Village Finalizes All Hazards Mitigation Plan
- Details
- Hits: 3306
On September 8th, the Municipal Service Committee of the Scarsdale Village Board received a final report from consultants Tetra Tech EM Inc. of Morris Plains N.J. who completed an All Hazards Mitigation Plan for Scarsdale Village that is now awaiting approval from FEMA. Funding for the plan was provided through a grant and the Village incurred no cost in drafting it.
The plan was created to allow the Village to be eligible for FEMA grant funding. Until a mitigation plan is in place, Scarsdale cannot apply for these funds. By producing this plan, the Village accomplished the following:
- Developed a planning group (Planning Committee);
- Identified hazards of concern;
- Profiled and prioritized these hazards;
- Estimated inventory at risk and potential losses associated with these hazards;
- Developed mitigation goals, objectives and actions that address the hazards that impact the area;
- Developed mitigation plan maintenance procedures to be executed upon conditional approval of the plan from the New York State Office of Emergency Management Office (NYSOEM) and FEMA.
The goal of the plan is to reduce losses from natural hazards, to make Scarsdale disaster resistant and to become eligible for federal funds for pre-disaster mitigation planning. In order to do so, the plan promotes appropriate village policy and practices to protect the residents, private property, public essential facilities and the environment from probable natural hazards.
Once the plan is adopted by FEMA, the Village would be eligible for funds to mitigate potential disasters rather than wait for the damage to occur and then apply for clean-up funds. Projects are funded if the cost of potential losses from a disaster would exceed the cost of the mitigation project.
After the plan is adopted by the Board, the Village could apply for funds to help private property owners. Though grant funds are available for homeowners, the Village must apply for these funds on behalf of residents. One interesting note: For projects done on private property, the property owner is required to put up 75% of the funds and submit for reimbursement.
Grant monies could be used in a number of ways to alleviate flooding. For instance, if the Village wanted to buy a large tract of land to retain water Scarsdale could apply for funding for land acquisition. Grants are eligible to fund the purchase, and even to tear down an existing structure on a property.
These funds are also available for preventative measures such as planning and zoning, open space preservation, land development regulations, building codes, and storm water management. In addition monies are available to protect properties by fitting them with storm shutters, rebuilding barriers, flood-proofing structures and retrofitting buildings to withstand high winds.
Also available for funding are:
- Measures to educate the public and to build awareness
- Natural resource protection to prevent erosion and control sediment
- Protection of streams and wetlands
- Mitigation funds are available because they will reduce a community’s long term costs for road closures and evacuations, repairs, and road maintenance.
After the plan is implemented, it will need to be updated every five years.
The consultant expected Scarsdale’s plan to be approved by FEMA shortly. He then recommended that the Village begin to file grant applications to win funds for many needed projects.
You can read the mitigation plan in its entirety on the Village website here
It is also important to know that there are funds available for individual homeowners that homeowners can apply for themselves. After Hurricane Irene, FEMA did make funds available to individuals who were damaged by the storm. There is a FEMA disaster center for homeowners at the County Center that is now open 7 days a week. It is recommended that you register before you go by calling 800-621-3362 or going online to: www.disasterassistance.gov
Blasts Planned for Five Corners Construction Project
- Details
- Hits: 4620
Last week Heathcote residents who live near the Five Corners received letters from MD Drilling and Blasting in regard to the construction project now going on at 1 Palmer Avenue . According to the letter, MD has been selected to do the rock drilling and blasting that will be required to build the new 11,000 square foot retail building on the site, which includes two levels of underground parking.
In order to get the permit to conduct the blasts, the company is required to offer home inspections residents who live nearby to document any existing cracks in the foundation or walls. Once this is done, residents will be able to ascertain whether or not the blasts damage their homes. Residents have a choice of whether or not they wish to allow the inspectors inside.
This is the first notification that neighbors received about the upcoming explosions, which the letter says will be conducted during daylight hours. According to the letter a whistle warning sequence will precede the blasts and those nearby could “experience low levels of ground vibration.” The company plans to use "the most advanced technologies available to measure the seismic effect of the area." Given the areas close proximity to the Heathcote Elementary School, the blasts could be a cause for concern. During the approval process for the project, concerned residents closely scrutinized the plans but there was no discussion about the need to use explosives to build the new structure.
According to Scarsdale Building Department Engineer Nunzio Pietrosanti, similar blasting was done when the new building was constructed at Christie Place with little disruption to the area. The survey is just the first step in the process of getting a permit to conduct the blasts.
Update: To respond to questions from readers, we contacted a representative from MD Drilling and Blasting in Bloomfield, CT. They advised any neighbors within 250 feet of the site of the upcoming work.
No Metro North Service Today
- Details
- Hits: 3951
Thousands of Westchester and Connecticut commuters will not be going to work today as service on the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines of Metro-North Railroad remains suspended. The trains cannot operate on any of the three lines due to significant damage to many portions of the Metro-North system. The signal system is not fully functioning on any of the three lines and trees have fallen on the tracks on all three lines as well.
Local streams and the Bronx River continue to overflow their banks and crews are working to clean up three mudslides. See the dramatic photo of a mudslide at Sputen Duyvill on the Hudson Line where a retaining wall gave out. In addition to flooding in Scarsdale and Hartsdale, Metro-North reports significant water on the tracks in Tuckahoe. Check out the photo of the Tuckahoe station at 3 pm on Sunday where tracks were flooded with up to four feet of water from the overflowing Bronx River.
