Residents voice concerns about Lawrence High School seawall

Cedarhurst residents packed Village Hall and crowded into a downstairs anteroom for a meeting of the board of trustees on March 14, to express their anger at the Lawrence school district for the seawall it is proposing to build on the Lawrence High School campus.

Community members also directed their displeasure with the $75 million project at the representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency who attended the three-hour hearing.

Residents of the neighborhood adjacent to the high school contend that a seawall will exacerbate the recurring flooding in the area. They cited a recent loss of cars in the area, destruction of property, and the ponding and buildup of sewage and sediment on local roads during and after rainstorms and high tide dues to a lack of drainage.

“This is wrong and cannot be allowed,” Gemma Allen, a resident of a Cedarhurst cooperative, said. “We’re going to remember this the next time we’re asked to vote for a school budget or school board members.”

Attendees raised concerns about the accessibility of the school property with a wall in place, the impact of the new infrastructure on nearby property values, low enrollment at Lawrence High, and the cost of the project compared with the cost of moving the students to another building.

Michael Mark, an architect working for the school district, explained that the seawall’s purpose is solely to keep the building in operation should there be another Hurricane Sandy-like storm. Mark added that in the event of a flood, floats controlling the gates of the seawall would allow students and staff to leave the area easily.

“That school is a resource for the community,” Mark said. “The point is, after another flood event like that — god forbid we see that again, hopefully we never have to see those things arise — but in the event that they do, and those floodwaters subside, the school can distribute meals, offer a refuge for the community.”

After some residents suggested closing the high school and moving the students to another building, district Superintendent Ann Pedersen strongly condemned the idea.

“To lose that building would make it educationally unsound for the students,” Pedersen said.

Village trustees expressed their annoyance with the school district and the Board of Education for a lack of accountability and transparency.

“I don’t believe for one second that the residents in that part of Cedarhurst — and the other neighboring area, that’s not in Cedarhurst — that these people, who work hard to pay their bills, should have the potential of further flooding their homes,” Trustee Dan Plaut said. “The president of the school board didn’t have that in mind, even though you all are taxpayers.”

Mark said that the points made at the meeting would be addressed. No one from the Lawrence District school board attended.

Cedarhurst Mayor Ben Weinstock said that public comments could be submitted until March 24.

The seawall would surround the high school campus on Reilly Road, to protect it from being inundated during future severe storms and avoid a repeat of the damage the building sustained in Sandy in 2012.

“I was born and bred here,” resident Fay Goldstein said. “I’ve been here a very long time. My mother is 98 years old and she lives on Oxford Road. We have lost a car because floodwater comes right up. It’s very unnerving for us to watch out the window, the water just comes up without any warning at all — and we’re talking to about the knee — and we’ve been lucky enough that our water just comes up to the front door, doesn’t come into the house. But I see neighbors and they’re constantly cleaning out, it’s just a mess. It could be on a perfect day when there’s just high tide.”

The school district applied for funding from FEMA after Sandy, when President Barack Obama declared parts of the Northeast a major disaster area.

The bulk of the funding for the construction of the seawall would come from FEMA, Lawrence Board of Education President Murray Foreman previously said.

Village officials had urged community members to attend the public hearing and voice their opinions on what the village described as “this significant development impacting our community.”

Village representatives said that despite requests to FEMA, the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services and the Lawrence Board of Education for a public hearing, village officials were taking a “proactive stance” by hosting the meeting. FEMA officials have said it is the school district’s responsibility to hold a hearing.

Comments can be submitted to mayor@cedarhurst.gov.

Have an opinion on the proposed seawall? Send a letter to jbessen@liherald.com.