Mayor Marvin's Column: Improving Our Natural Resources Around Bronxville

Flooding was again a topic du jour in the newspapers of late albeit in a positive way as the County of Westchester allotted $9 million dollars for mitigation measures throughout the County. 

Most of the funds were allocated to County-owned facilities or properties many of which are on the Bronx River.  As an example, the County funded the rehabilitation of the County owned Oak Street Pumping Station which is located along the Mount Vernon/Yonkers border just south of the Village.  These recent actions by the County regarding flood mitigation are most welcome.

The County has also recently undertaken flooding and habitat improvement projects along the Bronx River near the Bronxville border.  Last year, an expanded catchment area was excavated near the old pump station at Scout Field providing for a greater amount of storm water retention during weather events.  Slope stabilization was also part of this project.  Phase II of a Scout Field Riverbank Stabilization will commence in the coming months. 

Our County Legislator, Gordon Burrows, has spearheaded the recent formation of an Advisory Board for the Bronx River and Sprain Brook which will include citizens from all of the communities in the watershed. 

The objective of the basin-wide Storm Water Advisory Board, referred to as a SWAB, will be to make recommendations for projects to be included in the County-wide Storm Water Management Plan.  Keeping the Bronx River clean of debris and fallen trees would go a long way to keep water from overflowing the river banks during storm events. 

The Bronx River has not been dredged in many decades and it seems logical that a thorough dredging of parts of the river would also be helpful for flood mitigation.  Dredging the Bronx River would involve the Federal Army Corps of Engineers, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation as well as the County government and would take years to get underway.  However, these long term ideas need to be comprehensively reviewed and considered as we undertake the more immediate projects.

The Village has been diligent in applying for any flood mitigation monies knowing that any funds sent our way will be well worth any effort we expend.

In that vein, we have submitted four grants for consideration to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the State Emergency Management Office through the Federal Hazard Mitigation Program Fund.  This is a Federal funding mechanism set up after disasters that allow communities in New York State to compete for a share of the allocated fund.  Three of our projects are localized in nature while one is more expansive in scope.

We have submitted a mitigation plan to restore, repair and renovate the existing earthen berm along Parkway Road and DeWitt Avenue as well as adding check valves at six catch basins along Parkway Road to prevent river water from surcharging back through the storm sewer system during a flooding event.

In Garden/Meadow Avenue vicinity, we have proposed a project that involves the construction of a cast concrete wall with water tight hinged/rolled automatic flood gates.  The flood gates are designed with a buoyant panel that is raised by the force of the flood waters, isolating the area and keeping the flood waters from entering residential property.

A proposed project that would benefit residents in the Field Court/Willow Road corridor involves the construction of a system of low concrete walls and earth berms with the same buoyant panel flood gates as the project above, again with the result of isolating the water and keeping it at an elevation that prevents its entrance to residential properties.

Our more global flood mitigation initiative is a multi-million dollar project involving a system of pumps and retention basins to mitigate the flooding at the school.  We recently received word that our project is a “finalist” and engineers will be making a presentation at the upcoming School Board meeting this Thursday evening with the goal of a Village/School collaboration. 

Due to the topography of the School as the School complex is situated at the second lowest point in the Village, no project will ever alleviate all flooding, but this project would go a long way to mitigate damage both at the School and neighboring residential areas including Bolton Gardens.  The Federal grant has the added benefit of requiring only a 25% local match unlike the 50% required in virtually all other grant programs.

In the interim, we are going forward with our pipe/infrastructure cleaning and restoration program throughout the Village.  As part of the Village Capital Improvement Program for 2011-2012, $500K was borrowed and put aside to provide resources for an on-going Village storm water management program.

Given that all recent scientific evidence predicts both an increase in frequency and duration in future rain events, we will be vigilant in pursuing all opportunities for mitigation monies.