Trustees Expedite Sheldrake Drainage Study

Tuesday night's Board of Trustees meeting was brief and considerably quieter than their previous meeting, though the storm of comments from the remnants of Tropical Storm Irene has not yet completely ended. Community members spoke of devastation the flooding had caused, and the Board made the Sheldrake River Drainage Basin a priority.

Mayor Miriam Levitt-Flisser began the meeting with a written presentation in which she detailed the Village leadership's continuing response to the drainage issues. In it, she said that she and the Assistant Village Manager Justin Datino, together with the Superintendent of Public Works, Benedict Salanitro, visited the Barry/Tunstall area and observed a stagnant pond there. They noted debris in drains outside the Village and are contacting New Rochelle to investigate downstream obstructions and silting.

Following her reading, the floor was opened to comments from the public. Three speakers rose, but the tone was markedly more communicative and less accusatory than in recent meetings. Still, homeowners whose properties were flooded were not happy.

"It's long past time for the Village to do the right thing, to step up," Doug Ulene of Cayuga Road said. He added that he thought detention and retention basins, proposed methods of controlling the flooding, are half measures. "Bigger pipes, wider drainage channels, get the water out," he suggested.

Neil Tucker, who lives on Seneca Road, urged stronger measures than have previously been proposed, as well. He noted that a recent presentation by Dvirka and Bartilucci, the engineering firm retained by Scarsdale to draw up plans to improve stormwater drainage, showed that proposed plans would reduce runoff by only 30 percent in the event of 3.5" of rain. Scarsdale has received more rain than that several times in the last few years.

Alissa Kanowitz told the Board that she and her family moved to Scarsdale a year ago, but wouldn't have if they'd known of the flooding. She passed around photos of her flooded back yard and pool. One photo showed a shed flooded to a height of four or five feet. She later noted to me that her husband pulled 25 fish from their pool.

In response, the Board went forward with a scheduled agenda item, approving money for a comprehensive study of available responses to the flooding in the Sheldrake Basin.

The Board approved payment for a preliminary design, $47,000, and authorized a contract with Dvirka and Bartilucci Consulting Engineers. Dvirka and Bartilucci created the Fox Meadows report, part of  the new Comprehensive Storm Water Management project, as well.

The preliminary design is called, in this instance, the 30 percent design stage. This caused some confusion.

"What 30 percent means," said Village Manager Robert Gatta, "is that we want to give the Board enough information to make a decision, to pick all or some of the projects that are going to be presented." The study, he said, is to allow the board to make informed decisions.

The Board moved quickly through several other issues.

They decided to allow the temporary use of portable lighting for youth football at Supply Field. The permission will end Nov. 12.

They also scheduled a meeting to review amendments to the Village Code for Fair and Affordable Housing. The meeting will be Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. in Village Hall.

They appropriated an extra $400,000 for road paving, monies that will combine with state funds and a previous surplus to create an $800,000 fund.

They agreed to allow licenses for 25 taxicabs, the same number agreed to last year, though only 22 were issued in 2011.

Trustee Robert Steves read a statement of expenses and revenues and said that, essentially, spending and revenues are on track. 

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