Village flooding problem gets attention

By Edie Johnson
CHESTER — The state is ready to help the Village of Chester fix flooding problems that have plagued its industrial park for years.

The village will, however, have to do the work and foot the bill, which its building inspector, John Orr, estimates could reach $1 million. He says he's expecting financial help from the state, which has pledged to do everything possible to help get money for the village.

New York State Assemblyman James Skoufis called a press conference Thursday morning to update the public on progress being made on remediating the problem. In June, Gov. Cuomo made available more than $500 million in hazard mitigation grants "to rebuild stronger, resilient communities impacted by recent natural disasters."

Tom Rudolph, the acting director of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Region 3, agreed with Orr that Chester is the "poster child" for the need to mitigate floods, and said he will help get money for the village.

Rainwater flows down the developed hillsides above the industrial park and through unnamed channels along and under Route 17 and Route 17M. Many of these are drainage channels on farms that have not been cleaned out in 20 years.

Businesses forced to close when it rains

Skoufis' office told The Chronicle that two local businesses suffering from chronic flooding — Satin Fine Foods and PDJ Components — reached out to his office for help.

Both businesses are forced to close, even on a moderately rainy day. Kevin O'Reilly, president of Satin Fine Foods, said that after an especially bad flood, he had to replace engines in his employees' cars.

Brian Drumm, a biologist with the Region 3's Bureau of Habitat, said the industrial park was built many years ago, when drainage ponds were not required. He said the DEC will look into doing remediation work on the hillsides to keep runoff from reaching the industrial park below.

Orr has written a draft plan, now in the hands of the DEC, that includes clearing clogs out of the channels leading to the Black Meadow Creek and the Otterkill. The town's building inspector, Joe Mlcoch, believes a blocked dam behind Orange County Trust is causing much of the problem. And culverts in the area owned by the state transportation department also get blocked up.

But the experts agreed the village must be careful not to increase the flow too much, which will make flooding problems worse. There's also the possibility of spreading invasive species and contaminants further downstream.

Work may start as early as this fall or winter, when it's easier to do this kind of work without the complications of mud and rain. But it all depends on when money gets here from Albany.

Orr said he was grateful that the village was getting so much attention from the state. Four representatives from the New York State Department of Transportation were at Thursday's meeting, along with three representatives from the DEC.

'Not about Seely'
Much of the affected land in the village abuts the town. Town officials, who heard about the meeting from The Chronicle at Wednesday night's town board meeting, also attended.

Town Supervisor Steve Neuhaus said flood problems have already been addressed on Greycourt and Sanford Roads. He said he talked to several farmers who offered to help clear the channels and to return to planting corn and hay on adjacent fields to keep vegetation from growing in the channels.

Anthony LaSpina, the town highway supervisor, brought up the severe flooding problems that chronically afflict the Seely Brook area in the town. Many residents in that part of town were devastated by Hurricane Irene, and are suing the town, county, and state for inaction. But LaSpina was cut off abruptly by a village trustee, who said: "This is not about Seely."

For now, DEC officials said the village and town are limited to work they can do by hand to remove tree branches, trash, and other obstacles, as long as they do not enter the channels or bring machinery into the wetlands.

Editor's note: Several inaccuracies that appeared in the original story, one related to mitigation on hillsides and the other to the farmers' proposal to grow crops along their channels, have been corrected here.