Metro-North’s goal is to restore as much service as possible as soon as it is safe to do so, however they have not said when they expect the system to
(Pictured at top: Hartsdale Station on Sunday morning)
Chamber of Commerce to Host Newcomers Picnic
- Details
- Hits: 4734
Former Scarsdale Mayor Carolyn Stevens has signed on as Executive Director of the Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce. She is leading this growing group with Chamber President Lewis Arlt of Houlihan Lawrence. The two have been very successful at recruiting new members from the Scarsdale business community and a complete list of members is on the Chamber website.
The Chamber will be renewing an old Scarsdale tradition of hosting a “Newcomers Picnic” at the Scarsdale Women’s Club on Drake Road on Sunday September 25th from 1-4 pm. Businesses, civic organizations, volunteer groups, neighborhood associations and an array of non-profits will be asked to attend and take tables to introduce themselves to new residents. People who have purchased homes within the last two years or rented within the past year will be invited to the event. If you would like to attend, save the date.
In other news, the Chamber Rx card, a new free prescription assistance drug card program is available. Not only can the Scarsdale Chamber Rx
card offer uninsured and underinsured residents up to 75% off their prescription drugs (including those for pets), it can also give discounts of up to 50% on prescription eyeglasses, teeth whitening, diabetic supplies, Lasik surgery, and hearing aids. The card can also be used by people who have health insurance coverage with no prescription benefits, a common occurrence in many health savings accounts (HSA) and high-deductible health plans. The discount does not apply to your co-pays but can be used for non-covered drugs.
There are no membership restrictions and there's no application or paperwork. It is offered through United Networks of America (UNA), one of the largest providers of value-added managed care products and services in the United States with more than 240,000 participating providers serving more than 72.4 million members with 56,000 national and regional pharmacies in place.
Anyone interested in obtaining a card or searching drug pricing and participating pharmacies can visit the Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce website, or stop by Houlihan Lawrence at 32 Popham Road and ask the receptionist for your own free card.
Support Scarsdale commerce by supporting members of the Chamber of Commerce. To visit the Chamber website and see the complete membership list, click here:
Heathcote Resident Alerts FEMA to Local Flooding Issue
- Details
- Hits: 5896
Robert Reiffel of Cayuga Road and a group of his neighbors addressed the Scarsdale Board of Trustees at their August 9th meeting about flooding on Seneca, Oneida, Cayuga, Canterbury and Kelwynne Roads and urged the Village to prioritize this area for flood mitigation work. On behalf of the Murray Hill Middle Heathcote Neighborhood Association Reiffel sent the following letter, a week BEFORE Hurricane Irene, to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Ms. Lynn Gilmore Canton
FEMA Regional Administrator, Region II
Federal Emergency Management Agency
New Jersey and New York
Suite 1311
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10278-0002
I would like to point out a serious situation to you, one that has already cost your agency millions of dollars and has the potential to cost millions more – all because of inaction.
The Sheldrake River runs through the town of Scarsdale, New York, and has flooded several times in the past decades because the headwaters of that river, in the region of Seneca, Oneida, Cayuga, Canterbury, Catherine Kelwynne, and other roads in Scarsdale, were developed in the 1960’s without adequate foresight in terms of floodwater drainage. Existing ponds were filled and streambeds were enclosed in small culverts under driveways and roadbeds. With increasing development, the infrastructure inadequacies have become stressed beyond their capacity, causing major flooding on several occasions, resulting in your having to pay out significant sums in flood damages. The last major flood was on April 15, 2007, and the current structural situation is substantially the same as it was then, or even worse, because of additional development and construction of impervious surfaces.
The Village of Scarsdale has been remiss in terms of not only allowing this excessive development beyond the capacity of the infrastructure to support it, but also has been negligent in not correcting the situation by performing necessary infrastructure improvements, despite numerous warnings, and despite having already commissioned a survey, which pointed out the significance of the danger in the above geographical area. However, the Village has chosen to ignore our area in favor of other areas where damage to personal property and injuries to individuals was less severe during the most recent flood. They have made a list of projects to perform and placed us at number 15 out of 16, despite the fact that our first project is estimated to cost only $260,000.00, whereas some of the others are projected to run in the millions of dollars.
Moreover, while blaming the existing problems on mistakes made 50 years ago, the management of the Village is ignoring legislation that was recently enacted, requiring that they supervise testing of groundwater measurements for current construction to prevent additional problems.
I am requesting that you investigate this inaction on the part of the Village of Scarsdale in order both to secure the safety of the residents of this area as well 
as to mitigate the possibility that you will be required to expend additional sums of money to reimburse flooded homeowners, which you would not have to do if the needed repairs were undertaken in a timely manner. I must reiterate that local homeowners have expended considerable personal funds to maintain the streambed of the Sheldrake River, but the major obstructions, under Village roadways, still exist and pose a real and imminent danger to the residents, as evidenced by the fact that two residents were injured during the flood of 2007 in an area that was inaccessible to ambulances because of the flooding.
Either funds will be spent to correct the structural problems that have been allowed to exist far too long or you will be forced to pay out additional flood related benefits to reimburse homeowners whose property, and personal, damages could have been prevented.
Yours Sincerely,
Robert S. Reiffel, M.D.
Chairman, Water Management Committee
Murray Hill Middle Heathcote Neighborhood Association
Cc: Mary Colvin, National Flood Insurance Program Contact
Scott Duell, Risk Analysis, Flood Hazard Mapping and Mitigation Planning Contact
