Water is still the hot topic this month. To recap, on January 24, 2025, Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar notified us that there would be a “water rate hearing” on February 24th to discuss the possibility of a 33% rate hike due to the EPA decreasing the acceptable levels of certain contaminants in drinking water. At the water hearing, our entire board attended along with several concerned residents from both East Williston and Williston Park, but we learned that the “hearing” was simply to have a hearing. None of our suggestions, or those of our residents, were taken into consideration as it became evident that the rate was being implemented on March 1st with no further consideration.

The following morning, in a letter to Mayor Ehrbar, I summarized our concerns and added some of the creative and thought-provoking suggestions that came from our residents. It took over a week before I received a response to that letter. In the meantime, the rate changes were made. There was no deliberation of our reasonable request to pause the rate increase while we considered alternatives. I followed up again with a request for certain materials from the engineers who were retained by Williston Park. We reviewed those materials within 24 hours and prepared another letter to Williston Park with repeated and now new concerns. All my correspondence and the responses to same are on our Village website.

At our own board meeting in March, our residents provided further insight and ideas for how to encourage Williston Park to reconsider. We utilized those suggestions and sent yet another letter and await a response. One resident suggested that we offer to have our own contractor come in to review the issue to see if a less expensive / more efficient alternative could be found. We offered to pay for that to happen. We await a response to this offer.

In the meantime, I want to personally thank my board, office staff, and one resident in particular, Eswar Sivaraman, who have all been working tirelessly in reviewing the documents and researching solutions. We will continue to try, continue to push back, and continue to keep our residents posted. Please share this newsletter with your friends in Williston Park. We want them to know that we may be able to come up with a better solution, if just given the time and opportunity. A solution will benefit all of us.

In other news, based on resident input, we created a vegetation management committee several months ago. The purpose was to identify overgrown areas in our village that inhibit proper sight lines for drivers, force pedestrians off sidewalks and into the streets, and cause general visibility concerns. Our vegetation management efforts are at a critical junction. The committee has reported the ten most serious locations and have sent letters to those residents. In most cases, the residents were simply unaware that their landscaping was causing an issue. Many sought to remedy the issues immediately.

For educational purposes, the village right of way can be determined by looking at your survey but is typically between six to ten feet and often distinguished by approximately a 5-foot sidewalk and 3foot grassy strip to curb. Instances of only a curb or no curbing can make this right of way less distinctive. Nonetheless, the Village owns a right of way (ROW) along both sides of essentially all streets. In certain instances, large homeowner vegetation has been planted in ROW or has overgrown into the ROW causing reduced visibility for pedestrians and drivers. Sometimes pedestrians are forced to walk in the street to avoid large vegetation growing over sidewalks and curbs. Traffic accidents often occur more frequently at locations where vegetation is a liability caused by reduced lines of sight. Some residents have become accustomed to their large vegetation providing a natural barrier for privacy and road noise abatement. However, this vegetation does not belong on the Village ROW. Simple trimming of this vegetation often does not eliminate the problem. The Village Board is considering how to further address these issues if written notification to the residents does not suffice. I thank the members of the committee who have been working to address these issues, and the chairperson, Vinny Delgado, in particular. Your efforts are appreciated.

If you’ve ever driven by and noticed a field of flags, you’ve seen a “Field of Honor”. The Village will be hosting a Field of Honor in May through Flag Day, June 14th. Please consider participating in this beautiful visual display of respect and honor. You can dedicate a flag to any hero in your life; whether it is a teacher, a parent, a fire fighter or member of the armed forces (active or retired). Sponsorships are also available, and all proceeds will be directed to our amazing public library and the seniors of our community for their programming & events.

Field of Honor As spring approaches and the beautification committee begins their transformative magic (volunteers are always needed to assist), the Village is planning many exciting events including a new concert series on the village green! See flyers for details!

If you have not already done so, please sign up for the Village’s NEW notification system. The old email system will soon no longer be utilized! Visit www.EastWilliston.org to sign up – it only takes two minutes to register!This new system allows you to be notified by the communication of your choice email, text or voice message.

(full details on all of our upcoming events can be found on our website in the March/April flyers & the Village’s official Facebook)

~ Bonnie Parente, Mayor of East Williston

From the Desk of East Williston Mayor: Bonnie Parente

Exciting Events Coming to the Village!

From the Desk of Williston Park Mayor: Paul Ehrbar