Village of Lawrence has failed to pay almost $800,000 in bills for fire hydrants, water provider lawsuit says

Liberty Utilities, which last year purchased NY American Water, has filed suit against the Village of Lawrence for failing to pay nearly $800,000 for service to more than 200 fire hydrants in the municipality since 2019, records show.

The lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court in Mineola on June 13, contends that the small village in the Five Towns has ignored billing statements for water pumped to the hydrants from the utility since Oct. 17, 2019. In total, court records show, Lawrence owes Liberty $787,544.47 in water services, taxes and 1.5% late fees. The lawsuit includes 16 quarterly unpaid billing statements from Liberty to the village since 2019.

"To date, the village has failed and refused to make payment on any of the outstanding amounts billed in the statements," the lawsuit states.

The suit cites multiple counts of "breach of tariff" and "unjust enrichment" against the village for failing to pay the bills.

Ronald Goldman, Lawrence's village administrator, said the lawsuit has been forwarded to the village's counsel and they are determining how to proceed.

"At the moment, the village can't comment on pending litigation about the hydrants," Goldman said, declining to provide additional comment or to provide an explanation for why the bills have not been paid.

Pamela Bellings, a spokesperson for the Merrick-based utility, said "while we do not comment on pending legal matters, we can tell you that our top focus continues to be providing safe, high-quality, reliable water service to our customers."

Liberty Utilities is a private company, a subsidiary of Algonquin Power & Utilities of Canada, which in January 2022 completed the sale of NY American Water for $608 million.

Evan Krinick, Liberty's attorney with the Uniondale law firm of Rivkin Radler LLP, did not respond to requests for comment.

Court records do not indicate the nature of the dispute with Lawrence. There was no indication that water to the fire hydrants had been cut off. Calls to the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department were not returned.

Liberty charges the village $266.14 per fire hydrant each quarter, or more than $1,000 annually, the suit states. That amount, experts say, is significantly higher than the amount charged by public water districts or by municipalities.

Long Island's more than 83,000 fire hydrants mostly draw from buried water mains. Most belong to water providers, not fire departments or the fire districts that oversee those departments. 

Last month, Liberty announced that it was seeking to increase water rates for Nassau customers in its service areas by a cumulative 34.2% starting next year.

The increase, if approved following a state Department of Public Service review, would boost the average monthly residential water bill by $18.32 for customers in its Lynbrook area (also known as service area 1), $15.74 for Merrick customers, and $7.37 for Sea Cliff customers.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.