sent to the Examiner<\/a>.<\/p>\nSo, let\u2019s be clear: the Village Board has never considered a bond of that size. Not once.<\/p>\n
Their math doesn\u2019t survive a closer look. They took the most recent estimate for the flood mitigation project and added 10% on top. They assumed the Village wouldn\u2019t secure another dollar of outside help, even though we\u2019re actively pursuing funding from the county, state and federal governments. And they also assumed the Village Board would borrow the entire difference at once, for a project that doesn\u2019t have final plans, hasn\u2019t been bid, and is still in the engineering phase. Stack enough guesses, and you can get any number you want.<\/p>\n
Fear fits on a mailer. Context takes a few more paragraphs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Republican candidates have taken our commitment to solving this historic problem and called it debt. Committing to fix a problem is a promise to our neighbors. Borrowing to build it is a decision nobody has yet made.<\/p>\n
Their mailer also says our Village is in trouble. It isn\u2019t. For years, Pelham tabled work that needed to be done. This Board made the difficult choice to tackle those problems and make our community stronger, and you can see the results: accessible municipal facilities, safer crosswalks and traffic signals, in-house sanitation, relined sanitary sewers, and the equipment our police and firefighters count on every day. None of it was easy, and all of it was overdue. This Board chose to stop deferring the investment our Village needs.<\/p>\n
Flooding is the largest of these problems, and the oldest. Pelham has been studying it for 80 years: 1945. 1962. 2001. 2009. 2017. 2023. Six reports, by different engineers in different decades, describing the same streets filled with water. Each generation knew the storm drains under North Pelham and Highbrook couldn\u2019t handle even a one-year storm. Every time, the plans halted after the report; the eventual bill went up, and our neighbors kept paying for it. Pelham has never been short on plans \u2013 it\u2019s been short on follow-through.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re committed to fixing flooding. Period. That part is settled. Right now, the work in front of the Village Board is finishing the engineering design for North Pelham and Highbrook, which is fully funded, and taking it out to bid. The design just reached 60% completion, further than this Village has ever gotten on this issue. We are simultaneously pursuing every opportunity we can to secure the funding needed to break ground. No bond has been authorized to build it. No construction contract has been signed. Not a dollar of debt has been taken on for construction. Only when the real numbers are in can we decide how to pay for it.<\/p>\n
The estimate has moved, and it will move again. That\u2019s what honest estimates do. The first figure was a sketch, drawn before anyone took a single soil boring. Later in the process, engineers found groundwater at Julianne\u2019s Playground high enough that the storage tank would need to sit deeper. They found more gas, water and sewer lines under our streets than expected, adding another layer of coordination with Con Edison, Veolia, and our own DPW to an already complex project. Each discovery changes the design, and the design changes the cost. The project didn\u2019t get more expensive. Our understanding of it got more accurate.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t guess. We listen to the engineers in the room, and we don\u2019t decide without them. Our opponents\u2019 numbers came from a napkin. Our numbers come from the people who drilled the borings.<\/p>\n
Every estimate the Village shares is a snapshot, made for a purpose: a grant application, a budget plan, an update to residents. A project like this really has three numbers. There\u2019s the estimate, today about $48.5 million for both watersheds, which changes as the design gets sharper. There\u2019s the final cost, which nobody will know until contractors bid on finished plans. And then there\u2019s what Village taxpayers actually pay, once county, state and federal funding comes in. Nobody, including our opponents, can predict the last two yet.<\/p>\n
Every decision this Board makes gets weighed against cost. On a project like this, the cheapest system to build is the one you designed carefully first. Grant programs don\u2019t fund ideas. They fund designs.<\/p>\n
We know the uncertainty is frustrating. It frustrates us too. You want a number, and you deserve one. But anyone who tells you they know the final cost today is speculating, and our opponents are counting on you not to notice. They\u2019re selling certainty. No one honest can offer that yet.<\/p>\n
The Republican candidates want to \u201cmake an overall plan.\u201d In other words, they\u2019re asking you to vote to put this work on hold and start over. After 80 years and six reports, their answer is a seventh \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n
North Pelham and Highbrook have been waiting decades for a real fix. Neighbors have pulled neighbors out of flooded basements because emergency crews couldn\u2019t get through on Fifth Avenue. Families on Highbrook have fled to their second floors as the water came in below. Others have emptied savings and retirement accounts to keep water out of their homes. When big storms hit, one of our neighbors picks up a rake and walks into the street. The water comes up to his waist. He works his way from catch basin to catch basin, clearing them by hand, storm after storm. It helps, but it can\u2019t fix a system that wasn\u2019t built for today\u2019s rainfall. That\u2019s what waiting costs, and he\u2019s the one paying it.<\/p>\n
Our opponents are counting a debt that doesn\u2019t exist. We\u2019re counting a cost our neighbors are already paying.<\/p>\n
This is how this Board works. We don\u2019t borrow before we know the real price. We don\u2019t build before competitive bids are in. We\u2019ll go after every outside dollar this project can win. And we won\u2019t stop until the water does.<\/p>\n
When the bids are in, we\u2019ll put them in front of you and listen to your comments, and the Village Board will decide in public. Everything in this statement is on the record at the Village-Wide Flood Mitigation Information webpage<\/a>. We\u2019d rather you read it than take our word for it.<\/p>\nWe\u2019re knocking on doors across the Village. If we miss you at home, come find us at one of our local events:<\/p>\n
Cantina Lobos, 217 Wolfs Lane, on Oct. 6 and Oct. 20 (6:30 to 8 p.m.)
\nWolfs Lane Park on Oct. 24 (9 to 10:30 a.m.)
\nShea Station on Nov. 1 (9 to 10:30 a.m.)<\/p>\n
Bring your questions, and we\u2019ll give you honest answers.<\/p>\n
Their campaign is built on guesswork. Ours is built on facts, and on a simple belief: this Village works best when it works for all of us.<\/p>\n
With respect and gratitude,<\/p>\n
Russell Solomon<\/p>\n
Krystal Howell<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s note: This press release was provided by Russell Solomon and Krystal Howell, incumbent candidates for the Village of Pelham Board of Trustees. The Pelham Examiner publishes press releases in the form received as a service to the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A plan is not a loan. In their mailer, Republican candidates Arthur Long, Paul Anzilotti, and Rhett Speros…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-364058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}