Greens of Chester receives violation notice
Chester. Builder Livy Schwartz said his crews are working diligently to address all the violations in the letter from engineer Alfred Fusco Jr.
Chester /
| 23 Jun 2021 | 10:06
All entrances to the Greens of Chester are closed at night and over every weekend. Entrances are open during working hours only. Photo by Frances Ruth Harris.
Alfred Fusco Jr., an engineer for the Town of Chester, said in a letter to Livy Schwartz, one of the builders of the Greens of Chester, “a downburst” on June 8 “taxed your storm water systems.”
“The resulting flooding washed out berms and short circuited your ponds, causing water to flow outside the property with silt and on-site erosion,” Fusco wrote. “As verbally noted with you, we are issuing a Notice of Violation for you to properly maintain your existing systems and reinforce with additional measures.
No new work can begin until ...
“One critical area was an earthen berm parallel with Greens Road on Conklingtown Road which was breached. This, when replaced, should have steep slop fabric protection.”
Fusco added that all catch basins must be cleaned, check dams replaced and reinforced, silt fence repaired, siltation basins cleaned, road cleaned and all SWPPP systems maintained.
The impact: “No new work to be commenced until the SWPPP systems are brought up to required standards.”
‘Violations and fines are no consolation’
At the last Chester Town Board meeting, Councilman Tom Becker said that it is very disappointing that in the year 2021, with all the knowledge available to control storm water runoff from construction sites, “that we had residents on Conklingtown Road that have property damage for a second time in two years.
“Violations and fines are no consolation to the anguish these residents have to deal with after some have only just finished the repairs to their homes from the last time,” Becker added. “All of these control systems may look good on paper but I think all sights are unique and require on site recommendations by people in the industry who can adjust what is available to fit the site and prevent future damage to neighboring properties. Hopefully, this event can help those in charge of mandating these requirements that are not working to take a closer look and make changes accordingly to prevent future damage from happening to these residents again.
Schwartz, the developer of the 431-home development, said his crews are working diligently to address all the violations in the letter.