Health & Fitness
The School Bond Project
An update from the City of Rye on the Rye City School District proposed bond project.
The School Bond Project
There has been some confusion within the community about the role of the City with respect to the proposed Rye City school bond project. As far as the City is concerned, the project was a go and ready to move to a board vote as of last Tuesday's BOE meeting. The City did not present any objections and worked collaboratively with School officials as part of an expedited review process in order to meet the School's deadline of October 10.
By way of background, the City’s traffic consultant met with the School’s consultant in August and outlined specific concerns and potential solutions in terms of traffic flow in and around an expanded campus.
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On September 13 – The School Board asked the City for comment by October 10 as part of the state environmental quality review process (SEQRA) with more detailed information to follow.
On September 26 – The City received the school’s traffic analysis.
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On October 1 – The City received the expanded environmental review.
On October 4 – The School Superintendent, Board President, City Manager and I met to discuss the environmental review. I outlined our two primary concerns: Storm water runoff and traffic/parking/pedestrian crossings and safety. We agreed that these were not objections to move to a board vote, but were matters to be considered for further review once site-specific planning took place later in the process.
October 6 – The City submitted its response in writing outlining these comments to the Board's request for comment by October 10 as required by the SEQRA process.
It was an expedited process but we worked very well with the School and within the necessary regulatory procedures. The City has not called for an additional environmental review that would delay the schedule, but as with most new development, we did request that the board consider looking more closely at the potential impacts of traffic, parking, pedestrian safety and storm-water runoff once the project moves to site specific planning.
We are continuing to follow-up with the Board and School Administration to determine and work through their concerns in delaying the vote. It is important that both bodies work together and that is the case here. More information can be found on the City of Rye website at www.ryeny.gov
