City Council Notes

– By Robin Jovanovich –

March 14

Several residents asked to speak on non-agenda items, specifically the March 2 flood and its impact on their neighborhood.

Henry King, 76 Coolidge Ave., has been before the Council on numerous occasions, asking them to review the Town of Harrison's work on the Beaver Swamp Brook restoration project. Flooding has increased near the brook since the project was completed, according to King and many other residents. “The water is coming up on the land as never before,” said Mary Lou Jurs, 20 Hunt Place.

“I've made many requests in the past and was told I needed scientific evidence that there is more water as a result of Harrison filling in the wetland,” said King. “We saw the evidence with the last flood. The rest of Rye is tidally affected, but Beaver Swamp Brook isn't, and the water continued to rise until 10 p.m. that night.”

According to several reports, Harrison filled in 16 acres of land in order to build up the field on their side of the brook. The land was raised by an average of 3 feet. That amounts to approximately 4,840 cubic yards of landfill. Each cubic yard displaces about 201 yards of water. The entire project displaces 15,600,000 million square yards of water. “It has to go somewhere, and it has — flooding the brook and its Rye neighbors, Park Avenue on both sides of the bridge, and now parts of Harrison,” said King.

During the height of the flood, the proposed athletic field on the Harrison side was underwater and the Food Emporium was flooded. King, a longtime resident, said the water was higher than he's ever seen it.

The City filed a FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) request with the Town/Village of Harrison March 8. Assistant City Manager Scott Pickup said that the actual review period runs through March 31. Councilman George Pratt said he'd like the City to preset a strategy, anticipating that Harrison may not comply by the deadline.

Earlier this week, Scott Pickup told the paper that Rye officials are trying to meet with Harrison officials in the next few days. “We're sure there's more information that Harrison can provide about the Beaver Swamp Brook project.” He added, “The original driving force of this project was pollution remediation; Harrison did encapsulate it.”

Bernard Althoff, of 34 Mendota Ave., one of the streets hardest hit by the flood, asked the Council what Rye is doing about its obvious flood problem. He noted that rehabilitation of the Blind Brook Watershed was priced out a few years ago. “If implemented, along with sediment improvement, we would see less flooding.”

Mayor Steve Otis said that upstream development is part of the problem. “We've been fighting a large Rye Brook development project since 2004, working with the County in hope of making the area a park. Unfortunately, it looks like the Village of Rye Brook board is moving on approving the development.” The City received a grant for watershed improvements from the Army Corps of Engineers three years ago, but funding was deferred because of Hurricane Katrina.

“It would be good for Rye to be able to prerelease water before a storm,” said Mayor Otis. “Our ability to gain increased water storage is more available below our spillway than above.

Scott Pickup said he attended a Blind Brook Watershed Plan meeting March 13 and is hoping to have a water detention strategy to share with the community soon.

While considering implementing a stop sign policy for the City, based on a comprehensive proposal from Police Commissioner William Connors, the Council approved a four-way stop sign request from Bradford Park residents at the intersection of Bradford and Florence Avenues. Residents made their initial request to the Traffic and Transportation Committee eight months ago. The stop sign policy is expected to be approved by the Council at its next meeting, March 28, after the public has a chance to comment.

The policy includes standards for installation and a format for request submissions. All requests would be reviewed by the City Planner, City Engineer and the Traffic and Transportation Committee, with final approval by the City Manager. The policy also establishes a finite time period for completion.

As for the untrimmed hedge near the future Bradford stop sign, Scott Pickup said the homeowner has not complied with the City's request to trim it and a work order has been submitted to DPW.

The Council awarded a contract for $123,688 for the Skate Park at Rye Recreation Park.