By Carol P. Bartold     

Dec. 16, 2015:  According to Village Administrator Jim Palmer, the Bronxville Board of Trustees could be ready to move forward with the Midland Valley Drainage Basin Flood Mitigation Project within the next few months. Construction, originally planned to begin in October of 2014, experienced several delays, prime among them the receipt of four bids, all exceeding the $6.9 million funding approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

FEMA awarded approximately $5.2 million, or 75 percent of funding, for the project. The Village of Bronxville and the Bronxville Union Free School District each agreed to provide $861,238, the remaining 25 percent of funding.

Palmer stated that the project has been split into two cost-effective phases in the interest of proceeding with construction while, at the same time, pursuing sources of additional funding needed to complete the work.

Village consultant J. Robert Folchetti & Associates estimates a cost of $8.6 million for Phase I of the project, with $7.5 million needed for construction and $1.1 for engineering and construction administration. That estimate creates a $1.7 million shortfall in needed funding, which, Palmer indicated, will be split evenly between the village and the school district. Palmer stated that he would open a discussion with school district officials this week relative to funding the construction budget shortfall.

"The state determined that Phase I is cost effective on its own," Palmer said. "That's huge." He added that this week he will work with the New York State Emergency Management Association to convey those findings to FEMA. "We are prepared to reconstruct the construction schedule, coordinate that with the school, and commence construction as soon as the weather permits," he said.

Phase I of the flood mitigation project will include force main pipes, which will extend from a pumping station near Midland Avenue and adjacent to Hayes Field on The Bronxville School campus. The pipes will continue underneath the school's present auxiliary parking lot and cross beneath Midland Avenue to the Bronxville Public Library property. Pipes will be installed under a portion of the library's lawn, cross Pondfield Road, and extend under a portion of the village hall lawn. The pipes will then follow Palumbo Place to a drainage channel leading to Laurel Brook, which drains into the Bronx River. Phase I also calls for completion of 75 percent of pump station electrical work.

Phase II of construction will complete the project with three storm water pumping units, a brick-walled pump station enclosure, and the remaining pump station electrical work. The estimated cost for Phase II is $2.3 million, with $2.2 million for construction costs, most of which is for the three storm water pumping units, and approximately $100,00 for engineering and construction administration costs.

"In the future, when we're prepared to move forward, we can apply separately for funding to complete Phase II," Palmer noted.

Pictured here:  Hayes Field taken on December 15, 2015, before commencement of remediation.

Photo by N. Bower