The Village of East Williston is suing the Village of Williston Park over water rates and will now prohibit people from using public spaces in East Williston after dusk.
At Monday night’s village board meeting, Mayor David Tanner said the Village of East Williston has filed a suit in Nassau County Supreme Court, contending that the water rates charged by Williston Park to supply its water is exorbitant.
“The only thing I can say is the charge is still high,” Tanner said.
As of April 1, 2011 the new water rates are $5.47 per thousand gallons for the first 100,000 gallons used and $5.72 per thousand gallons over 100,000 gallons. Last year’s rates were $3.85 per 1,000 gallons up to 100,000 gallons and $4.10 per 1,000 gallons over 100,000 gallons.
East Williston village attorney Jeffrey Blinkoff said that there is still a chance for an amicable settlement to the suit.
“Discussions would continue as with any litigation,” Blinkoff said.
Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar said he thought the suit was “uncalled for.”
“I’m extremely disappointed in their approach,” Ehrbar said. “If they said they’re willing to talk, they have my phone number.”
Williston Park village attorney James Bradley said he thought that village’s position would be upheld in court.
“We believe the allegations made in the case against the Village of Williston Park by the Village of East Williston are without merit,” Bradley said. “And I fully expect the court to uphold the actions taken by the Village of Williston Park.”
On the issue of activities in public spaces after dusk, the village board voted unanimously to prohibit use of public spaces at night because of several recent acts of vandalism. The resolution adopted makes exceptions for sanctioned activities, such as Little League games on Devlin Field.
Tanner said the East Williston sign atop a shelter at the north end of the Long Island Railroad station plaza had been removed. Wax graffiti had been placed on the war memorial on the village green, according to Tanner, who said that graffiti had also been discovered in Toddler Park behind Village Hall, and a nearby fence had been damaged.
Video footage of an individual climbing on top of the train station shelter was shown at the meeting. Tanner said the video had been provided to the Nassau County Police Third Precinct and he expected an arrest would soon follow.
“We obviously can’t allow these things to happen,” Tanner said.
Village of East Williston Trustee Michael Braito said the village board was also concerned about legal liability related to people engaging in potentially dangerous activities on village property.
“If a kid was injured on that [shelter] roof, we’d obviously have a case for the village to defend,” Braito said. “There’s a lot of issues about this.”
The areas targeted by the board’s action include the village green, the railroad station plaza in front of Village Hall and Devlin Field.
When one resident asked whether the village board intended to have those who disobey the new local law arrested, Tanner said that – apart from the person who took the sign off the shelter roof – that wasn’t the board’s plan for enforcement.
“It’s not our intention to have these kids arrested,” Tanner said.
The new ordinance revived the issue of public misbehavior by teenagers that the village board sought to address last summer with several local laws proposed by then Deputy Mayor James Daw Jr. Public reaction against the proposed ordinances ended that initiative at the time, except for one ordinance prohibiting skateboarding on railings around the new Village Hall.
Village of East Williston Trustee John Ferro, who voiced opposition to the ordinances at the time, said he didn’t think the board had any alternative to curb the recent mischief.
“I wish we had another answer,” he said.
Tanner said the board was seeking “to solve the problem without creating a [criminal] record for any individual.”
After the meeting, he said that summonses would be issued for violations of the new law, with fines or restitution to be imposed as penalties. The village will post signs in the public areas of concern to discourage would-be violators
The board plans to hold a public hearing on Aug. 8 to consider reducing the speed limit on Sagamore Avenue, the road that traverses the railway station plaza.
In other developments:
• Ray Gaudio, the village representative on the Town-Village Aircraft Safety and Noise Abatement Committee, said he was hopeful that the Federal Aviation Authority might take action to reduce airline traffic over East Williston, based on discussions between the committee members and FAA representatives at last month’s public committee meeting.
• East Williston resident Mitchell Ames said he was “disheartened” to discover that his village property had risen by 30 percent this year. Ames said he would file a Freedom Of Information Law request for more information about the altered assessment.
After the meeting, Tanner said the village had hired a private assessor to update the tax rolls based on “market conditions.”
