_________________ WANTAGH ________________
CommuNIty uPDAtE Infections as of April 12
2,307
Infections as of April 5 2,244
$1.00
When Property Taxes Go High We Go Low
HERALD
DEADLINE APRIL 30TH
Wantagh library honors its poets
Artists share their work around town
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Vol. 69 No. 16
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APRIl 15 - 21, 2021
State study: Public water is best option
Homecoming brings a Warriors victory The Wantagh High football team hosted the West Hempstead Rams at Homecoming last Saturday, and came away with a decisive 37-6 win. At right, the Wantagh cheerleading team wowed the crowd. Story, more photos, Page 10.
By ANDREW GARCIA and mIKE CoNN agarcia@liherald.com
Courtesy Wantagh School District
According to a recent study ordered by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and conducted by the state Department of Public Service, the municipalization of New York American Water’s Long Island infrastructure is not only feasible, but also in residents’ best interests. NYAW provides water to Wantagh and Seaford. “The study determined that such municipalization is both feasible and, under a variety of scenarios, in the public interest,” the DPS report reads, “even with an upfront investment of
nearly $800 million for the purchase of NYAW’s assets (or a pro rata amount for parts of the system), ongoing and near-term infrastructure improvements and transaction costs.” The study was put in motion by Cuomo in early February, and gave the DPS until April 1 to declare its results. Rory Lancman, the department’s special counsel for ratepayer protection, oversaw the study. The DPS recommended that the State Legislature act quickly to remove the “onerous property tax burden” on NYAW’s ratepayers. Lawmakers had pushed legislation in the state budget that would provide a path for a pubContinued on page 3
Petition calls for swim meets to resume this summer By JENNIFER CoRR jcorr@liherald.com
More than 1,500 people have signed a petition on Change.org calling on Nassau County and the Towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead to host swim meets this summer at their outdoor pools. Wantagh resident Duckie McClellan created the petition, titled “Let Them Swim! In the Nassau Municipal Swim Conference Summer 2021,” last week in response to the news that the municipalities would operate their public pools with the same limited scheduling and capacity as last summer.
The Nassau Municipal Swim Conference, the Levittown Swimming Association and other local municipal and village teams have been an integral part of children’s lives for over 50 years, McClellan said. Bridget Egan Diano, a Wantagh resident, shared the petition in the “Wantagh Neighbors” Facebook group and encouraged her fellow residents to sign it if they’d like to see their children use the Wantagh Park Pool, which is run by Nassau County, and Forest City Pool, a Town of Hempstead facility, as summer swim team members. “My son has participated in the swim teams at both Wantagh
Park and Forest City since he was 8, and it got him started in the sport,” Egan Diano said. “He’s now a junior at Wantagh High School, holds two all-time school records and is pursuing swimming at the college level.” She explained that her son wouldn’t have gotten this far without his experience with local swim teams. “Last year, the swimming community was very disappointed that the league was cancelled, but due to the uncertainty at the time, the decision made sense,” McClellan wrote in the petition. But she added that it is unrealistic to maintain those restrictions when so much has improved
since last year, and more and more residents are being vaccinated. According to New York state’s Reopening New York Sports and Recreation Guidelines, swimming is considered a moderaterisk sport. As of Feb. 1, individual or distanced group training activities, organized no- or lowcontact group training, and com-
petitive team practices, games, meets, matches and tournaments are allowed. But as of now, the Town of Hempstead is not issuing pool permits that swim teams typically need to hold practices and meets, because the state has not yet provided guidance on what will be allowed this summer, Continued on page 3