The demolition of the Williston Park water tower on Syracuse Street is continuing as scheduled, the village board was told at a meeting Monday night.
“They’ve taken the roof off and dropped it into the tank,” Mayor Paul Ehrbar said. “With the weather being what it is, we will plan to bring in a crane Wednesday.”
The board heeded the recommendation of Bill Merklin, senior vice president at D&B Engineers and Architects, to replace the 90-year-old tower with a new pedesphere elevated storage tank.
The tower’s estimated cost is $7,344,000.
The new tower will be erected in the same location on Syracuse Street. Once complete, it will mirror the specifications of the old tower with a 500,000-gallon capacity and stand 180 feet tall. It should last another century and only require repainting every 15 to 20 years, Merklin said.
During the construction, Williston Park will share an open water interconnection with Mineola. Despite previous complaints from village residents about discolored water, there have been no recent reports of any water issues, Keith Bunnell, superintendent of public works, said.
The majority of the work will be done this winter to avoid peak water demands.
Speeding and traffic concerns were also brought up at the meeting by Trustee Michael Uttaro.
“People do silly things sometimes,” Uttaro said. “Cars dart out into traffic, and if you’re not paying attention or playing around on your phone, you may have an incident you’re gonna regret.”
Bridget Dyzenhaus of Dartmouth Street expressed concerns over a vehicle consistently speeding through the neighborhood and ignoring stop signs.
“It’s taken a village to catch the culprit,” Dyzenhaus said. “I walk with my 3-and-1/2-year-old and my 18-month-old around the neighborhood, and it’s supposed to be a safe place.”
Dyzenhaus and other concerned members of the community reported the driver to police, who witnesses claim is a teenager from the area, but the reckless driving has not halted yet.
Mayor Ehrbar assured Dyzenhaus that he would have something done and took down the driver’s information from her after the meeting.
Also brought up by residents was whether Christopher Lazos, a developer from Albertson, had resubmitted plans to the zoning board for a three-story mixed-use building at 615 Willis Ave.
“There is no pending application for that project,” Ehrbar said. “If they’re coming back, what they’re coming back with we have no idea.”
“Their application had gone before the board,” building inspector Kerry Collins said. “Since they’ve requested a postponement, nothing has come forward to my desk asking for it to go back on the calendar again.”
At the start of the meeting, Mayor Ehrbar also took a moment to award resident Christopher Banwell for 30 years of service with the village’s Sanitation Department. Banwell works closely with Bunnell and “has been an asset to the village for three decades,” he said.
The board will meet again on Oct. 15 at 8 p.m.
