According to Village of Roslyn officials, business establishments on Old Northern Boulevard are pumping hundreds of gallons of water each day into the village's sanitary sewage system. The problem, board of trustee members claim, is adding unspecified, but apparently significant costs to village expenses.

As a result, the BOT passed a resolution at its Aug. 17 meeting giving notice to establishments in question. In short, the village plans to give a final notice to commercial property owners currently "discharging illegal groundwater and other encroachments for other than commercial purposes." If no progress is made after 60 days of the notice, then the village will pursue legal action.

The vote was close, with Trustees Marshall Bernstein and John Durkin voting no. Voting in the affirmative were Mayor Janet Galante, Deputy Mayor Nolan Myerson and Trustee Louise McCann.

As Trustee Bernstein pointed out, the problem is not the making of any of the establishments along Old Northern Boulevard. Such businesses, he noted, stand on the edge of the lake at Roslyn Park. Water pours onto their property, usually into their basements, and many of the businesses are dealing with the problem by simply pumping the water back into the sanitary sewage system. Trustee Bernstein worried that the village was thrusting an additional problem on local businesses for something that is caused by natural forces.

The lake is the property of the Town of North Hempstead. Village Attorney John Spellman said that the TONH has laws against pumping the water back into the pond. He added that the village get issues, summonses, set a deadline, and then issue "injunctive relief." However, Mayor Galante said the village has already taken those initiatives.

Mayor Galante also acknowledged that the problem has been with the village for two years. Action taken by the village could include informing the establishments that costs from the pumping will be reimbursed by the businesses themselves. Also, the village may issue a cease and desist order and put a meter monitoring their water usage inside the businesses in question. The problem, Deputy Mayor Myerson said, will be "remedied or metered."