By Carol P. Bartold

Oct. 21, 2015:  The Bronxville Board of Trustees, at its October 13 meeting, approved a resolution to increase appropriations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Midland Valley Drainage Project by $600,000. 

"The FEMA project is a go. We will not lose our grant," Mayor Mary Marvin stated, speaking of the $6.9 million the agency granted to fund 75 percent of the joint village-school district flood mitigation project. "I don't want anyone to think the grant will be forfeited," Marvin added. 

Village Administrator Jim Palmer noted that the appropriation of an additional $600,000 will allow the village to cover costs it has applied to the project to date, as well as cover additional first-round expenditures in advance of receiving reimbursement. 

"The project has been segmented with the hope that we get certain things done and then find other revenue sources," Marvin said. "We will definitely put the FEMA funds to good use for flood mitigation." 

Each segment of the project must satisfy federal and state cost-benefit analyses and show significant flood mitigation. Village engineers J. Robert Folchetti & Associates performed such an analysis according to the FEMA model. Although the Folchetti & Associates study showed benefits that exceed the project's estimated costs, it is not known at this time if the state will accept those results or perform its own cost-benefit analysis. 

The Hayes Field reconfiguration and turf project at The Bronxville School is contingent upon completion of the hydraulic holding tank and pump installation phase of the FEMA project. The redesigned athletic field will sit on top of that portion of the flood mitigation project. 

Although the Hayes Field project is on hold until a disposition on the cost-benefit analysis, the district has solicited a joint proposal for the project from landscape architects Abel Bainnson Butz LLP and district architect KG&D architects. 

The Bronxville Board of Trustees will meet on Monday, November 9, at 8:00 pm in the trustees room at Bronxville Village Hall.

Pictured here:  Flooding at The Bronxville School, a recurring problem that the FEMA project is intended to address.

Photo by N. Bower