Second Reservoir Considered for Rockefeller State Park
The Mount Pleasant Town Board was receptive to a proposal unveiled by Sleepy Hollow village officials last week to construct a second reservoir at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve.
The plan, outlined before the board on July 2 by Sleepy Hollow Mayor Ken Wray and engineer David Smith from VHB Engineering, Surveying and Landscape Architecture, showed that the proposed 1.6 million-gallon reservoir would be located off Lake Road. It would be 240 feet in diameter and 15 feet deep.
In a June 25 letter to the town board, Smith stated that the village has been seeking to expand its reservoir system for several years. The lone reservoir now in operation is also located in the state park.
“The current reservoir is presently undersized to serve the village and an additional reservoir to provide additional storage is needed to meet (Westchester County) Health Department standards,” Smith stated.
For the project to proceed, the village must obtain a special permit from the Mount Pleasant Town Board.
The village board, which is serving as lead agency for the project’s environmental review, is scheduled to hold a public hearing tonight (Tuesday) on the proposal.
Smith told the town board that the village has had one reservoir since 1925 but needed a second.
“You need a 24-hour supply of water” in the event of service disruptions under New York City Department of Environmental Protection regulations, he said.
The village has come to an agreement with the administrators of the Rockefeller preserve for a 99-year free lease for the land that would house the new reservoir, Wray said. The location “is a site that works for us,” he said.
A second reservoir is also needed to accommodate new development, including at the former General Motors property, Wray said.
The town board expressed support for the special permit.
“This will work out well” for the village, Supervisor Joan Maybury said.
The town board is expected to schedule a public hearing for Aug. 13 on the special permit application when it meets this week.
