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After sustaining millions of dollars in damages from flooding in the Midland Valley Drainage Basin near the high school, the Board of Education proposed a flood mitigation plan and subsequent synthetic field replacement at Hayes Field that will be voted on in a special election ballot on Thursday, Jan. 22.
The next informational session will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 15 at the monthly Board of Education meeting.
Board of Education President Denise Tormey said that the current plan is critical for the village and school district. The finished product will include an “ample natural grass play area that includes relocated parking areas.”
“It is my personal hope that the flood mitigation project will go a long way toward keeping Hayes Field above water, and that a reconfigured, brand-new synthetic field will revitalize Hates Field into a resource that our children will enjoy for years to come,” she said.
Since 2007, the village has endured nearly $30 million in damages during the various “100-year storms” that have plagued the East Coast. As a result, the board has come up with two propositions for voters.
Last year, the village received a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant that will cover 75 percent of the $6.8 million project. Now, Bronxville Board of Education trustees are required to bring it to a public vote for residents to approve the local share of the project, which will total approximately $1.7 million.
The first proposition seeks the authorization to pay for the district’s 12.5 percent share of a $7 FEMA-approved flood mitigation project, while the second involves the installment of synthetic turf at Hayes Field.
According to Paul Pelusio, the engineer who is shaping this project, the plan includes installing a large network of pipes under Hayes Field that would detain floodwater and prevent it from backing up into the school, as it did in 2007, with disastrous results. The proposal also includes a dedicated pipe that would be installed behind Village Hall that would deliver storm water back into the Bronx River.
A storm water pumping station on the Midland Avenue side of the school would also be utilized during and after flooding. Due to construction, Hayes Field would be inaccessible during the spring sports season.
Additionally, according to Superintendent David Quattrone, there will be a new bus drop-off adjacent to Hayes Field, and the area will be landscaped. Nearly 50 trees and additionally shrubbery will also be planted along Midland and Meadow Avenue.
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