Julianne’s Playground Plans: District Lawyers Up As Proposal Rejected

PELHAM, NY — A playground at the heart of a village neighborhood is at the center of what has become an increasingly hostile disagreement between the village and the school district.

The playground on 6th Street was renamed for Julianne Borsella, an 8-year old who lost her battle against Ewing’s Sarcoma. When she could, she would join her friends at the park, and when she couldn't, she watched from the window of her house, according to the Junior League of Pelham, which helped upgrade the playground in Borsella's honor just last year.

That same spirit of community and joy can be found at the park today. Some of the energy of the playground becomes glee at the arrival of the ice cream truck, but excitement soon returns to the playground spinners and climbing cargo nets.

While there is little doubt this special place is the very soul of the neighborhood, village officials say it is also very likely the solution to the neighborhood's growing flood troubles.

Plans call for an underground three-million-gallon stormwater retention tank to be built under the nearby sports courts, with a small above ground pump station on the property. The village say the improvements are necessary to safeguard homes and lives.

The storm sewer project, however, will require an easement from the Pelham Union Free School District. Negotiations between the village and the school district that have grown more and more contentious in recent months, may have finally come to loggerheads after the village rejected a land swap proposed by school officials, prompting the district to retain legal representation.

"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," the Board of education wrote in a joint letter to the community dated April 22. "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."

Although the board expressed optimism, the district seems to be preparing for the prospect of a legal battle with the village.

"In keeping with its fiduciary responsibility to the Pelham School District," the district said, "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."

According to a presentation presented by Mayor Chance Mullen at a Jan. 17 Board of Education meeting, eminent domain would be the last resort for moving forward with the needed flood mitigation project. The mayor said village trustees would like to avoid that situation "at all costs."

"The retention system would only be under the blacktop and tennis courts," the mayor told school board members. "You won’t even know it’s there."