Mayor Updates the League of Women Voters on Village Happenings

League Co-Presidents Heedan Chung and Jessica ZellnerThe soon to be moved dining tent in Scarsdale Village served as shelter from the rain for the membership breakfast for the Scarsdale League of Women Voters on Monday September 18, 2021.

Co-Presidents Heedan Chung and Jessica Zellner explained the mission of the league and welcomed members old and new along with Scarsdale’s Mayor Justin Arest to provide an update on Village affairs.

He reviewed some items of interest:

Repaving of village roads is underway, with the lowest rated roads getting work first. He said there’s lots going on in Quaker Ridge and the long awaited work on the Heathcote Bridge is in progress.

The dining tent will be moved further down Spencer Place across next to the restaurant AKAI. This will mean a new traffic pattern in the Village which you can see here.  The dining tent will remain up until December.

What about dropped cell phone calls? Arest was happy to report that Verizon is now installing new telecommunications equipment on the tower above Village Hall to improve service along Post Road. If this does not fix the problem, further work will be done.

About Freightway Garage, Arest said it would be necessary to make essential repairs to keep it safe and open. $700,000 is allocated in this year’s Village budget and another $600,000 in next year’s budget. However, the Village is still considering a longer term approach for the site and “will start conversations about traffic, the school population, stormwater impacts to see what can be done there.”

Addressing flooding and water woes, Arest said, “What can we do locally? We can make sure things are in good shape. We can repair and clean culverts and we can tweak our code. Is the county willing to take it on collectively?”

Turning to recreation, Arest told the group that a Pickleball Pilot Program is now underway on the tennis courts at Crossway. He advised those who are interested to sign up for a permit on the Village website.

Plans for the renovation of the Scarsdale Pool are now under consideration by an ad hoc committee of residents who will evaluate proposals and make a recommendation to the trustees.

Mayor addresses the League in the dining tent in Scarsdale Village.

A study of needs for the Village and school athletic fields is also planned for this year. In the interim repairs and improvements are being made on two softball fields.

He also reported that the Village has updated it’s noise ordinance so “that it makes more sense.” He acknowledged that it might not go far enough for some in that it does not specify allowable decibel levels. Ultimately he said, the Village might revisit this. However, this new code should help with enforcement.

He fielded questions about lights on the baseball field at Crossway, the new sewer lateral compliance program, parking enforcement, traffic safety, tree laws and more.

It was an informative meeting about what items are -- and are not -- priorities of the Village Board and managers.