By Carol P. Bartold, Senior Reporter

Apr. 25, 2018: The Bronxville School experienced its first “live” test of the campus flood mitigation system during the April 16 storm. Dan Carlin, assistant superintendent for business, informed the Bronxville Board of Education at its April 17 meeting that the system functioned as it is designed to.

The elementary school parking lots, Carlin noted, are designed to hold some water during a rain incident, in the same manner that the retention tanks beneath Hayes Field hold water, before the two pumps installed, of the five planned, are triggered to begin removing excess water from the area. “If we’d had the same amount of water before the pumps were installed,” Carlin said, “we would have had it coming into the building. That did not happen.” He described the storm as a “ten-year” incident easily handled by the two pumps.

Aided by Police Chief Christopher Satriale and the Bronxville Police Department, which provided parking on Pondfield Road, faculty and staff were able to move their vehicles out of the lots.

Although only one of the two pumps activated during the storm, it performed sufficiently in removing water from the parking lots. While Carlin did not know if the second pump wasn’t needed or didn’t function, he noted that he will ascertain that information from the engineer.

Carlin explained that the pump housing contains mechanisms, called weirs, which gauge the level of standing water in the parking lots and trigger the pumps when the water reaches a predetermined level. “We’re looking at perhaps lowering those weirs to keep the level of standing water in the parking lot lower,” Carlin said. He further commented that the school district will consult the system engineer about possible impacts of making that adjustment for a “hundred-year” event.

Pumps and weirs are components of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Midland Valley Drainage Project for which the village and school district received $5.2 million in funding from the agency. Completion of the project calls for a total of five pumps and corresponding electrical work to be installed.

Board member Jack Bierwirth suggested that the school district encourage the New York State Education Department ("NYSED") to grant approval for the remaining three pumps to be installed as soon as possible. “My one nightmare,” he said, “is that the approval would still be sitting in Albany when, all of a sudden, we have another hundred-year flood and it’s too late.” Bierwirth added that, since the district is asking for a go-ahead on a project that already meets department specifications, NYSED might be willing to consider approving it ahead of the usual schedule.

Superintendent Dr. Roy Montesano stated that a third-party expediter is currently reviewing plans for installing the three remaining pumps. A 10- to 12-week approval backlog currently exists. “Our architects have also communicated with the person [at NYSED] to try and expedite approval of the plans,” he said.

Carlin expressed thanks to the village and Chief Satriale for their help during the storm.

Pictured here: Pumps at The Bronxville School that are part of the flood mitigation system.

Photo by A. Warner