Local, County Officials Look to Tackle Saw Mill Flooding

If there was one thing a roomful of local and Westchester County officials seemed to agree on recently, it was that local flooding problems seems to be getting worse.

"This year, we have had a number of temporary closures [on the Saw Mill River Parkway," Westchester County Legislator MaryJane Shimsky (D—Hastings-on-Hudson), stated at a recent meeting of the Saw Mill Watershed Advisory Board, adding those closures haven't been limited as they often are, to the Pleasantville area.

Jan Blaire and Anne-Marie Mitroff, stormwater representatives for the village of Irvington and Dobbs Ferry, respectively, joined officials from the New York State Department of Transportation, Department of Environmental Conservation and officials from other municipalities to weigh in on the topic.

In a statement following the meeting, Shimsky said she is looking "for a change to existing stormwater legislation to allow approved capital projects to alleviate flooding to move forward without municipalities first being required to match fifty percent (50%) of the project cost."

She outlined a flood mitigation plan that also includes debris removal efforts and dredging, installing gauges to pinpoint areas prone to flooding and the possible creation of an Office of Storm Water Management.

"This centralized sub-agency of sorts could act as an important resource to municipalities while also serving to prioritize mitigation efforts," Shimsky explained, adding, "I’m calling on the County Administration to work closely with the Board of Legislators and local municipalities on the flood mitigation initiatives I am proposing today, or immediately set forth on another course of action to solve the problem."