Rockville Centre Letters to the Editor - Oct. 10

Do without

double-digit increase

To the Editor:

I wanted the opportunity to respond to a misleading point made in "Village increases water rate" (Sept. 24-30) regarding the village board’s vote to increase the water rate by 17.5 percent. I had acknowledged during the village board meeting that June had an above-average rainfall (as we all know!) but that May, July and August had average to below-average rainfall (with July .35 inches below average and August .14 inches below average). This was supported by National Weather Service precipitation readings for JFK International Airport. (It’s unclear why the Herald would use the LaGuardia readings when the National Weather Service uses JFK as the determinative site for Rockville Centre readings.) Not to beat this issue to death, but the total precipitation for the year to date is almost exactly the same as the average total.

Regardless, even if we were to suspend common sense and use the inflated LaGuardia statistics, I would still stand opposed to the water rate increase. The benefit of Rockville Centre having its own water utility is that we have historically paid significantly lower rates than neighboring communities. We have now seen that rate increased 34 percent over the past 15 months. We cannot place responsibility for that draconian increase on a rainy June or July.

I stated at the board meeting, and I still believe, that our residents should be commended for doing an increasingly good job of conserving water (whether out of environmental concerns or, more likely, in an attempt to economize), but we as a village board need to figure out how to address this decreasing demand for water in a way that doesn’t involve annual double-digit rate increases.

Kevin R. Glynn

Trustee, Village of Rockville Centre

If we conserve, why pay more?

To the Editor:

Will someone please explain to me why, by using less of a natural resource (in this case, water), which is commonly called "conservation," we have to pay more for it?

Anyone?

Marc Zeloof

Rockville Centre

Shame on them

To the Editor: