Port Washington Sewer Restoration Bumped Back

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — Manorhaven's aging sewer system will wait another week before repairs will begin. Work on a sewer lining along parts of Manorhaven Boulevard is now expected to begin after Nov. 6, village officials wrote in a Facebook post Thursday. That work will stop over Thanksgiving and a few blocks at a time will see water disruptions, including to their toilets.

Work was initially set to begin Monday, Oct. 28, on the first phase of the restoration, the village said in a fall 2019 flier distributed to neighbors.

Traffic may slow on a certain block during that time, the village said, but there should be minimal detours.

Officials also pushed back against former Mayor Gary Pagano's characterization of the sewers and roads.

Pagano told Newsday they were "woefully inadequate" for the dense area and said the system was "overtaxed" and "overused" due to an influx of people. But the village said engineers who analyzed the system recently told them the sewer system is not exactly in disrepair.

"Although it's old, it's in pretty good shape," the village wrote. "It is not 'overtaxed' or 'insufficient' as was mentioned in a recent newspaper article. We were told that the system still has room for plenty of new capacity and after the lining repairs, we should concentrate on upgrades to the pump station and force main to get us back to pristine conditions."

Work will be done overnight in the commercial areas of Manorhaven Boulevard, from Shore Road to Dunwood Road. The village previously warned it might get noisy, but most of the work-related sounds should be far enough away from homes so as not to disturb sleeping residents.

As work progresses further into residential neighborhoods, the work will be completed during the day.

"There will be water service interruptions at all locations during construction," the flier said, noting this includes toilets.

En-Tech Corp., the contractor performing the work, will alert neighbors before the work starts. Work schedules will also be posted on the village's website.

In July, the village signed off on issuing two bonds totaling nearly $1 million to pay for sewer repairs and upgrades. A $700,000 bond was to pay for installing new sewer linings and repairing 4,400 feet of pipes along Manorhaven Boulevard and Inwood Road. The $250,000 bond was to cover cleaning and inspections leading up to the repairs.

Officials previously told Newsday the sewer pipes are 60 years old and have operated well past their expected life. Lines have to be repaired to prevent blockages and preserve the sewer system.