Tuesday, April 28, 2009

GREENBURGH TO USE FULL ELECTRIC CARS WITH NO ENGINES AT COST OF $10 A MONTH PER CAR

GREENBURGH TO RECEIVE FULL ELECTRIC CARS AT COST OF $10 PER MONTH PER CAR

Steve Stein of MINI of Westchester (which is located on Tarrytown Road in Greenburgh) appeared before the Greenburgh Town Board at our work session with a fantastic and exciting offer. The town will be working with MINI and will receive two or three full electric vehicles-- no engine. The cost to the town: $10 (yes, $10) a month.
These cars are capable of going up to 120 miles depending on driving habits. The more you step on the brake the further they go since they use regenerative brake power. Ideally we would like only one or two people as the primary drivers since feedback will be required each month.
MINI will provide the charging station box and installation costs.
This is a 1 year closed end lease. There are no extensions and the town will not have the opportunity to purchase. There are no mileage restrictions. The car does NOT have a back seat - that is where the batteries are located.
Every 3000 miles or 6 months the town will be required to bring the car in to us for inspection. Roadside assistance is included in the event of a failure. MINI may install a tracking/Lojack type device should the car get stolen.
Delivery would be in the late May/June timeframe.
I am very excited about this initiative. Greenburgh has been a leader in the field of energy conservation/green technology. We were the first locality in the Hudson Valley to create the post of Energy Conservation Coordinator. We were the first local government in New York State and the 2nd in the nation to mandate energy star in new residential construction. A proposal is under consideration to mandate LEEDS in new commercial construction. The Town Hall is partially powered with solar panels and the library uses geothermal energy.
It's my hope that Greenburgh will continue to lead by example. We plan to apply for stimulus grants for additional green technology.
PAUL FEINER
Greenburgh Town Supervisor

50 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about looking for a way to assist home owners cope with con edison .

We need another source of electricity ,
How about a windmill farm by Taxter woods.

WOW said...

What is the cost to fuel ? $.20 per BTU $20.00 - $25.00 How many miles per charge ? I tell you may 80 miles if you are lucky. How long is it for a complete charge ? 12 hours. Is a loaner available if one is in need of service ? Probally not. Mini Cooper is giving out the cars as a TAX insentive. They are presently given these cars out to numerous companies.

Stop then Go said...

Paul you stated "The more you step on the brake the further they go since they use regenerative brake power ". Paul the more you step on the brake you are not going further you are either stopping or slow down.

Anonymous said...

Cute, but what's the purpose for this new town expense? Also, 7:42 posted some important questions.

Anonymous said...

Which specific two or three vehicles will be garaged for the year? (Don't forget to cancel/transfer insurance and registrations.)

Anonymous said...

Mini Cooper (Owned by R. Catena) has applications before the Town for building permits. Should the Town be accepting contributions at this time?

Anonymous said...

Mr. Feiner,

I hope that you will reply to each of the above questions. They seem very important to know and consider prior to accepting the offer. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Is it a mini cooper or a smart car? The Smart car does not have a back seat so I think that you are referring to that one. Either way has anyone researched the safety of the vehicle after all you are asking a town employee to drive the so called car. Maybe not such a good choice for personal liability and the price of an employee's life.

hal samis said...

As 8:44 correctly points out, Ray Catena, through his various dealerships and expansions thereof,
does have business before the Town.

At the Ethics Board, I have a long-standing complaint on one such matter.

But the question, still unanswered, is whether or not, the Town should accept "gifts" from such parties even if the Town views them as "for the good of the Town". In my aged complaint, I argue that under the Ethics Laws as written, the violation occurred when the Town (Commissioner Thomas Madden and Francis Sheehan, as head of the Comprehensive Plan Committee, solicited several hundreds of dollars worth of refreshments for meetings) without first obtaining a vote from the Town Board to do so.

Metropolis Country Club (on the short list of remaining developable parcels in Greenburgh) is always making sizeable contributions to the Town. Given that Ridgeway Country Club in White Plains is for sale, golf clubs can be sold to developers and the good-will may transfer.

The question is: whether for relatively small sums, private companies and individuals can buy "friendship" with the Town and whether these unneeded trinkets are worth opening the Pandora's box.

In this specific instance (electric car(s), I suspect that the publicity and promotional value (specified or not at the time of offer?) will provide additional beneficial goodies to Mr. Catena.

That said, I would be happy to considered as a driver of such a vehicle under the same terms as being offered to the Town.

Anonymous said...

It is my understanding that the cars under consideration are Smart cars. A resent crash test, it showed that the
smart car was least safe of all the cars tested. I would not feel comfortably safe driving a Smart car nor would I recommend this car for employees of the Town. Additionally, if this company has proposals before the town, it is a conflict to offer this type of deal.

