I urge residents to vote on Dec. 11 to re-elect Jane Rebhuhn commissioner of the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District.
Commissioner Rebhuhn is a highly trained and experienced architect and engineer. We cannot afford to lose the skills and experience that Jane brings to the District. I have observed first-hand from the district’s weekly meetings over many years that Jane has played a critical role in the design and launch of the district’s $60 million construction project now under way to bring Great Neck’s wastewater (sewage) treatment facilities into compliance with Federal and State Law.
Commissioner Rebhuhn’s opponent, Steve Reiter, has never attended a district meeting or a budget hearing and yet is making inaccurate statements about the district’s budget. Had he inquired, he would have learned that the district’s $60 million project is being funded by a loan from a NY State agency at the extremely low rate of 2 percent per annum over 30 years. The state is requiring repayment of principal plus interest immediately, before the project kicks in with the savings from consolidation and increased operational efficiency as well as an expanded revenue base. Hence, a modest, temporary bulge in the budget.
The new, high-tech, high-capacity treatment plant on the present site along East Shore Road will permit the closing of another plant currently operated by the Village of Great Neck. As a former official of the Federal Reserve, I can well appreciate that this project will yield many millions of dollars in savings through reduced energy costs and enhanced operating efficiencies. These savings will offset most, if not all, of the entire project cost. Jane Rebhuhn’s knowledge and experience has contributed greatly to these savings and to obtaining various state grants.
In my opinion, the loss of Jane Rebhuhn would be a severe blow to prospects for the successful completion and commissioning of a $60 million treatment plant. Commissioner Rebhuhn’s opponent has neither the professional background nor the practical experience to play a constructive governing role in this highly complex process. Since a lot of our money is at stake, not to mention the essential nature of the project, it would, in my opinion, not be a good idea to replace a highly trained and experienced expert, namely Jane Rebhuhn, with a newcomer novice. Vote at the Baker School or the Great Neck senior Center.
Leon Korobow
Great Neck
