Lowey: Federal Aid for Crumbling Sea Wall Not Likely

Repairs to Port Chester's crumbling sea wall probably won't qualify for federal appropriations funding, Congresswoman Nita Lowey told the board Monday night.

Less than a week after trustees called a special meeting to address the bulkhead problem, they received that bit of bad news as they look for ways to pay for the repairs. Parts of the waterfront promenade lining the sea wall have been closed off since April due to safety concerns, and last week the cobbled bricks above part of the wall collapsed inward -- the latest sign of the bulkhead's accelerating decay.

Last week, trustees heard from Alan Waller, an engineer from the Halcrow Group. Waller took trustees through a series of photos of the waterfront sea wall, pointing out deficiencies and explaining the technical details behind the wall's slow collapse.

"The wall's going to go sometime. I don't know when, and there isn't any short term solution to this," Waller said. "The only thing we can do is hope it will take a while.

There was a sense of urgency at the meeting, where it was suggested that the next heavy rainstorm could lead to a full collapse, with parts of the wall tipping forward into the water. Right now, sections of the wall have buckled, leaning perilously over the water as the supporting beams bow and snap.

On Monday, some trustees underscored the immediacy and seriousness of the situation.

Trustee Daniel Brakewood pointed to the "tremendous amount of need in terms of funding our infrastructure. The ones we're articulating tonight are truly needed projects."

But despite the project's urgency, Port Chester shouldn't count on federal aid through congressional appropriations, Lowey said. Compounding the problem from a legal perspective is the fact that the original construction was funded and supervised by G&S Investors, the development company that brought the $100 million waterfront complex to the village.

Last week, Waller told the trustees there were fundamental design flaws, poor choices in construction materials, and ill-advised, makeshift solutions in spots where builders had made errors.

"If I recall correctly, there's a legal issue involved," the congresswoman told trustees. "I would hope that the company that built it originally would repair it."

Village attorneys are figuring out ways to force the development company to pay for the repairs. At last week's meeting, officials said the village would point to the original design and construction flaws -- but the company has already told the village informally that it would argue Port Chester has not done its part to maintain the bulkhead. Several calls to G&S Investors have not been returned.

The project could cost more than $4 million, "which the village does not have," Trustee Joseph Kenner told Lowey.

To help find an interim solution, Lowey agreed to set up a meeting between village officials and the Army Corp of Engineers. Mayor Dennis Pilla said the village would seek emergency help from the corps for more immediate solutions.

In a separate statement, Matthew Dennis, a spokesman for Lowey, said it's difficult to guarantee funds for any project.

"Port Chester submitted a federal funding request in 2009 but because of increasing competition for federal resources, the project was not funded," Dennis wrote in an e-mail to Patch. "As Congresswoman Lowey tells municipalities and other entities that request federal funding each year, the federal appropriations process is never certain and difficult to predict."