Hempstead, Long Beach, Rockville Centre Get $1M Each In Federal Funding

NASSAU COUNTY, NY. — The U.S. Senate approved its Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act Thursday, clearing the way for $58 billion in water and energy funds to go out to communities across the country. Among those communities are Hempstead Village, Long Beach and Rockville Centre, where a total just over $3 million will be doled out in the coming year.

The appropriations approved Thursday will clear the way for infrastructure improvement in each of the three municipalities. Hempstead and Long Beach will receive $1,092,000 each for water improvements, with Long Beach spending the money on a Sand Filter Tank Replacement and Hempstead spending it on Water Treatment Upgrades.

In her appropriations request, Congresswoman Laura Gillen said that the Hempstead money would fund the replacement of outdated water treatment equipment, improving the capacity of Hempstead’s water treatment infrastructure while equipping it to remove what Gillen called “emerging contaminants.”

In Long Beach, the complicated task facing the city’s water district has been a matter of public discussion before. City officials told Patch in November that the city was in the process of replacing a pair of sand filters, at a total cost of $1,231,000. The federal funds will bolster the financial standing of a water district whose general fund balance was run down to just over $350,000 in recent years, part of an effort to keep down water prices in the city amid post-pandemic inflation. In October, city officials called the state of the water fund balance, “disgusting.”

Third among the south Nassau municipalities getting funding Thursday was Rockville Centre, where $1,031,000 will fund new police cameras. Gillen said in her appropriations request that the cameras would help solve and deter crime, provide footage on auto accidents and allow Rockville Centre police to prevent property theft.

“I’m proud to have fought for and secured these critical federal investments to bring much-needed resources home to Nassau County,” Gillen said Thursday. “These funds will support upgrades to our water infrastructure, helping communities access cleaner drinking water and provide law enforcement with the tools and technology they need to better serve and protect our communities.”