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Emerald Ridge Drainage District Formed by Town Board
Public hearing triggers debate on pros & cons of a district designation
by Edward Paul Greiff
It seems like every month builder Val Santucci, owner of VS Construction Corp., and his attorney David Steinmetz are appearing before the Putnam Valley Town Board, the Planning Board or both to argue some point pertaining to the proposed Emerald Ridge Marsh Hill Road development. This project started four years ago and to date there have been no houses constructed.
The public hearing held on October 10, 2007, was to seek approval to designate the Emerald Ridge development as a "Drainage District." Once again a healthy and lengthy argument involving legal principles and practices preceded any vote on the proposed resolution.
Back on July 18, 2007 the Putnam Valley Town Board, in a roll call vote of four to one, passed a resolution for the developer to make improvements and modifications to Marsh Hill Road, provide stormwater management facilities, to convey to the Town thirty-one acres for permanent open space, and to reduce the proposed twenty-five lot subdivision to ten new homes and committing not to further subdivide any of the lots.
Town Supervisor Sam Davis cast the only nay vote, maintaining his opinion that the project only places more people into a dangerous situation that should not have been allowed in the first place. Marsh Hill road is a 14% grade as opposed to an 8% grade as allowed in the Town Code, the road's length of 3,900 feet exceeds the recommended maximum road length of 1,200 feet, and the extension of Marsh Hill road would be 18 feet wide instead of the 22 feet called for in the Town Code. Supervisor Davis expressed his opinion that the Town Code exceptions place people at an unnecessary risk, especially for school bus services, emergency services, town road maintenance services, and day-to-day ingress and egress.
The October 10 public hearing delved into the whole concept of where does the legal liability lay when problems develop with the roads, wells, septic fields, stormwater management . . . and other problems that affect the residents of a community when you do have a "District" designation and when you do not?
Both Putnam Valley's Town Attorney, David Gordon, and Santucci's attorney, David Steinmetz, argued in favor of a Drainage District designation because it eliminates the ambiguity of who is responsible for maintenance of the community - the Town is. The Town assesses, levies, and collects each year the expense of maintenance of such a district from the lots and parcels of land within the district. The Town also has the authority to levy a tax on the residents of that district to pay for needed repair work.
Supervisor Sam Davis expressed his concern that if the Town took on yet another district to maintain, "We would be adding to the financial burden and work load of the Highway Department and as it is they are shorthanded. Eventually they would have to hire more people and you must consider their salary plus benefits, we don't have the money."
Attorney Gordon explained that without a district designation all the homeowners would have to get together at an agreed upon location. Then they would have to specifically identify which residents are responsible for the work and what percentage of the work they are responsible for. Next would be the question of how much each household should be contribute towards the total cost. They would then have to acquire the services of a contractor to do the work and designate someone to collect and distribute funds to the contractor.
Members of the audience were able to question each attorney for clarification on some of the details.
To better understand the concept, Putnam Valley resident Patty Villanova compared the proposed 'drainage district' to an 'improvement district' in that both have the Town assuming the responsibility for maintaining the district and its homeowners pay the Town for the benefits they receive.
Both attorneys agreed they were similar but different. A drainage district creates a specific purpose and allocates funds for that specific purpose. An improvement district creates a specific community from a geographical area and bestows upon that area many benefits for which the Town collects funds. Lake Peekskill is an example with its garbage pick up and beaches.
Smilingly, both attorneys remarked that the differences are just legal technicalities that only lawyers discuss over coffee and no one else cares about.
By the time the district debate was over and it was time for a vote Sam Davis said, "Even I am convinced a Drainage District is the way to go."
The Resolution to create the Emerald Ridge Drainage District unanimously passed in a role call vote of the Town Board with Supervisor Davis adding one caveat - to avoid the scenario he spoke about with the Highway department he suggested that any work done is outsourced to a bidding contractor and that the Town assumes a project managerial role.
Attorney David Steinmetz, anticipating a favorable reaction to the public hearing prepared a Resolution creating the Emerald Ridge Drainage District and distributed it to the Town Board and Town Attorney Gordon. They all took time out to read it and then unanimously passed it. VS Construction Corp. is covering the entire cost for the construction and establishment of the Emerald Ridge Drainage District.
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