Rockefeller Water Supply Project Proposed

By Krista Madsen

Thanks to the Rockefellers Brothers Fund, a parcel of National Trust for Historic Preservation land they manage off Lake Road, will be granted to the Village of Sleepy Hollow (by way of a 99-year easement) to bury a tank and create a second reservoir.

At about 140 feet by 15 feet deep, the reservoir will hold 1.6 million gallons of water, bringing the supply to a total of 2.4 million gallons. Though the process of securing a site took a while—"we've been at this for a couple years now," Village Mayor Kenneth Wray said, he was so grateful the Rockefellers, who are "just being very very generous to the village. This is going beyond being good neighbors."

The Town of Mount Pleasant Board was also "receptive" to the plan, according to an article by Neal Rentz in The Examiner.

The Rockefellers were instrumental in finding a site on their land that would work, Wray said, the goal of course being to make this as nondescript and natural looking as possible. Only about one foot of the tank would come above ground, which would be covered with landscaping and native species.

The village will be working to reopen a new environmental review for this particular site, secure approval from the Town of Mount Pleasant, and seek bond financing. 

While the GM Corp. has offered $650,000—in anticipation of the water that large-scale waterfront development will demand—the village will use long-term bonds to meet the rest of the $4 million total estimated construction costs.

From here, the project goes out to bid, hopefully by Labor Day, said Wray, "if things go well."

Construction could begin this year, and could go over the winter, with about a four-month work window.

"The biggest part is digging the hole," he said. It's assumed this will require a lot of rock removal, "but you never really know until you get into it."

By summer of 2014, Wray anticipated a water supply for once that's more than sufficient—just on time for Joe Cotter to get his Certificate of Occupany for the River's Edge development at the former Castle Oil site about when he'd be ready to get it, which would not be possible without this new water supply.

"The immediate effect will be making enough water for our current needs," Wray said. "And we really can't approve another unit of housing without an adequate water supply."