As Hempstead Town appointed its first members of a new water authority, the Massapequa Water District formally opened separate negotiations with Liberty Utilities to begin the work of acquiring parts of the system formerly owned by New York American Water.
Massapequa’s move starts the clock running on a series of milestones that Liberty is obligated to meet to keep in compliance with a state agreement that paved the way for its $608 million purchase of New York American Water, which was finalized earlier this month.
Former Massapequa Water District superintendent Stan Carey, who is now a consultant to the district, said he recently met with Liberty to set ground rules for the proposed Massapequa takeover in advance of determining valuation of the assets.
“We have started the process,” said Carey. “We are just trying to establish some ground rules at this point … So far they’ve been very friendly … in going through this process.”
Liberty spokeswoman Stephanie Bose declined to comment.
Massapequa, which seeks to acquire assets to serve about 5,800 East Massapequa customers, had previously valued the assets at around $21 million, with another $5 million in needed improvements.
“Like any other negotiation, it’s going to come down to the money in the end, now that it’s come down to the valuation and what they have to provide to us.” Carey said. He said the Massapequa Water District and its board are “committed to going through with this process and we’re hopeful it leads to us acquiring the assets.”
Liberty under an agreement approved by the State Public Service Commission must negotiate in good faith with the district and the newly formed North Shore Water Authority to sell the assets, in addition to holding rates steady at least through next year.
Liberty also must negotiate in good faith with the South Nassau Water Authority, which has the largest territory of all — more than 110,000 customers — for a possible acquisition.
This week, Hempstead town appointed the first three members of a new South Nassau Water Authority that will make decisions about the future of the region now served by Liberty after the acquisition. Appointed to the board are John Reinhardt, commissioner of the town water department; Laura Ryder, a Lynbrook Village board trustee, and Joseph Baker, a businessman who is president of the South Merrick Community Civic Association.
In a statement, Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin and town board members called on the state to help fund the new authority, the way legislation did for the North Shore one, with $1 million annually.
“As we move the process forward, we also think that it’s disheartening that the residents of America’s largest township are being treated so disproportionately by our representatives in Albany,” said Clavin, a Republican, in a statement, about the need for funding.
David Denenberg, co-director of Long Island Clean Air, Water and Soil, a watchdog group that has long advocated for public water, said he intends to keep public officials feet to the fire to make sure the South Shore isn’t left out of any public water takeover. “We’re going to stay on their case,” he said.
