The showdown between Village of Great Neck's Mayor Richard Deem and the board of trustees played out in a surreal atmosphere as they calmly addressed routine agenda items before moving on to the new business of the trustees' intent to take legal action to resolve the dispute between the mayor and the trustees regarding his use of village resources in a private controversy outside the boundaries of the village.

The crux of the matter is that Mayor Deem believes that there are septic failures in the Village of Kings Point that are bubbling up on properties on Wildwood Road resulting in high coliform counts. In mid-June, without consulting with his board, he directed village employees to take water samples for testing on the sites in question. At the September board meeting, Deputy Mayor Ralph Kreitzman stated that even though the mayor may have acted with good intentions, he was overstepping his authority by intervening in another village and acting outside of the law, but could rectify matters by repaying the estimated cost of $775 in village goods and services.

The mayor refused, read a statement and said he would not answer any questions from the trustees. He also stated that he would expect the village to pay for his legal expenses to defend himself if a suit is brought by the trustees.

It is his contention that since run-off from Kings Point will eventually mingle with run-off from the Village of Great Neck in shared discharge pipes into Udall's Cove and Manhasset Bay, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) would require the Old Village to prove that the contamination was not coming from "our municipal storm water system." He states that such testing would be expensive running into thousands of dollars. He appears convinced that his actions, beginning in mid-June, were "necessary, totally justified, and cost effective" and that his role as storm water manager for the village gave him the authority to take the actions he took.

But according to spokesperson Bill Fonda, DEC, Region 1, the agency does not test for fecal coliform in Long Island Sound this far west. He said, "We test 7 times a year for bacteria counts in areas where shell fishing is allowed. The westernmost testing area on the North Shore is Hempstead Harbor. We do not test for coliform in Manhasset Bay nor in Little Neck Bay." Mr. Fonda also stated another reason the DEC does not test for coliform in nearby bays is because New York City has an overwhelming impact on the Sound that outweighs any coliform runoff here. New York City has a combined sewer system, which means that in times of heavy rains, the system cannot process the sewage with the increased water volume pouring into the facility. This results in NYC putting out untreated sewage into the East River, which eventually flows into this region of the Sound.

Under the storm management program, the village is required to make an annual report to the DEC enumerating the steps taken to cut down on silt, soil, pesticides and fertilizer runoff into the Sound. Mr. Fonda said that the DEC was not actually investigating the runoff content. The DEC does require municipalities that contain large agricultural operations to prevent waste material from getting into the waterways, but as Mr. Fonda said, "That wouldn't apply to Great Neck."

The trustees, who knew nothing of this "threat to the environment" until mid-August when they received a copy of a rather exasperated sounding letter from the building inspector of Kings Point to Mayor Deem, essentially asking him to stay out of Kings Point's issues, are equally as convinced that they are required by law to take action if they believe that village funds and resources have been used inappropriately and have placed the village at risk for liability.

Deputy Mayor Ralph Kreitzman said, "I have no doubt that you had good intentions and thought you were protecting the village...but I believe you acted contrary to law. We've had 3 or 4 meetings since this process started and it has never been mentioned to this board, neither in a private conversation, a phone call nor at a meeting. Had it been brought up, we could probably have arrived at a lawful and appropriate course of action without reaching this point...This action is not politically motivated. I believe it is required by law; if we took no action, we could be guilty of a misdemeanor and removal from office. The amount (village clerk/treasurer) John Dominsky has estimated comes to $775. If you pay that sum, you don't have to defend a lawsuit."

Mayor Deem believes that if he pays the amount estimated to cover village costs, it would be an admission of guilt and he does not believe he is wrong.

Village attorney Steve Limmer said that from his analysis of the village code and in consultation with the New York State Conference of Mayors, he believes that the mayor acted beyond the scope of his duties.

Added to the record was a letter from David Bakshi, one of the Wildwood homeowners, who wrote, "As a resident of the Village of Kings Point, I demand to know by what authority representatives of an adjoining village have to enter my property without prior notice or permission? Further, by what authority did they have the right to place or spray an unknown substance on my property and /or to sample or take samples from my property?" He concluded saying that he would "pursue all legal avenues against those individuals who have violated my rights." If the Village of Great Neck sanctioned those actions, he would seek legal redress against the village as well.

The mayor refutes these charges saying that he and the village workers were trying to take water from Mitchell Creek and were not trespassing on Mr. Bakshi's property. In addition, he says that the spray used was bug spray to protect them from swarms of mosquitoes.

There was a lengthy discussion of hiring another attorney to represent the village since Mr. Limmer is also the attorney for Kings Point and to determine if the trustees are obligated to sue the mayor. Trustee Mark Birnbaum said, "If we are obligated, our hands are tied...under the law I'm not going to be guilty of a misdemeanor or subject to removal from office."

The trustees, with the exception of Edna Guilor-Segal who was absent and the mayor who abstained, voted to retain Peter Mineo of Forchelli, Curto, Schwartz, Mineo, Carlino & Cohn to first determine if the trustees are in fact required to take the step of suing and if so, to represent them in the matter.

The Record also called the Nassau County Health Department to determine if they were concerned about the second reading that was taken from the Wildwood properties in which a coliform count of 16,000 MPN was taken and if so, what action would they take. Cynthia Brown, spokesperson for the health department, said that the scoop water method of obtaining a water sample could be affected by various sources of contaminants. She said that the health department experts who have visited the properties in question saw puddles of water, but saw no evidence either by smell or appearance that there was a septic problem. They were satisfied with the dye test done in both houses. The health department does not plan to take any further action.