Engineering / Public Works FAQ

The Village does have recycle bins available for residents to purchase at Village Hall. However residents may wish to use their own Blue colored containers if they wish.

Unfortunately, plastic bags cause complications at the recycling sorting facility. Malfunctions can occur when plastic bags get wrapped around the equipment. Therefore, Rye Brook by order of Westchester County cannot collect recyclables in plastic bags. Even if a plastic bag is marketed as “for recycling,” “recyclable” or “compostable,” it is not acceptable as a recycling container in Rye Brook.

No,  The Villages contracted carter is permitted to collect 2 cubic yards of bulk trash per pickup.  2 cubic yards is equal to approximately 48”W x 72”L x 48” high. Anything above this quantity is the residents responsibility to call for special pickup through a licensed carter.

Per Westchester County regulations, the Villages contracted carter is NOT permitted to collect construction debris and as a result it must be removed by the resident owner of the property by their contractor or a third party waste removal service.

Often time’s residents do not bundle brush as is required by our sanitation rules.  Residents must bundle and tie brush into manageable piles using rope.

Unfortunately the Village cannot guarantee collection at set intervals. Trash is collected between 6:00am and 4:00pm Village Wide.

Collection is from October 1, through December 15. The Village has a rotating schedule for collection with a peak rotation goal of 10 days. Various factors can affect the dates of collection such as weather, snow and equipment issues. Leave are to be placed along the curb line and NOT in piles blocking roadway traffic.

Village crews clean out clogged catch basins throughout the year as part of on-going maintenance. Crews yearly clean out 500 of the 1100 catch basins village wide.  Residents can reduce flooding in their neighborhoods by keeping material out of the storm drain system or clean debris around the catch basin when performing landscape maintenance.

Under Village Code, sidewalks are the responsibility of home owners regarding maintenance and snow removal.

You can report a street light out by submitting a street light form or go to the home page and select “Report an Issue” and submit a “Street Light” form. If you have done a search the street light form link might be listed below.  You can call (914) 939-0753 during normal business hours.  The Village’s contractor will repair it within 2 weeks.

The Street sweeper operates on a 2 week schedule. The routes encompass the entire Village beginning at one end and working through to the other end of the Village. Priority is given to the downtown business area before entering secondary roads

The Public Works Superintendent will decide when to conduct pothole repairs but repairs will consist of two elements.

Multiple factors influence decisions made to reduce winter weather hazards. Current air temperatures, predicted air temperatures, time of day and precipitation type are all important considerations when determining an appropriate response. In some circumstances, plowing alone is most effective at addressing potential hazards. In other instances, such as cold pavement with dry and blowing snow for example, application of salt could be problematic by allowing moisture to accumulate and possibly freeze on the otherwise dry pavement. Each case is specific to the weather conditions at hand and addressed accordingly.

During significant and severe storms, the Village must be prepared to move personnel and equipment to maintain priority routes first. In fulfilling the need to have all priority streets safe and passable, when resources are limited, plowing of all other streets may be stopped at any time so resources can be shifted to priority routes.

Unforeseeable circumstances may cause delays in completing assigned plow routes. Such circumstances may include weather conditions that endanger the safety of snowplow operators and/or safe and effective operation of equipment, commuter traffic, disabled vehicles, poor visibility conditions, parked cars along streets, assistance to emergency response vehicles, equipment breakdown, and personnel shortages.

Unfortunately there are thousands of driveways along the snow removal route which may incur snow overflow into drive openings. Lifting the plow to clear individual drive openings would require a large commitment of resources in labor and equipment which are dedicated to clearing primary snow route roadways and neighborhood streets. Crews try to do their best not to push snow directly into driveways, however plow blades are angled to the right and discharge as a result to the right. Clearing of entrances to driveways is not performed by Highway Personnel and is the property owners responsibility .

Prior to a given storm event, the Superintendent of Public Works may have crews apply liquid sodium chloride called “Brine” on the roads. This Brine turns white leaving the roads residual coated with salt which prevents ice bonding to the road surface. This application of brine also allows rock salt to react quicker and be applied in lesser quantities.

The Public Works Superintendent or designated representative will decide when to begin snow or ice control operations. The criteria for that decision are:

• Snow accumulation of two (2) inches or more;
• Drifting of snow that causes problems for travel;
• Icy conditions which seriously affect travel; and
• Time of snowfall in relationship to heavy use of streets

Small animals such as raccoons, squirrels, skunks and similar located on roads are collected by the Villages Sanitation Company. Larger animals such as deer are collected by the Highway Department.

First call should be to a licensed plumber. Homeowners shall make sure their lines are cleared and free before calling the Village. Should home owner lines be confirmed clear by their plumber and a sewage backup still remains call 914 939 0753 during normal business hours or the Police Department after hours at 914 937 1020.

If you have a “road emergency” after our regular operating hours of 8:30am to 4:30pm that threatens the safety of lives or property, you should call the Police Department at 914 937 1020 and tell the dispatcher the nature of the emergency so she or he can notify Highway Dept. “on-call” personnel immediately. For non-emergency problems, you may leave a message on our answer machine for us to retrieve the next morning at 914 939 0753.

It is our responsibility to maintain the “Village maintained” roads and right-of-ways thereof. Routinely you’ll find us mowing right-of-way, clearing stopped up culverts, installing or replacing culverts to solve drainage problems, patching damaged portions of paved roads, replacing missing traffic and road name signs, making repairs to guardrails, removing trash from right-of-ways, removing fallen trees, and preparing roads for repaving. Our jobs are too many to mention them all. If you have a question regarding something you think may be our responsibility, please call us at 914 939 0753. The general public is our “eyes” and “ears”. Please don’t hesitate to call and let us know FAQ Tagsyour concerns. It is quite possible we’ve not received a report for a particular problem and you are the only one who knows that the problem exist.