Water tower repair completion delayed to November

The completion of repairs to the water tower has been pushed back to November, as the Elmont community continues to wait for the town’s name to be painted on the structure.

The repairs initially were to be completed by the second week of July, but the contractor, NUCO Painting Corporation, has extended the deadline to November.

Michael Tierney, superintendent of the Water Authority of Western Nassau County, said his agency is investigating why the process has been delayed and wants to get repairs back on target. The contractor has also worked on other water tanks throughout the tri-state area since 2000. 

“It doesn’t make us happy because we need this tank back in service,” Tierney said. “It does a lot for our water system.”

The initial phase of the project involved moving cellular carriers and Nassau County Police Department communication antennas from the tower.

Interior repairs to the tank began last September, including sandblasting to clear off corrosive elements to make the tank usable. Exterior repairs began in the spring, and Tierney estimated that 40 percent of the exterior work on the tank had been completed as of press time.

The estimated cost for the improvement project for the water tower is more than $3 million.

In a 2020 letter to Nassau County Legislator Carrie Solages, Elmont resident Dwayne Palmer described the town’s water tower as an “eyesore,” and residents of the Elmont community have demanded that the structure be repaired.

A coalition of community members — including the Elmont Strong group, the Argo Civic Association, other civic associations and individual community members with concerns about the tower’s state of disrepair — joined to create a campaign for the tower’s rehabilitation.

“As a community member, I am happy to see that the tower is being rehabilitated,” Palmer said. “Once they broke ground, they pretty much kept their word.”

Palmer said he expected that by the end of the year, the entire structure of the tower would be in usable condition, which means the removal of contaminants from the water supply so that the community receives clean water, and that the tower has been beautified.

He added that beautifying the tower is important to protect property values so that they are not being driven down by keeping an “ugly, uncared for public utility in the heart of Elmont.”

At first, officials said repairs would take four years to complete, but after pressure from the community, the timeline was shortened to two years. 

Improvements to the tower are long overdue, according to Solages, who expressed how thankful he was that this and other water infrastructure issues were being addressed after community campaigns.

“I’m thankful that the water tower reflects the beautiful community of Elmont, and I’m looking forward to other improvements in the community,” Solages said.

Tierney stressed that the water authority is working to get the project back on schedule after making a personal promise to the community about the water tower’s rehabilitation.

“We want it done as much as the community wants it done,” Tierney said.