From Village Hall: Flooding, Revaluation, Power Lines and a Recycling Award

It was business as usual at the second Scarsdale Board of Trustees meeting under the leadership of Mayor Miriam Flisser on April 26, 2011. The Mayor and Trustees addressed residents’ concerns, formally adopted the 2011-12 budget, licensed a Five Corners developer to use parking spaces at Supply Field and accepted an award for exemplary recycling from Westchester County.

Flooding: In response to complaints about continued flooding around George Field Park, Mayor Flisser gave an update on where the Village stands with the stormwater management program that is being designed to alleviate the problem. She reported that the Village has a grant from Westchester County to fund 50% of the $2.4 million project and that the Village has already approved the issuance of a bond to fund the balance of the work. Engineers are seeking to design a system to collect water on the east side of Post Road and the project may require the Village to purchase private land.

The current schedule calls for construction to start at the end of 2011 and proceed for 18 months. She called the process “lengthy and challenging” and assured residents that the “project is a priority for the village.”

Power Lines: On behalf of the Overhill Neighborhood Association, Kristen Friedman read a letter drafted by David Buchen calling for the Village to bury cable boxes and power lines. As Con Edison is trimming back trees that surround the lines, the Association says that streets are becoming “unsightly” and called for the Village, with the help of the private companies to bury the cables in sealed vaults underground. They requested that the Municipal Services Committee be asked to study the issue.

Revaluation and Potholes: Robert Berg asked for clarification on the schedule for the RFP for the Village wide revaluation. From Jon Marks report at the previous meeting Berg understood that the RFP for the revaluation would not be issued until September, 2011. However, Village Manager Al Gatta responded and said that the Village expects to have selected a company to do the work by September, 2011, and therefore the RFP would be issued in the interim. Berg also called for the Village to do more to repair potholes as residents are bearing the expense of repairing many flat tires and bent rims.

Meter Fees: Mark Walfish of Sycamore Road complained that the village had raised the fees at the long term parking meters by 40% this year. He believed it had been done inadvertently and asked the Village to take another look at the pricing. However, the Trustees advised that Walfish would be better off parking in the Freightway Garage where the annual fee would be $840 rather than $2,125 for meter parking.

In other Village business:

• The Trustees formally adopted their 2011-2012 Village Budget of $47 million.
• Trustees voted to have the Planning Board review changes to the Freshwater Wetlands Map and clarifications of the definitions of Freshwater Wetlands and Freshwater Wetlands Controlled Areas in the Village Code.
• The Trustees granted a revocable license to the developer of 1 Palmer Avenue for the employees of the complex to use 10 parking spaces at Supply Field at a cost of $840 per spot per year. Trustees determined that this would not impact parking for recreational events and it would free up parking spaces for customers across the street.
• Trustee Brodsky announced that Scarsdale was honored as one of Westchester County's top three municipalities in recycling at the April 17 Westchester County Earth Day celebration. The national recycling standard is 25%; overall, recycling in Westchester is 50%, and in Scarsdale, recycling is a very impressive 68%. According to Brodsky, “the award is an acknowledgement of a cooperative effort on the part of all residents and a tribute to the outstanding Public Works Department headed by Superintendent Benedict Salanitro.”
• In an update on the potential sale of Village-owned land at 2-4 Weaver Street, Trustee Jonathan Mark said that the Committee is waiting for a new rendering of the building and the site, including the village owned land. Once the committee has the drawings, they can appraise how the additional land would affect the building design and continue discussions about the land sale.