The Williston Park Board of Trustees unanimously voted at Monday’s meeting to accept the recommended design for a new water tower.
The water tower will replace the 90-year-old one on Syracuse Street.
The chosen tank is a pedesphere, a steel tank with a smooth continuous sphere sitting atop a high pole. The design was presented by Bill Merklin of D&B Engineers and Architects.
Merklin presented different water tower plans at a public meeting in December.
Merklin had recommended the board go forward with a new elevated tank, which he said would have an initial cost of about $6.9 million.
Once constructed, the tank should last about 100 years with a paint coat or touch ups done every 15 to 20 years, Merklin said.
The tank will have the same capacity, about 500,000 gallons, and be roughly the same height, 180 feet, as the existing tank.
It will be placed on the same spot as the old tank, which needs to be removed before the new one can be constructed.
The village will have to use an interconnection from a neighboring village in the meantime, which Merklin said causes operational challenges and wouldn’t allow for construction during the winter.
Merklin proposed an expected timeline for the project to be done from Labor Day through Memorial Day.
Based on the operational challenges, Merklin said the pedesphere is the best choice for the village.
A steel-tank alternative, like a composite tank which has a cement block holding up the tower, would not be able to be constructed during cold months, Merklin said.
The pedesphere tank also has a smaller footprint than a multi-column tank, which the village currently has.
The pedesphere tank also has a smaller visual impact compared with other styles, Merklin said.
During the meeting members of the board also recognized Trustee Teresa Thomann for her 12 years of dedication to the village.
(Photo by Rebecca Klar)
It was Thomann’s last meeting; her term is ending and she decided to not run again.
Thomann is at the end of her eighth consecutive year as a village board member. She previously served a four-year term in the 1990s.
Trustee Kevin Rynne spoke of Thomann’s passion. Trustee Michael Uttaro said Thomann often gave the board reason for pause and a lot of insight, adding that she “taught us all.”
Mayor Paul Ehrbar also noted that Thomann was the first woman, though not the last, elected to the village board.
Thomann said that she thinks she has received more than she gave to the village.
She said that on her last meeting, which also happened to be the 34-year anniversary of her grandfather’s death, she was reminded of what a special place Williston Park is.
On that day 34 years ago, Thomann said, it was symbolic of what goes on in the village – from the ambulance response to a neighbor who was a nurse helping out.
From that point, Thomann went on to get involved in the PTA as her children entered Herricks schools and continued to serve her community.
Getting involved, she said, is what makes the village special.
