Flood Mitigation
At the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees, Village Manager Jerry Barberio once again reported on the “Parallel Flood Mitigation” efforts. Barberio stated that the DEC permit application for dredging is still pending and that the consultant for the NY Department of State has requested additional information.
Barberio then gave an update on the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) project that was different from previous reports. This week, Barberio reported that the USACE was 90% complete with plans to demolish the Ward Bridge where in all previous reports, the plans were described as “plans to replace the Ward Avenue Bridge.” There was no mention of a community meeting this time and Barberio mentioned that the USACE Project Manager was on leave until September and that an interim manager had been appointed. See our previous article HERE.
The Village is continuing to remove debris from the Mamaroneck and Sheldrake Rivers.
Tompkins Avenue Bridge
Deputy Village Manager Dan Sarnoff reported that plans to replace the Tompkins Avenue Bridge must complement the USACE project. More specifically, the Tompkins Avenue Bridge is directly related to the Ward Avenue Bridge project as it is downstream. With the Ward Avenue Bridge project delay, the Tompkins Avenue Bridge project is also delayed.
Community Fridge
Lisa Chase, a Larchmont resident and member of the Grassroots Grocery/Mamaroneck planning committee, presented a proposal for a community fridge at the work session. A community fridge is a large commercial grade refrigerator/freezer where food is available for anyone who needs it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Most of the food is “rescued” from food establishments such as restaurants and area clubs. No raw food will be allowed. Chase proposed locating the community fridge in front of the Mamaroneck Public Library and presented a visual of what it might look like. Approvals are needed by the Library Board and the Village Board of Trustees (the Village owns the land). See presentation HERE. The BOT expressed interest and the Mayor has already written a letter of support. The project is moving forward.
Affordable Housing Task Force
Trustee Lucas promoted the idea of forming an ad-hoc committee to work with the Village to develop an Affordable Housing Plan and achieve buy-in from the community at large. This proposal died in committee as the other members of the Board favored the tri-municipal Larchmont Mamaroneck Affordable Housing Coalition which is comprised of residents, organizations, and houses of worship from Larchmont and both the Town and Village of Mamaroneck.
Building Permit Fees
The current building code for the Village of Mamaroneck requires that all fees associated with a building project be paid up front.Until the new Building Inspector arrived, no one was collecting the actual building permit fee until a project was approved by all the necessary land use boards.Now, the Building Inspector is following the code and has uncovered that there is no legal way to refund permit fees if the project does not receive approvals.The BOT will address this at an August meeting and the Village Attorney will draft a local law correcting this situation.
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