The Water Authority of Southeastern Nassau County is a public authority originally created in 1991 by New York State Legislation to explore the potential of a public takeover of the then New York Water Service Corporation. The enabling legislation called for a board of five members, three to be appointed by the Supervisor of the Town of Hempstead and two appointed by the Supervisor of the Town of Oyster Bay.
HISTORY
The original authority board met over a period of six years during which time it held numerous public meetings to discuss the operations of New York Water and to address the questions and concerns of the public as they related to a potential public takeover of the company by the Authority. In April of 1997 the original authority board members voted to stop seeking a takeover at that time citing the concerns residents had with regards to school tax revenue.
Since the time that the original board halted its efforts, New York Water Service was acquired by Aqua America, a nationwide water and wastewater service provider. In recent years both New York Water and Aqua New York have successfully petitioned the New York State Public Service Commission for rate increases citing increased operating costs.
Shortly after the Public Service Commission granted Aqua New York a three year rate increase in January of 2010, the Supervisors of both the Town of Hempstead and the Town of Oyster Bay announced that they would repopulate the board of the dormant authority.
THE CURRENT BOARD
In September of 2010 the Hempstead and Oyster Bay Town Boards announced their new appointments to the Water Authority. The appointments made by the Hempstead Town Board were Richard Ronan, John Reinhardt and John Molloy; the appointments made by the Oyster Bay Town Board were Edward Kennedy and Walter D'Amato. The newly appointed members began meeting in December of 2010 and continue their work today. Effective of the Board Meeting on September 7, 2011, Mr. Molloy has stepped down from the Board.
