New York State recently established a program to provide additional rebuilding and revitalization assistance to communities severely damaged by Hurricanes Sandy and Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

By Rye Record staff

New York State recently established a program to provide additional rebuilding and revitalization assistance to communities severely damaged by Hurricanes Sandy and Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. The New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program, as it is called, is intended to facilitate community redevelopment planning to mitigate flood problems, and substantial state funds have been allocated for this purpose. The focus is on “community” needs, as opposed to direct housing assistance.

Rye and Yonkers are the two Westchester communities that will benefit from this program. Rye has been allocated $3 million from the state program for this purpose and a city flood advisory committee has been formed to oversee the creation of a flood mitigation plan. Bernie Althoff and Holly Kennedy co-chair Rye’s 11-member committee. State-hired consultants provided initial organizational support.

The Flood Advisory Committee held its initial meetings at City Hall July 1 and 8. The agendas of the two meetings, set by the consultants, were very top-level and dealt with organizational issues — key goals for the committee, examples of other projects, a vision statement for Rye, and mapping key assets in Rye — but did not get into specific projects. Some Rye committee members observed the agenda was “too top-level,” but the consultants pointed out this was necessary to set the stage. There will be a few more preparatory meetings before they get into project nitty-gritty.

The first of four community meetings — to acquaint the public with the issues and get their input — was held July 16 at the Rye Town Park. The next committee meeting is set for July 29 at City Hall.

The committee’s meetings are announced on the City web page. Additional information on the program and its plans may be found at http://stormrecovery.ny .gov/nyrcr/community/city-rye.