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Town hears update on comprehensive stormwater study; consultants outline multiyear, multimillion‑dollar plan
Summary
Town engineers and H2M consultants updated the board and residents on a comprehensive drainage evaluation, reporting 51 tons of cleared debris, five miles of CCTV inspection, and proposed phased design work for high‑priority basins with total program costs cited near $60 million.
The Town of Mamaroneck on April 2 received an update on a comprehensive drainage evaluation that town engineers say will require multiyear work and substantial funding. Town engineer Rob Wasp and consultants from H2M reviewed what has been done since the firm’s July 2024 draft and described next steps for five priority basins.
The presentation summarized completed tasks including system mapping, closed‑circuit TV inspection and modeling. Jim Moran of H2M said the team divided 16 study locations into 13 subbasins and developed conceptual designs and cost opinions. "Between fall of 2024, approximately 51 tons of debris and roots were removed from the town storm sewer system, and an additional 5 miles were CCTV'd," Wasp said, a cleanup that the presenters said improved the accuracy of pipe‑condition data and modestly restored existing flow capacity.
Consultants described three projects that the town will advance to final design because they were prioritized as "Priority 1" in the study: Fenimore Road (culvert replacement), Old White Plains Road (about 1,300 linear feet of new pipe and additional catch basins) and Country Road (a third final‑design site). For two larger watersheds — noted around Colonial Avenue/Homer/Myrtle Boulevard and Cabot Road/Myrtle Boulevard — the team recommended advancing design development because those areas will require extensive regrading, about 6,500 linear feet of new piping in one basin, dozens of catch basins and multiyear schedules.
Wasp and H2M emphasized the program’s scale. The consultants said total improvements across all basins — including soft costs — were estimated "to the tune of $60,000,000," a figure the board acknowledged as a heavy burden for local government and a reason the town is seeking grants and county partnerships to match construction funds.
On timing and permitting, Sean Peters of H2M outlined next steps for the final‑design projects: field survey work, geotechnical borings, updated cost estimates, identification of permitting requirements (for example, coordination with the state Department of Environmental Conservation where work would be in sensitive areas) and preparation of full bid documents. Peters said the team will also work to identify potential permit delays early so construction schedules are not held up later.
Residents and board members asked detailed questions about maintenance plans, how projects were prioritized, whether Murray Avenue resurfacing by the county would be coordinated, and why the consultants used a 25‑year design storm standard rather than a 10‑ or 100‑year standard. Wasp said the town performs regular MS4 maintenance and recently added an in‑house camera inspection unit, and H2M explained that a 25‑year, 24‑hour peak was chosen as a conservative balance between capacity gains and feasibility; in some locations 100‑year designs are physically impossible because downstream channels lack capacity.
The board heard that advancing the three final‑design projects will strengthen applications for grants (the town has applied to state and county programs) and that the 2025 capital budget contains funding for design work. Consultants said larger basins will remain multiyear efforts and that public updates will be provided as designs progress.
The board thanked the consultants for the briefing and moved on to the evening’s remaining business.
