Island Park firm to clear drainage pipes

Island Park officials have tapped the village's engineering firm to clear drainage pipes -- and hopefully alleviate the area's flooding problems.

The village, located in a flood zone area, will spend $476,500 on a stormwater quality improvement project. The village received a $410,000 grant under the Nassau County Environmental Bond Act and will contribute $66,500 to the project, officials announced at last week's village board meeting.

The grant will allow the village to install 51 catch basins and six hydrodynamic separators and purchase a catch basin cleaner that could double as a street sweeper. The changes are designed to clean runoff water going into local waterways but might also help with drainage problems in the process, Mayor James W. Ruzicka said.

The village would have to find additional funds to repair or replace severely damaged pipes, he said.

The areas around Nassau Lane and Marina, Newport, Ostend and Parma roads did not drain properly after Tropical Storm Irene, said Peter Brighton, project manager for engineering firm Walden Associates. The flooding could have been caused by collapsed or clogged drainage pipes, he said.

Engineers will identify structural and drainage problems, and clean out clogged drains and pipes. They will also evaluate the degree to which water runoff from the Long Island Rail Road's tracks contributes to the flooding, Brighton said.

LIRR spokesman Salvatore Arena said the agency raised the tracks running through Island Park by 1.5 inches in 2009.

The track elevation is "not a height that would create new flooding concerns," said Arena, who added the LIRR would work with the village to address any drainage issues.