ECC LEADER WANTS TOWN TO DISCONTINUE SWAT TEAM IN POLICE DEPT--TEAM IS PREPARED TO ADDRESS HOSTAGE, TERROR ATTACKS

At the Town Board meeting and budget hearing on Monday evening Robert Bernstein, leader of the Edgemont Community Council, called on the Greenburgh Town Board to stop funding the SWAT team. His predecessor, Michelle McNally, wrote a letter to the editor to the Journal News earlier in the week suggesting the same thing.
Todays terrorist attacks in India highlight the importance of being prepared. The media is reporting that NYC is on the alert for a major possible terrorist attack in the NYC transit system.
Investing funds and resources on a SWAT team makes sense --in these very difficult times. Our police are highly trained and specialized. Greenburgh is better prepared than most other communities in the region to respond to terror attacks.
I am not sure if Mr. Bernstein or Ms. McNally are speaking for the ECC. I hope that they aren't. And, also hope they will reconsider their recommendations.
For more information about the SWAT team and the highly trained Greenburgh police department - please visit www.greenburghny.com and log onto the police department.

ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY ON KNOLLWOOD INSTEAD OF HEALTH CENTER? WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I have been contacted by representatives of an assisted living facility. They are interested in purchasing the property on Knollwood Road that was going to be developed by the Greenburgh Health Center as a new health center. The health center is selling the property because construction was too expensive. An assisted living facility would require a zoning amendment. Before the applicant pursues this further they are interested in hearing from the community. Assisted living facilities generally have very little traffic.
Please e mail townboard@greenburghny.com or pfeiner@greenburghny.com with your thoughts.
PAUL FEINER

Week of November 23rd: Miscellaneous

The purpose of this Miscellaneous topic is to discuss any town related issues you feel are important that are not addressed in other topics. Please post any issues you wish to discuss in the comments section of this post. Thanks!

(If anybody has any suggestions for the blog, please contact me at mherman.st(at)gmail.com. Thanks in advance for your assistance!)

-Marc Herman

BUDGET HEARING TOMORROW...GIRL SCOUTS HONORED..TZ BRIDGE BRIEFING

The Greenburgh Town Board will hold our second budget hearing on the 2009 budget tomorrow evening (Monday, November 24th) at 8:30 PM. Before the hearing begins the Board will honor Ardsley girl scouts who helped veterans on veterans day. We will also hear a report from the state re: status of Tappan Zee bridge. The TZ bridge construction alternatives will impact Greenburgh and our villages. This briefing is one of a number of TZ bridge briefings we have had in recent years.
Since the proposed budget was submitted the town comptroller's office has been reviewing the document -looking for technical corrections.
First, we have some "technical" corrections to headcount information - these are non controversial as they adjust the parenthetical disclosures for certain lines to conform with what is in the current budget.
Second, there are the changes resulting from the corrections to the "I" fund. Not debatable per se, must happen, although there are some tax rate implications if no other revenues are found or appropriations reduced.
Third, there is the combination of minor revenue changes (lower interest income) and some changes to heat, electric and gas and oil based upon establishing some consistency across all departments. These changes would result in a small additional increase in taxes. However, I am urging the Board to look for revenue increases or additional cuts and anticipate that we will avoid an increase in taxes over what the projected budget recommended.
The Town Board will be spending substantial time reviewing the 2009 proposed budget in December. The budget must be approved by December 20th. I anticipate that additional public hearings will be held and that some additional cuts, modifications to the proposed budget could be approved.
PAUL FEINER

COUNTY DEER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO BE SUBMITTED TO COUNTY EXEC

Dear Supervisor Feiner:

Thank you for sharing your constituent’s interest in the Citizen’s Task Force on the White-tailed Deer and Forest Regeneration.



After two years of meetings, presentations, and site visits, the task force will be formally submitting their final report to the County Executive this month. The final release of the information is at the discretion of Mr. Spano.



As you can see, we consider the population of White-Tailed Deer in Westchester County an issue of major concern and are taking a very close look at deer management methods and applications.



