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Friday, December 8, 2017
Vol. 77, No. 49
CELEBRATING THANKSGIVING
Town receives bids for former asphalt plant BY GARY SIMEONE
Students at Burns Avenue Elementary School in the Hicksville Public School District celebrated Thanksgiving by dressing as Pilgrims and Native Americans and making crafts with their parents. See page 8.
Bids on a piece of property at 50 Engel Street in Hicksville were due last Thursday, December 7th. The property, which once housed an asphalt plant, has been considered for a new public works building or highway department facility for the Town of Oyster Bay. The 2.27 acre lot, which many nearby residents considered an eyesore, was a topic of conversation at the Town Board meeting on November 14th. The Board approved declaring the property surplus and planned to solicit buyers for it. Brian Devine, research assistant to the Town Board, said that taxpayers would benefit from the sale of the property due to the fact its been considered surplus. “Any cost to renovate the property would be borne by the potential purchaser of the property,” said Devine. “Any profit gained from the original purchase price would go back into the Town’s general fund. Additionally after it is sold, the parcel will go back on the tax rolls.”
Devine did not say how many bids had been received on the property as of this past Monday. The property has a sordid history, as it once belonged to Carlo Lizza & Sons Paving. Elia Lizza, CEO of the company was indicted earlier this summer, along with high ranking Town officials in a bribery and corruption scheme. Lizza was involved with offering bribes to former Town Commissioner, Frederick Ippolito, to facilitate the Town’s purchase of the property and the rezoning of an adjacent property that was to be used as senior housing. According to Town Public Information Officer Brian Nevin, in 2014, the Town began paying the firm, Nassau Suffolk Engineering & Architecture PLLC, over $500,000 to study moving the current Public Works building in Syosset to the location on Engel Street. Preliminary plans included constructing a $12 million, four floor, 56,000 square foot facility that would house five Town departments, including the Public Works and Highway departments.
Experts conclude study of pinhole leaks in water pipes BY GARY SIMEONE
The Plainview Water District hired a team of water experts earlier this year to study the issue of pinhole leaks inside people’s homes. Nationally renowned water treatment experts, including Dr. Marc Edwards and Dr Jeffrey Parks, concluded their reports earlier this month, saying that increased alkalinity in the water system would help alleviate the problem. “This report is the result of the rapid
action taken by the Plainview Water District in response to pinhole leak issues in our community,” said Chairman of the Plainview Water District Board Marc Laykind. “The report maintains that an increase in alkalinity may help reduce pinholes. Laykind said findings in mid October show that the Plainview Water District “was running at much higher alkalinity, and the final phase of the alkalinity adjustment project is being completed.” Dr Edwards, who was in charge of
covering the water crisis in Flint, Michigan last year, determined through copper pipe sampling that the water was lacking a sufficient amount of alkalinity. He and his team of experts collected samples from pipes in homes as well as from water wells in the area and sent them for analysis to their Virginia Tech laboratory. They found that their was pitting in many of the pipes due to a buildup of corrosive acids and increasing alkalinity would help alleviate the problem.
Plainview Water District Commissioner, Amanda Field said that hiring Dr Edwards and his team was in the best interest of the community. “We take the pinhole leak issue in our community very seriously and we wanted to hire the best possible researchers to evaluate this issue,” said Field. “Dr Edwards and his team are the most sought after experts on material corrosion in the country, and that’s why we acquired their expertise. Our customers expect nothing less.”
Talking politics from across the globe PAGE 16 A night under the stars in Bethpage PAGE 10