Upon first being appointed to the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District Board of Commissioners, Jerry Landsberg entered what he fondly remembers as “exciting” times.
Now four years later, the longtime public servant believes the best is yet to come.
Lansberg is running unopposed in the Dec. 13 Great Neck Water Pollution Control District Board of Commissioners election.
With his new two-year appointment onto the board, Landsberg will get to see the district’s project to expand and upgrade its water pollution treatment plant come to fruition.
“When I first was appointed to the board it was when things really got exciting,” Landsberg said. “I’ve just been very heavily involved with making sure that project was being done as economically as possible.”
The project, which began in June of 2010, should be complete in 2013, but the plant will be fully operational sometime in 2014, Landsberg said.
It will be a day that has been a long time coming for Landsberg.
“It’s not as proud a day as when my children or grandchildren were born,” he said, “but it ranks up there with that.”
Landsberg was first appointed onto the board of commissioners by Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman in September of 2007 following the resignation of David Laurie. He served the final year of Laurie’s appointment before winning each of the past two elections to remain with the board.
Continuity, Landsberg said, is paramount to the success of the district’s board of commissioners.
“I think it’s very important because it took me a good six-to-nine months to get up to speed from when I was first appointed,” he said. “At this juncture, we really need the continuity of having the board with on-going experience, which is one of the main reasons that I wanted to run again. I really want to be around for the opening of the new plant.”
A 1954 graduate of Southern Methodist University, Landsberg draws from lengthy entrepreneurial and political experience in helping to run the district.
While operating Richland Optical Laboraties, which specialized in the fabrication of lenses, for more than 30 years, Landsberg also operated London Optical, a chain of local retail stores.
During that time, Landsberg also served on the Village of Kensington Board of Trustees for eight years. His record of service in Kensington also includes stints as police and public works commissioner, along with appointments as mayor and deputy mayor.
Landsberg has also served on the board of trustees for the Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation for the past 32 years and is on the advisory board for the Adelphi University School of Nursing for the past 34 years.
It’s that level of community service and business experience, which has paid dividends for Landsberg during his tenure with the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District.
“It’s been a lot of work,” Landsberg said. “I’ve put in a lot of time, a lot more time than I’ve anticipated, but I’ve enjoyed doing it. I would say fruitful is a good word. I’ve seen the fruits of my labor.”
Much of Landsberg’s pride in his work with the district, has been spawned from the upgrade and expansion project at the water pollution treatment facility.
“When we finish our plant we will have the most efficient, up-to-date water pollution treatment plant in the northeast,” Landsberg said. “Right now, we’re at the head of the pack.”
While providing cutting-edge facilities, which utilize several green technologies, Landsberg has been able to help keep costs low for district taxpayers. He said the district will be forced to raise taxes slightly to cover bonds, but the increase will “probably amount to less than $100 for an average household a year.”
“We have a lot of things going on there,” Landsberg said. “I wish I could take credit for all of them. I can’t, other than encouraging.”
The savings for the 15,000 residents who reside within the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District don’t end there.
The district is now operating a program to convert used cooking oil into bio-diesel fuel, which runs all of the plant’s generators, along with many of its trucks and tractors, Landsberg said.
“We will be producing energy to create almost well over half of the electricity that we will be using,” he said. “We need to generate heat, particularly in the winter time, as part of the digestion process for the sewage. We will produce all of our own heat. We won’t be buying any.”
The bio-diesel fuel made by the district costs $1.20 per gallon, while diesel can currently cost as much as $4.50 per gallon, Landsberg said.
“There’s quite a saving,” he said. “Most of what we’re doing is extremely energy efficient.”
The gas turbines, which the treatment plant will use to generate electricity and heat, will “pay for themselves within about three and a half years,” Landsberg.
At that point, the positive cash flow that will arise from the turbines will also be quite beneficial for the district.
“A lot of what we’re doing is cutting-edge work,” Landsberg said. “The micro turbines that we will be running, we will be the second plant in New York State and one of only three or four in the Northeast doing it. It’s really pretty exciting.”
And that has created quite a buzz around the region in regards to the programs being undertaken within the district.
“A lot of much larger sewage plants are watching what we’re doing,” Landsberg said. “If we’re going to be successful with it, they say they will entertain converting it to a larger use. We’re almost like a pilot program for some of them, including the city of New York.”
The Great Neck Water Pollution Control District serves all of the sewage needs for the villages of Thomaston, Kensington and Saddle Rock, along with parts of the villages of Great Neck Plaza and Great Neck. It also serves most of the unincorporated villages north of the Long Island Rail Road.
