A new veterans advisory group will be meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11 AM at Greenburgh Town Hall. If you are a veteran and are interested in serving on this committee – please join us.
The Greenburgh Town Board met with the Greenburgh Nature Center leadership today and discussed their master plan. Among exciting initiatives for the nature center (to be funded by private, not taxpayer dollars) is a Nature’s Playground. This will be a unique nature themed playground designed to engage children in outdoor exploration and discovery. The recreation area will serve children ages 2-12 and will provide a variety of play elements intended to mimic the natural environment. Possible elements include an artificial spider web to climb, a beaver dam to walk across, an eagle nest to sit in and a fossil dig area to explore. Kurt Hundgen (gnckhunden@aol.com) is the executive director for the nature center. His office is overseeing private fundraising efforts for this exciting initiative. If you would like to get involved please contact him.
Over the years I have advocated a playground at the Nature Center –that is geared to pre-school children. The two playgrounds (located at the schools) is not open to the public during school hours. A pre school playground at the nature center will serve an important need for Edgemont residents (and for the rest of the town).
PAUL FEINER
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
20 comments:
Not so fast. The federal grant under which the Nature Center's 33 acres was acquired expressly prohibits use of the land there for an "active" playground. No matter how beneficial a children's playground might be on that site, and no matter who pays for it, its construction would appear to violate the terms of the federal grant.
How is the Webb/Presser field playground not open to the public during school hours? Highview has its own (admittedly miniscule) playground up the hill on its property. I've taken my young children to the Webb playground several times during school hours.
Feiner was referring to the fact that the playgrounds at the elementary schools in the Edgemont School District are not available for use by pre-school children during school hours. Incidentally, those two playgrounds have both been recently re-built entirely with funds, materials and labor donated by the Edgemont community. Not a penny came from the Town.
great
thx edgemont
we freeview folk love your charity
see you at the slide
Oh goody. Edgemont can have their own playground instead of slumming it at Presser.
where is the category for miscellaneous comments?
Are there any new developments in the Shop Rite store that may open at Midway? Please provide an update.
private funds for the initial build and design, maybe yes. My question is what about upkeep. Playgrounds have matting that needs to be renewed every 10-15 yrs. or the wood chip stuff that needs to be replaced every season.
Maybe the initial cost may be covered by funds, but lets be honest eventually its going to cost us all more
Incidentally, those two playgrounds have both been recently re-built entirely with funds, materials and labor donated by the Edgemont community. Not a penny came from the Town.
Why brag about this? A school playground shouldn't be funded by the town. It should be funded by the school district and the community it serves.
The answer to 6:17 a.m. is that Feiner campaigned in Edgemont for years saying that he was responsible for construction of the playgrounds at the two elementary schools in Edgemont. He wasn't, but no matter, this time around the record is clear. The Town had nothing to do with them.
I think we need to define "active" playground. If the playground can be designed to integrate the mission of the nature center it would make sense that they be allowed to build it. That being said, stop bashing Edgemont for building their playgrounds on school properties. I am a Hartsdale resident and offer this info for your consideration:
The Town collects millions of dollars in recreation escrow fees whenever a property is subdivided. This money is to be used for the development and improvement of parks and playgrounds. Unfortunately there is no Town owned open space in Edgemont for this type of development. Keep in mind that Edgemont as a community has invested millions of dollars towards this fund yet has not received a dime of it in return.
It would make sense that school playgrounds not be open to the public during school hours. The safety of school children is far more important and we have plenty of town parks and town playgrounds to fill the void during those times.
The federal grant which was used to purchase the property for the Nature Center requires that the land be used for "passive" recreation in perpetuity. That means that even if a playground can be designed to be integrated with the "mission" of the Nature Center, it would still be a form of "active" recreation that would be barred under the terms of the grant. Perhaps before the Town proceeds with this venture, and exposes the Town to a claim for return of the federal funds, it should seek clarification from the United States Department of Land and Water Conservation as to whether such "playground" would be a permissible use. Westchester County recently learned that it's not a good idea to ignore federal mandates when taking federal money. Greenburgh should do likewise or we'll be faced with yet another lawsuit.
Dear 11:08,
As though abiding by existing law and that the Town Board took an oath of office to uphold same means anything here in Greenburgh.
If you don't like it, sue!
We are living in the wild West where the "discouraging word" and those that speak it and how they speak it is the only thing that troubles the townfolk.
There's no harm in finding out whether the proposed integrated playground would be allowed. Stop naysaying before it even gets off the ground.
Dear 2:38 (The UN has already adjourned)
"There's no harm in finding out whether the proposed integrated playground would be allowed."
There's no harm in finding out whether the proposed 'integrated' playground would be allowed before sending the notion out to the Town's email list. It might counter the conclusion that the Supervisor always shoots from the hip aka going off half-cocked.
Especially since the Supervisor writes: "Over the years I have advocated a playground at the Nature Center –that is geared to pre-school children."
Even in the wild, wild west they allowed this wisdom: you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
Hey Hal, your comment rhymes with:
You can show a politico the law,
But you cannot make him think.
Hey Paul how many more playgrounds do you intend to put into twenty square miles of Greenburgh.
don't you think that we have enough right now ,,by the way how many of these playgrounds are used by the residents.
first repair or replace some of the playgrounds we have in the town already.
Dear Mr Supervisor -
Your friends want to build 87 bedrooms of housing on Dromore Road.
Dromore is immediately adjacent to the Nature Center. You have proposed building a playground at the nature center. Why not halve the amount of housing on Dromore and condition the issuance of a building permit on your friends providing a playground utilizing the other half of the property?
A WIN-WIN and another (not better, just) Feiner Idea!
Dear 10:12,
Not adjacent isn't good enough, you have to call it immediately adjacent.
Both descriptions are wrong. In fact the property is referred to in these posts as the Dromore Road property because it is, in fact, located on Dromore, or adjacent and immediately adjacent to Dromore having it your way.
But Dromore Road runs between the controversial property and the Nature Center and indeed buffering the Nature Center from the ill effects of the traffic on Dromore by visitors to the GNC is a brick wall. And beyond that wall on the GNC property is its parking area.
So, if you were seeking to give the impression that the Dromore property intrudes on the quiet enjoyment of the GNC by its inhabitants and visitors, stuff it.
And what a good idea, let's create playgrounds in locations where children have to cross the street to get from the GNC parking area to the playground and negotiate the parking area of the remaining apartments that you so generously have allowed the owner to build.
Clearly even adults need a playground to play real estate; however this blog is not a playground.
And I still don't get why person(s) unknown still view Feiner as giving in to the developer. With friends like that, who needs enemies?
And with bloggers like you who have substituted an 87 bedROOM count instead of what is usually referred to as the number of UNITS which I recall being just under 40,
don't you think this reeks of scare tactics?
Post a Comment