South Valley Stream begins charting its future

At a public meeting on Oct. 15, roughly 50 South Valley Stream residents weighed in on how the community’s $3 million in New York Rising state funding should be used to improve the region’s infrastructure.

The South Valley Stream Community Reconstruction Zone planning committee hosted the meeting, and had state consultants on hand to answer questions and bring residents up to speed on the project. The CRZ includes Mill Brook, the neighborhood around South High School, and the area of North Woodmere around Ogden Elementary School.

The committee, with the consultants’ assistance, will develop a plan for the allocated funds using residents’ input. Committee members met on Monday to break down the responses, and will hold another public meeting on Nov. 18 to share them with the community.

Niek Veraart, the director of environmental planning for the Louis Berger Group, told community members that the money would be used in ways that they see fit. “It’s not going to be our plan, it’s your plan,” he said. “We’re just the keys on the piano for you, so to speak.”

“This is about us as a community,” said Marc Tenzer, president of the Mill Brook Civic Association and chairman of the CRZ. “[It’s] what we think we need to do in our community to make it better and prevent future problems.”

Attendees made their way around a five-station presentation. Each stop featured information or questions for community members to answer.

Stanley Egbuchulam, who has lived on Southgate Road since 1996, jotted down a few ideas for committee members to discuss, including the addition of a backup power supply so residents would not be without power for days or weeks after a big storm like they were after Hurricane Sandy. Egbuchulam, like many other residents, also said that a levee would be a positive for the area.

“If they can build a levee, or some sort of barrier high enough to prevent the water from getting into the streets and into the homes,” he said, “that would be nice.”

Several creeks run through or near the neighborhoods in the CRZ. During the storm’s tidal surge, they overflowed, and dozens of homes were damaged. Parts of Mill Brook were without power for nearly two months.