Grantee: Great Neck Village Officials Association
Contractor: Woods Hole Group Award Amount: $99,552
The Great Neck Village Officials Association (GNVOA), comprised of the nine incorporated villages on the Great Neck Peninsula (Villages of Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kensington, Kings Point, Lake Success, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock, and Thomaston) and unincorporated sections of the Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, NY, sought planning assistance to develop an environmental risk and vulnerability assessment for the entire Great Neck Peninsula. The assessment will identify current and future environmental risks and vulnerabilities for the communities in the project area due to extreme weather events and a changing climate and will provide conceptual adaptation strategies and visualizations for two priority sites.
Grantee: Hen Island Nature Society, Inc.
Contractor: EA Engineering & Geology, P.C.Award Amount: $78,226
Hen Island Nature Society, Inc. sought planning assistance for the preparation of a shoreline adaptation plan for Hen Island, a barrier island marsh complex in Westchester County, NY, that provides valuable recreation, habitat, and ecosystem services to western Long Island Sound. The group seeks a holistic strategy for dealing with coastal erosion and options for protecting and restoring the undeveloped approximately 10-acre high marsh meadow between the south and middle island sections. The final shoreline adaptation plan will include a prioritized list of nature-based projects to improve shoreline resilience, a conceptual design for the high marsh meadow, and an outline of the required steps necessary to successfully design, permit, and implement identified priority projects.
Grantee: Kissena Synergy
Contractor: Lighthouse Consulting Group, Inc. Award Amount: $36,148
Since 2018, Kissena Synergy has worked in collaboration with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation to steward Kissena Park, a 237-acremulti-use community park in Flushing, Queens (Queens Community Board 7). Through their volunteer programs, Kissena Synergy engages youth and other community members in urban forestry, native planting, and ecological restoration of the park’s natural areas, fostering both resilient park ecosystems and local environmental stewards. Upon recently attaining 501(c)3 status, Kissena Synergy sought planning support to help strengthen their organization’s capacity through the development of a Five-year Strategic Plan. The Plan will help grow the organization’s impact on Kissena Park for years to come by outlining operational procedures, prioritizing stewardship activities, engaging key partners, and establishing a development and fundraising strategy.
Grantee: Rye Sustainability Foundation
Contractor: BiohabitatsAward Amount: $70,080
The Rye Sustainability Foundation sought planning support for development of a Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) report to help the City of Rye, inWestchester County, NY, understand the current status of their natural resources and achieve their Climate Smart Communities Silver Certification goals. The City’s existing NRI dates back to the 1970s, so an update is needed in order to serve as a baseline for future planning efforts. The final NRI report will help to guide conservation and land use decisions in a coordinated way, and should help position the City to successfully secure grant funding for future sustainability and resilience-focused projects.
Grantee: Salonga Wetland Advocates Network
Contractor: GEI Consultants, Inc.Award Amount: $77,845
Fresh Pond is an 18-acre freshwater pond in Fort Salonga, Suffolk County, NY, that flows directly into the Sound over a wooden dam. The pond sustains life for many wildlife species and provides scenic and recreational benefits to the community. However, water quality in the pond is suffering from eutrophication, toxic algae, and invasive aquatic plants, primarily due to excess nutrients carried by stormwater runoff from surrounding roads, large residential properties, and a golf course. In addition, the dam is a barrier to fish passage and is failing. These issues are likely to worsen due to sea level rise and extreme weather events. Salonga Wetland Advocates Network, Inc. (SWAN), a nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing and protecting wetlands in Fort Salonga, sought planning assistance to conduct an environmental vulnerability assessment and develop a conservation and management plan for Fresh Pond and its contiguous wetlands, residential properties, and outflow to the Long Island Sound. This project will engage stakeholders and the community in the development of a prioritized list of feasible projects (e.g., green infrastructure, opportunities for fish passage, scientific monitoring, maintenance) that could help revitalize and protect Fresh Pond, surrounding properties, and Long Island Sound.
