The East Williston Board of Trustees voted unanimously to explore hiring an engineering firm to provide a second opinion about a water filtration system proposed by the Village of Williston Park, which raised water rates for the two villages by 33% on March 1 to cover its costs.
East Williston Mayor Bonnie Parente said she is seeking a review because she and her board are not convinced the granular activated carbon filtration system proposed by Williston Park’s engineering firm is the best way forward,
Parente said at the meeting on Monday, March 31 that her team questioned whether the level of a pollutant, PFAS, in the water, required what they called an aggressive treatment to meet new federal regulations, which reduced the allowable levels of PFAS chemicals in drinking water from 10 parts per trillion to 4 parts per trillion.
The board also agreed to ask village resident Eswar Sivaraman to serve as a liaison between the village and the engineering firm they hire. Parente called Sivaraman incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about water filtration and the rate increase. The board has used his assistance in reviewing engineering reports from Williston Park over the past few weeks.
Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar has said he trusts his engineering team, D&B Engineers and Architects, based on their decades of work for the village, and Next Gen Strategies and Solutions, a consulting firm which prepared the report that recommends pursuing a granular activated carbon filtration system.
Ehrbar said he welcomes Parente and her board carrying out their own study.
But Parente said Ehrbar told her that any engineering firm East Williston hires would not be permitted to access Williston Park’s water infrastructure. East Williston engineers will have access to the reports Williston Park’s engineers have prepared.
Ehrbar said he has shared all documents and reports produced by Williston Park’s engineers and requested by Parente and would be happy to share any additional information she requests.
Parente said the reassessment would likely be carried out by a firm recommended by East Williston trustees who are trained as engineers. The board plans to request cost proposals for the job from at least two firms.
“We do not have much of a choice but to hire our own firm due to the lack of clarity that’s been presented to us,” Trustee Raffaela Dunne said, a statement which Parente seconded.
