Times Newsweekly: Community Headlines

FLOOD PLAN IS IN PLACE
Help Is On The Way For Residents Of Middle Village

story and photos by Ralph Mancini
The crowd attending the Monday, June 9 Middle Village Property Owners and Residents Association meeting, held at St. Margaret’s Parish Hall, was treated to a presentation detailing precautions taken by New York City’s Flood Mitigation Taskforce to prevent a recurrence of significant property damage caused by a series of heavy rainstorms last summer.

In reference to a Stormwater Mitigation Study Area Report produced to identify 10 “hot spots” in Queens prone to flooding, Middle Village was selected as one the communities where the taskforce will be focused on studying, developing and implementing stormwater mitigation strategies designed to offer relief.

Officers and directors of the Middle Village Property Owners and Residents Association were officially sworn in during last Monday’s meeting at St. Margaret’s Parish Hall.

On hand to describe the initiatives taking place in the surrounding area were Jennifer Manley, the Queens director of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Community Affairs Unit, and Senior Policy Advisor Shana Whitehead.

Manley indicated that the taskforce’s goal wasn’t to renovate infrastructure or to “solve all the world’s problems,”?but rather to zero in on actions that can be taken in the short term in order to produce more immediate results.

Regarding near-term strategies to be taken in the SMSA zones, Whitehead told the audience about the importance placed on the inspection and cleaning of sewers to monitor waterflow and determine if it’s being impeded in any way.

“We sent in people with cameras into sewers and we started cleaning them out,” said Whitehead. “ Most of them were okay, but some had blockages and had to be flushed out. The same thing goes for catch basins.”

Former MVPORA President Michael Roemmelt (at far left) receives a proclamation from the office of State Sen. Serphin Maltese for his years of leadership to the civic group. The award was presented to him by New York City Council candidate Anthony Como (at center). Also pictured is Rosemarie Iacovone of Senator Maltese’s office.

Although the Department of Environmental Protection regularly monitors the inside of catch basins on a three-year cycle, according to the city government official, crews were recently sent in to clean them from the inside in those areas of chronic flooding.

Other steps mentioned by Whitehead included:

• The installation of catch basins with a new design lessening the problems associated with grate clogging.

• Improving curb reveal where feasible by adding more of it, which would help keep water in the streets, off sidewalks and out of people’s homes.

• Increasing street tree-stocking in SMSAs with low percentages with trees, which would provide the additional absorption of water during rain events.

• The addition of emergency tide gates on “outflow” pipes to prevent water from traveling into sewers during rainstorms accompanied by high tides.

Long-term strategies

DEP Executive Project Manager Chris Villari also appeared at the Monday night session to discuss a capital project taking place in and adjacent to the Middle Village area to address an “exploited and taxed” sewer system in which numerous bottlenecks were discovered in various sections of the community.

“We want to bring the entire area up to code in a step-wise fashion,” he said.

The current plan will be to reportedly complete work being done on Calamus Avenue in nearby Woodside, proceed to Penelope Avenue and then move on to Cooper Avenue.

Friendly reminders

Common sense advice was issued to homeowners by Manley on what to do in the aftermath of serious water damage.

Manley recommended taking photos of the entire affected area, keeping track of saved receipts which can be used to purchase replacement items, avoid contaminants when cleaning up and contacting one’s insurance company as soon as possible.

Board installation

City Council candidate Anthony Como swore in MVPORA’s officers and directors, including the group’s new president, Sal Candela.

Graffiti cleanup

Corresponding Secretary John Schell informed that Boy Scout Troop 119 recently helped the civic group perform graffiti cleanup by repainting fire hydrants and mailboxes.

In appreciation of the troop’s assistance, civic members voted to donate $100 to them.

The Middle Village Property Owners and Residents Association regularly meets on the second Monday of the month at St. Margaret’s Parish Hall, located at 66-10 80th St.

There are no meetings scheduled for the months of July and August.