Community Update: Flood Response and Next Steps
I appreciate attendance and feedback from our last Village Board meeting this past Monday. For those of you who weren’t able to attend, I’ve attached my Mayor update.
First and foremost, I want to acknowledge the selfless men and women of our Village of Avon Fire Department. I’m continually humbled by your willingness to volunteer—often placing the needs of your neighbors ahead of your own, even when your own homes were in the bullseye of this storm.
Thank you also to our Village Department of Public Works, whose dedication and response were exceptional.
I also want to extend our gratitude to the mutual aid fire crews from Caledonia, Mumford, Cuylerville, Nunda, Mt. Morris, and East Avon, who came to support EMS and fire protection in the Village. Your help was invaluable.
As I traveled through the Village with our fire chief, I was struck by the generosity of spirit from our residents. Over and over I heard things like:
“Don’t worry about me—check on my neighbor,”
“We’re okay—please look in on my elderly friend,”
“If you’ve got time, great—come back later.”
This is the Avon we know and love.
Acknowledgments and Realities
Let’s be clear about several things:
This was a significant storm event—the kind we are unfortunately seeing with increasing frequency and severity.
Municipal government is a balancing act between protecting private property rights and managing shared public infrastructure and resources. We simply can’t and WON’T go into places where we lack the proper authority to do so.
Our tax resources are limited, and the demands on them are ever-growing. We cannot fix everything at once—but we are committed to working with the necessary partners at all levels to pursue funding help, expertise, and solutions.
Climate change is real. The data, science, lived experience, and repeated events make that undeniable. This should not be a political debate—it’s a practical one. We need smarter climate policy at the state and federal level, and I will continue to push for climate-smart solutions wherever we can, including initiatives like our floating solar array at the DPW.
Perspective and Compassion
I ask for your grace and patience as we move forward with improvements. And I ask, in whatever way you offer support or prayer, to keep in mind the far greater tragedies happening elsewhere—like the devastating floods in communities along the Guadalupe River in Texas, where the death toll has now surpassed 120, and the current crisis in North Carolina, where more lives are at risk.
The Question: “What are we going to do about it?”
Here’s what we’re not going to do:
We’re not going to finger-point or squabble.
We’re not going to shrug and say “that’s just the weather.” We can make improvements in areas and will need to balance the cost to do so!
And we’re certainly not going to allow anyone to disparage our hardworking village crews and employees.
This cannot be a short-lived response. We’re in this together, and civility, collaboration, and accountability must lead the way.
What We Are Doing
We are already taking action:
We’ve declared a local State of Emergency with the Town of Avon. A copy is available if you need it.
We are actively engaged with our state and federal elected officials, including Senator Pam Helming, Assemblywoman Andrea Bailey, and representatives from our congressional office.
We’ve met as a joint task force with Town and Village board members, engineers, and outside specialists in hydrology and watershed management.
Special thanks to an Avon resident and water engineer who joined our efforts and brought forward ideas. Some of those ideas had been have deferred in the past, but we are now revisiting them.
In the last decade, the Village has already:
Built a stormwater detention facility at the school grounds (it held back an estimated 4 million gallons during this storm).
Completed an Inflow and Infiltration (I&I) study which are conducted to identify and address the excess flow of stormwater and groundwater into sanitary sewer systems. These studies were crucial for the Village to identify many overflows, system damage, and infiltration areas and corrections were made in identified areas.
Completed drainage improvements on Lake Road, Anderson Meadow, and Clinton and Temple Streets.
Rebuilt a basin near West Main Street and the rail crossing to mitigate localized flooding.
Next Steps
We are evaluating a stormwater retention project east of Pole Bridge Road to reduce village inflow—this includes the CVS/Main St. area, Spring Street, and Lake Road.
I’ll be reaching out to Tom Wahl’s and the Avon Central School District to discuss access to property for future water retention structures.
We are applyinsg for the NYS Non-Point Source Planning Grant and Stormwater Retrofit Study, which will help us develop a comprehensive Village-wide stormwater plan.
We’ve prepared a community support letter, and I invite anyone willing to sign it to reach out to the Village office.
Our approach in the next weeks and months will be twofold:
Short-term tactical fixes
Long-term strategic study, planning and phased implementation for stormwater infrastructure upgrades.
We’re collaborating with farmland owners east of the village on future retention and runoff solutions. But this will require the Town to either form a stormwater district or negotiate easements—and we’ll need FULL community support to make that happen.
We’re gathering video and photo documentation. This will help make a compelling Grant applicaition If you have any, please email it to: stormevent@villageofavonny.gov
We’ve already begun seeking verbal easement commitments from private property owners for cleanup and access.
Debris cleanup is ongoing. Please do your part—don’t place unbagged grass clippings in the road and keep any nearby storm drains clear of debris.
I have a meeting scheduled with LA&L Railroad later this month to address concerns about the rail spur area.
In Closing
We are moving forward—deliberately, cooperatively, and transparently. We will build toward better preparedness and stronger infrastructure.
Thank you for your resilience, your patience, and your enduring commitment to one another. This is a defining moment—not just of challenge—but of how a community comes together to meet it.