Sincerely,



Linda Lovallo

Westchester County Customer Relations

WORK SESSION TUESDAY ON BUDGET

The Town Board will be reviewing the proposed 2009 budget during the next few weeks---looking for additional cuts and modifications that could be made.
We encourage your attendance at the meeting. The first of our reviews will take plae on Tuesday afternoon. Feel free to watch the meeting on TV or on the internet (www.greenburghny.com).
PAUL FEINER






Town of Greenburgh

Work Session Agenda of the Greenburgh Town Board

Tuesday – November 25, 2008 – 2:00pm

(All Work Sessions are Televised Live on Cablevision Channel 76, Verizon 32 and are streamed live. Work Sessions and Town Board Meetings will be aired each Friday, Saturday and Sunday starting at 7:02am and 4:45pm. Each segment will run for approximately 6 to 7 hours, depending upon the length of the two meetings.)



2:00p.m Library – Budget Review



3:00p.m. Planning Department – Budget Review/Revenue Update



3:30p.m. Building Department – Budget Review/Revenue Update



4:00p.m. Police Department – Budget Review



5:30p.m. Adjourn

CARS AUTHORIZED TO BE TAKEN HOME

In recent weeks bloggers have requested info about town cars being taken home. In response to the inquiries I asked the commissioner to provide members of the Town Board with a list of town employees authorized to take home a town car. This is the response. The Police Chief and two of the captains are also currently authorized to take home cars.
I have again advised dept heads that they must comply with the rules and also have advised them that the town is not going to assume any liability if there is an accident involving a town vehicles unless the driver (during non working hours) has written permission to use town cars.


The cars authorized for take home use are as follows;

Car 10 – Commissioner of Public Works

Car 11 – Deputy Commissioner of Public Works

Car 30 – Ass’t Sup’t of Water and Sewer

Car 97 – Park Superintendent

This list does not include any Police vehicles.

You do not mention whether the vehicles that have been observed are vehicles with Town Seals on the doors or not. From my understanding the Code Enforcement Officer in the Building Dept is out on the streets during off hrs. at least two nights a week and an occasional Weekend day. In addition, the pump station operator from the water shop is out often at unusual times checking reports of water leaks and other emergencies. Is it possible that the vehicles being observed are unmarked Police cars? If you get any additional details such as vehicle numbers or license plate numbers please advise. Thanks



Albert S. Regula

Commissioner of Public Works

WWW.RETHINKINGWESTCHESTERGOV.COM

A new website: www.rethinkingwestchestergov.com has been launched. The goal: to consider life without county government. When I was a County Legislator in 1990 I wrote an op-ed for the Westchester section of the NY Times suggesting that the county government be eliminated. Connecticut has no county government. There property taxes are less than hours. Massachusetts authorized the elimination of county government in the mid 1990s and there taxes are lower than ours. And, Rhode Island has no county government. There taxes are also lower.
We had a meeting tonight at the White Plains Women's Club to launch the new website. The turnout was excellent--I estimate that close to (or about) 200 people attended the meeting. Among attendees (listeners) was the Deputy County Executive Larry Schwartz!
We highlighted the successful Massachusetts & Connecticut models and heard from a variety of speakers.
Please visit the website. We will be setting up a county blog on the web site within the next month or so-- so bloggers will have an additional site to express yourselves on.

TOWN TO ADVERTISE FOR NEW PUBLIC WORKS COMMISSIONER

The Greenburgh Town Board decided today to advertise for a new Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner of Public Works. We will reach out to other municipal officials and public works trade organizations --in addition to other outreach efforts. Commissioner Al Regula and Deputy Commissioner Butch Nanna will be retiring in mid December.

Bill Carter, our new Commissioner at the TDYCC, started his new job yesterday. WELCOME! We wish you the best of luck in your new job.

SHOULD CYBERMOBILE PROVIDE LIBRARY SERVICES DURING THE NEXT MONTH?

