Water company to make presentation to Malverne residents, Feb. 4

Malverne residents will hear the New York American Water Company’s water main replacement schedule for Malverne when the water company makes a presentation at the next Malverne Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. The presentation will be made prior to the regularly-scheduled Board of Trustees meeting. The public is strongly encouraged to attend.

“There were 185 people at the village’s last meeting with the water company in 2011,” said Malverne resident Tom Grech. “We will want to pack that meeting again.”

Malverne Mayor Patricia McDonald organized an initial meeting last week with representatives from New York American Water, including vice president of operations Brian Bruce, representatives from Senator Dean Skelos’ office and Assemblyman Brian Curran’s office, Malverne trustees and Grech, to discuss the ongoing water problem in Malverne. McDonald said she had contacted the water company about a meeting after hearing increasing complaints from residents who saw coverage about the water problem on News 12 and WCBS-TV.

It was decided during their meeting that the water company would speak publicly about the problem — and their future plans — at the next board meeting.

Both Curran’s and Skelos’ office said they would do whatever they could to help the situation, the mayor said. She also reached out to Councilman Bruce Blakeman for support.
“We hadn't been receiving many complaints from people in the village, and after the issue that was reported on channels 12 and 2, we received a number of calls,” said the mayor. “One woman made a statement about paying a lot of taxes and still receiving brown water, but taxes don't go towards water,” she added. “We want people to understand that.”

The mayor, who said she speaks with the water company on a regular basis, said that she had to replace bathroom fixtures in her own home because of brown staining. She added that the main had been replaced on her street last year and she hasn’t had a problem since. She also praised the company for responding to her request for a meeting immediately. “They did not drag their feet on this meeting,” McDonald said. “Brian Bruce called me right away.”

Bruce, and other executives at the water company, have not responded to numerous Herald requests for interviews since the beginning of January.