From the Desk of East Williston Mayor: Bonnie Parente
”Water is the driving force of all nature." - Leonardo da Vinci.
It makes sense for us to discuss water before anything else this month. First, please mark your calendars for February 24th and try to attend the public hearing at the Williston Park Village Hall (on Willis Avenue in Williston Park) at 7pm. The purpose of the hearing is to discuss the proposed water rate increases being proposed. By way of background, The Federal Environmental Protection Agency has established new water standards for PFAS residue in drinking water. Williston Park water is currently in compliance with all Federal and State guidelines and will continue to meet or exceed both of these standards. However, the EPA has recently lowered the standard for PFAS to 4 parts per trillion, effective December, 2029. The Village has undertaken the major task of reviewing the needs required to comply with the new regulations, including the projected cost and revenue needed. A firm was hired to conduct a water rate study, and it has been determined that a 33% increase to water rates effective March 1, 2025 is warranted. As you know, we purchase water from Williston Park via an intermunicipal agreement from 2016 which replaced what began as a handshake agreement many years prior.
Our entire Village Board will be in attendance to hear the proposal, but the detailed water rate study is available to all of us in advance on our website. It is very comprehensive. A few points are important to note before we attend the meeting. First is that back in 2016 the then-Mayor and Board negotiated a contract for water that incorporated, among other things, a rate-tie to residents in Williston Park. As such, Williston Park is restricted from raising rates for East Williston residents without a proportionate raise to the rates of Williston Park residents.
Another important note is that the East Williston Board looked into many avenues before the 2016 Board entered into the agreement. We sought other providers like Mineola and Old Westbury and nearby water districts. We also looked into drilling and building our own facility. For a myriad of reasons, our best option was entering into a long term intermunicipal agreement with Williston Park. In hindsight, this turned out to be beneficial to us. Yes, I am aware we pay a lot for water but if we built our own facility back then, it would have taken many years to build, if it was even possible. It likely would have been complete around 2020 and we would still be paying off the bond for it. And now, we would already be in a position to require upgrades to the unit due to the same law that is facing Williston Park today. The only difference is that we would not be sharing these upgrades with anyone outside of our 844 households.
Williston Park did not decide to upgrade their water facility; they were directed to do so by new federal regulations. I do have an inkling of hope that President Trump will sign an executive order halting these newest regulations as unnecessary but we need to prepare for the probability that will not happen. I encourage residents to attend the meeting in Williston Park. We will have an opportunity to ask questions and learn about the upgrades and the reasons for those upgrades.
February is the month of love. “Thousands have lived without love, not one without water” is a quote by the English poet W.H. Auden.
In other water news, cold weather and other factors sometimes result in watermain breaks. A few days after the rate hike news, our Village suffered a watermain break. It was an emergency repair and we had to immediately contact our contractor to begin the repair. This break, in particular, caused a large portion of the Village to have no access to water for an extended period of time because we had a difficult time isolating the actual location of the leak. This was frustrating to many.
To make matters worse, sometime the following day, there was a broken water valve discovered in the same area. It appeared originally that, instead of shutting water down again, during peak hours, we would be able to schedule it the following morning, with appropriate notice to residents. Unfortunately, since it was on a Nassau County roadway, the County required that we fix it immediately. Their concern was that the slow leak of water would cause dangerous road conditions. We needed to immediately pivot and get the work done asap with very little notice to residents. Frustrating again.
Some residents expressed their frustration on social media that they were not receiving enough updates. I assure you that updates came as soon as we had them.
Moving away from water, please note that we originally scheduled our budget hearing for February 24th but moved it to February 25th so that we, and residents, could attend the meeting in Williston Park.
We are working on the 2025-2026 annual budget. As you know, the Village has welcomed an new treasurer and accordingly we retained an auditing firm to conduct an internal review of the village finances. We felt it was prudent to do so as we transitioned from one treasurer to the next. Once we have the go-ahead from our auditors, we will present a proposed budget and quickly make it available for review.
Please see in this newsletter for a great opportunity to learn Mandarin and take a look at the wonderful library and senior programs offered. We have a great team here in East Williston. There is never a reason to be bored with all we have to offer. If you are on social media, be sure to follow the official Facebook and Instagram page “The Village of East Williston.” Even better, go on to our village website and sign up for our new text alert system.
Thank you, Deputy Mayor Anthony Gallo and Clerk Joanna Palumbo, for your after-hours help getting our watermain and valve issues resolved. Special thanks to DPW staff Simon, Domingos, and Anthony as well for keeping us on track and safe during the process.
Happy Valentines Day.
~ Bonnie Parente, Mayor of East Williston