Anonymous said...

How about worrying about the residents electric bills.
Will your new kitty cars be chasing speeders and robbers.
Come on give us a break,
You should be taking care of the residents problems first.
Aren't you a little too old to be playing with toys.

hal samis said...

understanding the Supervisor...

"the more you step on the brake the further they go"

...consistent with driving on the parkway and parking in the driveway.

Anonymous said...

will this electric car sit in the highway yard parked next to the 3 brand new small sanitation trucks that have never been used. Who is responsible for ordering brand new trucks and never using them

Natural Gas is Green said...

Paul, Compressed Natural Gas is the way of the future. With all the rebates from the government along with the cost of the fuel CNG is the way to go. Here is proof. A 2009 honda Civic costs $25,000.00 new. The Federal govermment gives you a rebate of about $5,000.00 Cost of new vehicle now $20,000. The price of the fuel is about $2.00 per gallon. Again the government gives you back 90 % of the cost of fuel. The Honda Civic goes 225 miles on a tank of gas which is 8 gallons. If you figue it out thats about 20 cents per gallon. Places to fuel are close. The DOT has a filling station on 9A along with the Con edison plant in Eastview. This is savings. The car produces ZERO emissions. The Oil after 10,000 miles is as clean as if were new. This is GREEN.

Anonymous said...

the town, by accepting this offer, is not accepting a gift. The town is participating in an experiment that will help the company test the technology---which can lead to a greener america.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of cars, there was a gold station wagon parked illegally in front of starbucks in hartsdale - right in front of a sign that clearly stated no parking & no standing - the vehicle had a Domino Pizza type sign on the roof indicating that it was Supervisor Feiner's car - he was in a bus stop during the hours that the buses start running at the station. I got a ticket last week for running into starbucks for coffee - why didn't he?

Anonymous said...

Good question? Paul did you get a ticket?

hal samis said...

This blog now substitutes for public comment, or at least all that residents are going to get.

In fact, this topic is such an urgent matter that the Town Board is going to vote on it tonight at a SPECIAL Town Board meeting being held tonight at the Library.

Lots of things these days are being voted upon at SPECIAL Town Board meetings these days, business is being conducted wherever, whenever. Which no doubt is why the Town Board feels comfortable in starting Town Board meetings later and later. Note that the start time for the May 13 meeting at Town Hall is 8:00.

Do I detect a trend???

Paul Feiner said...

My daughter was selling girl scout cookies outside of starbucks. I parked in front of Starbucks briefly and then moved my car. I have, in the past, received a number of tickets from the parking district and have paid the tickets--even when I received the tickets while conducting town busienss.

Jim Lasser said...

Dear Mr Feiner -
Your explanation of why you parked in front of Starbucks was a nice, honest answer to a direct question.
Congratulations.
The continuation of your posting was extremely troubling. You stated that you had received a number of tickets from the HPPD and had paid them. You set a good example and we are grateful. But, and this I find appalling, you then wrote "even when I received the tickets while conducting town busienss [sic]."
Sir, conducting Town business does not allow you to violate the law. You are not empowered by your office to disregard the law, nor to suspend its application to you and your situation. The attitude you have displayed is more appropriate to a "divine right" monarch than a liberal democrat.
An apology and a sincere promise to adhere to your oath of office, which binds you to uphold the law, is in order.

Anonymous said...

I've been parking down in the village for six years and have received only one ticket for an expired meter in all this time. Why so many tickets Paul?

Anonymous said...

I'll tell you why he gets so many tickets, he constantly parks illegally whether in front of Starbucks or in the adjacent lot which is private parking. My boss has told him numerous times to not park in his parking spaces but he continues to ignore the warnings. Next time he will be towed.

Anonymous said...

he continues to brake the law when he plays with his phone as he drives

Anonymous said...

Lasser you seem obsessed with Feiner. Must have been the beating you took a few years ago. Take a deep breath and let it go.

Jim Lasser said...

Dear 8:05 -
I'm not obsessed with Feiner - I'm interested in good, honest government. As for the alleged beating - he won, I lost. (Almost 11.5% of the eligible voters voted for him, scarcely an overwhelming mandate.) Elections should really offer a choice, and I think I provided that. The most important result was the establishment of the Edgemont Village Exploratory Committee which produced a professional report on the pros and cons of Edgemont becoming a village. You can view the report on their website and whatever you may think of the idea, the research which went into the report is outstandingly professional. The Town could benefit from doing the same quality of research before proceeding with any of its programs.
I notice you failed to sign your posting. Was that a lack of courage or a desire to avoid responsibility?

feiner delivered said...

feiner promised a board that could work together
feiner delivered. feiner for supervisor in 2009.

fat pension said...

