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Politics & Government

Town Issues $11.9 Million Bond to Massapequa Water District

Money to go to improvements, equipment and possible contamination from Grumman site.

The Oyster Bay Town Board voted to Issue an $11.9 million bond to the Massapequa Water District on Tuesday.

The money will go towards making system improvements including well rehabilitation, organic chemical treatment, storage tank restoration or replacement, hydrant replacement, water main replacement, and electrical, pump, lighting, alarm and safety improvements.

“The last time that Massapequa went out for a bond issue was 11 years in 2000, so [this is] a long time in the making,” Mike Ingham, a lawyer for the Water District said.

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According to Ingham, residents in the Massapequa Water District will be looking at paying a 4.5 percent interest rate on the bond.

The water district will also be using some of this money to install a GAC (Granule Activated Carbon) system, which will clean organic chemicals out of the ground.

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The chemicals are left over from the Grumman plant in Bethpage, where airplanes were built in the 1930s and 1940s, leading up to World War II.

There are concerns that the pollutants, which were legally dumped at the time could affect the Massapequa water system.

Around $1.9 million of the bond will be taken for a contingency plan in case the GAC doesn’t work and the district must deal with water contamination, according to Ingham.

The Bethpage Water District and the South Farmingdale Water District have already had to deal with contamination, and the chemicals continue to move south.

“Their wells have been impacted and they needed to spend a great deal of money to remediate the contamination. We’re trying to avoid that if we can,” Ingham said. And if we can’t then we will need to do treatment of our wells so they stay on line. We really don’t know when it’s going to hit us, but it could be as soon as five years from now.”

The entire town board voted  in favor of the bond except for Councilman Joe Pinto, who abstained.

“My trust, my faith, in your district…I just think it’s well-placed,” Supervisor John Venditto said during the hearing.

Other Board Meeting News

  • A resolution was passed granting the Town of Oyster Bay Arts Council’s choral group to have weekly rehearsals at John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview.
  • The Department of Parks will sponsor the All Car Friendship Meet at Marjorie R. Post Community Park in Massapequa on October 6.
  • The town’s “Trap, Neuter, and Return” program has been extended another year, through August 31, 2012.
  • The Syosset Chamber of Commerce was granted town assistance and the use of their equipment for their annual street festival and carnival on September 24 and 25. The event will be held in Municipal Parking Field S-1.
  • The town authorized a donation of farm animals to be placed at The Farm at Oyster Bay, in Syosset.
  • The town board authorized the Department of Community and Youth Services to have two Family Fall and Halloween Festivals. One will be held on September 24 at the Syosset-Woodbury Community Park, and the other on October 1 at Marjorie R. Post Community Park in Massapequa.

The next town board meeting will be held on October 4, 10 a.m.

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