The Oyster Bay Town Board on Tuesday closed a public hearing and voted to authorize the Jericho Water District to issue $54.65 million in serial bonds to pay for water treatment at four wells.
Bill Merklin, an engineer with D&B Engineers and Architects representing the water district, told the board the money will fund treatment for PFAS compounds and 1,4-dioxane at wells 3, 4, 27 and 28, plus related infrastructure work. He said the project will cost the average ratepayer an estimated $135.41 a year and that only Jericho Water District ratepayers, not townwide taxpayers, will repay the bonds.
Supervisor Saladino questioned Merklin about how much state funding has gone toward the work, and was told the district received about $9.5 million from a state grant program toward the roughly $54 million project, with no state funding for ongoing operating costs such as electricity and chemicals.
"We find it rather outrageous that the state has refused under this leadership to provide more for the water districts that they're mandating spend all this," Saladino said.
Councilman Steve Labriola also questioned Merklin, asking about the difference between state and federal timelines for the contaminant limits. Merklin said New York's 2020 regulations on the compounds came with no compliance timeline, while a federal EPA rule gives districts until April 2029, but said the district's projects still take three to four years to plan, design, bid and build.
No members of the public spoke during the water district hearing before the board voted to close it and approve the bonds.
The board separately adopted a bundle of resolutions, TF-11 2026 through 797 2026, that included the 2027 town budget, after tabling resolution 780-2026. The vote passed with seven ayes.
Saladino told the board the proposed budget holds overall town labor costs flat at $104 million for a third consecutive year, even as health care premium increases have run more than four times the rate of inflation.
During public comment, Joe Burce, described as the former president of the Northwest Hicksville Civic Association, told the board about upcoming model train shows benefiting local charities, including the Nassau County Police Department's youth Explorer program and a Hicksville fire company's restoration of a 1948 fire engine.