At a late January meeting of the Board of the Village of Rye Brook, the final hurdle to building the sluice gate at Bowman Avenue Dam was surmounted. After months and months of delay, held up by regulatory approvals of State agencies, and the planning and council boards of Harrison and Rye Brook, the project is ready to start. “Everything is permitted,” said City Manager Scott Pickup.

At a late January meeting of the Board of the Village of Rye Brook, the final hurdle to building the sluice gate at Bowman Avenue Dam was surmounted.  After months and months of delay, held up by regulatory approvals of State agencies, and the planning and council boards of Harrison and Rye Brook, the project is ready to start. “Everything is permitted,” said City Manager Scott Pickup.

Next steps are for the City to send out bid specifications at the end of this month. If all goes on schedule, the City Council may be in a position to vote on the matter at the March 28 meeting. Orders will then be sent out for the manufacturing of the steel sluice gate. Final installation is scheduled at or before September 1, the unofficial beginning of hurricane season in the Northeast.

One additional benefit of the sluice gate project is the possibility that there will be enough money left over to pay for soil and rock sample studies of the Upper Pond above Bowman Avenue Dam. The studies would enable the City to estimate the cost and benefit, in terms of flood control, of widening the pond. Originally, these studies were going to be paid by FEMA, but the agency has delayed and delayed giving a final okay.  The City may have finally found a way around that problem as well.