Manhasset-Lakeville Water and Fire District Commissioner Donald O’Brien said Friday that the sections of a communications antenna still standing at the district’s Munsey Park site are scheduled to be taken down on Dec. 27.
“Dec. 27, we have the crane,” O’Brien said. “It’s scheduled to come down, the remaining sections.”
The antenna, which was erected on Columbus Day and drew the ire of Munsey Park residents and village officials who said they were not well informed of the district’s plans, was partially removed Dec. 12
But, O’Brien said, work slowed because frozen sections of the antenna had to first be thawed before the removal could begin, and “we ran out of daylight.”
Inclement weather and equipment problems had prevented crews from removing the antenna on two prior occasions, O’Brien has said.
The district initially planned to take down the antenna on Nov. 26, but O’Brien said bad weather prevented work from beginning until after Thanksgiving.
Manhasset-Lakeville rented the crane again on Dec. 5, but O’Brien said “operational issues” prevented crews from starting on the project.
O’Brien has said a definitive date for the project’s completion has been difficult because Manhaset-Lakeville and contractors have to rent the crane on a day in which weather is clear. The crane costs between $6,000-$8,000 per day to rent.
Removing the antenna, dismantling it and storing the parts throughout the district will cost approximately $21,000, said O’Brien, who added the district spent $200,000 to erect it.
Village of Muney Park and Flower Hill officials and residents strongly opposed the antenna and charged that the Manhasset-Lakeville Water District had failed to inform them of their plan to erect the antenna and did not go through an approval process with the Village of Munsey Park.
O’Brien has maintained that the water district notified Munsey Park, as well as the neighboring Village of Flower Hill, of its intentions to put up the antenna at board of trustees meetings in April, but has said the district could have done more to keep residents informed.
In response to the water district’s recent troubles in taking down the tower, O’Brien said Manhasset-Lakeville sent out “reverse 9-1-1” calls to residents informing them of the issues, and have discussed the matter at the district’s bi-weekly public meetings.
Munsey Park Mayor Frank DeMento has said the district has been “very accommodating and communicative” and notified the village government and residents of every scheduled date to take down the tower as well as reasons for why the work has been delayed.
Starting next year, Manhasset-Lakeville officials will begin replacing the Munsey Park site’s water tower, which officials said is more than 80 years old.
