Going sewer to sewer in Cedarhurst and Lawrence

The villages of Cedarhurst and Lawrence will have a few more acres of land by the end of the year as their respective sewage plants will be totally decommissioned.

In 2009, the villages and Nassau County agreed to a plan that would have sewage generated by Cedarhurst and Lawrence sent to a pumping station in Inwood then to the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant in East Rockaway. Bay Park can hand 70 million gallons per day (80 times more than the Cedarhurst facility) and currently receives 52 million gallons a day.

“The consolidation of the Cedarhurst and Lawrence plants into the county sewer system was a program that was started by the previous administration (when Tom Suozzi was county executive) with the intent to save the villages from having to spend millions of dollars to update the existing plants,” said Mary Studdert, the spokeswoman for the county’s Department of Public Works (DPW).

Cedarhurst and Lawrence applied for loans from New York State’s Environmental Facility Corp. to reimburse the county for the work required to divert the sewage from their plants to Bay Park. Ownership of both plants shifted to the county on Jan, 1, 2012. In October of last year, the switch was flipped and the sewage began heading to East Rockaway.

“Our plant was built in 1932, it was very old and with the environmental law and new standards it became very difficult to keep up,” said Benjamin Weinstock, the mayor of Cedarhurst.

Cedarhurst initially was borrowing $12 million to pay its share of the projected $30 million costs. Weinstock said that amount is now $13 million. The village will pay off the debt in the next seven to 10 years. Cedarhurst continues to collect the sewer rents and pays a portion to the county. The residential rate is $200 and the commercial rate is based on how many outlets a business has. The village collects more than $1 million per year in sewer rents.

Weinstock said that for the first five years, the rate for both villages remains the same, and then the county rate will be phased in during the next five years. The maximum increase in the second five is 5 percent.

The Cedarhurst plant property is 3.2 acres. It is located on a site that in total is 6.25 acres and house the village’s DPW and assorted trucks and equipment. With the plant parcel facing Peninsula Boulevard, Weinstock said the village is not sure how the land could be used. “Before the end of 2017, we will have a better understanding and focus on what we will be doing.”

Lawrence is borrowing $16.5 million and after grants pay off $9 million, the village will be paying off $7.5 million from the $1.1 million it collects annually from sewer rents. Lawrence is structuring its debt to be done in 25 years. “We will be decommissioned by the end of this year and will 5.5 acres as an asset,” said outgoing Mayor Martin Oliner at the June 27 village board meeting.

What Lawrence will do with that portion of the parcel remains unknown. Some residents in the immediate area would like to see a park and with that traffic mitigation devices installed such as traffic signal and walkways. During the recent trustee campaign, Trustee-elect Uri Kaufman proposed building a community center with a swimming pool.

On the county’s end there could be a change as officials are looking into the idea of privatizing a sewer system that includes 3,000 miles of sewers, 53 pumping station and three sewage treatment plants.

“The county currently is evaluating proposals for a financial advisor who will assist the county in assessing the lease value of the plants and collection system with the intent to enter a long-term lease with a concessioner, who will pay an upfront payment that the county would use to retire the sewer fund authority debt as well as other eligible debt,” Studdert said. Nassau’s sewer debt is $500 million.

Studdert added that the concessioner would operate the system and invest money to ensure all the plants are in compliance with the required standards and permits. “The plants and sewer collection system would remain the county’s assets,” she said.