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Eric Drixon’s art on display Page 3 VOL. 34 NO. 5
JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2025
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North Shore district plans for the future trict’s coffers. However, under a 2022 agreement between Nassau County and LIPA, direct North Shore School District assessment payments could be superintendent Chris Zublionis significantly reduced or elimipresented a detailed overview nated starting 2027. Zublionis of the district’s long-ter m explained that while the disfinancial and academic plan trict could lose up to $8.4 milduring the Jan. 23 meeting of lion annually, there is also the the Board of Educapossibility of an tion. He focused on extension of the preparing for potenpayments. tial financial chal“ We h ave n o t lenges and addressbeen told that we ing evolving acawould lose that revdemic needs enue, but we do through 2027 and want to embrace a beyond. little of what I call Zublionis emphaWCS, or worst-case sized the need to scenario thinking,” plan for an unpreZublionis said, notdictable financial ing the importance landscape, likening of planning for all the district’s cur- CHRIS ZUBLIONIS contingencies, rent situation to superintendent, North i n c l u d i n g n e w solving an algebraic Shore School District potential revenue equation with mulstreams. “Worsttiple unknowns. A case scenario significant concern is the dis- thinking is not about being pestrict’s reliance on payments in simistic—it’s about being prelieu of taxes, or PILOTs, and pared.” the shrinking direct assessDespite the financial uncerments from the former Long tainties, Zublionis framed the Island Power Authority proper- situation as an opportunity for ties on Shore Road. the district to critically evaluCurrently, these properties ate its operations and prioricontribute approximately $13.6 million annually to the disCONTINUED ON PAGE 7
By WILL SHEELINE
wsheeline@liherald.com
W
Will Sheeline/Herald
At the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor’s State of the Aquifer meeting, Sarah Meyland, a water management consultant laid out the dire state of Long Island’s aquifers.
Water crisis brewing underground Long Island’s aquifers in danger from overuse By WILL SHEELINE wsheeline@liherald.com
It is all too easy to waste water in a world where its availability is taken for granted. But what happens when the aquifers that provide Long Island with its fresh water become dangerously diminished? The state of those aquifers, and the challenges posed by groundwater depletion, were the focus of a presentation by Sarah Meyland, a water management consultant, at a meeting hosted by the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, in Sea Cliff, on Tuesday. “Today’s presentation is jam-packed with information critical to us all,” Stephanie
Sobel, a co-president of the coalition, said. “As the leading, and only, nonprofit organization focused solely on Hempstead Harbor, we take our role as stewards of the harbor seriously.” Meyland, a longtime advocate of sustainable water management, offered a sobering analysis based on findings from a decadelong study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Her message was clear: without urgent action, Long Island’s groundwater supply faces severe and potentially irreversible consequences. The study, authorized in 2016, was originally expected to take four years but was CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
orst-case scenario thinking is not about being pessimistic—it’s about being prepared.