If you live in Glenwood Landing, watch your mailbox for an invitation to attend a community meeting about the state of Scudders Pond and the major restoration projects that are about to begin there. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 25, at Sea Cliff Village Hall at 7:30 p.m.
The invitation has been extended by the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee (HHPC), the Village of Sea Cliff, and the NYS Dept. of State / Division of Coastal Resources. HHPC will be mailing an invitation to all Glenwood Landing residents. Glen Head and Roslyn Harbor residents, indeed all interested parties, are also welcome.
Nearly a million dollars have been obtained to begin major improvements to the pond and its sub-watershed. The public meeting will review the problems uncovered and the various recommendations to restore the health of this important drainage area.
Press release issued by HHPC
The Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee (“HHPC”) announced today the completion of a two-year study on Sea Cliff’s Scudder’s Pond and the scheduling of a public meeting to discuss the results and the recommended improvements. The public meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 25th at 7:30 p.m. at Sea Cliff Village Hall (corner of Sea Cliff and Summit Avenues) in Sea Cliff.
As a result of the study and through a unique inter-municipal effort, nearly a million dollars’ worth of recommended improvements will be implemented and more are anticipated. These improvements are funded largely through grants.
Though small, Sea Cliff’s historic Scudder’s Pond has a big impact on water quality and wildlife in nearby Hempstead Harbor. However age has taken its toll. Fortunately, as a result of a two-year study recently completed by the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee (“HHPC”), the pond is about to see some major improvements.
According to Sea Cliff Mayor Eileen Krieb, “This small pond is invaluable to our village. It not only protects our harbor from stormwater runoff but has been loved by locals for over 100 years for ice skating and wildlife watching. The pond has given us a lot over the years. It deserves some loving attention”.
Since it was last dredged in 1980, the two-acre pond's natural filtering ability has been significantly impaired as it has filled with silt and sediment. A small weir separating it from another pond upstream has deteriorated, allowing more sediment to reach the pond and fill it in. Invasive plants have taken over large areas in and around the pond. This vegetation not only obscures the public’s view, but chokes out native plants and deprives certain animals of their habitats.
To address these issues, HHPC hired two firms, EEA of Stony Brook and Cameron Engineering & Associates of Woodbury to review conditions in the pond and its subwatershed (the area that drains into the pond) and to prepare recommendations for improvements and cost estimates for implementing these improvements. This study, funded in part by an Environmental Protection Fund grant from the New York State Department of State, is now complete and several of its recommendations have been funded.
The public meeting will explain the results of the study and the anticipated improvements.
“We not only want to restore the pond but also implement measures to help prevent it from filling in again” said William Clemency, Chair of the HHPC which represents the nine municipalities that surround Hempstead Harbor. He explained that one of the recommendations is the installation of a state-of-the-art storm drain system called a “swirl separator” to remove sediment before it can reach the pond. This will be one of the first of the recommendations that will be carried out.
The Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee (“HHPC”) announced today the completion of a two-year study on Sea Cliff’s Scudder’s Pond and the scheduling of a public meeting to discuss the results and the recommended improvements. The public meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 25th at 7:30 p.m. at Sea Cliff Village Hall (corner of Sea Cliff and Summit Avenues) in Sea Cliff.
As a result of the study and through a unique inter-municipal effort, nearly a million dollars’ worth of recommended improvements will be implemented and more are anticipated. These improvements are funded largely through grants.
Though small, Sea Cliff’s historic Scudder’s Pond has a big impact on water quality and wildlife in nearby Hempstead Harbor. However age has taken its toll. Fortunately, as a result of a two-year study recently completed by the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee (“HHPC”), the pond is about to see some major improvements.
According to HHPC Director Eric Swenson, “New York State and Nassau County have recognized the importance of these efforts by earmarking $ 821,000 from two New York State Environmental Protection Fund grants and from the first Nassau County Environmental Bond Act”. In addition, the Village of Sea Cliff has committed itself to providing $145,000 in matching funds. Additional funding has been nominated for the county’s second Environmental Bond Act.
These funds will be used for a number of improvements including the removal of sediment and invasive plants from the pond; the installation of a swirl separator; reinforcing channel banks leading from the swirl separator to the pond; creating natural treatment wetlands; replacing a deteriorated weir and planting native vegetation in place of the invasive plants.
Patrice Benneward, President of the Glenwood / Glen Head Civic Association stated that “this is an excellent example of many levels of government working with citizens to benefit the community”.
The Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee is an inter-municipal committee, formed in 1995 to work cooperatively on improving the water quality of Hempstead Harbor. It is comprised of the County of Nassau, the Towns of Oyster Bay and North Hempstead, the City of Glen Cove, and the Villages of Sea Cliff, Roslyn Harbor, Roslyn, Flower Hill and Sands Point. Since its inception, the HHPC has obtained 22 grants totaling more than $1.3 million for the betterment of the harbor and its watershed.
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