At the last meeting of the Williston Park Village Board there was good news and bad news. The good news is that the new Williston Park pool will open on time on June 20.

In giving her report on the pool Deputy Mayor Doreen Ehrbar said that there had been a slight delay due to the rain, but that now the workers are back on target and set for the scheduled June 20 opening. Further, the pool committee has taken great care in staffing the pool for both lifeguards and general personnel and she said she felt that the pool will have a definite friendlier atmosphere.

When it is finally unveiled the pool promises to be lovelier than before. The main pool has been entirely gutted and a new filtration system installed. There will be a new circular slide and two new up to code diving boards. Further, new sun shelters have been installed and the deck equipment has all been refurbished along with the additional new deck equipment.

The Kiddie Pool is brand new as well with a brand new filtration system and it will have a graduated depth for the safety of toddlers.

Deputy Mayor Ehrbar further announced that registration days for the pool would be from now until June 3 at village hall on Willis Avenue from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m; on May 30 at village hall from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and after June 3 at the pool itself.

The bad news is that the board announced that they would have to float a series of bonds. The first bond was for $1, 250,000 and that is to construct an air stripping tower for Well No. 2 on the property of Kelleher Sports Complex.

Mayor Joseph Connelly, poised at an air map of the village said, "First of all our water is safe. But I want to give you an overview of what the water wells look like in Williston Park."

He continued, "Well No. 1 and 2 are in Kelleher Field; Well No. 3 is near Caemmerer Park, but is dormant right now; Well No. 4 is in the parking lot down by the railroad. The Friday before I was sworn into office we tested high in this well (Well No. 2) for a chemical known as trichlorothane. We test our water every three months and the last time we tested it which was in December or January it tested at 1.5 per billion; then in April the test spiked to 5.2 per billion; the accepted testing is 5.0 per billion. We immediately notified the Nassau County Health Department and we shut the well down and it is down now. Well No. 1 is about 50 yards away from Well No. 2, which is a brand new well which we just dug and it shows no evidence of this chemical. Well No. 4 has a stripping tower already installed on it."

The mayor went on, "About nine or ten years ago this well when tested showed there was a chemical of tetrachloraethyline in it. We spent a good deal of money, at the time, to construct the stripping tower, a method used to ensure that the water is purified."

Mayor Connelly continued, "What we need to do is to construct a stripping tower on Well No. 2, which will take about seven or eight months. What is happening is that the middle of Long Island has a problem with these chemicals. Trichlorothane is a solvent used in manufacturing and I asked our engineers where it could come from. He said it could have been in the ground before sewers since our water level is about 400 feet in depth and it takes a long time to filter down through the soil to the water."

The mayor went on to explain that Mineola has a similar problem, as does Garden City. And, in fact, Garden City Park has a well in its industrial center that has been declared a Superfund Site and is in the process of being remediated.

The mayor further commented, "We did not anticipate this happening so quickly. Therefore, what we propose is to build a stripping tower that will handle both Well No. 1 and Well No. 2 It will only be built for Well No. 2, but it will have the capacity to take care of Well No. 1 should this chemical seep into it in the future. We don't anticipate that happening, but it just makes sense to construct a Stripping Tower that is able to take care of the two wells."

The mayor said, "I sat down with New York State Senator Michael Balboni, who is the chairman of the Water Resources Committee and he's going to try to help us; plus Assemblywoman Maureen O'Connell is looking into getting us a safe water low interest loan and hopefully with their intercession we will be awarded some funds."

The mayor said that the village studied every aspect of the issue and the main concern was to provide safe drinking water for Williston Park and that is what they are going to do. One resident inquired if the money would come out of the water fund or the general fund and was told it would come from the water fund. He asked if that means the water tax will go up and the mayor confirmed his question.

The mayor said, "I was annoyed and said we have to find someone who did this, but I was told that this could have happened long before we had sewers. However, the engineers are looking into it."

The bond resolution was then passed unanimously.

The board then passed bonds for $285,000 for a tax certiorari for Williston House, that was over-assessed and the village is obliged to pay. This was also passed.

The last bond resolution was passed for $106, 000 for new equipment for the fire department. This was also passed, as was a tax levy in the amount of $14.42.

In other business the board announced that there will be a Senior Social on June 14 to be held in the cafeteria of St. Aidan's from 2 to 4 p.m. and Steve Griffin will be the DJ for the free event. On July 15, the Nassau Pops will perform a concert at the Cross Street School field and the Williston Park Street Fair is set for September 20.

It was also announced that, after a long hiatus, St. Aidan's will once again hold its 5K run on May 30 to start at 2:30 p.m. The route will go from Willis and Pembroke, south to Lafayette, west to Herricks Road; Herricks Road to Searingtown, northeast to McKinley; east to Miles; south to Williams; west to Colonial; south to Centre; east to Park and south to Pembroke to finish line on Aster and Willis.

The Beautification Committee is planning a bus trip to Foxwood Casino on July 24. The bus will leave at approximately 10 a.m. and will return at approximately 10 p.m The cost is $30 and $20 will be returned with a food voucher and coins. Reservations may be made by calling Bernadette Mullin at 248-6498, as soon as possible, in order to secure the bus.

The meeting was adjourned to Executive Session. The next meeting will be held on June 15 at 8 p.m. at the Williston Park Village Hall, Willis Avenue.