L.I. Storm-Related Symposium Set for Thursday

Written by Joseph Kellard

Long Island elected officials, municipal staff, planners, engineers, architects and others are invited to gather at the “Long Island Reconstruction and Resilience” symposium in Long Beach this week, the City of Long Beach announced Monday. 

Follow Five Towns Patch on Facebook.

The city will host the conference by the Long Island section of theAmerican Planning Association and the Long Island Regional Planning Council on the boardwalk outside the Allegria Hotel, at 80 W. Broadway, from 12 to 5 p.m. Sept. 12.

The conference will kick off with featured speaker James Rubin, director of the NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program, from 12 to 1 p.m., followed by a moderated panel discussion titled “Protecting Whole Communities: Can Dunes, Levees, and Barriers Protect Long Island from Storm Surge and Sea Level Rise?,” from 1:15 to 2:45 p.m. The panel will include Dr. Malcolm Bowman, professor of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, and Joseph Vietri of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/New York District.  

A second moderated panel, titled “Urban Water Management, Flood Prevention, and Green Infrastructure. How Can We Accommodate Future Intense Rain Storms and Reduce Flooding?,” is scheduled from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. Panelists include Ellen Monchen of the planning department for the City of Amsterdam, Netherlands, and David Waggonner III, president of Waggonner & Ball Architects in New Orleans.

From 11:10 to 11:50 a.m., prior to the start of the conference, there will be an optional bus tour of Long Beach that will provide updates on the city’s recovery efforts from Hurricane Sandy last October. Two networking sessions are also scheduled, from 2:45 to 3:15 and from 5 p.m. onward.