Greenburgh's cybermobile (library on wheels with internet access) has not been in service for months. The cybermobile is parked outside Greenburgh Town Hall. No books, no gas, no driver, no librarian.
After the library at Town Hall closed down today (because they are moving to the new expanded library in mid December) a suggestion was made by Hal Samis in one of the blog posts to reactivate the cybermobile. Librarians who are on staff could be assigned to the cybermobile. A schedule could be announced and the cybermobile could continue offering Greenburgh residents library services until the new library opens up. Perhaps, the cybermobile could continue providing services to residents even after the new library opens up. Some people might even want to rent the cybermobile for parties and events. Advertising could help pay for the mobile library too.
In your opinion, should the cybermobile be reactivated? Or--should the cybermobile be sold? What do you think?
E mail townboard@greenburghny.com. We will share your thoughts with the Library Board which is the decision maker re: future of the cybermobile

GREENBURGH LIBRARY MOVING--TOWN HALL LIBRARY CLOSED

The Greenburgh Library is in the process of moving. As a result there will be some inconvenience to library patrons. The adult library at Town Hall closed today and the children's library will close tomorrow AM. Books are being moved from the Greenburgh Town Hall to the new library. We anticipate that the new library will open in mid December

Week of November 16th: Miscellaneous

The purpose of this Miscellaneous topic is to discuss any town related issues you feel are important that are not addressed in other topics. Please post any issues you wish to discuss in the comments section of this post. Thanks!

(If anybody has any suggestions for the blog, please contact me at mherman.st(at)gmail.com. Thanks in advance for your assistance!)

-Marc Herman

WEDNESDAY MEETING: 7:30 pm White Plains Women's Club, 305 Ridgeway, White Plains RETHINKING WESTCHESTER GOV

Westchester county residents pay the highest taxes in the country and as the economy slips further into recession they will be asked to pay even more.

* Yonkers residents county tax increased by 24% along with a 71/2% local real estate tax increase in 2008.

* Yonkers announce a 200/300 city employee reduction starting in December 2008.

* New Rochelle announces a 8% tax rise

* Harrison announces a 13% tax rise

* Peekskill announces a 11% tax rise

* Ossining is fighting an 18% tax hike

* Greenburgh's tax hike for 2009 is 7.7%

The state will be cutting the school funding for towns/cities which will put further pressure on them to increase local taxes and or dramatically reduce services.

It is time that we rethink our local, county and state governments structure and spending. Such things as sharing local services and even eliminating or dramatically reducing county government.

On Wednesday evening at 7:30 in the White Plains women's club at 305 Ridgeway Avenue, there will be a presentation by a group of Westchester county residents on how successful our two neighboring states Massachusetts and Connecticut were in eliminating county government. We can apply this successful transition to reducing or eliminating Westchester county government. There will be a recommendation which will involve our state legislative delegation.

In addition to the presentations we will be announcing a new web site that will be devoted to keeping Westchester county residents and their political leader informed on matters relating to county government.

GREENBURGH HEALTH CENTER WON'T MOVE...TOWN BD CHANGES ZONE TO REQUIRE MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The Greenburgh Neighborhood Health Center worked long and hard to obtain permission to build a new and larger Neighborhood Health Center on Knollwood Road. Although they received final approval to build, the long approval delays, escalating construction costs and horrible economy took a toll. The Health Center does not have the funds they need to build their new building. As a result, the Health Center has put up the Knollwood property for sale. They will stay at 330 Tarrytown Road for the time being. The Health Center provides a wonderful service to the community.

The Town Board unanimously approved a new Zoning Code amendment last night expanding affordable housing. Any new residential development in three zones (PUD, Central Ave & Urban Renewal Zone) must have 10% affordability. In the past the requirement was only in multifamily zones. There is a lack of affordable housing for seniors, young families who are starting their careers. This new law was proposed by members of the PLanning Board who have been working on this initiative for at least four years. The current law has resulted in two affordable housing units being built on Knollwood Road. 44 units will be built when Avalon is complete. The new zoning change will probably result in additional affordable housing opportunities in the years to come. Affordable housing is not low income. Families eligible to purchase homes will have pretty good incomes but won't be making enough money to buy market rate housing (80% AMI).
PAUL FEINER

