The Plandome Road sewer project is nearing the completion of its first phase, which entails the installation of a main sewer line, with plans for businesses to hook up to the sewer line on deck, Manhasset Chamber of Commerce committee member Robbie Donno told the Council of Greater Manhasset Civic Association Wednesday.
“And as far as I’m concerned, having done projects myself – 100 projects – over the years in business, by comparison, this has been very, very smooth,” said Donno, who has been a supporter of the project and served as the association’s liaison for the project.
Donno said the main sewer line running north and south on Plandome Road is almost done, with all that’s left to do is connect the north and south pipes under the bridge. Donno estimated less than a month until phase one is complete.
No schedule is available for the project going forward, Donno said.
North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said discussions on entering the second phase of the project have not been scheduled yet but will be discussed at a town board meeting in the future.
“Twenty years, 40 years we’ve been waiting,” DeSensa said. “We’re doing it.”
Phase one was funded by a $5 million grant secured last year by state Assemblywoman Gina Sillitti (D-Port Washington) and then-state Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-North Hills), which will cover the main sewer line.
Phase two will be funded by $3.1 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.
The $3.1 million allocation is based on cost estimates of $1.76 allocated for up to 88 property owners at approximately $20,000 per connection, $1 million for town facilities to connect to the sewer line and $334,000 for miscellaneous expenses.
Business owners will be responsible for hiring contractors to connect their business to the sewer line, which DeSena said would then be presented to the board to approve the contractor’s permit.
Donno said sidewalks will be broken when businesses connect to the sewer line, leading to sidewalk repairs needing to be scheduled after the fact.
With 88 property owners who could potentially hook up to the sewer line, DeSena said her hope is that business owners band together in hiring contractors and scheduling the work to be done in conjunction with one another.
If this is done, then DeSena said, sidewalk repairs can be done wholly rather than a patchwork job.
The work will also need to be done in coordination with the Long Island Rail Road’s construction on the Webster Avenue Bridge, which DeSena said she has discussed with its interim president.
Donno said that while the construction has not been entirely non-disruptive to the community, they have been implementing procedures to minimize the impacts. This includes working at night when traffic along the road is minimal.
Another improvement the civic association is seeking is the maintenance of town buildings along Plandome Road, calling for new windows and the buildings to be painted.
North Hempstead Town Councilmember David Adhami, whose district now encompasses Manhasset, said the project is in the works, and the window replacements are included in the town’s capital plan.
Civic president Andrew Schwenk asked if this would be treated like capital projects in the past and be neglected for years, which DeSena assured him would not be the case.
The capital plan is a five-year projection of projects, and DeSena said there is no scheduled date for when the windows will be replaced.
The town board adopted the capital plan during a Feb. 6 meeting vote.
DeSena said the new commissioner of the department of public works will be handling the capital plans and “hopefully” move this project forward.
Schwenk asked that, if new windows are not feasible for 2024, at the least the town re-paint the buildings.
Other projects the board discussed included the possibility of installing a flashing yield sign for pedestrians crossing at the intersection of Plandome Road and Park Avenue and getting the Plandome Park fountain up and running.
Adhami and DeSena said they will look into the feasibility of the projects.
