New Castle Shifts Focus to Planning in 2012

NEW CASTLE, N.Y. - With no construction being carried out in New Castle in 2012, town officials will instead spend the year drawing up plans and obtaining permits for future projects.

"We'll be looking at the infrastructure, looking at the landscaping on the surface, once we have it all designed out, we’ll start chopping the project up and figuring out what makes sense," said Town Planner David Brito.

The town had originally planned to segment the projects on South Greeley Avenue and King Street. Now, instead of carrying out what Brito called a "design and construction" approach, officials spend all of 2012 designing, followed by construction in 2013 and beyond.

First on the agenda will be the overhaul of South Greeley Avenue's water mains in 2013. Town Administrator Penny Paderewski said there is a constant threat of flooding and the pipes are in dire need of replacement.

"We must, next year, hit South Greeley because we have pipes that are ready to go," said Paderewski. "We have water main breaks all the time and we need to deal with those."

According to Paderewski, the upgrade of water mains and sewer lines underneath King Street will likely be postponed until 2014. The construction will be accompanied by beautification projects, including the addition of lampposts and a mini-park.

The original “Chappaqua Hamlet Vision Plan,” which was drawn up in 2010, has since been altered. Town officials were hoping to re-position or bury power lines that had become an issue during storms. The project, however, was scrapped since costs were much larger than anticipated. 

“Even though there’s a delay, which I’m not happy about, it really gives us the opportunity to really work together to figure out what we like,” said Deputy Supervisor Elise Kessler Mottel, who said the town will hold open forums with residents and merchants during the design process.

Currently, officials are waiting on cost estimates for all proposed construction projects from consulting engineer Dolph Rotfeld. Paderewski said the estimates will be brought before the New Castle Town Board for approval within the month.

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