Sunset Avenue Might Be Excluded From Westhampton Beach Main Street Revitalization

A timing issue might force Westhampton Beach officials to exclude a 250-foot stretch of Sunset Avenue from the village’s Main Street reconstruction project, which is set to get started this fall.

The $6.13 million project, which calls for ripping up Main Street to allow for the replacement of ineffective storm drains, the removal of concrete that’s buried under the asphalt, the installation of new sidewalks, and the repaving of the road, also now includes the southernmost stretch of Sunset Avenue, which intersects Main Street.

But in an email sent to Mayor Maria Moore on January 12, Brian Murrell, a senior discipline engineer with H2M Architects + Engineers in Melville, recommended that Village Board members hold off on including Sunset Avenue in those plans unless they are willing to rip up the newly laid asphalt again in two or three years, when the components for the village’s proposed sewer district would be ready for installation. More specifically, he explained that the designs for the gravity sewer—part of a separate project that calls for the sewering of all of Main Street—will not be finished by the time reconstruction work is scheduled to begin on Main Street.

The mayor noted that the Main Street renovation work can continue as scheduled, explaining that a force main needs to be installed under the road. Ms. Moore said those kinds of mains are easier to design than a gravity sewer, and will be ready for installation once Main Street is torn up.

According to Mr. Murrell, the force main would be installed between 4 and 5 feet under the newly paved street to avoid other buried utilities. The gravity pumps installation is more complicated, he continued, as it must be installed at a higher level, but while still being concealed, as it relies on gravity to transport effluent. “The gravity sewer requires an additional level of design to place it at a proper depth …” Mr. Murrell wrote in an email.

At last week’s work session, board members seemed torn by the predicament, wishing that all the Main Street work, which now includes the southern end of Sunset Avenue, could be completed in one fell swoop.

“I think we should talk to Nick [Bono] more before we decide to hold off and see our other options,” said Trustee Ralph Urban, referring to the H2M project manager overseeing the sewer installation. “If we postpone, the drainage problem on Sunset stays.”

“We need to get more information from the engineer, but it would be nice to do it all at once,” Ms. Moore said.

“Tell him to hurry up, get [the gravity sewer] done, get it engineered,” added Mr. Urban.