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Long Beach moves forward on protection plan

City hires engineering firm for $13 million bayside project

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Nine months after Gov. Andrew Cuomo came to Long Beach and announced that the state would provide $13 million to fund flood protection measures for the city’s industrial district, the City Council has taken what was described as the first step toward moving the project forward.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the council voted unanimously to approve a contract with D&B Engineers and Architects P.C. to design and create specifications for the installation of flood protection infrastructure along the city’s northern waterfront — from National to Monroe boulevards — an area that is prone to flooding and was devastated by Hurricane Sandy. The firm will also conduct several public information meetings at which it will float a number of options for protection, and update residents on the status of the project.

“This … is a long time coming for the City of Long Beach,” City Manager Jack Schnirman said. “This is many decades in the making. Today is about beginning the process of the design, and as we go forward, there will obviously be a lot of input and discussion about what that design ought to be.”

The council's vote comes after the state recently approved the first phase of the project, and earmarked $1.5 million for the design, engineering and permitting. Once completed, and following a final review, the remaining funds will be provided to support construction.

“With 100-year storms now occurring on a regular basis, we must build a new New York that is prepared for the reality of extreme weather,” Cuomo said in a statement on Thursday. “Communities like Long Beach are aggressively working toward this goal by fortifying their infrastructure, and this support from our federal partners, along with the state’s funding, is making these improvements possible. I applaud FEMA’s assistance with this matter, which will ultimately result in a stronger and more resilient Long Beach when the next storm arrives.”

During Sandy, the industrial district — the city’s water treatment plant and storage tower, wastewater treatment plant, electrical substations and a major gas pipeline — was underwater, and had to be shut down for weeks afterward for emergency repairs. The wastewater plant was out of operation for 10 days, officials said, and the water treatment plant was inoperable for nearly three weeks, and had periodic outages after that while it was repaired. The city had no electrical power for two weeks.

The facility, next to Reynolds Channel, will require significant improvements to protect it from future storms.

Last November, Cuomo chose to fund the project through the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, to complement the $25 million the city was allocated by the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program.

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