The Pelham school board said Monday the Village of Pelham rejected its offer to trade district-owned Julianne’s Playground for a piece of village property and that the school system is hiring special legal counsel to fight a possible attempt by the village to “condemn and seize part or all” of the park.
Stating the district negotiated in good faith with the village, the school board said in a letter to the community it “made a fair and reasonable offer to transfer ownership of Julianne’s Playground to the Village of Pelham in return for another parcel of land subject to a district-wide vote. We regret that the Village of Pelham has rejected this offer and we remain hopeful that the village will reconsider.”
The next sentence in the letter indicates that isn’t something the school trustees seem to be expecting: “The board is now engaging special counsel with expertise in condemnation and land use matters to vigorously defend the district’s property rights and taxpayers in preparation for a possible attempt by the Village of Pelham to condemn and seize part or all of Julianne’s Playground as part of an eminent domain action.”
When asked, Village of Pelham Mayor Chance Mullen ducked the question on when he and his board would consider declaring eminent domain over the playground to takes possession of it for a proposed sewer system project. In an email, he said that the district offered in trade “an undefined portion of Wolfs Lane Park that could be used for a future administrative office building and/or science lab. We made clear that we believed that was not feasible or reasonable. They expressed no interest in any other land or property owned by the village, and they made clear they had no interest in financial compensation.”
The village wants to build underground reservoirs and install pumps in the area of the tennis courts and blacktop at Julianne’s Playground as part of a proposed $39 million overhaul of the municipality’s stormwater sewers designed to reduce serious flooding that occurs in the north Pelham and Highbrook Avenue neighborhoods during major rain storms. The municipality initially requested an easement for the project from the district, which the school board rejected, instead naming three trustees to negotiate with the village. Monday’s letter is the end result of those talks.
“At our last negotiation session, we had agreement to move forward with geotechnical study,” Mullen said. “The village’s focus at this point is to finalize the conceptual plan recommended by our engineers and commence the geotechnical studies needed for both branches of the project.”
In its letter, the school board said the Julianne’s Playground project would involve “building a three-million-gallon stormwater retention tank and approximately six above-ground diesel pumps with diesel fuel storage” and made the point of noting the school district has owned the land for approximately 100 years.
Community members with questions about the issue of Julianne’s Playground were told by the school board to “contact their elected officials from the Village of Pelham and Westchester County.”
The village board plans to hold a work session on flooding Tuesday that will focus on the reservoirs and pumps, including having the engineers “address a series of topics related to the location of the detention system, alternative options for the pumps, design ideas to protect the charm and character of the playground and analysis of any potential downstream impacts for those who live near the Hutchinson River. We’ll also be discussing the project’s timeline and next steps, so that the village board can finalize the conceptual design and move the project forward to the next phase (geotechnical studies),” according to a letter to residents sent by Mullen last Wednesday.
Here is the complete text of the letter from the Pelham Board of Education to residents:
Dear Pelham community,
As you may know, Julianne’s Playground has been owned by the Pelham public schools for approximately 100 years.
Recently, the Village of Pelham proposed building a three-million-gallon stormwater retention tank and approximately six above ground diesel pumps with diesel fuel storage at Julianne’s Playground.
In an effort to assist residents affected by flooding, the board of education authorized representatives to negotiate in good faith with the Village of Pelham regarding Julianne’s Playground.
As part of this negotiation, the board of education made a fair and reasonable offer to transfer ownership of Julianne’s Playground to the Village of Pelham in return for another parcel of land subject to a district-wide vote. We regret that the Village of Pelham has rejected this offer and we remain hopeful that the village will reconsider.
In keeping with its fiduciary responsibility to the Pelham school district, the board is now engaging special counsel with expertise in condemnation and land use matters to vigorously defend the district’s property rights and taxpayers in preparation for a possible attempt by the Village of Pelham to condemn and seize part or all of Julianne’s Playground as part of an eminent domain action.
Members of the community who have further questions should contact their elected officials from the Village of Pelham and Westchester County.
Thank you for your continued support of the Pelham public schools.
Sincerely,
The Pelham Board of Education
