SUFFERN NYRCR NY RISING COMMUNITY RECONSTRUCTION PLAN December 2014 NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program Members of the Suffern NYRCR Planning Committee Beth Barone, Chair Trish Abato* Jo Corrigan* James Lyons Bruce McClintlock Daniel McInerney Charles Sawicki Dina Schmidt Bruce Simon *(non-voting member) Prepared By This document was developed by the Suffern NYRCR Planning Committee as part of the NY Rising Community Reconstruction (NYRCR) Program within the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery. The NYRCR Program is supported by NYS Homes and Community Renewal and NYS Department of State. The document was prepared by the following consulting firms: AKRF, Inc.; MJ Engineering and Land Surveying, P.C.; Nagle, Tatich, Cranston LLC d/b/a Elan.3.Consulting (E.3); Sasaki Associates; Arch Street Communications, Inc.; and CDM Smith. i Foreword Introduction expertise. This powerful combination recognizes not only that community members are best positioned to In the span of approximately one year, beginning in assess the needs and opportunities of the places August 2011, the State of New York experienced three where they live and work, but also that decisions are extreme weather events. Hurricane Irene, Tropical best made when they are grounded in rigorous analy- Storm Lee, and Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc on sis and informed by the latest innovative solutions. the lives of New Yorkers and their communities. These tragic disasters signaled that New Yorkers are living in Launched in the summer of 2013 and completed in a new reality defined by rising sea levels and extreme March 2014, Round I of the NYRCR planning process weather events that will occur with increased fre- included 50 NYRCR Planning Areas, comprising 102 quency and power. They also signaled that we need to storm-impacted localities. In January 2014, Governor rebuild our communities in a way that will mitigate Cuomo announced a second round of the planning against future risks and build increased resilience. process, serving an additional 22 storm-impacted localities. Four of these localities were absorbed into To meet these pressing needs, Governor Andrew M. existing Round I NYRCR Planning Areas, bringing the Cuomo led the charge to develop an innovative, number of localities participating in Round I up to 106; community-driven planning program on a scale the other 18 localities formed 16 new Round II NYRCR unprecedented and with resources unparalleled. The Planning Areas. Between Rounds I and II, there are 66 NY Rising Community Reconstruction (NYRCR) NYRCR Planning Areas, comprising 124 localities. Program, within the Governor’s Office of Storm The program serves over 2.7 million New Yorkers and Recovery (GOSR), empowers the State’s most covers nearly 6,500 square miles, which is equivalent impacted communities with the technical expertise to 14% of the overall State population and 12% of the and funding resources needed to develop thorough State’s overall geography. and implementable reconstruction plans to build physically, socially, and economically resilient and In Rounds I and II, the State allotted between $3 sustainable communities. million and $25 million to each participating locality for the implementation of eligible projects identified in the NYRCR Plan. The funding for these projects is pro- Program Overview vided through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development The NYRCR Program, announced by Governor Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Cuomo in April of 2013, is a more than $700 million program.1 planning and implementation program established to provide rebuilding and resiliency assistance to com- Each NYRCR Planning Area is represented by a munities severely damaged by Hurricane Irene, Tropi- NYRCR Planning Committee composed of local resi- cal Storm Lee, and Superstorm Sandy. Drawing on dents, business owners, and civic leaders. Members lessons learned from past recovery efforts, the NYRCR Program is a unique combination of bottom-up com- 1. Five of the Round I Planning Areas—Niagara, Herkimer, Oneida, munity participation and State-provided technical Madison, and Montgomery Counties—are not funded through the CDBG-DR program. Foreword iii SUFFERN NY RISING Community Reconstruction Plan of the Planning Committees were identified in consul- allotted a share of the competition’s $3.5 million to tation with established local leaders, community orga- fund additional eligible projects. nizations and, in some cases, municipalities. The NYRCR Program sets a new standard for community In April 2014, Governor Cuomo announced that proj- participation in recovery and resiliency planning, with ects identified in NYRCR Plans would receive priority community members leading