TWO DEDICATED PUBLIC WORKS LEADERS TO RETIRE IN DECEMBER

Good luck Al Regula, Commissioner of Public Works and Butch Nanna, Deputy Commissioner of Public Works. Both town officials have advised the Town Board that they will step down from their positions in mid December. We anticipate a smooth transition and have started the search for permanent replacements.
Al Regula, Commissioner of Public Works has worked for the town since 1974 -- for 34 years. He has been Commissioner of Public Works since 1992. Butch Nanna has worked for the town for 33 years - since 1975. He has been Deputy Commissioner since 2000. NYS pension provisions discourage many long serving employees from continuing their employment --they actually are working for next to nothing if they continue their employment with the town.
Both officials deserve our thanks for the excellent services offered. They were responsible for overseeing roads, sanitation, snow removal, water, engineering, construction projections, road repairs and drainage issues. Some major capital projects were completed on their watch: a new Town Hall, an expanded and new library (to be open in mid December, 2008), two major police headquarter renovations, a new garage for our fleet, a second floor at the Theodore Young Community Center, Irvington-Greenburgh RUmbrook joint venture pump station, a new multipurpose center at AF Veteran Town Park, renovations at the water shop and much more. The town's recycling program also expanded during their tenure in office.
We will be conducting a search for replacements. E mail: townboard@greenburghny.com.
In the coming months the town will review current operations and continue to look for new approaches to manage the town in the most efficient manner possible.
PAUL FEINER

SAVE MONEY VIA HEAP

The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) can help seniors on fixed incomes or low income residents pay for electricity, oil, gas, wood, kerosene, propane or coal heating.

The federally funded HEAP program, administered by the county Department of Social Services, assists eligible low-income, elderly and disabled persons with their home-heating costs. The amount of payments will vary depending upon what type of fuel is used and on whether heat is included in rent payments. Generally, those who qualify can get up to $800 off their oil bills or $585 for other fuels such as natural gas.

The state, which funnels the federal funds to Westchester, announced that because there is more funding for the program this year people with higher incomes who previously would not have qualified for assistance, may be eligible for emergency assistance through HEAP starting Jan. 1.

Changes to the 2008-09 HEAP program also include:

· Increasing benefits to $800 for eligible households heating with oil, propane or kerosene,

· Raising the maximum regular benefit to $585 for all other eligible households that incur a heating expense

Temporary Assistance as well as Food Stamp customers can apply for HEAP by contacting their case managers. In addition, the elderly, disabled and SSI recipients not receiving Temporary Assistance and Food Stamps may receive assistance in applying for HEAP by calling (914) 995-5619.

All others should call 211 to find out if you meet income guidelines, or to get more information about HEAP. Applications can be downloaded from the county’s website at www.westchestergov.com

Consult the table below to see if you meet current income guidelines.

Household
size
Maximum
Gross Monthly Income

1
$1,963.00

2
$2,567.00

3
$3,172.00

4
$3,776.00

5
$4,380.00

6
$4,984.00

7
$5,097.00

8
$5,210.00

9
$5,324.00

10
$5,437.00

BUDGET HEARING WEDNESDAY NIGHT

The first of the 2009 budget hearings will be held Wednesday night at 8:30 PM at Greenburgh Town Hall. Hope to see you at the hearing.

WESTCHESTER BUSINESS JOURNAL: KLAFF'S EXPANDS TO VACANT TRASURE ISLAND STORE ON CENTRAL AVE (VACANT SINCE 05)

Klaff’s expands to Scarsdale
BY JOHN GOLDEN Westchester Business Journal
After 87 years in Connecticut, a family owned, upscale home-design company will open its first retail store in New York next spring on Central Park Avenue in Scarsdale.
Klaff’s Inc., with headquarters and a flagship store in South Norwalk, Conn., is completing a $4 million gut renovation of an approximately 79,000-square-foot space at 331 Central Park Ave., Joe K. Passero, Klaff’s chairman and chief operating officer, said last week. The company expects to open by the second quarter of 2009 and hire 30 to 40 employees, he said.
The two-story retail location has been vacant since Treasure Island Inc., an outdoor and home furnishings store, closed when its New Jersey-based parent company filed for bankruptcy in 2005. Passero said Klaff’s has signed a 15-year lease with landlord Seville Management. Other building tenants are Charles Schwab financial consultants, with about 26,000 square feet, and a recently opened 1,200-square-foot Natural Selection Furniture store.
Passero said the Scarsdale store will be similar to Klaff’s flagship store and its expanded Danbury store with a complete high-end design line of lighting, kitchen, bath, decorative hardware, tile and stone products. The Klaff family also operates a specialty lighting showroom in Westport, Conn., and a wholesale plumbing and electrical supplies business in South Norwalk. “We’re retailing to the trade,” Passero said “We also have a very large business with builders, designers, architects.”

