US Army Corps of Engineers
Mamaroneck/Sheldrake Project
Summary of Meeting: October 29, 2008
Participants:
USACE – 5 representatives
Congresswoman Nita Lowey’s office (1)
NYSDEC (4)
Westchester County Planning Dept (3)
County Legislator Judy Myers
Village of Mamaroneck (3)
Town of Mamaroneck (2)
Metro-North RR (5)
Absent: NYS Thruway Authority
As evidenced by the participation at the meeting, there is a great deal of support for this project at multiple levels of government. While this is a good thing and without it the project could not move forward, it also requires coordination and everything takes time.
Project – A “general re-evaluation study” of the Mamaroneck and Sheldrake River watersheds to determine best course of action to alleviate flooding in the Village of Mamaroneck.
Budget – Study phase (including preliminary design) is expected to cost $7 million. The federal government is paying for 75% of this project, instead of normal 50% share. The remaining 25% will be shared by New York State and Westchester County.
Scope of Work – The USACE, along with the participating agencies listed above, will conduct an options analysis to evaluate at least six options that have already been identified. These options range from “Do Nothing” (required) to high flow flood diversion tunnel(s) to divert excess floodwaters from the Sheldrake River. Two such tunnels are on the table: Fenimore Rd and Mamaroneck Ave. Other options include channel modifications (straightening, widening and deepening) and non-structural solutions (moving people away from the water). These options will be evaluated as stand-alones and also in combination with one another. If any new options arise during the study, they will also be evaluated.
The study will not include detention basins (rejected during earlier studies due to lack of available space for amount of water needed to be detained), flood walls, levees and river diversion tunnels (putting the river in a tunnel and drying up the existing channel).
The entire watershed will be studied to analyze sources of water and amounts but mitigation solutions will be limited to the Village of Mamaroneck. This is consistent with earlier studies. All participants agreed that flooding cannot practically be eliminated but options that significantly reduced flooding would be analyzed. These options would probably have greater potential to move forward.
Timeframe and Current Status – The normal timeframe to begin an USACE project has been shortened tremendously due to the serious nature of the problem, the intervention of Congresswoman Lowey (who has secured all the study funding upfront which is unusual) and the availability of prior data.
The parties have agreed on the scope of work above and both NYS and the County have signed letters of intent to participate financially. However, the attorneys still have to work out the legal agreements between NYS and County (first) and NYS and USACE (second). Once the legal agreements are executed, the State needs a few months for the contract to go through the normal process with the NYS Comptroller.
Therefore, the project is expected to begin in early spring 2009 and last for 30 months. A public meeting would be held at the beginning of the project and periodically throughout the study. Regular project updates will be sent to all participants.
All participants agreed to cooperate and share information. Each entity identified a point person and contact information was exchanged. The specific roles of the 5 USACE people were identified.
Post-Study – After a preferred option is identified, funding would have to be secured for construction. This would be shared 65% Federal and 35% non-Federal. Non-federal partners could apply in-kind support to their share (such as providing easements, rights-of-way, disposal).
Other
County Planning Commissioner Jerry Mulligan informed the group that the County has been working on a project at Saxon Woods Golf Course (in the watershed) that has been put into redesign to determine if storm water management could be improved.
A discussion was held regarding the Metro-North RR bridge and it was determined that it could be included in the study although changing the bridge may prove to be cost-prohibitive.
The Town of Mamaroneck and Village of Mamaroneck inquired about the replacement of both the Waverly Ave and Jefferson Ave bridges. We were asked to wait unless the need was urgent in which case we could work with the USACE engineers. However, the “road to nowhere” can be removed without impacting the project.
| 
