A Celebration of Multi-Culturism
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The international flavor of Scarsdale was celebrated at the Fox Meadow Multi-Cultural Breakfast on Friday October 3rd. This year's breakfast, hosted by Claudine Gecel and Stephen Sabba, was very well attended - and I was lucky enough to snag an invitation.
Roughly fifty people turned out including Principal, Duncan Wilson, Teacher In Charge Colleen Mangan, Spanish Language Teacher, Shaun Johnson, ESL Teacher, Jennifer Adler, PTA President, Margot Milberg, and Scarsdale's BOE President, Mary Beth Gose. Everyone enjoyed fabulous homemade food from all over the world, and no one left the premises contemplating lunch. The excellent food was complimented by lively conversation from natives of the North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Principal Duncan Wilson captured everyone's attention when he shared a poignant story about Fox Meadow School's celebrated the Sochi Olympics: During an assembly, Mr. Wilson asked everyone who moved to Scarsdale from another city or state to stand up. Then he asked everyone who moved from another country to stand up. Next, he asked everyone who had a parent from another country to stand up. After that, he asked everyone who had a grandparent from another country to stand up. By that time, almost every single child in the entire school's auditorium was standing tall. Mr. Wilson pointed out that he felt the community is doing a great job teaching children about their multi-cultural heritage - and should continue with their positive efforts.
Credit is due to Fox Meadow's Multi-Cultural Co-Chairs Ryoko Fujii, Juhana (Chelsea) Jiang, Nosipho Kweta, Hongtal (Jennifer) Liu, Sonia Maronilla, and Wuhong (Emily) Zhang. Some folks were able to snap a few pictures, and they are posted below.
Scarsdale's Ellen Kourakos Granted Prestigious Fellowship
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Ellen Kourakos, Scarsdale High School Class of 2008, is a recipient of the prestigious Health for America Fellowship. As part of a team of four Fellows, Ellen was chosen from a national pool of applicants that included alumni of Brown, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Cornell, MIT, Stanford, and dozens of other universities across the country.
The Health for America Fellowship is the first program of its kind, granting young leaders from diverse academic backgrounds the opportunity to delve deeply into real-world healthcare needs. In an innovative partnership with Discover Bank, Christiana Care Health System, Start It Up Delaware, and the Delaware Community Foundation, the 2014-15 HFA Fellows will work together over the course of one year to create and implement a health solution to advance patient care. Fellows will meet with physicians, thought leaders, and community members to identify areas that need the most improvement, specifically within the treatment of chronic heart failure.
Ellen was selected based on her background in Manufacturing and Design Engineering, her broad experience with human-centered design, and her passion for improving the lives of patients.
While an undergraduate student at Northwestern, Ellen participated in the Global Engagement Summit. She was honored with the EDC Design Award, studied abroad in Copenhagen, and interned with Product and Design Metalwork in Brooklyn following her sophomore year. As a research assistant at Northwestern in 2011, Ellen tested polymers to determine the effects of pulverization on oxygen permeability. She also interned at Heathrow Scientific, where she helped to conceive and then manufacture a safety component.
Since graduating two years ago, Ellen has worked for CareFusion in Vernon Hills, IL as a Research and Development Engineer and Project Leader. Her position enables her to develop and improve medical devices, specifically surgical tools for minimally invasive procedures. She has helped to expand the spine portfolio by four catalog codes, and her work focuses on the healing of vertebral compression fractures. Ellen is also a Board Member of the company's Women's Initiative Network, where she helps initiate and lead corporate events to empower women through mentorship, networking, and community service.
Through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Chicago, Ellen has volunteered her time providing educational support to children. She is also the co-founder and facilitator of the Chicago chapter of OpenIDEO, in which she guides a community team through social impact challenges.
As a Health for America Fellow, Ellen will have the opportunity to conceptualize and actualize health technology solutions. The three Fellows who will be working as Ellen's teammates are millennials Nick Azpiroz, Sandra Hwang, and Megan Caldwell.
Health for America promotes innovation by granting fellowships to young leaders from diverse academic backgrounds. The 2014 Health for America Fellowship is carefully structured to use the principles of entrepreneurship and human-centered design to produce the greatest possible impact on the health of communities.
The four Fellows were selected for their leadership in design, technology, entrepreneurship, and community service, and will work together over the course of one year to create and implement a health solution.
"The Health for America Fellowship provides a platform to become submerged in all aspects of the healthcare industry," says Ellen. "I am hungry for an environment that promotes and fosters creative thinking through the design process, and I believe there is no industry more in need of such a radical change than healthcare."
More about the Health for America Fellowship:
Health for America uses America's greatest strength – entrepreneurship — to address its greatest challenge – health. By granting fellowships to recent college graduates from diverse academic backgrounds, Health for America catalyzes the creation of innovative solutions to improve the health of communities while shaping the next generation of leaders. Learn more at www.healthforamerica.org.