Grantee: Setauket Harbor Task Force
Contractor: Lighthouse Consulting Group, Inc.Award Amount: $39,543
The Port Jefferson Harbor Complex located on the North Shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, NY, encompasses four interconnected water bodies: Port Jefferson Harbor, Setauket Harbor, Conscience Bay, and Long Island Sound. The surface waters of the Harbor Complex are shared by five local governments: Brookhaven Town, Port Jefferson Village, Poquott Village, Belle Terre Village and Old Field Village. Inter-municipal Protection Committees have been established for several harbor and bay complexes across Long Island to coordinate monitoring and management across jurisdictions. Setauket Harbor Task Force, a 501(c)3 clean water group, sought planning support to develop the organizational framework for establishing a similar Protection Committee for the Port Jefferson Harbor Complex and an action plan to revitalize and protect the ecological resources of the harbors. The new Protection Committee would advance the goals of the Port Jefferson Harbor Complex Management Plan and the LIS Partnership Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, with a focus on stormwater management, improving water quality, expanding shellfishing areas, collaborative environmental stewardship, promoting sustainable solutions to address flooding and erosion, and increased public access.
Grantee: Village of Head of the Harbor
Contractor: Hayduk Engineering, LLCAward Amount: $58,700
The Village of Head of the Harbor, located in Suffolk County, NY, has many steep slopes which all point downhill to Stony Brook Harbor, predominantly to the southwest corner, which is the “head of the harbor.” During significant rain events, Village roadways become conduits for all surface runoff from residential properties and public roads. After the significant rain event of August 18-19, 2024, during which 10 inches of rain fell in a period of two hours, extensive damage was sustained to the roadways and access to the harbor was lost. The Village of Head of the Harbor sought planning assistance for the development of conceptual design plans for two areas in need of remediation due to stormwater impacts: Hitherbrook Road (including Hitherbrook Road Extension, Hitherbrook Road, and Harbor Road adjacent to the Hitherbrook Rd intersection) and Thompson Lane (including Thompson Lane and Harbor Road adjacent to Thompson Lane). The aim of this project is to develop cost-effective and realistic solutions to capture and treat stormwater before it enters Stony Brook Harbor, utilizing as much green infrastructure as possible, and to restore natural habitat and public access to Stony Brook Harbor.
Grantee: Village of Northport
Contractor: NV5Award Amount: $69,979
The Village of Northport, located in Suffolk County, NY, sought planning assistance to conduct a comprehensive environmental vulnerability assessment and explore innovative solutions to create a sustainable and resilient harborfront for the community and visitors. The goals of the project are to increase resilience to flooding and erosion, promote environmental sustainability, enhance public access, and support community and economic revitalization. The study will include a comprehensive assessment of current and future impacts of sea-level rise, storm surge, tidal flooding, and rainfall on the harborfront. The study will then assess the feasibility of innovative solutions including nature-based infrastructure (e.g., vegetative buffers, rain gardens, and permeable pavements) alongside gray infrastructure to absorb and mitigate the effects of natural disturbances, reduce runoff pollution, and stabilize the shoreline. The project will also explore opportunities to enhance public access to the waterfront, incorporate educational features, and foster community engagement. The final conceptual design plan will provide a vision to help Northport recover quickly from extreme weather events and adapt to a changing climate, while strengthening community ties and providing a shared sense of pride in the waterfront.
Grantee: Village of Shoreham
Contractor: L.K. McLean AssociatesAward Amount: $111,000
The Village of Shoreham, located in Suffolk County, NY, has an outdated and deteriorating stormwater management system. Much of the stormwater infrastructure is located on private property and breaches in the pipe impact the property owners when they occur. The Village stormwater collection system cannot collect and contain even moderate amounts of runoff, so during rainfall events, considerable volumes of stormwater run into the Long Island Sound carrying pollutants. Additionally, numerous properties front along the Long Island Sound bluff and are impacted by stormwater discharges to the beach from the surrounding area. The Village of Shoreham sought planning assistance to investigate various stormwater management solutions and to develop conceptual design plans for updated and new stormwater control facilities. The goals of this project are to: 1) reduce stormwater discharge to the Long Island Sound, 2) have the ability to absorb excess rain flow during intense rain events, 3) protect homeowners from the effects of flooding during these extreme weather events, and 4) absorb stormwater discharge environmentally through the use of bioswales and other types of detention basins in a cascading manner.
Read descriptions of all 14 projects totaling $909,121 in planning support here.
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