$3.1M sewer vote pushed to March

American Rescue Plan Act money would go to installing sewer main for part of Plandome Rd.

BY BRANDON DUFFY

A tense North Hempstead Town Board meeting Tuesday night saw a vote postponed to allocate $3.1 million from the town’s general fund to the capital fund for the Manhasset Sewer Conversion Project and reappointment of one member to the town’s Board of Ethics.

The four-and-a-half-hour meeting included an hour-long discussion centered around whether or not to wait for more information from the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District or show a commitment to the project and allocate the funds now.

North Hempstead Board of Ethics Chair Joseph Sciame was also reappointed to a four-year term ending on Dec. 31, 2026. Another resolution to appoint Rachel Fox, of Port Washington, was voted down 3-3 in a party-line vote, with Democrat Councilmember Mariann Dalimonte abstaining.

The 4-3 party-line vote to postpone the resolution to the March 14 meeting followed an original vote in which Democrats abstained before motioning to both reconsider the vote and postpone it.

Postponing the resolution keeps it on the agenda and can be voted on again at any meeting, as opposed to tabling it which would need a majority vote to bring it to the foor again.

“Allocating a portion of the town’s remaining ARPA funds to leverage the existing funds that are in place for the Manhasset Sewer Con- version Project will fnally push it over the line to completion,” Republican North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said at the beginning of discussions.

Democrat Councilmember Veronica Lurvey said, along with the three other members of the majority on the board, that she is a longtime sup- porter of the project and wants to see its completion, but wants more answers to understand the specifc amount of money left to complete the project, among other things.

Last year, state Assemblywoman Gina Sillitti (D-Port Washington) and then-state Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-North Hills) secured a $5 million grant for the project.

Lurvey said Tuesday night the district wrote a letter to the board saying after a fnancial analysis, the grant would likely be sufcient to cover the installation of a low-pressure sewer main for the commercial section of Plandome Road.

“This is a good project and the ARPA funds are uniquely suited for a project like this,” Lurvey said. “But there are still many unanswered questions about the project.”

Lurvey continued that a letter was sent to the district with a list of questions to answer ahead of a Feb. 6 meeting with members of the town board. The questions, she said, relate to the overall cost and funding of the project and the costs of businesses to connect, among other things.

“I really hope we can move forward, but I don’t think we are in the position to allocate the funds right now,” Lurvey said.

Concerns about the cost of maintenance for private septic tanks have been expressed by businesses along Plandome Road, with some claiming pumps have to be examined on a weekly basis.

Manhasset Chamber of Commerce Co-President Matthew Donno previously told Blank Slate Media the project, which has been analyzed for more than fve years, will provide economic and environmental benefts to Plandome Road’s business district.

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