Philipstown Pond May Be Saved

Tree damage spurs emergency dam repair Damage from a falling tree is rarely considered good fortune. But supporters of preserving Sylvan Pond, a Continental Village fixture bounded by Aqueduct and Ridge roads and Lake Court, hope the tree that toppled onto the beloved neighborhood pond's dam in July during a storm will become just that. A decades-long respite for both residents and wildlife, the 2.8-acre, county-owned pond is subject to an ultimatum issued in 2024 by the state Department of Environmental Conservation: Repair the dam or drain the water. Now, Tom Feighery, Putnam County's public works commissioner, and neighbors are awaiting the DEC's verdict on whether the repairs will allow the pond to stay. Not only did the tree fall across the dam, but roots embedded in the structure caused damage, Feighery told the Legislature's Physical Services Committee on Tuesday (Sept. 22). The repairs were completed to the DEC's specifications, he said. "The tree coming down may have been a blessing," said Feighery. Nancy Montgomery, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley in the Legislature, agreed. Montgomery, who has lobbied for an alternative to draining Sylvan Pond, said she visited it with neighbors on Sept. 9. "When I arrived, there was a wonderful heron there and snappers galore," she said. "I understand the community's concern and wanting to preserve it." Not only did the tree fall across the dam, but roots embedded in the structure caused damage, Feighery told the Legislature's Physical Services Committee on Tuesday (Sept. 22). The repairs were completed to the DEC's specifications, he said. "The tree coming down may have been a blessing," said Feighery. Nancy Montgomery, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley in the Legislature, agreed. Montgomery, who has lobbied for an alternative to draining Sylvan Pond, said she visited it with neighbors on Sept. 9. "When I arrived, there was a wonderful heron there and snappers galore," she said. "I understand the community's concern and wanting to preserve it." While information on the history of Sylvan Pond and how Putnam became its owner are scant, in March 2024 Neal Tomann, then the interim manager for the county's Soil & Water Conservation District, told the Philipstown Town Board that the DEC was concerned a major storm could fill the shallow pond and send floodwaters toward downstream properties along Sprout Brook Road. Tomann described the dam as "highly improvised" and said it would cost about $750,000 to rebuild. The DEC has classified the pond as Class B, meaning it could cause severe damage to nearby properties if it fails. Soon after, Zoila Morell, whose property abuts the pond, submitted a petition to the county with 200 signatures supporting preservation. "In the same way that we love farmland in Putnam County, we love wetlands, we love our ponds, we love our animals, we love the creatures that we live next to," Morell said on Tuesday. An engineering firm estimated that raising the dam's embankment would cost $339,000, while widening its spillway would cost $522,000. Removing the dam would cost $354,000. The emergency repairs, which included adding soil to the top of the dam, improved the structure, said Feighery. "It's actually in good shape now," he said. In 1987, when Marie-Louise Best and her family toured the house they would buy on Aqueduct Road in Continental Village, they noted the view of Sylvan Pond from the windows. Eight years later, neighbors and a crew from the Philipstown Highway Department worked together to pull mattresses, hardened bags of cement, a cash register and other debris from the water. In a paean Best wrote for the Putnam Reporter Dispatch after the cleanup, she quoted Henry David Thoreau, who described a lake as "a landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature." "It is such a pretty view," said Best in 2024. "In the fall...