Water Woes Lead to Anger at Board of Trustees Meeting

Hurricane Irene swept through New York two weeks ago without the damaging winds most people thought it would bring, but Scarsdale didn't escape unscathed.

When the Village Board of Trustees met Tuesday night, they expected to hear about it and they did. They got an earful.

Residents of Cayuga, Leatherstocking and Seneca roads alternately lambasted the Trustees and Village efforts to mitigate flooding in their neighborhood and pleaded with them to take action to stop repeated floods. Public comment at the meeting took almost an hour, with at least nine residents testifying to flooded pools, ruined houses and raw sewage and snakes in their basements.

A parade of people waited to speak to the Board, and each described how water had failed to drain from their properties or seeped in from streams and ponds designed to drain the neighborhood.

"100-year storms tend to come a little more often than they used to," one person said. "Do you have the will to fix this problem? The problem is solvable."

Before public comment began, Mayor Miriam Levitt-Flisser read from a several page-long prepared text detailing the Village's response to the Hurricane. Police fielded 1169 calls and responded to 99 emergencies; the Fire Department responded to 126 calls; and volunteer fire fighters staffed an emergency shelter that housed 15. 1,000 houses were without power, some for almost a week. The village will look to FEMA to reimburse as much as 75 percent of the $89,600 spent on clean-up.

Levitt-Flisser also cited recent attempts to improve drainage in the village, including $271,500 spent on Heathcote, desilting, clearing catch basins, removing concrete drainage obstructions and connecting pipes to a new catch basin at Cushman Road. The Board recently authorized issuance of bonds totaling $4,235,000 for implementation of a new stormwater management plan.

Her presentation, however, did little to mollify the group of homeowners.

Richard Canowitz said his house was destroyed, but that FEMA and State Farm are covering some costs. However, he said, the emotional cost to his children is not acceptable. His voice choked with emotion as he described his 4-year-old's reaction to rain now and detailed how flooding from Fenway Pond left 6 feet of water in his backyard.

Victor Shedlin, who has lived for 45 years at the house he built at 11 Cayuga with his wife, Susan, wondered what it must feel like to worry that you might lose everything each time it rains. "So far, nothing seems to work," he said. "It's not fair."

"I'm the lucky guy who lives next to the weir...The weir doesn't work," said Seth Silverstein, who also lives on Cayuga, stating that in the last 1 1/2 years, it has flooded 12 times, even in normal rains.

After testimony concluded, the residents left Rutherford Hall and continued speaking with each other in the lobby. They declined to speak with Patch, but could be heard over the routine business going on inside for the next 15 minutes.

The meeting continued in a far less confrontational manner, with Trustees agreeing unanimously to a number of purchasing contracts for plumbing and hydrant fittings, as well as approving contractors for a repair to the Fire House floor.

Perhaps more significant, the Board unanimously approved a Collective Bargaining Agreement, effective retroactively to April 1, 2009 up to May 31, 2013, between the Village and the Teamsters local 456 for Facilities Maintenance. Negotiations for the agreement began in 2009 and were agreed to in April of 2010. Terms of the agreement were voted on by the Teamsters on August 15, 2011.

They also authorized an agreement with the county for an Employee Assistance Program. The program, which provides Scarsdale employees counseling for family, emotional, substance abuse and other problems, has been ongoing for 20 years. It will cost $7,000 a year for the years 2010-2011. The cost will rise in 2012 to $8,000 and to $9,000 in 2013 and 2014.

Additionally, they authorized an agreement with Scarsdale/Edgemont Family Counseling Services for Older Adult Services. $48,548 will be paid to SEFCS from the General Fund Budget.

A Municipal Services Committee meeting will be held Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. and residents affected by the flooding will be able to speak further. The meeting is part of a regularly scheduled series of meetings on storm water management, but the recent flooding has altered the meeting's agenda. 

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