East Hills resident Michael Kosinski, who is running unopposed for re-election as Roslyn Water District commissioner, touted his long experience as a benefit to the community.
The election will be held on Tuesday.
In an interview with Blank Slate Media, Kosinski said he believes the most important issue for the district is managing and strategizing infrastructure work without added burdens to taxpayers.
“The issue is irrigation. In peak summer our demand is at a high point with everything running at once,” he said. “We need to keep our maintenance ongoing while having the district know the water is always going to be there for them.”
Kosinski is running for what he believes is at least his fifth term. Currently, he serves alongside William Costigan and Sanford Klein.
The Roslyn Water District, one of the oldest public water suppliers on Long Island, encompasses the villages of Roslyn, Roslyn Estates and East Hills, as well as portions of Roslyn Heights, Roslyn Harbor, Flower Hill, North Hills, Greenvale, Albertson, Glenwood Landing and Port Washington. The service territory is 5.1 square miles and the district has more than 5,780 customers.
Kosinski said if re-elected he will focus on maintaining progress in accomplishing goals related to infrastructure.
Earlier this year, the Town of North Hempstead approved a $33 million bond project requested by the Roslyn Water District to refurbish its water wellheads, oil tanks and a generator to protect from contaminants including 1,4-dioxane, perflourooctanoic acid, and perflourooctanesulfonic acid.
The project includes refurbishing the wells to employ the advanced oxidation process to remove 1,4 dioxane and granular activated carbon adsorption to remove PFOA and PFOS.
“It’s a lot of managing finances and timing construction in an adequate way,” Kosinski said. “There are five, 10-year plans that have been drawn out in the past and it is a matter of keeping that on track and hitting those goals.”
He described future needs of the district as reconstruction for old or outdated wells in order to keep up with new state regulations, additional treatment facilities and rehabilitation where needed. Kosinski works as an architect and also serves as the East Hills Board of Appeals chairman.
The election will be held on Tuesday at the Roslyn Water District Board Room, 24 West Shore, Roslyn, from 4 to 9 p.m..
