Lynbrook enters fuel-sharing agreement with Valley Stream

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Vehicles belonging to the Village of Valley Stream — fire trucks and Department of Public Works vehicles — will re-fuel in Lynbrook for about two months beginning in either September or October while Valley Stream’s underground tanks are being replaced.

The agreement with Lynbrook states that Valley Stream will pay a 12.5 percent administrative fee to the Village of Lynbrook per gallon of fuel, according to Michael Fox, the village treasurer of Valley Stream, who added that this is still a cheap option for the village.

“Usually, it’s significantly less than what you get at the pump because we’re buying in bulk and get excise taxes,”Fox said.

Lynbrook Mayor Bill Hendrick said that the Village of Lynbrook would benefit from the 12.5 percent fee, but that the primary motivation for the agreement was to help out. New York State law requires that underground storage tanks are replaced every 20 years, and the tanks that Valley Stream uses to refuel its vehicles are almost at that age, according to Fox. To remedy the problem, the Village of Valley Stream is currently seeking permits for new tanks. Once those permits are approved, the old tanks will be dug up and replaced with the new tanks.

Fox expects the process to begin in the Fall and could take six to eight weeks to complete. The project could cost the village nearly $1 million.

“Unfortunately when you’re dealing with underground fuel tanks, there’s a lot of permitting and it becomes expensive,” Fox said. “The good thing is we only have to do it every 20 years.”