Greenburgh Town Board authorizes $5.165 million sewer repair at 100 East Hartsdale Avenue after heated debate over bidding

The Town of Greenburgh on July 22 approved a resolution authorizing up to $5,165,000 in additional funding under the town’s 2025 emergency and on‑call sewer, water and street excavation contract to complete a permanent repair of the sanitary sewer that serves 100 East Hartsdale Avenue.

The vote followed more than three hours of public comment and a string of technical explanations from town staff. Proponents — including building representatives and counsel for tenants — said the proposal is the fastest way to remove temporary bypass pumping that residents say has repeatedly failed. "This isn't an inconvenience anymore. It's become a daily reality," said Steven Guzman, a resident of 100 East Hartsdale, recounting persistent sewage odors, generator noise and the stress of living with temporary infrastructure (spoken via Zoom).

Opponents and municipal procurement advocates pressed the town for greater transparency and argued the scale and duration of the work requires a competitive bidding process. John Cooney Jr., executive director of the Construction Industry Council of Westchester and the Hudson Valley, urged the board to adjourn or withdraw TB‑5 until the town could demonstrate the work falls clearly within the existing contract scope and that the emergency exception to New York competitive‑bidding law applies. "CIC does not oppose the immediate performance of work necessary to maintain sewer service," he said, but objected to a commitment of more than $5 million without public proof that bidding rules were satisfied.

Town staff and counsel explained that earlier engineering work had evaluated a long routed bypass that was estimated at roughly $24 million to $29 million, but new high‑definition camera inspections located the break under rubble and allowed engineers to identify an in‑place repair approach. The town attorney and public‑works staff said those findings brought the work back within the scope of the existing competitively procured contract and that Murano Brothers Corp, which holds the emergency contract, has performed continuous emergency response and investigation since the 2024 failure.

Town counsel summarized the technical and procurement rationale, saying the bypass system remains temporary and has experienced operational failures, and described the in‑place repair and secant‑pile excavation support as work covered by the town’s 2025 emergency and on‑call contract. "The pump is still necessary. If we took the pump out, I believe there would be constant sewage within the basement of 100 East Hartsdale Avenue," the counsel said in response to residents’ questions about the temporary system’s status.

The resolution explicitly rejects the earlier bypass plan, authorizes Murano Brothers Corp to use Atlantic Pile & Foundation Corp as a specialty subcontractor for secant‑pile installation, and directs town officials — including the commissioner of public works, the town engineer and the comptroller — to take steps necessary to implement the repair. The board recorded the motion, which passed; the public record in the meeting transcript shows multiple "ayes," at least one recorded "no" vote and at least one abstention noted separately during the evening.

What happens next: the resolution authorizes the additional investigation, specialty subcontracting, groundwater mitigation, excavation, sewer repair and restoration work necessary to complete the permanent repair under the existing contract term through June 3, 2027. Several speakers urged the town to pursue a forensic review of prior procurement and consultant performance; that request was recorded by board members during post‑vote remarks.

The dispute centers on whether a long‑running infrastructure problem that began in May 2024 can still be addressed under an existing emergency contract or required a fresh competitive procurement this year. Construction‑industry representatives said they reserve the right to seek administrative or judicial remedies if statutory bidding requirements were not met; residents and tenants emphasized human impacts and the urgency of ending the temporary bypass system. The board’s action will allow the town to proceed with the in‑place repair while staff respond to outstanding transparency and oversight questions.