K A T H Y M.

S H E E H A N
MAYOR

C ITY OF A LBANY
D EPARTMENT OF W ATER & W ATER S UPPLY
10 NORTH ENTERPRISE DRIVE
A LBANY , N EW Y ORK 12204
T ELEPHONE (518) 434-5300
FAX (518) 434-5332

J O S E P H E . C O F F E Y , J R . , P .E.
COMMISSIONER

MEMORANDUM

TO:

FROM:

SUBJECT:

DATE:

Hon.JudyDoesschate,Ward9&Hon.LeahGolby,Ward10
NeilOConnor,P.E.,Engineer
TreeRemovalsHansenAlleyandRyckmanAlleyOverflowAbatementandFlood
MitigationProject
September1,2016

Aspartofthe$1.7millioninvestmenttheAlbanyWaterBoard(withgrantsupportfromNewYorkState
EnvironmentalFacilitiesCorporationandDepartmentofEnvironmentalConservation)hasmadetomitigate
surfacefloodinginHansenandRyckmanAlleys,andtoabateoverflowofcombinedsewerstotheHudson
River,itisnecessarytoremoveapproximately1520largetreesbehindtheWoodlawnParkbaseballfield.The
proposedprojectincludesthereplacementofthesetreeswithaconstructedwetlandcapableofstoring
approximately500,000gallonsofstormwaterthatcouldotherwisefloodadjacenthousesandproperties
duringastormevent.
Mostrecently,amajorstormeventonAugust5th,2014causedfloodinganddamagetonumerousresidential
propertiesalongHansenandRyckmanAlleys.Inlessthanonehour,approximately3inchesofrainfell.The
AlbanyWaterBoard,alongwithCommissionerCoffeyandMayorSheehan,madeacommitmenttoresidents
thattheissueofcontinualfloodingwouldbeaddressed.Thisproject,whichincludestheconstructedwetland,
constitutesthefulfillmentofthatcommitment.
TheconstructedwetlandisdesignedinaccordancewithNYSDECguidelines,whichrequiretheplantingof
trees,shrubsandgroundcover.Thiswillpromoteadiverseandenvironmentallyrichenvironmentthatwill
ensurethehealthandfunctionoftheconstructedwetland.Specifically,therewillbeapproximately64trees,
158shrubs,andover30,000wetlandgroundcoversplantedtoreplacetheexistingtreesthathavebeen
removed.
TheWaterDepartmentwillcontinuetoreachouttoresidents.Wearehappytotakethetimetoexplainthe
projectandthebenefits.Pleasefeelfreetocontactmedirectlyat4345336oratnoconnor@albanyny.govif
youhaveanyquestions.