By Jacky Gerzema
"We saw the house and the canal at high tide, and it was gorgeous," Dawn said. "We bought the house because of the water."
The Devine's realtors failed to show them their canal at low tide. After moving in, they saw that at low tide, the water sank to a level of one foot or lower, too low to move their boat. A few years later, it emitted a foul stench that infiltrated the house and disturbed most Lincoln Street residents.
In the spring of 1999, a group of about 20 Baldwin Harbor residents decided to take action and pushed the county to dredge the canal. Nearly two years later, neighbors say they feel left in the dark and the Lincoln Street canal continues to languish. The county, on the other hand, says the process takes time and the neighbors need to be patient.
'In the dark like mushrooms'
Neighbors say that because the canal hasn't been dredged in 80 years, the sediment keeps rising and the water line shrinking. They first called upon the Town of Hempstead to undertake dredging and bulkhead repair. They soon discovered that the canal was owned by Nassau County, so the responsibility was passed on to the county level.
Fourth District Legis. Mike Zapson began working with the residents to apply for permits to dredge the canal and repair the bulkheads.
After about a year of testing and surveys by the Department of Public Works, the residents say they can't get a direct answer out of Nassau County on exactly where the project stands so far.
Jim Devine said he spoke with a legislative aide for Zapson last November and she told him tests had been completed on the canal. The aide planned to set up a meeting with the Lincoln Street residents to discuss what would be done next.
Since November, no meeting has been set.
"Since Thanksgiving, we can't reach her and no meeting has been scheduled. [She] has the last report and we should have had a meeting by now, but we're not getting anything. Not even the courtesy of a phone call back," said Jim Devine.
Devine said he wants a straight answer about where the project is heading.
"I want a meeting and I want answers," he said. "I'm sick of sitting in the dark here like mushrooms."
Zapson said he understands the resident's frustration and he is working with the state legislature and the DEC to get approval for a permit.
"We're trying to get this underway," he said. "I've been fortunate to be able to spearhead this, because they've [residents] been frustrated for years and years."
Other county spokespeople said a great deal of time and effort is needed before the county can even apply for a dredging permit from the Department of Environmental Conservation.
On Feb. 22 of this year, a letter was sent by the Department of Public Works to Nassau County, which stated that "property, canal depth and bulkhead surveys have been performed and several alternatives are being developed." The letter went on to explain that once studies are complete, the DPW would solicit input from the community.
The story doesn't end there, though. The county, steeped in a fiscal quagmire of its own, will then have to figure out how to pay for the repairs.
"They [DEC] see the need for dredging and repair, but you can't officially apply for a permit until the funding is nailed down," said a spokesperson for Zapson.
The county would prefer to float a bond that would be paid for by residents bordering the canal, said the spokesperson. For the next 30 years, they would pay a determinate amount of money in taxes for the dredging and bulkhead repair.
While residents feel it's the responsibility of the county to foot the bill for the dredging of their canal, Bill Wittenberg and the Devines said they and their neighbors would agree to pay for the repairs through their own taxes.
Lincoln Street residents live in houses that were built around the 1920's, and their properties are under a grandfather clause which allows them to pay reasonably low property taxes.
"We'll pay the taxes if that's what we have to do," Dawn Devine said. "We just want to see it happen."
Living by the tides
The Devines and neighbor Bill Wittenberg said they live by the tides, planning their boating trips by the tides and making sure that they are back before low tide. If they get caught in the canal at low tide, their boat literally gets stuck in mud, and they have to push it through the silt back to dock.
"We're missing a lot of fun times because we're waiting for the tides," Jim said. "I have a brand new boat that sits in the mud most of the time."
Wittenberg said he never has barbecues at his house at low tide.
"Who wants to stare at the mud and smell that crap," he said. "When I plan barbecues, I plan them around the tides, like everything else."
Residents usually have to offer a more compelling reason than mediocre recreational conditions for having a canal dredged, said Bill Fonda, DEC spokesperson. Residents would have to show that the canal may be hazardous to their health, or provide similar justification. Before granting a dredging permit, the DEC must test sediment and discuss dumping options.
"We don't just throw sediment anywhere," Fonda said. "If the mud and silt have toxins in it such as pesticides or oil, we don't just dump it in the ocean. We have to find other places to put it that's not hazardous to the environment."
Though they have no definite proof, the neighbors contend that the canal is a health hazard.
"There is this awful stench at low tide that fills up the whole house," Dawn said. "That stench tells me that there are probably toxins in that mud."
Wittenberg said when he had to push his boat through the mud
after coming home at low tide one day, his legs broke out in a bad rash that lasted for a week.
"That right there proves there's something bad in that canal," he said.
The neighbors also said that even realtors try to hide the condition of the canal and only show houses at high tide on Lincoln Street.
"They'll [prospective homeowners] ask me how I like living here, and I tell them the truth," Wittenberg said. "I'll tell them to come look at the place at low tide and see how they like it then. Realtors keep asking me to please not tell them this stuff, but I think they have a right to know. Why waste your money on a house by the water, when you can't use the water at low tide, and have to plan your boating trips around it?"
Wittenberg recently called News 12, which aired a short segment on the canal on Feb. 22. Nassau County offered the DPW's statement as a comment on the project: "Action beyond this study phase will be contingent upon appropriate funding."
Wittenberg and the Devines call this "lip service." The neighbors say that if they don't get straight answers from the county about what is going on with their canal, the next step is a class-action lawsuit.
"No one returns our phone calls," Wittenberg said. "What do we have to do, put billboards on us and walk up and down in front of Village Hall?"
Dawn Devine agreed, "Something has to be done. I'm sick of living like this and I'm not going to move."
