DeSena Charges Subversion After Sewer Funds Vote

and David Adhami.

frizzo@antonmediagroup.com

The Town of North Hempstead Town Board gave its unanimous, symbolic support for the Plandome Road sewer project at its March 14 meeting. Such a formal vote had been requested by the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District, which will use a $5 million state grant to place a sewer line under the main business thoroughfare. With the vote secured, the district can begin its planning process.

However, the Democratic majority once again blocked a plan by Supervisor Jen DeSena to move about $3 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) moneys under town control into a dedicated fund to help with the second part of the infrastructure project—attaching “lateral” piping to the main line to connect about 88 properties in order to complete the sewering of Plandome Road businesses.

With Councilman Robert Troiano absent, fellow Democrat ic councilmembers Veronica Lurvey, Mariann Dalimonte and Peter Zuckerman voted against a resolution introduced by the supervisor. DeSena, a Democrat who caucuses with the Republicans, was joined by Dennis Walsh

The Democrats had blocked the same resolution in January, saying they needed more time to make certain that using ARPA moneys to partially aid private businesses would be legal. They hoped that an answer would be forthcoming before the April 4 town board meeting, where they promise to give DeSena’s proposal another look.

Town Attorney John Chiara said he had been exploring the legal issues in consultation with Matthew McDonough, an attorney retained by the Manhasset Chamber of Commerce to provide guidance on the use of ARPA funds. However, he was not ready to provide a legal opinion at the March 14 meeting, and this influenced the Democrat trustees’ response.

Dalimonte reaffirmed her reluctance to commit the funds without a clear indication that it would pass muster with the federal government.

“My issue is the ARPA funds have restrictions,” she said in pleading for an extension on the vote. “If we allocate this $3 million, and then we go and spend that $3 million...

[and] the federal government comes in and says ‘Sorry, you are not allowed to allocate that $3 million.’ So now we have to bond for $3 million pay the $3 million back to the federal government and now every single taxpayer—250,000 taxpayers in the town of North Hempstead—just paid for that sewer line. I support putting the sewer line in, but we need to make sure to cross our t’s and dot our i’s on this.”

In a statement released on March 16, DeSena said, “I am both shocked and extremely disappointed at the actions of the majority members of the town board, as they not only voted to block the funding for this grant program to administer this vital project, which has been something the community has been asking for for nearly 40 years, but they did so while exhibiting open disdain and hostility towards residents who came to speak in favor of the program. Our town has been presented with a once in a lifetime opportunity to complete this project at almost no cost to town taxpayers, as ARPA funds were specifically designed to allow for a grant program for a project such as this, whereas normally government funds cannot be used in this way. Our businesses, our residents, our environment and the future of our Plandome Road business district deserve this project. It’s incredibly sad to see all of these things sacrificed by the majority councilmembers to bolster their own political power, as they’re presumably looking to dole out these federal funds to their own pet projects.”

Lurvey provided the following response: “Enough already. The most basic facts about this project are unknown. Who will receive the money? How will it be spent? What controls will be in place? Is this a legally appropriate use of the funds? These are critically important questions to which there are no concrete answers. My priority is and has always been allocating $3 million in a prudent way that best serves the town. There should be no favoritism or politics at play. Our residents are sick and tired of petty squabbles. They want results, and it’s our job to deliver—in a responsible way, ignoring all the political noise and interference that the Supervisor keeps injecting with her coordinated attacks.”

In all, the town received about $10.1 million under ARPA’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund program funds. Trustees have not yet finalized how the town will spend these moneys.

Read a longer story at www.manhassetpress.com.