the planning process. consideration through the State’s Consolidated Across the State, more than 650 New Yorkers have Funding Application (CFA) process and charged the represented their communities by serving on Planning Regional Economic Development Councils (REDCs), Committees. Nearly 650 Planning Committee Meet- which play an advisory role in the CFA process, to ings have been held, during which Planning Commit- support NYRCR projects. In December 2014, Gover- tee members worked with the State’s team to develop nor Cuomo announced that 24 NYRCR projects community reconstruction plans, which identify received nearly $12 million in CFA funding. This opportunities to make their communities more resil- announcement is an example of the Governor honor- ient. All meetings were open to the public. An addi- ing his commitment to leverage the work of the tional 250+ Public Engagement Events attracted NYRCR Planning Committees to incorporate resil- thousands of community members, who provided ience into other State programs and to find additional feedback on the planning process and resulting pro- sources of funding for NYRCR projects. The NYRCR posals. The NYRCR Program’s outreach has included Program is also working with both private and public communities that are traditionally underrepresented, institutions to identify existing funding sources and to such as immigrant populations and students. All plan- create funding opportunities where none existed ning materials are posted on the program’s website before. (www.stormrecovery.ny.gov/nyrcr), providing several ways for community members and the public to The NYRCR Program has successfully coordinated submit feedback on the program and materials in with State and Federal agencies to help guide the progress. development of feasible projects. The program has leveraged the REDC State Agency Review Teams Throughout the planning process, Planning Commit- (SARTs), composed of representatives from dozens of tees were supported by staff from GOSR, planners State agencies and authorities, for feedback on proj- from New York State (NYS) Department of State and ects proposed by NYRCR Planning Committees. The NYS Department of Transportation, and consultants SARTs review projects with an eye toward regulatory from world-class planning firms that specialize in and permitting needs, policy objectives, and preexist- engineering, flood mitigation solutions, green infra- ing agency funding sources. The NYRCR Program is structure, and more. continuing to work with the SARTs to streamline the permitting process and ensure shovels are in the The NYRCR Program does not end with this NYRCR ground as quickly as possible. Plan. Governor Cuomo has allotted over $700 million for planning as well as implementing eligible projects On the pages that follow, you will see the results of identified in NYRCR Plans. NYRCR Planning Areas months of thoughtful, diligent work by the Suffern are also eligible for additional funds through the NY NYRCR Planning Committee, which is passionately Rising to the Top Competition, which evaluates appli- committed to realizing a brighter, more resilient future cations from Round II NYRCR Planning Committees for its community. across three categories—Regional Approach, Inclu- sion of Vulnerable Populations, and Use of Green Infrastructure. The winner of each category will be iv Foreword SUFFERN NY RISING Community Reconstruction Plan The NYRCR Plan While developing projects for inclusion in NYRCR Plans, Planning Committees took into account cost This NYRCR Plan is an important step toward rebuild- estimates, cost-benefit analyses, the effectiveness of ing a more resilient community. Each NYRCR Planning each project in reducing risk to populations and criti- Committee began the planning process by defining cal assets, feasibility, and community support. Plan- the scope of its planning area, assessing storm ning Committees also considered the potential likeli- damage, and identifying critical issues. Next, the hood that a project or action would be eligible for Planning Committee inventoried critical assets in the CDBG-DR funding. Projects and actions implemented community and assessed the assets’ exposure to risk. with this source of Federal funding must satisfy a On the basis of this work, the Planning Committee Federally-designated eligible activity category, fulfill a described recovery and resiliency needs and identi- national objective (i.e., meeting an urgent need, fied opportunities. The Planning Committee then removing slums and blight, or benefiting low- to developed a series of comprehensive reconstruction moderate-income individuals), and have a tie to the and resiliency strategies, and identified projects and natural disaster to which the funding is linked. These implementation