(Editor's Note: The Hicksville Water District provides service to homes and business within the Towns of Oyster Bay and Hempstead. The district provides water to Hicksville as well as parts of Levittown, East Meadow, Salisbury and Westbury.)

The Hicksville Water District, in recognizing that improvements are necessary to maintain a safe and up-to-date utility, is seeking to bond $18.3 million to fund capital improvement projects as included in its Master Plan. In addition to the bonded amount, the district is also looking to allocate $4.4 million from its current capital reserve fund to support the projects.

According to district officials, the following capital improvements for Hicksville's water supply system are necessary and would be bonded for: Plant 1 - nitrate treatment; Plant 3 - reactivation with treatment for nitrates and organics; Plant 5 - volatile organic compounds (VOC) treatment and plant upgrades; Plant 6 - nitrate treatment system; and Plant 11 - long-term air-stripping treatment. Improvements to be funded out of district reserve monies include clearwell and nitrate treatment system at Plant 8 and short-term granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment at Plant 11.

Hicksville Water District Chairman and Commissioner Richard Humann said that "keeping the pace with an expanding population, replacing aging infrastructure and improving the quality of potable water" are major factors that drive the bond program. "This is not about a luxury or about overbuilding. This is about a process of protecting the public water supply and being proactive as much as possible in an industry that is often reactive by necessity. It must be done," he said.

As a utility, the water supplier's right to bond public improvement projects falls under the guidelines of the Nassau County Civil Divisions Act; those projects, however, must be part of a plan analyzed by a licensed engineer that is submitted and approved by both the Oyster Bay and Hempstead Town Boards. The boards must consent to the project and the financing through bonds prior to the district moving forward. The water district does not have to put the bond up for public referendum.

"As a board of commissioners we are following the law. The Nassau County Civil Divisions Act grants the power to approve the bonding to the town boards rather than to the voters," said Commissioner Nick Brigandi. "This is about a process of protecting the public water supply and being proactive as much as possible in an industry that is often reactive by necessity."

Brigandi continued, "Some may say that is wrong and that residents should be able to directly vote on this borrowing ... [but we cannot] create a political issue of our bond proposal that is a part of our Master Plan to mitigate and protect a vital resource, our water supply."

Through federal, state and county mandates, the Hicksville Water District's Board of Commissioners conducts regular testing of the water supply to make certain that its facilities will be able to supply residents with a supply of potable water now and in the future. "The town boards have the final say on the district's finances and they will review Hicksville Water's suggestions on the plans for the projects and determine both the necessity and whether or not bonding is the proper method of financing," said Humman.

As it currently stands, projects have been identified and prioritized, cost estimates have been prepared and a community meeting was held. "We have the opportunity to significantly protect the district's potable water supply for the next 20 years, all while maintaining our current goal of maintaining a zero tax increase into the immediate future, of which we have done for the last three years," the chairman continued.

The district is in the process of scheduling preliminary meetings with Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto and Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray. Also, a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a detailed review of the proposed bonding projects (Master Plan) by an independent engineering firm has been issued with the contract expected to be awarded shortly.

It is anticipated that the projects, if approved, will be initiated over the next 10 years and completed within the next seven years and that bonding would be done in staggered windows over the course of 20 years, meaning the district would borrow the funds as the projects are proposed; bonding for each project would be based upon a 20-year repayment term.

"It seems to me that there are only really just two questions that need to be answered in this process," said Humann. "The first is whether or not the project is necessary and properly designed while the second is whether or not, from a financial standpoint, bonding is necessary given the anticipated tax revenue, water revenue, reserves on hand and other operating and capital costs."

He continued, "The water district has a public health responsibility to meet which dictates that it does everything necessary to supply water that meets drinking standards. The residents of Hicksville have every right to demand and expect that the board fulfills its fundamental responsibility to protect public health."