McGinty gives repair updates at chamber meeting

Posted

At the Island Park Business and Residential Chamber meeting on Oct. 13 Island Park Mayor Michael McGinty announced the status of four ongoing Hurricane Sandy recovery projects. The projects ranged from resiliency and beautification to infrastructure repair.

McGinty first gave an update on storm drain maintenance. According to him all Island Park storm drains are now cleaned and free of any blockages. The next drain project will install lateral drains leading up to Island Parkway. They are intended to provide better drainage for the western part of town. He mentioned that Representative Kathleen Rice has agreed to provide funds for future storm drain cleanings.

The mayor also announced that Senator Charles Schumer is rolling Island Park’s Army Corps of Engineers resiliency project into the larger Back Bay Project. This development means the erosion and flooding prevention plan will require less village funding. According to him the decision was made because the rear waterways are connected.

McGinty also announced that the second floor of the Island Park Fire House will serve as a regional resilience and recovery center and will be completely rebuilt and hardened against storms and flooding.

Finally, the mayor gave an update on Island Park’s tree replacement project. He assured residents that an arborist has looked at every tree in the village and determined that most are dead or in the process of dying due to salt-water damage from Sandy. Currently 290 trees are being removed but he would like up to 400 to be taken down in the coming months. Pushing back against complaints, the mayor noted that at least two cars have been recently damaged by falling tree limbs and that, “he wouldn’t know what to do with himself,” if a child were injured by the damaged trees. Trees that have been removed will be replaced in the spring with new 10 foot high ones.

The mayor also announced that bids are being submitted for stump removal and that the Arbor Day Foundation has agreed to pay for the first 250 replacement trees.

The mayor said he would like to walk away from the town having made, “the village greener, safer for kids and have a smaller carbon footprint.”