In an effort to maintain infrastructure, the town/village of Harrison approved measures on Aug. 18 to jointly fund and replace water main piping in the Greenhaven section of Rye, following an urgent request by Harrison Mayor Ron Belmont.
Belmont, a Republican and member of the Westchester Joint Water Works board of trustees, requested approval for WJWW to replace approximately 1,000 feet of piping on Douglas Circle near Greenhaven Road, located in the city of Rye.
Harrison requested the initiative to address an immediate issue after piping on Douglas Circle malfunctioned on Aug. 4, according to Belmont.
The preliminary total cost of the WJWW project, which is funded jointly by Harrison and the town and village of Mamaroneck, is estimated at $600,000. Harrison is responsible for $325,800 of the cost, while the village of Mamaroneck and the town of Mamaroneck are responsible for $160,200 and $114,000, respectively.
Westchester Joint Water Works is a nonprofit public benefit corporation which operates the water systems of its three-member municipalities: Harrison, and the town and village of Mamaroneck. The company, which was created under a special act of the New York state legislature in 1927—governed by a three-member board of trustees including Belmont, village of Mamaroneck Mayor Norman Rosenblum, and town of Mamaroneck Supervisor Nancy Seligson—supplies water to more than 14,800 retail customers and sells water on a wholesale basis to the village of Larchmont, United Water New Rochelle and the Aquarion Water Company of New York.
WJWW purchases all of its water from the city of New York through the Delaware Aqueduct in Yonkers, and Rye Lake, which is located near the eastern part of Kensico Reservoir in Harrison, according to its website.
Despite the approval of the infrastructure maintenance on Aug. 18, Harrison Councilman Joe Stout, a Democrat, voted against funding the construction. “I don’t understand why we would pay for an improvement that isn’t located within the three communities,” he said.
According to Mamaroneck Town Administrator Stephen Altieri, the joint effort between the municipalities is required to cover a designated area of the city of Rye, as customers in Greenhaven pay for the water privately.
However, unlike ratepayers located within the three-member municipalities, Greenhaven residents would not be affected by a potential rate increase, according to Stout. “They should pay for improvements that specifically benefit their properties,” he said of Greenhaven residents.
According to David Birdsall, a business director at Westchester Joint Water Works, the construction will be complete by Labor Day, Sept. 5. Greenhaven residents are receiving temporary water from local hydrants, as of press time.
