Residents rising

Several dozen Baldwin residents met at the high school last Thursday night to contribute ideas on how the hamlet should spend $10.3 million it has been allotted by New York state for post-Hurricane Sandy upgrades. This was the second of four planned meetings — the first was held Oct. 22 — and participants spent the bulk of the time in small groups focused on themes like housing, economic development, infrastructure and community planning.

“You have $11 million to do almost whatever you want,” Sherazad Mehta reminded the attendees, standing beside a projection screen in the high school cafeteria. Mehta is the Baldwin project manager for Ove Arup & Partners P.C., a consulting group that is helping Baldwin develop a spending plan. A small staff of young program managers and public outreach workers milled around the room, guiding discussions and helping focus the groups’ thinking.

Spread out on long tables were maps of Baldwin and Baldwin Harbor — which, when it comes to the funding, are considered one area — and participants wrote words in the charts’ margins: dog park, fishing pier, ramp for boats and kayaks …

Baldwin’s interests in the New York Rising program, which will distribute around $500 million statewide, are represented by two well-known local co-chairs: David Viana, president of the Baldwin Civic Association, and Erik Mahler, co-president of the Chamber of Commerce. Also contributing ideas and legwork are Paula Reyna, of the BCA, and Peter Mietenkorte, of the Bay Colony Homeowners Association. (For a complete list of committee members, see below.)