COUNTY LEGISLATORS APPROVE MYERS-BACKED RESTORATION PROJECT FOR MAMARONECK HARBOR WETLANDS
For Immediate Release: March 24, 2005
Contact: Judy Myers, (914) 995-7948
At its March 21st meeting, Westchester's Board of Legislators unanimously approved legislation, pressed for by County Legislator Judy Myers (D,I,WF-Mamaroneck), authorizing the County to enter into an intermunicipal agreement (IMA) with the Village of Mamaroneck to begin a large scale effort to restore wetlands in the vicinity of the Mamaroneck harbor. The County will provide the necessary labor, supervision and equipment to undertake and complete the project, and will contribute an amount not to exceed $500,000 to finance its cost.
Myers, a member of the Budget Committee that recommended adoption of the legislation, said she was pleased that Mamaroneck Harbor would receive this additional County attention.
“The wetlands have suffered over the years,” Myers said. “As a result, the water quality of Long Island Sound has been impacted, as have the fish and wildlife habitats in the area. By bringing the areas back to their natural state, we will enable the wetlands to better protect the water quality and provide viable habitat for fish and wildlife in the Mamaroneck Harbor and its adjacent wetlands.”
Under the legislation, the County and the Village of Mamaroneck may now enter into an IMA to coordinate the work to be done and hire consultants and contractors, as necessary, to complete the project. The Village will grant the County a license to access the restoration site to the extent necessary to complete the project, and, has agreed to cooperate with the County with respect to the restoration as well as its maintenance.
The restoration will include design, engineering, construction and professional consulting services needed to complete the removal of common reed that has infiltrated the area and replant native grasses and rushes, such as smooth cordgrass, salt marsh hay and/or spike grass, in the areas adjacent to the western end of Harbor Island Park next to the West Basin on Rushmore Avenue. In addition, a new embankment will be created and planted with coastal shrubs and grasses. The restoration of the Guion Creek tidal wetland/salt marsh, located northeast of Barry Avenue, will focus on diversification of the wetland habitat.
The restoration project is consistent with the recommendations of Watershed Advisory Committees 3 and 4, part of the County’s non-point source pollution prevention program in the Long Island Sound Watershed, to reduce non-point source pollution in the Beaver Swamp Brook (Guion Creek), Mamaroneck and Sheldrake Rivers and Mamaroneck Harbor.
