Hearing on Water Rate Hike in Massapequa Sought
Hearing on water rate hike in Massapequa sought
By Eden Laikin
Residents in eastern Massapequa served by a private water company, and county officials, say they pay three times as much for water as their neighbors.
Now the company wants to increase the rate by 12 percent.
And the residents have been denied the right to oppose the hike at a public hearing, according to Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi and Legis. Dave Mejias (D-Farmingdale).
Suozzi and Mejias stood outside a home on Clocks Boulevard on Friday, with a dozen residents they called "forgotten."
"These injustices have gone on long enough," Suozzi said. "It's hard to imagine that folks can be ignored like this."
Suozzi said he was sending a letter to the New York State Public Service Commission, which must approve any rate hikes, asking it to deny the application by Aqua New York.
Aqua says it is raising the rates to raise $3.5 million to help fund $15 million in capital improvements needed for water quality and reliability in Nassau County.
Aqua, which serves about 40,000 residents in Nassau, is also seeking to raise rates for fire hydrants by 27 percent.
PSC officials, in a written response to a letter from Mejias, said they'd received about 1,250 letters and e-mails of protest from Nassau residents served by Aqua. Citing those comments and ones made at a public hearing last month in Merrick, officials said they don't see the need for a hearing in Massapequa.
Pat Ficarrotto, who lives on Clocks Boulevard, said it's outrageous Aqua wants more money. She said her water bill for the past two months was $187. She said that when she lived in another part of Massapequa served by the Massapequa Water District, she paid that amount for a year.
Mejias held a community meeting Friday night and will convene another Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Massapequa Park library. Testimony by residents and public officials will be sent to the PSC. "Shame on you PSC for not having public meetings here," Mejias said.
Suozzi said he would explore the possibility of the county replacing the private water district with a public one.
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