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Officials brief board on East Hartsdale sewer break; town seeks $9 million Water Quality Improvement Grant and considers boosting grant-writing capacity
Summary
Town engineers described a complex sewer break beneath a building on East Hartsdale Avenue that will require a reroute of the trunk main; staff said the town applied for a $9 million Water Quality Improvement Grant, estimated the project at $10–12 million, and discussed hiring external or in-house grant-writing help to increase capacity.
Town engineering and planning officials gave the board a detailed update on the East Hartsdale Avenue sewer break and on related grant-seeking and staffing plans.
Deputy town engineer CJ Gelardo said Colliers is completing a design to reroute the town-owned trunk main around a building with a broken sewer under its foundation, and the town has issued an RFP for an alternatives study. "We requested $9,000,000," Gelardo said of a Water Quality Improvement Grant the town applied for, and he added that a parallel infrastructure grant could provide up to a 25% match for a large project.
Gelardo emphasized the technical difficulty of the repair: the break involves a 35-foot-deep manhole and a large trunk main under a 60-year-old, eight-story building, which prevents a simple in-place fix and lengthens the design and permitting timeline. "That's not something you could just go and fix right away," Gelardo said, noting the need to avoid causing further structural damage.
Officials said temporary pumps are diverting sewage while the design work continues, that survey work is complete, and that the completed design will require county health-department approval before construction can proceed. Gelardo estimated the overall project could cost between $10 million and $12 million and said an infrastructure grant could cover roughly 25% ("maybe a $4,000,000 grant") if awarded.
Commissioner Gary Tucain reported the town submitted eight grant requests this year totaling just over $16 million across infrastructure, parks, stormwater and preservation priorities and said two of those submissions relate directly to the East Hartsdale project. Staff emphasized that many competitive grants still require technical engineering reports or specialist inputs that the town hires or prepares in-house.
Board members debated whether to hire an outside grant-writing firm, retain per-project consultants, or add a permanent in-house grants specialist. Winsome Gordon (philanthropy department) and others said in-house capacity has produced strong results but acknowledged hiring additional expertise could increase the town’s ability to pursue more opportunities. Staff were asked to return with recommendations and possible budget options during the next budget cycle.
Next steps: finish the Colliers design, submit plans to the county health department for approval, evaluate RFP responses for the alternatives study, and return to the board with a recommendation on grant-writing capacity during budget discussions.
