Nassau sinkholes, police and family court buildings in $78M infrastructure plan

Nassau legislators on Monday unanimously approved a $78 million borrowing plan for major infrastructure projects including sewer line repairs to address sinkholes, construction of a police precinct in Woodbury, jail upgrades and a new Family and Matrimonial Court building.

The borrowing moves forward new and ongoing projects in the county's $220 million capital budget. It will require the approval of the county's financial control board, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority.

The 19-member legislature authorized:

• $33.5 million to rebuild the county Police Department's Second Precinct headquarters in Woodbury
• $17 million in additional funding for a Family and Matrimonial Court under construction
• $15 million for sewer repairs 
• $12 million for the Correctional Center master plan
• $500,000 for the Police Academy

Funding for the new Second Precinct building became a priority after a fast-moving kitchen fire in November destroyed the two-story structure on Jericho Turnpike. At the time, County Executive Bruce Blakeman said the building was "not salvageable." 

The county is spending $1.8 million on a design contract with The LiRo Group, a firm that has designed other county precinct buildings, and is looking for a company to build the structure, Department of Public Works Commissioner Kenneth Arnold told legislators last month. 

The Family and Matrimonial Court building in Mineola is Nassau's largest public works project. The structure is expected to replace the aging Family Court in Westbury and also handle matrimonial cases that are heard on the courts campus in Mineola. In 2020, Newsday reported the project, estimated to be completed in 2021, had nearly $47 million in cost overruns.

Before legislators voted to spend another $17 million, Legis. Arnold Drucker (D-Plainview) asked about the construction timeline for the new facility, calling it "the debacle known as the family and matrimonial court." 

"From the outside — because I was just there recently — it looks like it's done but I don't know what the inside looks like. Can you tell me where we are on that situation, and what the $17 million is for, and when it will be finished?" Drucker said.

Arnold told legislators at Monday's meeting that the project wouldn't be finished until 2025. 

"We are working still on the inside of the building," Arnold said, adding that some of the money would go toward the facade and some would be recovered during litigation.

Drucker said: "2025. Oh, my God." 

Legis. Debra Mulé urged a fix for sinkholes in her district's South Shore communities. A 20-foot sinkhole in Lido Beach developed in late May. Another appeared in Baldwin in late June, and a third in Oceanside last weekend. 

"This is something that every single one of us on this dais needs to advocate for in terms of making sure our sewer lines in particular, and all of our infrastructure, is attended to because sinkholes are going to happen in every single district if we don't get ahold of this," said Mulé (D-Freeport). 

Mulé on Monday joined Baldwin leaders in a press event calling on Blakeman and federal officials to create an emergency infrastructure plan.

Arnold said he and members of the administration recently met with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to discuss federal assistance.   

Also Monday, the county legislature's Republican majority approved two appointees to the board of directors of the Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting Corp.: Daniel J. Lang of Levittown and James Moriarty of Long Beach.

Lang is vice chairman of the Nassau County Conservative Party and Moriarty is the president of the Long Beach Republican Committee. They were appointed by Blakeman, a Republican.

The vote was 12-7, with the Democratic caucus in opposition. 

Democratic Minority Leader Legis. Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) said they objected because they were not given an opportunity to vet the candidates. 

Legislators also approved two settlements Monday. One will pay $2.3 million to the estate of the late Charles Wang to resolve a 14-year-old claim that the county over-assessed his Oyster Bay property.

The other will send $3.9 million to the Town of Hempstead and $2.4 million to the Town of North Hempstead to resolve a lawsuit over who pays for students to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan.

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.