Paul can you tell all TOWN WORKERS to stop charging their personal cell phones,laptops at work,this is a big cost to the taxpayers

Anonymous said...

h

Anonymous said...

Be truthful, Jim. You didn't just lose, you were creamed. The people spoke and they didn't want to hear your negative campaign. You keep saying you want "good honest government" but really, as you admitted, what you wanted was the establishment of the Edgemont exploratory committee. It was you who was not honest with the voters because you held back your feelings about Edgemont incorporation until after the election.

Yes, sir I did not sign my name. I'm not going to be bullied by you. Don't accuse me of being irresponsible. All the facts I presented above and earlier are true, but you can't handle the truth.

Jim Lasser said...

Dear 1:24PM -
The fact remains that only about 1 in 9 of those eligible to vote in 2003 voted for Mr Feiner. I garnered fewer votes - I lost. But it isn't accurate to say I got creamed - there were far fewer people who voted than should have to get a statistically significant result.
Also, I never expressed a preference on Edgemont's becoming a village during the campaign because I said there wasn't enough hard information to make a good decision. I strongly advocated having the discussion, backed by hard data. You apparently believe that because I advocated for the discussion I had predetermined what the result should be - you are mistaken in that belief.
That you will not identify yourself can only be interpreted as an unwillingness to be personally and unerringly identified with the ideas espoused in your posting. So be it.

Anonymous said...

So the people who cared to vote are statistically insignificant? What percentage of those people voted for you? 30? Why couldn't you get your message across to the other 8 out of 9?

Is it your position that the "hard data" really backs up incorporation, or this still your way of trying to get back at Feiner for losing? If you truly believe incorporation is warranted, gives us facts which support this.

You are right. I don't care to be identified. But then again I am not a public figure espousing ideas. I am just responding to your less than truthful statements.

Jim Lasser said...

Dear 5:57 -
The evidence is on the EVEC website, you are free to draw your own conclusions.
I ceased to be a public figure once I lost - so I am free to do as I please.
Sign your name or not - I'm proud of who I am and what I've done.

Anonymous said...

The democratic primary is the deciding race in the Greenburgh elections. Whoever gets the democratic line wins. Tony Veteran 18 years and Paul Feiner 18 years.

Anonymous said...

What's wrong with a public figure espousing ideas? Do you prefer our elected officials working to supress dissent?

Anonymous said...

Where in my post do you get that I oppose public figures not espousing ideas or that I am in favor of elected officials working to suppress dissent?

Jim Lasser is a public figure, despite his protestations and he is entitled to his opinions. He is also entitled to be criticized by me if I don't agree with hin. Or are you against free expression.

Michael Kolesar said...

It seems to me that the Town Board is against free expression. And I have the facts.

Anonymous said...

Mike,
If you have "the facts" that means you took privlaged town documents when you left?

Anonymous said...

Dear Mike:

If you have something on the Town Board, contact the Public Integrity Unit of the NYS Attorney General's Office. If not, don't allude to wrong doings.

Copy this before Feiner deletes it said...

Call To Arms: Multiple felonies have been committed against us costing us thousands of dollars!!!! This is who to contact at the State:

Contact

Office of the Attorney General
Public Integrity Bureau

Phone: (212) 416-8090

Email: public.integrity@oag.state.ny.us

PIB Hotline:
If you wish to report allegations of government wrongdoing, please call the New York State Public Integrity Hotline: 1-800-428-9072. Calls will be kept confidential.

Anonymous said...

If Kolesar took any reports it will be a great advantage for the residents of this town.

He's the only one that had the guts to stand up for all the residents.
We seem to forget that he too is a resident of Greenburgh.

I have plenty of faith that when the right time comes arround we will know the truth about the report.
The new comptroller knows and he should come foward with the information because if he does not he is just as guilty as those who have wronged all the residents.
I wish Kolesar the best .His time here in this town was short lived but he concurred with many of us that there was plenty wrong as to how and who spent money.

We still have not heard the end of this firing. I do hope that what happened to Kolesar was a way to show the residents that there was someone who wasn't afraid to stand up for what was right.

I guess if you speak up about this administration with all it's department heads one has a problem.
We have been in the dark for too long.

Michael Kolesar said...

Dear Anonymous:

I have taken no Town documents and have not violated any laws as far as I know. The facts are well documented in emails and other Town documents that I know exist because I created them and distributed them to the Town Board and members of the public, who attended public work sessions as was the custom at the time. Ella Preiser could copy and distribute many of these if she so chooses. These documents are required to be preserved under the State of New York records retention provisions, although that doesn't mean that the Town of Greenburgh will follow the law on this any more than the numerous violations that I cited. Why do you think that if you FOIL my March 24th memo to the Town Board, you get basically a blacked out document? Very simple, they (the Town Board) know how damning the material is. If it would "destroy" my creditability, they would have released it in a heartbeat. Sorry, nice try, but no sale.

