A Nassau County Supreme Court judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the planning and construction of a new water tower at the Manhasset-Lakeville Water District’s site in the Village of Munsey Park.
Representatives for the village’s board of trustees filed for the restraining order with Nassau County Supreme Court Judge R. Bruce Cozzens on July 9, according to court records, to prevent the water district from accepting bids or doing any other work at the site, citing a lack of transparency on part of Manhasset-Lakeville to seek approvals from Munsey Park.
A hearing to consider an injunction on the property is scheduled for July 17.
“The board is not convinced [Manhasset-Lakeville] has done enough investigation research as to what alternatives there might be,” said Bob Morici, counsel to the Village of Munsey Park. “Their position, the water district, is they’re doing whatever work they need to do and they don’t need to come before the board for any approvals, and the board disagrees.”
Efforts to reach Chris Prior, the water district’s attorney, were unavailing.
In an interview with Newsday, he said, “The Manhasset-Lakeville Water District intends to aggressively contest the actions taken by the Village to disrupt the Water District project to replace the Munsey Park Elevated Water Storage Tank.”
The water district has proposed to replace the current 85-year-old, 500,000 gallon-capacity tower along Eakins Road in Munsey Park with one of the same 165-foot height that holds 750,000 gallons, but residents and village officials have requested Manhasset-Lakeville look into a ground-level tank that they said would be safer and aesthetically pleasing.
A communications antenna that was built next to the tower in October, but was later removed after residents questioned their lack of notification about the project, would be installed on the side of the tower.
The current tower is one of the district’s two elevated water storage tanks that distributes water across the 10.2 square miles in Manhasset and parts of Great Neck and New Hyde Park served by the Manhasset-Lakeville Water District.
Officials have said that the current water tower does not comply with building and safety codes, while the proposed tower would meet regulations and be able to withstand extreme weather conditions in the future.
The water tower was last rehabilitated in 1998, and the water district has since made regular repairs to curtail its corrosion and deterioration.
But based on recent analysis and testing conducted by H2M Architects + Engineers, officials have said the tower would have to undergo major rehabilitation in the next few years or be replaced completely.
The proposed tower would cost $3.2 million that the district intends to pay for using money in its capital fund.
Officials have said a new tower would increase the water district’s annual operating costs by approximately $90,000.
