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PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. For years, flooding along the Saw Mill River Parkway has been an issue for drivers and the areas in which the parkway passes through. In an effort to combat this problem, the Westchester County Board of Legislators has developed the Saw Mill River Parkway Flood Basin Advisory Board, consisting of liaisons from each town or village affected by the flooding.
Village Administrator Patricia Dwyer was recently named the representative on the board for the Village of Pleasantville.
"I'm excited," Dwyer said. "Any time you have the opportunity to sit down at a table with other elected officials and town managers to find a resolution for a problem, it's important."
District 3 County Legislator John Nonna (D) said he, along with fellow Democratic legislators MaryJane Shimsky and Alfreda Williams, created the board after passing a groundbreaking county law that enables the county to work with towns and villages that have flooding problems. The law is especially effective for the Saw Mill River Parkway, which affects multiple towns.
"No town can solve a flooding problem on its own," Nonna said. "It's like a river, it flows through more than one town,"
Nonna said the board enables the affected towns to get together to come up with a collective solution to the flood issue, and then seek state and/or federal funding for a potential project.
"Hopefully it will lead to a major project in the future," Nonna said in regards to the Saw Mill. "It's not just one town's problem or one village's problem, it's the whole area, and that's the idea of bringing everybody together,"
For Dwyer, she feels she has gained enough experience recently to qualify her to represent Pleasantville on the board.
"I've had the opportunity to speak with a lot of residents that have called up concerning floods not only on the Saw Mill but other areas in Pleasantville, so I'm very familiar with the issue," Dwyer said.
The advisory board will hold its first meeting next Thursday and Nonna said it is likely they will decide that day to meet on a regular basis in the future.
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