News

Jul 21, 2023

Byrne Hosts Town Hall on Peekskill Hollow Road Construction Project

PUTNAM VALLEY, NY — County Executive Kevin Byrne hosted a town hall style meeting Wednesday at the Putnam Valley Fire Department to discuss the long-needed, much-delayed Peekskill Hollow Road

PUTNAM VALLEY, NY — County Executive Kevin Byrne hosted a town hall style meeting Wednesday at the Putnam Valley Fire Department to discuss the long-needed, much-delayed Peekskill Hollow Road construction project.

Nearly 100 residents attended the event to hear from county officials and the selected contractor, ELQ Industries, about their plans to finish the project to rebuild three bridges and construct culverts on a section of Peekskill Hollow Road, which has been troubled by delays, false starts, higher costs and lawsuits.

SEE: Putnam Moves On Peekskill Hollow Road Project 'Disaster'

"We are honored to be entrusted with the Peekskill Hollow Road Bridge Construction Project, and we take our responsibility to the community very seriously," said Sam Etre, CEO of ELQ Industries. "Our team is committed to working as efficiently and safely as possible in delivering high-quality bridges and associated work that meets the needs of the residents and enhances the infrastructure of Putnam Valley."

Byrne said he and County Legislator Bill Gouldman had been talking about the problems since before Byrne took office in January.

"We are committed to making this entire process more transparent for the residents of Putnam Valley," Byrne said.

"This town hall offered residents and other local officials a meaningful update and provided them the opportunity to ask specific questions and receive answers from me, the contractor, department of public works, design engineers and more," he said afterward. "One of our goals was to acknowledge the frustration they’ve experienced, to set reasonable expectations moving forward, and respond to any outstanding resident concerns. I believe we accomplished that goal."

Opening the meeting, Putnam Valley Town Supervisor Jackie Annabi pointed out that the community has been frustrated for nearly two years and its fire trucks, ambulances and school buses forced to navigate through a construction site.

The initial completion date was Aug. 4, 2022. Holes dug in the road in 2021 are still covered with metal plates, drainage continues to be a problem, disrupted old staging areas dot the road and piles of dirt overhang the Peekskill Hollow Brook.

The previous contractor, the Arben Group, stopped work in December 2022. Notifying the county of its intent to sue, the contractor alleged, among other things, that the previous administration was unable or unwilling to enforce its agreement with local utilities for pole and wire relocation along the affected part of the road, failed to properly investigate the presence of underground utilities (a mile of live Verizon wires were found by Arben when digging), failed to acknowledge its amendment of the contract to push the completion date to August 2023, and kept providing outdated or incorrect NYSDOT specifications.

The Putnam County Legislature voted in May to authorize an option to bond up to $4 million to cover additional project costs.

Gouldman, Chair of the Physical Services Committee, thanked all those in attendance. "It was encouraging to see the community’s engagement and commitment to this project. Peekskill Hollow Road is a vital transportation link in our community and we’re eager to move forward and finally finish this project. I thank the County Executive and ELQ for their willingness to hold this public forum and make sure the community is informed."

Also in attendance was Commissioner Bob Lipton of the Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services to give an update on recovery and response efforts following the July 9 – 10 storm that devastated parts of Putnam Valley and the county at large.

"The President has declared a major disaster in our area, and we’re in the process of working with the State and Federal Government to get funding to fix a lot of the infrastructure that was damaged," said Lipton. "While individual assistance has not been made available to residents by the federal government, we’re doing the work to provide FEMA and New York State with all the data we can to show that our homeowners in our community do need this financial help. I know the County Executive has been advocating to federal representatives for this as well."

That part of the conversation with residents was moderated by Byrne, who helped answer dozens of questions with assistance from Lipton, Department of Public Works Deputy Commissioner Joseph Bellucci and Director of Purchasing John Tully as well as design engineers at Barton & Loguidice.

Construction on Peekskill Hollow Road is ongoing and expected to be fully completed by July of 2024.