Manorhaven to begin work on clogged sewers

Luke Torrance
From left to right: Trustee John Popeleski, Mayor Jim Avena, Deputy Mayor Priscilla von Roeschlaub, Trustee Rita DiLucio and Village Attorney Steven Leventhal at Manorhaven's September Board of Trustees meeting. (Photo by Luke Torrance)

One of the main sewage pipes in Manorhaven has been almost rendered useless by the amount of blockage by debris, village officials said during Manorhaven’s Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday.

So the trustees announced that Earth Repair LLC would be hired to clear out the sewer main.

“They discovered that the sewer main itself was only about 5 percent open,” said Trustee John Popeleski. “This has been a problem in the village for years… it’s grease, and after a few years the grease gets like cement.”

The problem was discovered when a camera was lowered into the sewer to see the debris that had accumulated over several years.

Mayor Jim Avena said that this cleaning effort would be more substantial than past attempts.

“The fact of the matter is, for four years, the local companies didn’t really have the proper equipment,” he said. “It was basically garden hoses and a couple of guys jumping in a hole. Now we have more sophisticated equipment.”

Avena added that cleaning the sewer main was the first step in a process that would clear out pipes and repave the roads throughout the village.

The village also passed two laws during the meeting after hearing public comment. The first law amended the village code to prohibit the manufacture, sale, distribution or use of e-cigarettes or e-cigarette products. The law also banned the sale of tobacco products to people under the age of 21.

“We’re just kind of following suit with what the other villages in the Town of North Hempstead are doing,” said Trustee Rita Di Lucia.

The second law added stops signs in both directions on Cambridge Avenue at the intersection with Firwood Road.

At the end of the meeting, the floor was again opened for public comment. The main focus was the winter parking plan for the village, which the board planned to vote on at the November meeting.

Currently, residents must move their cars to alternate sides of the street from Dec. 15 to March 15 to allow for snow removal.

Avena proposed limiting the alternate street parking from Jan. 15 to March 15, with alternate street parking only in the event of a snow emergency from Dec. 15 to Jan. 15.

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