Glen Cove gets $230,000 state grant for water system

A $230,000 state grant for engineering designs and cost estimates for Glen Cove’s water system will “help with our immediate and future needs,” Mayor Ralph Suozzi said.

The city has five wells, but only four are currently running, and engineering studies have shown seven wells are needed to satisfy future demands for drinking water, irrigation and firefighting, he said. The fifth well has been offline since 2010, when a Freon plume threatened the site.

The grant, announced Wednesday as part of $59.7 million in 2012 Regional Economic Development Council aid awarded to Long Island, lays the framework for a new potable water transmission system that will benefit the RXR Glen Isle waterfront redevelopment project on Glen Cove Creek, the state announced.

The $1 billion Glen Isle mixed-use waterfront complex, which received the green light from the city planning board in December 2011, is to have 860 residential units, a hotel, a ferry terminal and 19 acres of parkland.

“There’s going to be a need for water beyond what we need for today,” Suozzi said. “You’re going to have additional strain on the system and God forbid we have a drought.”

The state grant allows Glen Cove to begin implementing what it has long planned, he said.

“The idea is to plan what you need and get it in place,” he said. “This money will help us speed up the design process and lessen the need for borrowing for capital projects.”

Above: Glen Cove City Hall