This class of Fellows serve as the initial project for the Start It Up Delaware Social Impact Fund established by the Delaware Community Foundation to fund entrepreneurial activities of nonprofits that desire to engage in activities that create economic value to their organizations so that they may continue to meet the needs of the underserved Delaware community, as well as potentially create commercially viable products and solutions.
The Health for America Fellowship is the first program of its kind, granting young leaders from diverse academic backgrounds the opportunity to delve deeply into real-world healthcare needs.
Fellows will meet with physicians, thought leaders, and community members to identify areas that need the most improvement, specifically within the treatment of chronic heart failure. Broadly defined as the heart's inability to maintain sufficient blood flow, heart failure contributes to 1 in 9 deaths in the United States and accounts for over one million admissions to the hospital each year.
Instead of funding a predetermined health solution, HFA and its partners are flipping the typical model of investment: the fellowship funds individuals who have proven to be leaders in their communities and asks them to work full-time to develop a deep understanding of the problem. Fellows are then given the time and resources to develop a specific, high impact solution that will improve outcomes and lower costs.
"We are excited to work with Health for America, our community partners and an enthusiastic group of Fellows who will bring new and fresh ideas to health care," said Patrick Grusenmeyer, Sc.D., FACHE, president of Christiana Care Health Initiatives, which explores creative solutions to improve patient care. "We look forward to developing innovative technological solutions to add greater quality and value and advance the care of patients who suffer from heart failure."
In addition to working in Delaware, Fellows will also travel across the country to attend heart failure conferences, study design thinking, and meet with startup founders. They will work each day to build a solution that is effective, sustainable, and commercially viable, recording their experiences along the way. Fellows will share all of their findings with program partners in Delaware so that patients may benefit for years to come.
"Health for America is the perfect partner and initial recipient of the project funding for the Start It Up Delaware Social Impact Fund, which aims to meet the needs of the underserved members of the Delaware community," said Start It Up Delaware co-founder and chairman, Jon Brilliant.
Road Closure Cancelled for Thursday
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This just in Antonio Capicotto from the Scarsdale Water Department: The planned road closure at Fenimore Road has been cancelled for Thursday September 25 due to the forecast for rain.
(Previously published) Fenimore Road will be closed from Fox Meadow Road to Oak Lane on Thursday September 25t to allow the Water Department to excavate a 2- inch water main for exploratory work for a future line stop at that location. The work will be performed on the 25th to take advantage of the Rosh Hashanah school closure. Fenimore Road will be closed from Fox Meadow Road to Oak Lane and traffic will be diverted around the block onto Highland Way, Oak Lane, Greenacres and Brite Avenue as shown on the traffic plan below. The work will start after 9:00 AM and end by 4:00 PM. If there are no obstructions, it should be completed in one day. However if there are delays the work will continue on Friday. Two police officers have been assigned to direct traffic around the detour.
BOT Reviews Cable Channel Proposal and Approves Land Sale at 2-4 Weaver Street
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Following a meeting between the Scarsdale Board of Trustees and the Cable Commission on Tuesday, September 23rd, plans to merge the operations of the Scarsdale Cable Channel with New Rochelle are now off the table. In addition, after more than five years of discussion, the BOT voted unanimously to sell two small parcels of village-owned land to Frederick S. Fish, allowing him to develop the Heathcote Tavern and parking lot into 14 condominiums.
A proposal by Village staff to consolidate the management of the Scarsdale Cable Channel with the city of New Rochelle brought a rush of objectors to the meeting. Cable Commission Chair Lorraine Fiorello thanked the Board of Trustees for considering their proposal and said she "looked forward to providing a robust tool" for community engagement. Lynne Clark said she cares deeply about "the past, present and future of this wonderful village" and said the consolidation proposal "is not in the best interests of Scarsdale." She continued, "We need to enhance our own cable TV coverage... and keep up with surrounding towns of similar size who are way ahead of us ... we need to keep ahead of the curve here just as we always have done!"
Michelle Lichtenberg and Terri Simon, both members of the Board of the Scarsdale Library, speaking as individuals and not on behalf of the Library Board also opposed the plan. Lichtenberg said, "The library is the hub of all activity in the Village of Scarsdale and is among the most vibrant libraries in the county. It hosts activities for kids and adults and we aim to grow." Simons said, "Scarsdale Public TV is potentially an important partner of this effort. The Cable Commission approached us with a variety of ideas, for example, installing equipment to permit taping, broadcasting and even live-streaming events and speakers in the Scott Room to share access with a broader swath of the community than might attend in person....these are early ideas." "It seems precipitous to rush into such a consolidation before the library and cable commission have an opportunity to explore what could be a fruitful collaboration."
Richard Gerwin of 1 Christie Place also opposed the consolidation adding, "Technology has evolved so that it is far less costly to have cable in Scarsdale." Bruce Wells said the channel has a lot of potential and it would be a "mistake to consolidate with New Rochelle."
