Westchester Insider: Westchester County Legislator Catherine Parker 7th District: Flood Mitigation, Playland, and Saxon Woods – what a week!

 

Dear Friends and Neighbors, 

This has been a busy county news week! We had a Board of Legislators meeting on Monday night where we voted on two very important pieces of legislation that pertain to District 7. In addition, on Sunday, social media lit up related to a county park, and clearly more information was needed.

First, the good news.  At the meeting, the Board unanimously passed a joint package of federal legislative priorities with County Executive George Latimer that puts essential flood and environmental protections for area residents front and center.

At my urging, included in the package to federal lawmakers was a request to move forward an Army Corps of Engineers project to mitigate flooding in Mamaroneck. Work to ease flooding from the Mamaroneck and Sheldrake Rivers had been proceeding until it was abruptly put on hold by the Trump administration.

As the Army Corps notes, conditions around the confluence of the rivers has contributed to significant and frequent flooding, leading to tens of millions of dollars of damage, and increases in extreme weather due to climate change have only exacerbated the threat. Returning this project to the fast track is essential to public safety and economic security.

The package also urges our federal representatives to speed the update of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's coastal flood maps for Westchester.  The last update of the maps was nearly 15 years ago, and Climate Change has dramatically altered the real threat of floods in our community. These maps, used to set building standards and determine flood insurance, must accurately reflect our current reality.

The package also urges the federal government to reinstate all environmental funds stripped away by the last administration for the protection of the Long Island Sound. We are all so fortunate to live so near this incredible estuary, but there is work to be done to ensure it is a healthy and vibrant ecosystem.

Unfortunately, there was unhappy news Monday night as well. The Board approved a bankruptcy court settlement allowing Standard Amusements to take over management of Playland after this season.  I joined with three of my colleagues in voting "no" on the measure, but it passed with 13 votes.

In negotiating the settlement, the County found itself in a difficult position.  After County Executive Latimer charged Standard with breach of the 2016 agreement and moved to terminate it, the company filed for federal bankruptcy protection. The bankruptcy proceeding gave Standard considerable leverage, including the chance to cure the breaches and assume the 2016 contract without any changes, but the bankruptcy judge urged the sides to negotiate a settlement first.

The amended agreement, which passed Monday, may be better for the County than the 2016 agreement, but leaves unaddressed some concerns related to Rye. While I appreciate the difficult position the County faced in Standard's bankruptcy proceeding, I am disappointed in the process that led to the cutoff of negotiation with Standard Amusements before a final determination on those matters. Given that Rye is home to the County Executive, this Legislator, and a Mayor who put the issues on the record, the failure to close that loop is elsewhere.

It was news to me on Sunday evening when I saw Facebook that there was talk of disc golf in Saxon Woods! Disc golf has become a very popular sport in recent years. Many golf courses around the country have seen disc golf as a way to bring new users (and new revenue) to these expensive, large parcels of land that need a lot of money to sustain themselves given that the sport of regular golf had dropped off in popularity pre-pandemic. While the Board of Legislators had added monies to the Parks Department budget for 2020 to fund disc golf, I can say never was the intent to place disc golf in the rather compact, but well utilized, wooded trails of Saxon Woods! I will write more on this once we have had fuller conversation with our Parks Commissioners.

As always feel free to forward my email to friends, especially new neighbors. I can be reached at Parker@westchesterlegislators.com if you have further questions.

All the best,