Mineola’s village board voted to approve resolutions for water infrastructure updates at its March 4 meeting.
Three of the resolutions confirmed contracts totaling over $29,000 with Bensin Contracting Inc. for repairs or upgrades to the village’s Well No. 4.
The contractor will work on the Packed Tower Aeration system, a filtration system that efficiently removes volatile organic contaminants.
The contractors were approved to replace the pitted aluminum effluent piping in the system at a cost of $3,255, install small-diameter piping to support startup and testing at a cost of $16,088 and install a solenoid valve to the existing control valve, which will allow the village water district to control the system remotely, for a cost of $9,817.
“A ‘SCADA system’ is basically what manages our water system. It’s done remotely, essentially through an iPad,” Mayor Paul Pereira said. “This will enable us to control this automatically.”
The board also voted to authorize a contract with D&B Engineers & Architects, D.P.C., totaling $18,900, for 2026 stormwater management program services and municipal separate stormwater sewer systems compliance permits.
The compliance permits are issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and are intended to reduce pollutant discharges from stormwater drainage systems.
The largest single contract approved was for the removal and replacement of nine water service lines from the water main to the curb stop on Wellington Road. The $41,810 contract was awarded to the lowest bidder, Orchis Water & Sewer Contracting. Two of the outgoing pipes were made of led, and 5 were plastic.
The mayor said this project is part of the larger effort mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule, which requires systems to monitor water contamination, specifically for the two heavy metals, which primarily enter drinking water through plumbing materials.
The board also voted to authorize uniform purchases for the public works department.
Trustees also voted to approve lump sum payments to village volunteer firefighters who earned Post Entitlement-Age service credits between 2010 and 2025. The payments, ranging from $240 to $3,840, were awarded to 38 firefighters, including County Legislator Scott Strauss, a former department chief, and Trustee Paul Cusato, who abstained from the vote.
Trustees also thanked village workers and residents for their participation in the village’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. Trustee Jeffrey Clark said it was the village’s largest parade yet, with around 1,500 marchers.
A resident addressed the board during public comments and said that plowing on Westbury Avenue during the recent snowstorm was incomplete, and that a plow pushed snow onto the sidewalk he had already shoveled.
Pereira said the road is a county road; therefore, it was Nassau County’s responsibility to plow. He said that he wrote a letter to the county about the plowing condition of county roads in Mineola.
