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Water Department

Town Board, 4/17/2012
Fluoridation issue. Councilman Paganelli reported that new EPA regulations may require the Town to send $100,000-$150,000 in the near future on new equipment in order to continue adding fluoride to the Town’s water supply. Yorktown is the only member of the Northern Westchester Joint Water Works that fluoridates its water. He said the “jury was still out” on the value of fluoridation but that this will have to be reviewed before the Town commits to the expenses. During Courtesy of the Floor, Susan Siegel (the person writing these notes) told the board that she had learned last year that the decision to fluoridate the Town’s water dates back to a referendum in the 1970s but that she didn’t know if there would have to be another referendum to discontinue the fluoridation. Supervisor Grace said he thought the law had been changed.

Town Board, 4/10/2012

Reminding the Board that they raised the issue two months ago, David Goldberg and Joe Bonano of J&J Backflow asked how long it would take for the Town to address their concerns about the Town’s backflow program.Supervisor Grace said he anticipated having a response within the coming month. He said he doesn’t want the fee to be arbitrary.Mr. Bonano repeated his request for a copy of the Town’s list of users who require backflow inspections.

Town Board, 4/3/2012

Duriing Courtesy of the Floor: Citing minutes of a September 1, 2009 Town Board meeting, Mr. Bonano of J &J Backflow said that the Water Department was incorrectly charging for backflow inspections.Highway Superintendent DiBartolo, who started the program in 2009 when he was in charge of the Water Department, explained that prior to 2009 the town was not in compliance with Health Department regulations that required the Town to keep records of inspections. He said that the in-house program was easy to operate, that it was working well, and he praised the department for the work it was doing. He added that the Town never told water customers that they couldn’t use outside vendors to perform the tests. Councilman Bianco added that he saw no problem with the Town offering a service to its customers.

Mr. Bonano repeated his suggestion that if the Town wanted to use the program to raise revenue, it could charge a witness fee or filing fee that would require fewer Town man hours and which would be more cost effective.

Deputy Supervisor Murphy said he would look into the situation.

(see below for earlier discussions.)

Town Board, 3/26/2012

The Water Department has requested permission to go out to bid to purchase a new dump truck. Councilman Bianco asked if the department needed one and Supervisor Grace wanted to know if the item was included in the department’s 2012 budget. He suggested that the board let the department proceed with the bid and make a final determination later on whether to actually purchase the truck.When the board was ready to postpone taking any action on the request, T own Attorney Koster advised the board of the department’s concern that there was a six month lead time for the delivery of the truck, the board voted 5-0 to authorize the bid.

Town Board, 3/20/2012

Mr. Bonanno of J&J backflow said that after viewing the archived tape of the last board meeting he wanted to make sure that his point was clear: he was not concerned about the amount of the fee that the town charged for the backflow inspection but rather he wanted his company’s name included in the letter the Water Department sent advising users of the need for the inspection. In response, Supervisor Grace said, “We hear you,” and we’re looking into it but that things go slowly. He added that he felt the town was undercharging for the work it did and that he didn’t mind if Mr. Bonanno kept reminding him.

Town Board, 3/6/2012

During Courtesy of the Floor, local plumber David Goldberg and Joe Bonano of J&J Backflow repeated their concerns, made at a previous meeting, about the town operating its own black flow business. Mr. Bonano said it was “inappropriate and unethical” for the Water Department to send a letter to commercial users telling them that they needed to have their backflow devices inspected and then, in the same letter, have them call the Water Department to set up an appointment for the test. At a minimum, he wanted his company’s name included in the letter. Since the town started the backflow program in 2009, which is required by the county Health Department, he said he has been losing business.He also said that the town’s charge of $65 undercut the private contractors. He said that in White Plains, private companies did the testing but that the city charged $50 for a city employee to witness the test.In Yonkers, the city charges a $25 fee to file the test results.

In response, Supervisor Grace said that he had spoken to Water Distribution Superintendent David Rambo after Mr. Bonano’s first appearance and that the department was looking into its fee structure and that if it didn’t reflect the town’s actual cost, then the fee would be raised.He said he would have another talk with Mr. Rambo. Talking about fees in general, Supervisor Grace said that the town was looking into all of them and whether they were too low or too high.

Town Board, 2/7/2012

Joe Bonana (sp?) of J&J Backflow, accompanied by local plumber Dave Goldberg, charged that it was unethical and a conflict of interest for the town to do the required annual backflow testing and charging money for it. Initially he said that in 2009, the town charged $55 for the inspection, but later said the amount was about $150 this year. He also objected to the town’s denial of his FOIL request last year for the names of local businesses that had backflow devices and said that the town’s practices put his company at a disadvantage. Highway Superintendent DiBartolo, who was in charge of the Water Department from 2008-2009, responded that in 2009 the town was notified by the county that it was not in compliance with the Department of Health’s backflow requirements and that a town program was established and town staff trained. He said there was no conflict of interest. He added that private companies charge $300 for the test and that the town was not running the program like a private business. Supervisor Grace said that there were restrictions in the Freedom of Information Law that governed the release of the list that J&J had requested and that he would look into the other issues with David Rambo, the Water Distribution Superintendent.This is page content.