Drinking Water Issue; Spruce-Up Day: Harrison Mayor's Column

From Mayor Ron Belmont and Town Hall

Many of you may have received a letter from the Westchester Joint Water Works (WJWW) regarding important information about your drinking water. Samples were drawn and the levels of haloacetic acid 5 (HAA5) were slightly above standard. This is not an emergency (if the water was unsafe, customers would have been notified within 24 hours) but if you have an infant or are elderly or have a compromised immune system, you may want to consult a healthcare provider with respect to drinking water. WJWW is in the process of correcting the situation. For more information, please contact Frank Arcara, Chief Water Treatment Plant Operator at (914) 698-3500 or Westchester County Department of Health at (914) 813-5000.

Wilding Park, in Downtown Harrison, will be closed for renovation beginning April 2nd. New playground equipment and ground surfacing will improve the existing park and playground area located on Oakland Avenue.

This project will not only spruce up this popular recreational space, but will also enhance resident experience, improve play-area safety and streamline area maintenance. The estimated completion date for the Wilding Park improvements is late spring 2019.

A big thank you goes out to all those who participated in the March 30th town-wide Spring Spruce Up Day. This year more than 60 bags of trash were collected. The Harrison Boy Scouts as well as local families joined town personnel as they collected trash and debris along town roadways, fields and streams. Our Engineering Department deserves special recognition for their outstanding work in coordinating the clean-up effort.

Volunteers identified areas needing cleaning up and on Spruce Up Day, groups were assigned to specific sites. Volunteer team leaders including Matt and Sarah Benson, Shauna Long, John Tripodi, Enza Farolini, and Amy Podolak helped make the event a huge success.

I would like to wish Harrison High School and Yale University alumna Lily Lindsey much luck in the upcoming Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. Lily will be rowing for Cambridge on April 7th. I have had the pleasure of writing about Lily’s accomplishments as she progressed through the sport of competitive rowing, world wide. Here’s hoping for another win!

Con Ed is urging customers to sign up for their text alert system. This feature will allow customers to report a power problem, check the status of a power outage, and request assistance. To register, text REG to OUTAGE (688243) and follow the prompts.

It’s never too early to mark your calendar for the return of the Westchester County Mobile Shredder. Residents may bring confidential personal papers for shredding to the MTA Lot (corner of Harrison and Halstead Ave) on Saturday, May 4 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Residents can bring up to 4 file size (10 x 12 x 15) boxes of confidential papers per household. Please remove all large binder clips and covers. In extreme weather, events may be cancelled or terminated early. Please call the county's Recycling Helpline at (914) 813-5425 to check on a cancellation or early closure.

The next “Lunch with the Mayor” is on Friday, April 5 th and I will be at Trattoria 632, located at 632 Anderson Hill Road in Purchase. On Friday, April 12th I will be at Sofia’s located at 212 Harrison Avenue in Downtown Harrison. I will be at these locations from 12:30 to 1:30 and look forward to meeting with residents and talking about issues facing our community.