Michael Kolesar said...

Before someone jumps all over my inaccurate typing, the word should have been "credibility" not "creditability".

Anonymous said...

Dear Mike,

REPORT THE TOWN TO THE STATE OR SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Either you have the goods or you don't! If you do, hand them over to the State.

Anonymous said...

Feiner promised a Town Board that would work together and yes, he delivered. But truth be told, he bought a Town Board by sponsoring their campaigns,hence Morgan & Brown to replace Barnes & Bass because they had the audacity to disagree with him. Now Sheehan & Juettner are in the same position which may explain why they abstain on important issues. We need campaign reform; Feiner is buying candidates to support his continued inept administration of our Town. Now he is stacking boards and commissions with his cronies - why would anyone want a a 15 member board (TDYCC)- only so that he can appoint more of his cronies at a faster rate so that he can take control of the center. They guy is a control freak.

Feiner hurts taxpayers said...

The real losers here are the taxpayers. Feiner's given us a 30% tax hike, a tennis bubble lease that required unincorporated to fund a $3 million renovation for a private vendor, a $2 million breach of contract with the PBA for which we'll be paying them back for the next ten years, an after school program for Central 7 for which all unincorporated must pay, even though all other school districts have their own after school program, contracting with someone with no resume to run the after school program, thereby exposing the town to liability for negligence should something go wrong; exposing the Town to millions of dollars in damages from the Fortress Bible lawsuit, concealing documents that would show the Town lacks internal financial controls at the community center, the building dep't and parks and rec, and unlawfully giving away hundreds of thousands of town dollars for free to the Fairview Fire District and Valhalla School District. In the meantime, the Town's infrastructure continues to crumble and essential police and sanitation services continue to decline.

Anonymous said...

Mike you were not allowed to do the correct job as the comptroller but you now can make a differnce if you do go to the state.
It was obvious as the nose on our faces that your report did you in.
Would you report inaccurate facts??? I do not think so.
You were telling the truth and got fired.
How much longer do we have to put up with a corrupt government here in the 80th best town .
We all know that there has been many things going on in the wrong direction.
Many have told our supervisor about the head of the DPW but he turned a deaf ear.
Many complained about the library to no avail.
Many complained about the assessor and an error that she made in computing our taxes and above all she did not follow the law concerning assessments.
The center and all it's problems. The supervisors keep the cover up going year after year.
The PD. well that's another story concerning their budget. Especially on overtime.
The money owed to the town by the housing authority .
The money owed by those that use the center.
The free lunches .
The short falls at the court system.
The new problem the sewers throughout the town.
These are some of the things that were brought to lite at meetings WHAT ABOUT THE THINGS THAT HAPPEN BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. tHIS IS WHERE YOU CAN HELP ALL THE RESIDENTS.
Many have written to the state concerning what little knowledge we have about wrong doings but as I say you can make a big difference by coming forward.
This is the time when many of us especially those that have lost their jobs ,seniors and those of us that have invested good money in our homes need all the help that we can get.
There has to be a way to get rid of the Feiner Machine.
We have to get back good government but above all an honest one.
I do know this is asking a lot from you,but someone has to help .
This is a job that cannot be done by anyone who attends meetings.
We are only fed what they want us to hear.
Mike thanks for showing us that there is a way of fighting back but I'm sorry that it did cost you your job.

Anonymous said...

Mike- If for any reason you decide to sue the town could it be possible that the report that you were presenting to the town board and the public [[[which was surpressed ]]] come to light in its entirity.

Just asking.

Terry Williams said...

The New York State Comptroller has once again ruled that the WestHelp Educational Grant that Paul Feiner would like to award to the Valhalla Union Free School District does not serve a “legitimate Town purpose.”

I would urge Mr. Feiner to stop entertaining/refrain from making these proposals and focus his attention on managing the affairs of the town for the benefit of all of its residents.

Paul, in the interest of full disclosure, you should post a copy of the comptroller's letter to your blog.

Michael Kolesar said...

I don't think that strategically it is wise to reveal one's "cards".

When and if an investigation is lauched by either the FEDERAL government or State government, I'll certainly make myself available to point them in the right direction so they don't miss anything. I haven't been sitting idly on the sidelines.

No comment on the March 24th memo, but all taxpayers can only surmise that it must be pretty devastating for the Town Board to go to the lengths that it has to keep it under wraps. Enough written

Anonymous said...

Mike thank you for your answer.

Yes the report was devestating but what else can we expect from a disfuntual town board.
The best to you and I am sure you will have a good backing.