Sunday, December 31, 2006

December: Miscellaneous

The purpose of this Miscellaneous topic is to discuss any town related issues you feel are important. Please post any issues you wish to discuss in the comments section of this post. Thanks!
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211 comments:

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Anonymous said...

What is going on with the new 2007 Sanitiation Schedule. 1 pick up on holiday weeks is horrible. I thought that this was supposed to be a trial run. Ask most greenburgh residents what they think about all of their garbage piling up....they are not happy!

1/01/2007 7:08 PM
Anonymous said...

" ... someone as dedicated, caring and terrific as Paul. I don't think there is anyone who can fill his shoes."

Nothing against the guy personally, but Greenburgh won't want anyone to fill his shoes. We will need to elect completely different kind of "shoes" in the next election - a professional manager.

1/01/2007 7:34 PM
Anonymous said...

Regarding santiation ... and highway ... it's all such an embarrassment for the town. A 25 year old kid with an MBA could manage the operations with greater efficiency and professionalism.

1/01/2007 7:39 PM
Anonymous said...

I just wonder id Supervisor Feiner is reading all of the concerns about DPW... and please paa them on to Mr. Regula. Is he just burnt out on this job and dosnt care anymore?

1/02/2007 10:31 PM
Anonymous said...

From todays NYJOurnalNews --

Mr. Feiner -- why is greenburgh not at the top of the list -- put this as a goal to get coned to service greenburgh

Con Edison to start aggressive tree trimming
By ALLAN DRURY
THE JOURNAL NEWS
Have your say
Do you think the new tree-trimming program will be effective in curtailing outages? Join the discussion in the "Issues in the Lower Hudson Valley" forum at http://forums. lohud.com
For more information
Consolidated Edison has an online guide illustrating how trees will be trimmed under the expanded program at www. coned.com/ publicissues/ treeguide_ intro.asp



Related news from the Web
Latest headlines by topic:
• Energy
• Consolidated Edison

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(Original publication: January 3, 2007)



Consolidated Edison Inc., stung by criticism and lost earnings resulting from its handling of outages during the summer, will begin a more aggressive tree-trimming program in Westchester County to keep branches away from power lines and transformers.

The company believes the program, which will cost about $6 million a year, could reduce storm-related outages by 20 percent, said Michael Clendenin, a Con Edison spokesman.

Next week, crews from the company's tree contractor will be in Tuckahoe, North Castle, Mount Pleasant, Cortlandt and other communities where the trees have been particularly troublesome, and will hit every community in the county during the three-year program.

Under the company's new standards, the crews will create 10 feet of clearance beneath and on each side of its lines. They will also see that branches hover no closer than 15 feet above the lines.

The old standards called for 6 feet of clearance on the sides and below the lines and 10 feet of clearance up above.

The tree trimming is part of the company's attempt to avoid a repeat of what happened during the summer, when a heat wave and storms in July and the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto in September caused thousands of county residents and businesses to lose their power, many for days.

Customers and municipal officials complained that they could not get information from the company on the progress that was being made in restoring power, that the company did not have enough repair crews on duty and that hazardous conditions such as downed wires remained uncorrected for days.

The company, which has often boasted that it is the nation's most reliable utility, acknowledged that it needed to improve and has taken several steps, including reducing the wait time for customers who call an emergency number, promising more communication with municipal officials during emergencies, and studying whether it would be worthwhile to place parts of its electrical network below ground.

Frank Peverly, general manager for electrical construction for Con Edison, said 20 to 25 crews, each with two workers, will trim trees each day. The annual cost will be a 50 percent jump from the $4 million the company was spending on tree trimming in Westchester.

Con Edison employees supervising the work have gotten training from the Cornell University Cooperative Extension in Valhalla on how to trim trees in ways that do the least damage to the trees' long-term health.

Barbara Sacks, executive director of the cooperative extension, said the workers were taught to identify different kinds of trees, how they grow and how they should be cut.

"Every tree gets a different trim," she said.

Con Edison is also trying to educate residents about the program. Customers will receive mailings a couple of weeks before the contractors visit their neighborhood explaining the program and what Con Edison is trying to accomplish.

"We want people to understand that our objective here is not to remove all the trees of Westchester County," Peverly said.

Con Edison workers will also knock on doors to speak to residents.

1/03/2007 8:40 AM
Anonymous said...

Traffic flow is horrible at many Town intersections with traffic signals, especially those with multiple approaches and arrow signals.

May I suggest looking at traffic systems in California and other areas (Walnut Creek, CA, where we moved from, has a particularly good system) that features sensors on the signals that detect approaching cars. If a car is not waiting or approaching, the light remains green in the other direction. It's amazing how this speeds up the flow of traffic.

Also, I've noticed that many of the arrow signals are not wide or bright enough, making it difficult to see green or yellow indicators, especially in sunlight conditions.

1/03/2007 10:47 AM
Anonymous said...

"why is greenburgh not at the top of the list -- put this as a goal to get coned to service greenburgh"

Greenburgh (Feiner) is seen as whiny, childish, and unprofessional in its business communications. The squeaky wheel will get no grease.

1/03/2007 5:00 PM
Anonymous said...

"Squeaky, whinish, childish" - not quite the attributes of a Supervisor who has propelled us forward for many years. I would call him "vital, imaginative, innovative". He's not perfect, but way better than an unimaginative, dull, bureaucrat that many stogey thinkers (who have lobbied furiously for their own interests) would like to see take his place.

1/03/2007 10:27 PM
Anonymous said...

Golly:

Residents are having problems with the DPW.

I suggest that you email the head of DPW, Al Regula and ask what is more important to him, doing this job or running interference for the Town Council and processing FOIL requests directed to the Library. All other FOIL requests go through the Town Clerk's office but the Library is the pet department of the Town Council and thus they feel that it is more important for him to dp this than run his own Department.

And it is not just because he is the most qualified man for the job. Let's look at his resume. Mr. Regula held the reins when the Town built a garage to house sanitation trucks. The trucks remain outside because the garage is too small for them to fit inside.

Mr. Regula was also in charge of the construction of the Town's multi-purpose center. This project, a look into the future, was downsized as construction costs exceeded hopes.

So you can see that the Town Council has turned to the right man to oversee the Library project. Even if the DPW and residents suffer because he is occupied elsewhere.

However, by using Regula, the Town Council did not have to hire an independent Project Manager, to oversee the Library expansion. After all, the "owner", the Library Board of Trustees is well represented by the construction expertise of their Building Committee: Howard Jacobs, former school principal; Susan Wolfert, former bank employee and local newspaper reporter; Estelle Palevsky, reading specialist.

Taxpayer concerns are being well looked after. That's why I say: Don't worry, be happy.

And if you need your garbage picked up, just call the Library.

1/03/2007 11:14 PM
Anonymous said...

"propelled us forward" to what? more legal matters with unfavorable results

1/04/2007 8:48 AM
Anonymous said...

It is January 4, 2007 and still there are political signs on 100A on the left just before entering Dunkin' Donuts - this is the third time I've written about this - 'nuff said.

1/04/2007 12:36 PM
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