TOM Joins Storm Water District; Urged to Merge Fire Depts.

by Harriet Kline

(September 20, 2007) Intermunicipal cooperation was the theme of the Mamaroneck Town Board’s meeting on Wednesday, September 19. The board resolved to join a proposed regional Sound Shore storm water management district and was urged to consider merging its fire department with that of the Village of Larchmont. Also on the agenda, was the Town's carbon footprint and its telephone system.

Intermunicipal Storm Water Management District

Board members passed a resolution to join 11 other Sound Shore watershed municipalities (the Villages of Larchmont and Mamaroneck, Harrison, Rye Brook, City of Rye, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Port Chester, Pelham, Pelham Manor and Scarsdale) to create a stormwater management district. All the municipalities must pass similar resolutions and the New York State Legislature must then pass a bill to officially make the district operational.

The stormwater management district idea has been spearheaded by the Long Island Sound Watershed Intermunicipal Council (LISWIC), which is headed by Town Councilwoman Phyllis Wittner. Originally the district was aimed at helping manage and fund the municipalities’ responsibilities under federal stormwater regulations. In the wake of this year’s floods, the district is also being viewed more widely as a way to implement flood control measures.

Long Island Sound Watershed (in gold) - map by Westchester County Department of Planning.

According to Ms. Wittner, LISWIC was the result of a five-day Community Leadership Alliance Program held in the spring of 1998 at Pace University Law School, where a group of municipal officials and leaders saw the potential benefits of working intermunicipally to achieve common goals. Ms. Wittner was instrumental in getting a NY State Environmental Protection Fund grant to enable LISWIC to hire an engineering firm to “identify and evaluate methods of providing services, funding scenarios, organizational structures, proposed staffing, details of governance and the advantages and disadvantages of a regional storm water management district.” Ms. Wittner credited Scarsdale's managers for writing the grant application.

A recently completed report from engineering consultants Malcolm Pirnie recommended funding the district through a fee that would assess a single amount for a single- family home. The fee for commercial properties would depend on the extent of impervious surfaces. The report also recommended giving financial incentives to home and business owners for improving on-site management of stormwater runoff. Typical user fees range from $3 to $20 per month, noted the consultant. (See: Malcolm Pirnie Executive Summary: Feasiblity Evaluation of a Regional Stormwater Managmeent District.)

In describing the proposed district, Town Administrator Steve Altieri likened it to the Westchester Joint Water Works. It would have its own manager and board and representation from each of the 12 municipalities.

Both Supervisor Valerie O’Keeffe and Councilwoman Nancy Seligson commended Ms. Wittner on her years of work and perseverance with which she was able to get 12 municipalities to focus on the storm water issue. Ms. Seligson called Ms. Wittner’s work a “great achievement.”

Fire Department Merger?

The Larchmont Gazette has well-documented the dispute between some Larchmont volunteer firemen and the Larchmont Village Board of Trustees. (See: Larchmont Appoints Paid Fire Chief; Many Volunteers Resign.)

One of the related issues in this dispute has been a proposal from the volunteers to merge the Town of Mamaroneck Fire Department (TMFD) and Village of Larchmont Fire Department (LFD) to assume fire safety responsibilities in the entire 10538 zip code area. Ned Benton, former Larchmont VIllage trustee and former LFD volunteer firefighter, was on hand Wednesday night to urge the Town Council to initiate substantive discussions with the Larchmont Board toward that end.

Mr.Benton characterized Larchmont's fire department as “a shell of its former self” and saw this time as an opportunity to accomplish a merger that had been studied in the early 1990s. He suggested that the issues barring merger then were no longer valid - especially possible damage to Larchmont's volunteer structure. Specifically, to prevent further disruption in local fire fighting services, he wanted the Mamaroneck Town Board to do two things:

● hold a meeting between the Larchmont and Mamaroneck boards

● make clear the Mamaroneck Board’s position on possible consolidation.

Supervisor O’Keeffe, Councilwoman Phyllis Wittner and Councilman Ernie Odierna voiced their willingness to talk about the matter. However, Supervisor O’Keeffe stressed, “We are willing to listen, but any (first) step has to come from Village of Larchmont officials.”

Carbon Footprint Measured

With the help of an intern, Sarah Price, the Town is in the midst of developing information about its carbon footprint – defined as the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the municipality to meet its energy needs. By Ms. Price’s initial calculations, there were 455,168 tons of carbon dioxide emitted from January through August 2006 by the Town's vehicles, streetlights and buildings (the Town Center, Hommocks ice rink, Maxwell Avenue garage, etc.).

To complete the emissions inventory, board members voted last night to set the following goal: decrease emissions by 5% by December 2012.

Telephone Consultant Hired

Board members voted unanimously to spend $18,000 to hire BCM Consulting to assist with the evaluation and purchase of a new phone system.

As indicated by Councilman Odierna at the September 5 meeting, Town staff members have already met with 3 vendors (Avaya, Mytel and Verizon) to review various offerings.

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