Five Towns project plans presented

Flooding mitigation is primary focus

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As final plans for the state’s NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program have been submitted for approval, Anne Fenton was named the program’s spokeswoman late last month.
“There has been a need for a contact person to communicate between my program and certain media outlets,” Fenton said. “I’m looking forward to serving as a liaison between the media and NY Rising.”
In addition to declaring a new director, there will be several NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program committee meetings to be scheduled throughout the week to share the final plans. The Five Towns committee presented their plans on Wednesday.
Zach Richner, the policy director for the CRP, oversees Long Island’s 21 planning communities: 13 in Nassau County and eight in Suffolk. “The reconstruction plans for the different communities can be found online,” he said. “These plans will help in rebuilding efforts and protect the communities for years to come.”
In moving forward with executing community plans, Fenton said that she will ensure proper communication to assist community members in understanding the planning details. “The focus is on each project,” she said. “I will be issuing press releases or have someone familiar with the plans available to go through the process with the community and the media as the process gets started.”

For the Five Towns, the project plans are organized by the eight communities, four hamlets and four villages within that area, and within each of those communities, organized again according to whether it is proposed or featured. “With the plans submitted, there are proposed projects and featured projects,” Richner said. “Proposed projects are the focus of funding. Featured projects involve the extras, everything else.”
The eight communities are: the villages of Cedarhurst, Lawrence, Hewlett Harbor and Hewlett Neck, and the four hamlets of Hewlett, Inwood, Meadowmere Park and Woodmere.
Proposed projects in Cedarhurst are: stormwater infrastructure upgrades, removable flood walls for the Department of Public Works facility and a Cedarhurst Village Hall disaster response plan. in addition, a protective wall that will be seven feet high, with specially designed openings, would be constructed around Lawrence High School’s perimeter to shield it from future storms.
In Lawrence, the Isle of Wight dike will be fortified by interlocking pressed molded metal or vinyl.
Hewlett Harbor is seeking stormwater infrastructure upgrades, which involve redirecting stormwater around the village hall into green infrastructure detention areas.
Stormwater infrastructure upgrades, which would involve using green infrastructure methods like a bioswale (ditch) to increase the capacity of water collection from Smith Lane to Woodbine Ditch are the focus in Hewlett Neck.
In Hewlett, proposed projects involve a study on how stormwater is currently collected and troubleshooting the faulty areas, and upgrades done on the pipes, drains and catch basins.
A study will be conducted regarding infrastructure issues in collecting stormwater in Inwood. The focus will be on installing swirl separators to keep tidal waters from flooding Bayswater Boulevard and improve water quality.
Meadowmere Park will have a microgrid system of electric power installed, which means that a network of power from a node, or substation, will act as a backup generator during emergencies. Bulkhead repairs will be made, homes will be elevated, the firehouse will receive upgrades and footbridge repairs and improvements are expected.
Woodmere will receive an infrastructure study that will examine current stormwater collection issues, as well as repair and complete upgrades to pipes, drains and catch basins along Derby, Church, Barnard and Arbuckle Avenues.
All of these proposed projects will be implemented from a total $27.6 million, which hasn’t been distributed yet. To see the Five Towns’ plans, visit: http://stormrecovery.ny.gov/sites/default/files/crp/community/documents/fivetowns_nyrcr_plan.pdf.