On Aug. 23, the Village of Great Neck's Deputy Mayor Ralph Kreitzman wrote a letter to Clerk-Treasurer John Dominsky requesting "an action be brought against Mayor Richard Deem to recover all money and property of the village that he appropriated contrary to law." The deputy mayor further asked that the matter be put on the agenda for the Sept. 5 board of trustees meeting.

Mayor Deem returned the Record's phone call, but declined to comment on the record at this time.

According to FOIL records it is evident that Mayor Deem became aware of a situation in the Village of Kings Point in which a resident on Wildwood Road has been complaining to her village about flooding on her property and water/ septic problems; problems she alleges to stem from her abutting neighbor's property. From records in both villages examined under the Freedom of Information Law, it is apparent that Mayor Deem thought there might be an environmental problem, decided to get involved and do his own investigation and water-testing utilizing the staff of the Village of Great Neck Water Pollution Control Department on four separate forays into Kings Point as well as the testing section of H2M, the engineering consultants for the village.

Trustees of the Village of Great Neck became aware of the mayor's involvement in another jurisdiction in mid-August when they received copies of a letter from the building inspector in Kings Point, Richard Schilt, written to Mayor Deem dated Aug. 10. This letter summarizes the history of the property, Kings Point's perspective of the problems, Mayor Deem's involvement and that of the village staff and ends with the statement, "...I do not understand why the Village of Great Neck is spending Village of Great Neck monies and personnel time on a matter solely within the jurisdiction of the Village of Kings Point." It was this letter, the accompanying documents and a New York State village law that requires board members to take action in such situations that prompted trustees Kreitzman, Beckerman and Birnbaum to write letters to Mr. Dominsky requesting that action be taken.

In his letter to Mr. Dominsky, Mr. Kreitzman refers to the recovery of funds writing: "That would include, but not necessarily be limited to, the cost of our Village employees' time, our Village supplies and equipment and H2M Labs, Inc. tests."

Under New York State Village Law (4-412) "if any person shall have heretofore appropriated or shall hereafter appropriate money or property of the village, contrary to law, and the facts in relation thereto are known to the board of trustees, and, after this section as amended takes effect, such board fail for thirty days to bring an action against such person to recover such money or property, each member of the board having such knowledge shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and liable to removal from office unless within such period of thirty days he shall file with the village clerk a written request, signed by him, requesting the bringing of, such action or shall cause to be entered upon the minutes of a meeting of the board a motion made by him for the bringing of such action..."

Stephen Limmer, village attorney for both Kings Point and Great Neck could not comment on the facts of the situation, but did say that he is counsel for the Village of Great Neck as a whole and that if there is an issue between a board and one of its members, he represents the board.

Harry Heinemann, Mayor Deem's personal assistant, did not want to comment on the record, but did say that he was not consulted prior to the actions taken by the mayor.

Flora Abir, the owner of the Wildwood Road home with a complaint, has an unlisted number and was not reached for this article.

On July 7 Mayor Deem wrote a letter to Kings Point Mayor Michael Kalnick in which reference is made to a phone conversation between the two mayors. In the letter Mayor Deem reports on the results of a fecal coliform test that "was detected at 300" and wrote "my concern is that this material may also be running into the adjacent streams that abut both properties...I trust this situation will be corrected expeditiously, so as to minimize any environmental damage that may occur as a result of this problem."

Mr. Schilt's letter to Mayor Deem states that Kings Point has received flooding complaints from Ms. Abir since 1999 and during the ensuing years, the situation was investigated in turn by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the U.S. Corps of Engineers and the Nassau County Health Department with no violations found.

However, Mr. Schilt states that in response to Mayor Deem's concerns, he ordered dye tests be done on July 24. Mr. Schilt's letter states that a representative from the Nassau County Health Department and two employees of the VGN Water Pollution Control District were present as witnesses. Two different colors of dye were flushed in the two houses' toilets and the two properties were monitored in the morning and afternoon hours on 6 consecutive days. According to Mr. Schilt, no dye was detected on either property.

Mr. Schilt goes on in his letter to speculate about the water/septic issues stating that some 15 properties with older septic systems at a higher elevation may play into any contamination found on the Abir property.

Topographical maps of the area show that the properties are in a 100-year flood plain. A 100-year flood does not refer to the possibility of flooding every 100 years; rather it refers to flooding having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in magnitude in any given year.

The Water Authority of Great Neck North has two wells that are just west of Mitchell Creek and the two properties on Wildwood Road. There is a high water table in the area. These wells have not been in use since the mid-70s when it was found that due to the over-pumping by Citizens Water Company salt water had intruded into the wells. They were abandoned.

In four "To Whom It May Concern" memos put into the Village of Great Neck files, GNWPCD superintendent Gary Arman notes the dates (June 23, July 25, July 26 and Aug. 3), and purposes of his and another staff members' visits to the Wildwood properties. Twice they collected water samples; once they observed the dye test and on Aug. 3, according to their memo and a Kings Point police statement, their plan to take a sample from Mitchell Creek was thwarted as they were chased away by Ms. Abir's neighbor, David Bakhshi, who reported them to the Kings Point police department for trespassing on his property. According to the memos, Mayor Deem was also present during this confrontation. In Mr. Schilt's Aug. 10 letter to Mayor Deem (with copies to the Village of Great Neck's board of trustees), he states that in Mr. Bakhshi's complaint to the police on Aug. 3, Mr. Bakhshi "witnessed you tainting the lawn prior to samples taken by the GN Water Pollution Control District."

The sample taken on July 26 showed a fecal coliform count of 16,000 MPN ( MPN stands for "Most Probable Number" which relates to the method of testing).

To determine coliform levels, samples are taken five times over a period of 30 days and an average is taken of the counts.

According to the Long Island Sound Study, coliforms are not always pathogens, but they are indicators of pathogens. Coliforms occur in nature from decomposing organic matter as well as from waterfowl and animal wastes and are compounded by sewer overflows, sewage treatment plant breakdowns, septic system failures, stormwater runoff, and illegal discharges from boats. Beach closures often occur as a preventative measure when there are heavy rains and run-offs. The total coliform count that triggers a beach closing as cited by the study in Nassau County is a total coliform reading greater than 2,400/100 milliliters.

This matter is on the agenda for the Sept. 5 Village of Great Neck Board of Trustees meeting at 7:30 p.m. at Village Hall, 61 Baker Hill Road.