The Plainview Water District held a meeting on Thursday, June 30, to address the public's concerns regarding construction at the water supply well located at Plant No. 2 on Donna Drive in Plainview. Water district officials and engineers presented new design options outlining the future benefits of the new construction, while repeatedly assuring the community of the current safe and excellent quality of the water.

District Superintendent Paul Granger gave a PowerPoint presentation explaining the situation at the well, where water conditions are projected to deteriorate in the future because of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) commonly found in cleaning products and building materials. The district holds careless owners of industrial and commercial facilities as well as hazardous waste spills responsible for the situation. The Water District addressed this problem by filing a lawsuit against the polluters in State Supreme Court in 2002, as well as implementing immediate wellhead treatment for VOC removal at the site.

Earlier this year, the Town of Oyster Bay issued a stop-work order on the operations at the well site due to complaints from residents in the community. Construction operations ceased immediately on February 16. The June 30 meeting, originally scheduled for April, was held in response to complaints from residents of Donna Drive, who felt they were misled by the first renderings of the site that district officials and engineers displayed last summer.

According to residents of Donna Drive, the original images were "beautiful," but now the water supply well location resembles a "war zone" and is a "world-class eyesore." The president of the H2M Group, the first consultant, admits the original renderings were "poor" and did not give a clear picture of how the finished product would appear. District officials and engineers stated that the old plan was functional and did not contain design errors, but was "not aesthetically pleasing" and had an "unpleasant, industrial look."

"Because of the outcry from the residents of Donna Drive, as soon as we saw the wall, we stopped construction immediately," said Edward Shulroff, Water District Chairman.

"We want to make it clear we didn't just look at the retaining wall," Granger added. "We don't want to play games. We don't want to antagonize the community. We want the best plan possible."

Granger, along with the other officials and engineers for the site, fielded questions from those in attendance, consisting predominantly of Donna Drive residents. Community concerns included the height and color of the wall, noise pollution, lighting and security of the site against dumping and breaking in. Additionally, the value of home sales was a significant issue for one resident, whose real estate agent believes the house sale price might be lowered by as much as $100,000 due to the site's current appearance.

New renderings were presented by Bowne Engineers, hired for a second opinion to work along with the original engineers from H2M. The proposal would lower the front retaining wall by as much as 10 feet, match the colors and textures of the materials on different surfaces and plant box gardens in front for a more aesthetically pleasing façade.

According to water district officials, the current goal is to remobilize construction by August or September so that the estimated one-year project will be finished by September 2006. However the stop work order from the Town of Oyster Bay must first be "unstopped," once the Town of Oyster Bay and the Donna Drive residents approve of the new measurements and plans. While those in attendance were generally in favor of the new designs presented, another meeting is to be held within 5 to 6 weeks for residents to approve of the new numbers (cost, construction measurements, etc.) before they are presented to the town.

"The quality of our water supply and the safety of our customers are the top priorities of the Plainview Water District Board of Commissioners," said Shulroff. "It is important for district residents to know that our water quality remains excellent and there is no risk posed to the community. We will continue to keep the community fully informed as we continue with the project."