Thursday, October 1, 2026
The state has awarded the Village of Freeport $3.55 million to fund expansion of its advanced stormwater system designed to reduce chronic flooding along its low-lying streets and waterfront corridors.
The funding, provided through the state’s Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs initiative, is part of the voter-approved Environmental Bond Act of 2022 for coastal rehabilitation and resilience projects.
Freeport earned the grant following a highly competitive statewide process aimed at supporting communities most vulnerable to sea-level rise and climate-driven flooding, according to Mayor Robert Kennedy.
He called the project a “stormwater system upgrade” that builds directly upon Freeport’s prior engineering success: a series of custom-designed catch basins that have virtually eliminated flooding in areas that once regularly went underwater.
Kennedy personally designed the current system — first installed along Hudson and Guy Lombardo avenues — to address the decades-old problem during high tide of bay water flowing back through storm drains and flooding the streets from below.
“We might have bulkheads that are higher, but the water eventually comes back in through the outlets and floods the streets,” he explained. “These pumps in the pit pump the water around the check valves and back into the bay. So even with a super high tide and heavy rains, the water will be pumped back into the bay.”
The innovative fix added back-flow check valves and pumps that redirect stormwater even when tides are high.
“It hasn’t flooded since we put it in — three years now,” Kennedy said.
The state grant will allow the village to expand upon that storm mitigation system.
“Six or seven new catch basins on Guy Lombardo and South Long Beach, from Front Street all the way down to Richmond,” Kennedy said of the expansion plans … “And all the sewer lines are interconnected and going into these catch basins.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul formally approved the funding, Kennedy said, adding that his working relationship with the governor “has been very good. I haven’t had any problems at all.”
The project is expected to benefit roughly 15,000 village residents, as well as the businesses along the Nautical Mile, and their patrons, the mayor said.
“This would be a great, great incentive for visitors down to Freeport — spend their money, enjoy the restaurants and the bars and not have flooded vehicles,” he said.
For those who still face occasional flooding during high tide, the village continues to offer a practical courtesy. “Free undercarriage car washes, if anybody who has to drive through the salt water, can go by hose three, and they have a free undercarriage car wash after every heavy tide,” Kennedy said.
He added that during the most recent flooding, about a week ago, “several 100 vehicles were lined up to get the undercarriage washed.”
Flooding, he explained, tends to strike in the fall and early spring — particularly around full moons when tides run the highest.
The mayor said he expects the project to begin by late December. “It’s going to take approximately three months from shovel in the ground because there’s a lot of streets that have to be dug up and sewer lines interconnected,” Kennedy said.
Some parts of the project, he added, fall on private property, which will require easements and coordination with the village Electric Department to power the pump stations.
“We’re going to have to close down some streets temporarily while we do the connections,” Kennedy said, adding that the village’s Department of Public Works “has done it already, and I don’t foresee any problems.”
Robert Fisenne, public works superintendent, said the department has completed detailed engineering plans and is ready to move into the bidding phase. “Once we bid it, you know, we’ll award the contract, and give the contractor the go-ahead to actually begin the work,” he said.
All contracts, he said, must follow state procurement rules, “so we have to award it to the lowest responsible bidder.”
He described the work as “predominantly installing drainage vaults on Woodcleft Avenue and installing high volume pumps, electric pumps in those vaults.”
“Obviously, because it’s very seasonal down on Woodcleft, we want to have everything, the majority of work, completed by springtime of next year,” Fisenne said.
Public works will then assume responsibility for oversight and upkeep.
While not designed to stop storm surges during hurricanes, the new infrastructure will “actually pump out the water” that collects during heavy rainfall and high-tide cycles.
Fisenne said residents would see a noticeable difference once the new vaults are operational.
“Oh, it’s gonna eliminate the nuisance flooding that we have in the area,” he added.