At the conclusion of the comments about the cable channel, Mayor Steves said, "The Village Staff suggested that we share an employee with New Rochelle. We would not partner with New Rochelle and they would not dictate the scope of the work – the person would be an independent contractor. However for now, the proposal is tabled until we resolve issues and exchange ideas with the cable commission."
Ending a protracted negotiation, The Board of Trustees agreed to sell 14,634 square of Village-owned land at 2-4 Weaver Street to the Frederick S. Fish Investment Company to build an 11-unit, three-story building on the parking lot at the site and to convert the Heathcote Tavern to 3 additional units. One of the units will be a Fair and Affordable Housing unit (AFFH). The village-owned land was rezoned for business use and the site has passed a SEQRA review that found that the development would not have a significant adverse impact on the environment. The Land Use Committee approved the conversion of the tavern building to residential apartments and the developer received final site approval from the BAR on September 17th.
Development of the site was the subject of intense opposition from the Heathcote Five Corners Coalition who raised objections about potential congestion at the five corners, traffic delays, the loss of an historic building and overcrowding in schools among other concerns. They urged the Village to use the land sale to negotiate development terms that were favorable to the village.
Perhaps in response to these concerns, Trustee Lee explained that the Village would hire a construction monitor who will be charged with the responsibility of seeing that the construction documents are consistent with the plans that were approved by the Planning Board. Lee said, "No building permit will be issued until the monitor certifies the plans." A construction manager will be hired to make sure that the building is built to plan and will monitor any changes to ensure that the building will go up in a way that is consistent with the plans.
Despite these measures Martin Kaufman continued to object to the project. About the sale of Village land to Fish he said, "I urge the Board of Trustees not to enter into this contract in its present form. The contract does not protect the Village against deviations in the construction plans. The building department does not have the resources to enforce the plan. A design monitor is only a half step in the right direction. He would simply review the plans rather than monitor the construction
The project is at the gateway to the Village and provisions for enforcement need to be beefed up."
After Trustees voted to approve the sale, Mayor Steve reflected on the process. He said, "This ends a five-year discussion. I voted "no" five years ago. Over that time there has been substantial community involvement. I thank everyone for bringing these issues to our attention. The board has done what they need to do to bring this project to the next step."
Property Tax Revaluation: What's Next?
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The Finance Committee of the Village of Scarsdale Board of Trustees met on Thursday, September 4, 2014 to discuss property tax revaluation. The purpose of the meeting was to talk about the Scarsdale Village plan for property assessments on an ongoing basis. The meeting did not pertain to the recent Tyler Technologies assessment revaluation project and did not provide any information regarding the status of the 950 grievances that were filed with the village as a result of the Tyler Assessment except to say that a report will be issued on September 15, 2014 with the Board of Assessment Review's final decisions.
Village Manager Al Gatta presented the Board of Trustees with two options for property assessments going forward. The first option would be to update assessed values on an annual basis using sales data and market trends to make Village-wide adjustments to assessed values. Mr. Gatta estimated the cost of annual updates to be approximately $50,000-$100,000 per year. This method would have the Village maintain property assessment values at 100% of market value. Annual updates would allow the village to correct any under assessed property that may have been overlooked in the recent assessment project, but there was also some concern that it could lead to a large number of grievances each year. Even with yearly updates, a full reappraisal is required in 2017. (A full reappraisal is required every 4 years under any plan the Village adopts.) A full reappraisal reviews and assesses properties on an individual basis. It would be expected that adjustments resulting from the full reappraisal would be minimal, as the assessment values would have been updated yearly under this plan. Mr. Gatta estimated the cost of the full reappraisal to be $250K-$350K.
The second option is a full reassessment every four years only with the next assessment in 2017. The cost estimated for this option is $250K-$350K (same as the cost for this process shown above). Under this option, assessed market values slip until the next full assessment. The number of grievances in non-assessment years would be expected to be minimal with spikes during the revaluation years. Under this plan, if the Village identified a property that was under-assessed, it would not be able to act on any adjustment until an appraisal year.
It is important to note that under either option, the Village can still conduct tax assessments on new construction and additions/improvements to existing homes. Further, under either option, the village is required to complete a visual inspection (from the exterior) of each property on the tax roll every six years.
There was no decision made at this meeting and Mayor Steves wanted to give the Trustees some time to think about the issue. He acknowledged that a decision would have to be made soon especially if option one is selected. He plans to put this topic on the agenda for a meeting in approximately two weeks.
There was also some brief discussion during the meeting about whether the data from the current 950 grievances would be or could be analyzed to determine any trends. For example, would it show that there was a neighborhood without any grievances or a neighborhood with the majority of grievances? The Scarsdale Village Office of the Tax Assessor does not conduct this type of analyses. However, the information will be made public with the report on September 15 and it is expected that some citizens may try to look at the data to identify trends. The Board of Trustees is wondering whether analyses of the data would help to address community concerns about the appraisal process and bias, but there is not a clear answer to be provided at this time. It's likely this issue will discussed more intently after the grievance results report comes out on September 15.
