the current water rates it charges at $4.33 per thousand gallons through June 2018. Williston Park would continue to provide chlorination services.
Basic terms also provide for East Williston to pay $100,000 to Williston Park to settle claims of approximately $500,000 that Williston Park has been seeking in unpaid water fees and penalties in a current lawsuit. The $100,000 would go into a capital reserve fund for Williston Park, which currently has no capital reserves. The deal also calls for both sides signing off on ending the litigation.
East Williston officials would be consulted on future rate increases, which could be no higher than 10 percent above water rates Williston Park charges its residents.
“If we’re not going to build a well, this is likely the next agreement we’re going to get,” said East Williston Mayor David Tanner.
Tanner also said there is no cash or capital reserves in the Williston Park water fund. During the Dec. 17 negotiations, Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar said there is $43,000 in the water fund.
In a phone interview on Wednesday, Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar said the opt out clause was included in the agreement recently approved by the Williston Park board on the advice of village attorney James Bradley. He said his board is open to discussing the terms of the agreement with their East Williston counterparts.
“If they have concerns about [the agreement], the next step is for them to contact us and talk about it,” Ehrbar said.
East Williston trustee James Iannone said an appellate court ruling that upheld Williston Park’s right to set the water rates it charged East Williston “gave us almost no negotiating power whatsoever.” He said the well proposal provided “leverage” in talks with Williston Park. But he expressed reservations about an independent village water system because of “unknowns and contingencies.”
David Granger, vice president of H2M, the village’s water consultant firm, outlined the $7.5 million construction project for two supply wells of two million gallon capacity each that could supply 1,400 gallons per minute.
“You can get away with one supply well and you’d have one back-up well,” Granger said.
He said the building housing computer monitoring equipment for the system and the supply wells would be built around the tennis courts and baseball diamond at Devlin Field.
With approval from the state Department of Health and Nassau County in place, Granger said the system could be up and running in 30 months.
During a brief meeting following the hearing, the East Williston village board unanimously adopted a resolution declaring that the well project would have no negative environmental impact on the village.
Village auditor Frank Faber said average water rates in the first year of operation would be $5.66 per thousand gallons – compared to a current rate of $5.47 – with $3.02 for debt service on a 35-year bond to enable construction.
Opinions among East Williston residents at the hearing were divided between the two options.
Former East Williston Deputy Mayor James Daw expressed concerns about the implications of the “opt out” clause. He said there are problems with Williston Park’s water tower and said the clause could be a ploy for Williston Park to raise rates to upgrade its water service infrastructure.
“I think they’re sending us a message here,” he said. “Now we have a deal that’s no deal.”
East Williston resident John Azzara expressed doubts about the well project, saying “The risk-reward is not clear to me on this project.”
Noting the Williston Park system is an aging one, resident Evelyn Ritz said, “I would prefer more control in our pocket.”
After the meeting, Tanner said his board would proceed on “parallel paths” with the well project and negotiations with Williston Park, eventually holding a public referendum on the well.
