Northport Approves $9M Loan Application for Sewer Plant Upgrades

The Board of Trustees approved a resolution, 4-0, at its Tuesday meeting that modified the village's application for a loan to make improvements to the in order to get in compliance with state-mandated nitrogen emission levels. Trustee Jerry Maline was absent.

The minor modification to the proposal changed the amount sought by the village to $9.03 million. The amount was determined after numerous discussions between the village, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Environmental Facilities Corporation.

Mayor George Doll submitted the finalized application to the DEC last week, but the board decided to ratify the decision with an official resolution in order to inform the public that they are taking steps to get the plant in compliance with the DEC requirements.

“This resolution is the formal way of approving an amendment to our application for this amount that the three groups believe is the appropriate amount to go forward with the plan,” said deputy mayor Henry Tobin. “We have worked diligently and continuously with the EFC and the DEC to come up with an engineering approach and a financial approach that can help the Village meet its 2014 obligations under the law.”

The passing of the resolution doesn’t mean that the village will accept the bond, or that it will even get it. Research to find better and less expensive ways to limit nitrogen emissions coming out of the plant is ongoing and will hopefully provide a solution that will do a better job of filtering out nitrogen than the denitrification filters. Those, according to plant manager Erica Reinhard, will . This, in turn, will hopefully require them to need less than the requested $9.03 million.

“We are not borrowing money right now,” said Tobin. “This is to move along the process, as required, to open up that line of credit. We’re still going to look for every way we can to reach our obligation in a less expensive, more efficient way, and work with the DEC on this.”

Notes
The board also indicated its support for the countersuit filed earlier that day against LIPA by and the . The village is  not a part of the lawsuit because the plant is not within village limits.

“The village is supporting the town in its lawsuit,” said Mayor Doll. “LILCO made a commitment to the community. Even though they’ve changed to LIPA and several other names, we expect them to live up to that commitment.”

Also, several members of the Northport Rotary Club, the Northport Kiwanis Club, and the were presented with proclamations from trustee Thomas Kehoe in honor of National Small Business Week, which is next week.

“Without the Kiwanis and the Commerce and the Chamber, Northport’s Main Street would have a lot of shuttered storefronts,” said Kehoe.

Due to a conflict with a regularly scheduled Northport Planning Board, the Board of Trustees pushed up the start time of their next scheduled meeting on May 24 to 5pm.