Slow first steps for Mill River

The $125 million Living with the Bay project has begun in Rockville Centre — the very early stages, that is.

In November, workers from the Village of Rockville Centre, Rebuild by Design and the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery started evaluating the sites of the future resiliency project for the Mill River area, and work will continue for at least the next six months to a year.

“They’ve been going out and looking at the sites where there are potential projects,” said Kathleen Murray, the deputy village administrator for planning and strategic initiatives. “For example, they walked around Smith Pond, and they’ve been evaluating a piece of property the village owns at the south end of Lister Park for potential upgrades … They’ve been doing evaluations.” Workers have also walked through the area near Tanglewood Preserve, which is adjacent to Smith Pond.

Residents are also able to get involved in the project, even though it’s still in the early stages. Applications to form a Citizens’ Advisory Committee will be accepted through Jan. 14. Those interested in joining the CAC can apply at www.stormrecovery.ny.gov/content/citizens-advisory-committee-application, or pick up an application at one of many different locations (see sidebar).

The Living with the Bay project is a product of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rebuild by Design contest, which followed Hurricane Sandy. Its purpose is to make South Shore communities along Mill River — which runs from Hempstead Lake south to the East Rockaway channel — more resistant to future storms and potential flooding.

The Interboro Team, a collaboration of Dutch and American designers which won the contest, are no longer involved. The project is being helmed by the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, which has since proposed a three-part plan divided into a north section, focusing on the Hempstead Lake area; a middle section — the Mill River itself as well as storm-water mitigation, in cooperation with the Village of Rockville Centre; and a southern section, in which the initial plan, for a sluice gate at the southern end of the river, has been replaced by restoration of the coastal area to reduce the effects of storms.