Week of November 9th: Miscellaneous

The purpose of this Miscellaneous topic is to discuss any town related issues you feel are important that are not addressed in other topics. Please post any issues you wish to discuss in the comments section of this post. Thanks!

(If anybody has any suggestions for the blog, please contact me at mherman.st(at)gmail.com. Thanks in advance for your assistance!)

-Marc Herman

NEW REVENUE IDEAS--WHAT DO YOU THINK?

During the past few days I have been meeting and speaking with some residents about new revenue generating ideas. Here are some of the suggestions made so far....

1) RENT OUT THE INDOOR POOL TO A PRIVATE ORGANIZATION FOR SUNDAY USE ONLY-- The pool at the TDYCC is closed on Sunday. The town could generate some revenue if we rented out the pool on Sundays---and swimmers could benefit by getting access to the pool another day of the week.

2) RESTAURANT AT HARTS BROOK NATURE PRESERVE-- The Rockefeller's rented out space at their Pocantico park to a top notch restaurant. Should we rent out the old barn at Hartsbrook to a restaurant---require the restaurant developer to fix up the barn (which needs work)? The police chief indicated that the restaurant could be required to hire police to direct traffic from Ridge Road to the park.

3) PUSH HARD FOR THE INDOOR TENNIS BUBBLE---WE should push hard for state legislation that will make it easier to rent the tennis courts at AF Veteran Park to a private company so they can place a bubble on top of the courts---renovate existing tennis courts (at their expense) and build (at their expense) a club house.

4)LIBRARY SHOULD RENT SPACE AT NEW LIBRARY--town should consider placing parking meter stations at the library so that non residents of the town can help us with library expenses.

What do you think about these suggestions?

INAUGURATION BUS TO OBSERVE PRESIDENT ELECT OBAMA'S SWEARING IN

The election of President-elect Obama is exciting and very historic. Our children should be inspired by the life of our next President. I was speaking to Commissioner-designee Bill Carter of the Theodore Young Community Center today about the inauguration. It would be nice if the town could organize a bus trip for students who live in different sections of the town so they can watch the inauguration in Washington DC. The big date: January 20th. A bus trip will cost some money. We’re looking for donors who can underwrite the costs of the trip.
We are also going to invite adults to join us on our trip to DC (they will be asked to pay for the costs associated with renting the bus). If you are interested in attending the historic inauguration please advise. If you have the time and want to be part of the committee that will be planning the event, please contact me at pfeiner@greenburghny.com.

WHAT WE NEED—
LET ME KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN THE BUS TO WITNESS PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA’S INAUGURATION.
WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO DONATE FUNDS TO UNDERWRITE THE COSTS SO A CHILD CAN BE INSPIRED ON JANUARY 20TH? WILL YOU BE PART OF A PLANNING COMMITTEE?

Week of November 2nd: Miscellaneous

The purpose of this Miscellaneous topic is to discuss any town related issues you feel are important that are not addressed in other topics. Please post any issues you wish to discuss in the comments section of this post. Thanks!

(I hope everyone voted and had a great Election Day!)

-Marc Herman

STAMFORD MAY DIM LIGHTS ON STREETS TO SAVE MONEY

lOCAL GOVERNMENTS ALL OVER THE NATION ARE EXPLORING DIFFERENT IDEAS TO SAVE TAXPAYER DOLLARS. What do you think about this suggestion?

