________ Franklin square/elmont _______
HERALD Sewanhaka hoops jersey retired
Thefts of catalytic converters surge
State senator’s view from Albany
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Vol. 25 No. 7
FEBRUARY 9 - 15, 2023
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Hochul gives OK for upgrade to Belmont By ANA BoRRUTo aborruto@liherald.com
Joe Abate/Herald
An oath to serve Vice President Angela Romano, Ralph DiBello and Mike Kelly are sworn in as officers of the Community League of Garden City South. Story, more photos, Page 2.
The New York Racing Association has corralled Gov. Kathy Hochul’s support for the Belmont Park redevelopment plan — which would completely modernize the 118-year-old horse racing facility in Elmont. The NYRA has proposed demolishing Belmont Park, on Hempstead Turnpike, rebuilding it from scratch and transforming the racetrack into a winterized facility complete with a new clubhouse and grandstand — all at no cost to taxpayers. The NYRA plans to borrow the money from the state and pay it off over the span of 30 years
through state-backed bonds. Hochul recently unveiled her $227 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2024, in which she pledged support for the racetrack’s $455 million multi-year renovation project. According to David O’Rourke, NYRA president, the governor’s support demonstrates her understanding of the important role horse racing plays in New York’s economy. “Belmont Park stands at the center of the statewide racing ecosystem, and the project to reimagine the facility will create jobs, drive tourism to the region and secure the future of thoroughbred racing across the state,” O’Rourke said in a stateContinued on page 10
Water district customers to get quality update this spring By ANA BoRRUTo aborruto@liherald.com
How safe is your drinking water? Those who depend on the Franklin Square Water District will find out when officials send out a report this coming May. The district is still compiling and analyzing data collected in the past year, which it will then send out to 20,000 people living in parts of Stewart Manor, Elmont and Franklin Square. Customers there depend on 41 miles of water main, five supply wells and two elevated storage tanks. And it’s expected to be a good report, water district superintendent John Hughes said. The dis-
trict has implemented several preventive measures and new technologies to combat emerging contaminants — most notably dioxane, a well as perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate — collectively known as PFAS. “It goes down the sewer drains and all of the housing drains, and then it just eventually makes its way into the groundwater,” Hughes said. “The older generations — our parents — what they dumped down into the ground, oils and different pesticides, unfortunately now that’s what we’re pulling up out of the ground. And we have to combat that with filtration.”
The district detected a slight trace of dioxane in one of its Theodora Street Plant wells in 2021, Hughes said. However, the detection did not go over the maximum contaminant limit — or MCL — set forth by the state health department. This is the highest level of a chemical allowed in the drinking water. Once the district reported a detection, the state granted funding to correct it through filtration, Hughes said. The $4.12 million New York State Water Infrastructure Act Grant allowed for a new wellhead treatment system to be built at Theodora Street. The district also asked the
state for a deferral during construction that would allow it to continue to supplying drinking water. The state approved it since the dioxane contamination was still within limits deemed safe for use. But that didn’t mean the state treated the issue as out of sight, out of mind, Hughes said. Instead, the deferral held off any
enforcement actions from Albany, so long as the water district meets the established deadlines. The dioxane deferral ended Dec. 31, with the district never going over any of the safety limits. “If we did go above the level, we would have had to notify the public that we are above the limit, we know about it, but Continued on page 24