The relatively dry summer of 1999 has not changed the costs of groundwater runoff infiltration into the Roslyn sewer system. In recent weeks, the Roslyn Board of Trustees has both debated the problem of increased groundwater costs and how much a burden should be placed on local businesses for any solution.

After doing a study, the village found that there has been a 5.3 percent increase in the quantity of groundwater going into the sanitary system from the first half of 1998 to this year's first six months. Village officials claim they can't find a reason for the increase, but admit that the costs will eventually have to be paid to the county. The yearly bill for groundwater infiltration comes to $525,000 a year. Costs are running the same or even above the last budget year's total.

Much of the problem stems from water at Silver Lake in Roslyn Park flowing into businesses on Old Northern Boulevard. Many businesses deal with the problem by pumping the water back into the village's sanitary sewage system.

The pond is under the jurisdiction of the Town of North Hempstead, which has its own laws against pumping water back into the pond. Trustee Marshall Bernstein admitted that there currently is no answer to a "problem that needs a solution." The costs are not going down, but the village, Trustee Bernstein reiterated, needs to keep the interests of local businesses in mind when settling on a solution.

The BOT may ask Nassau County officials to calibrate a pump station to measure the groundwater flow between 2 and 4 a.m. on a given day. They may also ask the Pall Corporation to help out by paying $14,000 a month for the right to pump their own water into the system.

At its Aug. 17 meeting, the BOT passed a resolution which would 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.

Also at the same meeting, Village Attorney John Spellman said the BOT should consider issuing summonses, setting a deadline and then administering "injunctive relief." Mayor Janet Galante said those steps had already been taken. The mayor also acknowledged that the problem has been with the village for two years now.

Chamber of Commerce President Frederic Carlton has opposed the resolution. He, too, noted that the groundwater problem has been with the village for awhile. Calling it a "fact of life," Mr. Carlton said the current situation will not "disappear" through resolutions or cease and desist orders. He suggested that the village's "code enforcement people" should handle where the "flow of water" from local establishments and properties is going. Mr. Carlton also thought the creation of an out-fall pipe might be a solution, noting that this worked to alleviate the same groundwater problem from the Harborview shopping center.