Town considers $150,000 bond for water district repairs

L.V. Water District petitions board for bond approval

Posted

The Locust Valley Water District is requesting a bond from the Town of Oyster Bay to fund infrastructure projects for Well Pump House 4. The $150,000 bond would be used to repair the well, which was damaged in Hurricane Ida in September.

The bond hearing is scheduled for the next Town Board meeting, on Jan 25.

The water district’s lead council, Mike Ingram, presented the bond application to the board on Jan. 11.

“I am a resident of Locust Valley, and I truly appreciate everything you do all the time for us,” Councilwoman Michelle Johnson said. “You’re a call away if anyone has an issue, a leak or anything. We’re very thankful and lucky to have Mr. Savinetti” — District Superintendent Charles Savinetti — “with us for so many years, doing the right thing for the residents.”

Ida struck Long Island on Sept. 1, hitting the North Shore especially hard with unprecedented rainfall in a period of just hours. As a result, Well 4, on Horsehollow Road in Locust Valley, was damaged by flooding and knocked out of service for drinking water distribution.

Savinetti discussed the flooding of the well with William Provoncha, director of the Nassau County Department of Health’s Office of Public Water Supply and Protection, on Sept. 2. Five days later, the water district received a formal letter from the Health Department, directing that the well be shut down for repairs and strenthened for future storms.

“It’s going to entail a demolition of the structure, replacement of the well and a replacement of the underground caustic storage tank, which is used to treat the water replacement of the caustic systems and chlorine systems,” Ingram said. “That process is going to take a little while, but we can’t afford to lose Well 4 over the summer season. To do so would jeopardize the district’s ability to simultaneously meet peak summer demand for potable water, and [also] firefighting capacity.”

District water commissioners issued an emergency resolution on Sept. 8, directing Savinetti and H2M, an engineering company, to undertake immediate repairs to the well and to harden the site for the 2022 pumping season.

“We have to storm-harden this plant now,” Ingram said, “to make sure it doesn’t happen again in the future.”

Instead of dipping into town budgetary funds, the bond will be funded by small tax increases for water district residents. “New York state mandates that the Locust Valley Water District, just like all of the others when they want to borrow money, have to come before the town board to get the town’s permission,” Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said, “but it will not be [all] the town’s residents who will be paying back any of these bonds.”

“Here it’s a very minor amount of money,” Ingram said. “I believe it’s about $50 per year for this bond issue. It’s not a lot on a monthly basis.”

The water district also requested that the town “pledge its full faith” to the bond, giving the water district a lower interest rate for repayment, taking into consideration the circumstances in which the well was damaged.

“Your district, and every district, should rest assured that we will always be there to work collaboratively with you,” Saladino told Ingram. “You happen to have an exceptional board of elected officials who are very focused on using their many, many talents to serve their residents and provide the freshest and cleanest drinking water. Collaborating with your board and your administration is a pleasure and an honor.”