Lindenhurst to receive nearly $1M in state funds for infrastructure

State officials have earmarked nearly $900,000 for Lindenhurst Village to use for park and infrastructure improvements.

Assemb. Kimberly Jean-Pierre (D-Babylon) has secured $500,000 in capital grant funds, money that will be used for engineering work and repairs for bulkheading on Shore Road. State Sen. Michael Venditto (R-Massapequa) has secured $250,000 in grant funds under the State and Municipal Facilities Program.

That money is to be used for roadway and drainage improvements on Buffalo Avenue, as well as improvements to the Lt. Edward Weckerle Memorial Park playground. In addition, State Sen. Phil Boyle (R-Bay Shore) has secured $100,000 in capital grant funds based on a 70 percent-30 percent split with the village. The village will contribute $42,857. The money will be used for improvements at the village’s parks at Fellers Pond and Shore Road.

The village may also seek Federal Emergency Management Agency money for repairs to the bulkhead, which village Clerk-Treasurer Shawn Cullinane said was damaged by superstorm Sandy.

The village has already received $33,000 from FEMA for engineering and design work on bulkheads that needed immediate repair from Sandy-related damage. Part of the new state money would go toward additional engineering studies to determine further damage.

“It’s one of those hidden problems no one really saw until we took a closer look,” he said. There are concerns, he said, that “a lot of support under the roadway may have been washed out.”

There is about 2,000 linear feet of bulkhead along Shore Road, he said, and at a cost of about $1,500 per foot to repair, the village may face a bill of $3 million or more.

“We just don’t know until we get more studies done,” he said.

Plans for the park improvements include a new safety surface and playground equipment at Weckerle Park, which last year was the subject of resident complaints that it had fallen into disrepair and was not handicap-accessible.

Repairs to the softball field at Fellers Pond will also be made, and a safety surface and new playground equipment will be installed at the village park on Shore Road, Cullinane said.

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.