Stamford may dim half the lights on streets
By Martin B. Cassidy Staff Writer 11/03/2008 02:55:45 AM EST STAMFORD -
To combat rising energy costs, city engineers are considering shutting down
about half the street lights between midnight and dawn starting next year.
Engineers requested $300,000 for the project in the 2009-10 capital budget,
but the initiative cannot move forward until Connecticut Light & Power
establishes reduced rates, which state energy regulators must approve, City
Engineer Louis Casolo said. It's unlikely the change would be considered for
downtown streets that are busy at night, Casolo said. "This is a concept
idea with a lot of merit, especially today, when everyone is looking at
other ways to conserve power and fuel," Casolo said. "It is definitely a
smart thing to consider in the right locations." Under the proposal, about
half the city's 9,600 street lamps could be outfitted with one of two
systems, Casolo said. One system would place timers on street lamps that
switch them off at 2 or 3 a.m. The second system uses wireless technology to
shut off the lights from a central site, Casolo said. The city now pays
CL&P a flat nightly rate per street light, whether the light is on or off,
Casolo said. The proposal could save the city $250,000 a year or more, said
Benjamin Barnes, director of the Office of Operations. "Certain lights
would shut down at an earlier time," Barnes said. "We could save a
considerable amount of money by having some of our lights having reduced
hours of operations. Of course, there are other reasons not to do
Advertisement it that have to be considered." Residents said the
reasons include the potential for increased accidents and criminal activity.
Peter Passaro, 38, who lives in Springdale, said he would be concerned about
darkening the streets. "Anywhere they did it would have to be on a trial
basis and should depend on how the people in that area feel about it,"
Passaro said. Jewel Evans of Sundance Road said residents will be concerned
about safety. "I think it would have to be looked at pretty hard," Evans
said. The project would have to be approved by the Planning Board, Chairman
Duane Hill said, before being sent to the mayor as part of the proposed
capital budget. "Our consideration of this is in the preliminary stages,"
Hill said. The state Department of Public Utility Control ordered CL&P to
file a proposal to establish rates for "half night" street lighting for
cities the next time it seeks a rate hike, DPUC spokeswoman Beryl Lyons
said. CL&P spokesman Mitch Gross said the company has not set a date for
filing a proposal or seeking a rate change. "We're still working out
details as to that proposed rate," Gross said. "We cannot introduce it until
we file a rate case, and have no plans to file a rate case for the
foreseeable future." - Staff Writer Martin B. Cassidy can be reached at
martin.cassidy@scni.com or 964-2264.

UPDATE: budget cut--garbage pickup to be curbside

Next year the town will require garbage pickup to be curbside. The estimated savings: between $300,000 to $400,000 (when you factor in benefits). The elimination of this service enables the town to eliminate 5 sanitation employees (via attrition). At the present time we anticipate the need to provide an elvated level of sanitation servcies to residents who are unable to bring their garbage to the curb for collection.
Exactly how this service will be provided and on what frequency (could be once a week) and at what cost) needs to be resolved. Given the fact that there will be a labor cost, as well as fuel utilized --we anticipate that the price for this service will be approximately $300- a year per home.

What is going to happen to the small expeditor trucks that the town currently has?
The small ‘expeditor” trucks will continue to have an application in our operation. Even though they will not be driving up driveways they will still be used to expedite the work of the larger trucks as they move through their routes. The small vehicles will also be used for the collection of homes that opt for the elevated level of service for which we will most likely impose a special charge. The small trucks are also used extensively in the collection of yardwaste as well as pick-ups missed by the larger trucks. The fact that their use may be somewhat reduced will only tend to extend their useful life in the fleet and the replacement of older units will become much less frequent.

If the town does not make any cuts in services-- the tax increase will not be as low as we anticipate (currently 7.7%). The tax hike would exceed double digits without cuts in services---which is unacceptable. I have indicated that I will NOT support a double digit tax hike this year, next year or in the forseeable future. Residents cannot afford double digit increases.

The service we currently offer (non curbside pickup) is only taken advantage of by some residents. The town can't offer the service to some, but not all. If everyone in the town takes advantage of the non curb pickup --it will cost the town millions of extra dollars.

DO YOU WANT TO MEET THE GOVERNOR WEDNESDAY?

Governor Paterson’s office contacted me. The Governor will be in area on Wednesday at 3:30 PM and asked me to provide their office with a list of 10-12 residents who reside in Greenburgh who are concerned about budget issues. If you are available to meet with the Governor in a Town Hall setting on Wednesday between 3:30 and 5, please advise by emailing me at pfeiner@greenburghny.com. I need your name and e mail and phone.

PAUL FEINER