Roads/Traffic/Drainage

See: Route 202, Baptist Church Road Reconstruction, Traffic Issues, Drainage Issues, Taconic Bridge Closing , Commerce Street 1-way plan , Road Paving

(Scroll down for discussion of the  repair of the Croton Heights Road bridge)


Town Board, 5-23-2017

Calling 2017 the “year of infrastructure,” Supervisor Grace led the board through a discussion of possible capital projects for 2017-2018.  He said that the town was in good financial shape and that now was the time to proceed with some projects.

 

Paving

Highway Superintendent Paganelli led off the discussion with a proposal to pave 19.66 miles, or 10% of the town’s roads, this summer. To accomplish that goal, he said he would need between $1.4 - $1.8 million in funds from the town to supplement $755,700 he already had in his budget and from state grants.  He went through a list of possible streets, spread through different parts of town, that could be paved under his plan.  He also discussed different paving options at different costs and how, depending on the condition of the existing road, only some options were available for some roads.  For most of the roads, he is proposing a process that will apply 2” of blacktop that will be compressed to 1½”, a process that he said has been used successfully in other towns and which should last 10 years and would save 25% over more traditional paving methods..  He stated that the process was much more than “painting the road black.”

 

After the board accepted Mr. Paganelli’s 1½” recommendation, the highway superintendent recalculated his plan and came back with a request for $1.678 million. Supervisor Grace asked Mr. Paganelli to come up with a revised list of streets to be paved and with which option.  There was no board resolution to allocate the money which would come from fund balance.

 

Given its existing condition, paving Downing Drive will be a more expensive project. (Note: Downing may not have been in the $1.6 million figure.)

 

 

When Mr. Quinn suggested that the culverts under the roads to be paved be checked out with the town’s new camera, Mr. Paganelli estimated that 75% of the culverts were probably in need of replacement as they were likely to be about 60 years of age and at the end of their useful life.  No figures were given about the cost of replacing the culverts.

 

Mr. Paganelli noted that he left off the list of possible streets any that might be sewered wthin the next year or so but that he would hold off paving a street where sewers might be installed 8-10 years from now.

 

Other Capital projects

The following projects were mentioned with some being identified as top priorities with a more final list likely to be discussed in June. In general he said the town had to “think big” if it was going to accomplish anything.

 

To be done in 2017

Rehabilitition of Railroad Station. Estimated cost $300,000+. To be done this summer. There was a question as to whether this was a reimbursable grant.

 

Granite Knolls sports complex. The supervisor said that some amenities might have to be paid for by the town and phased in over time.  No details were available.

 

To be done in 2018 (planning in 2017)

Veterans Road and Hill Blvd culverts: $3.4 million. Reimbursable state gants

Old Crompond Rd culvert and Mohegan Ave wall: $1.8 million. Mr. Paganelli indicated that the Old Crompond Rd. might have to be closed by the end of the year if the culvert wasn’t replaced. He indicated that this might be the last possible culvert/bridge replacement that needed to be done.

Sidewalks along Veterans Rd. no cost estimate available

Tennis Courts: Lower Downing and Shrub Oak. Rec Commission to get cost estimates

Senior Center at Downing Park

Commerce/Downing Drive streetscape (from Rexall Drug, to Downing and around to 7-Eleven). Plan and cost estimates to be developed. Noting that the sidewalk in front of the bicycle shop on Commerce Street was in immediate need of repair, Mr. Paganelli said he would like to blacktop the sidewalk on a temporary basis while staff work out the more permanent streetscape plan. He said he didn’t like the idea of the blacktop but that he was concerned about safety. Supervisor Grace asked him to wait a few weeks to give staff time to come up with a plan.

 

2019

Highway garage/Depot Square. The supervisor said that he’s had many requests about purchasing the property that he estimates can generate $1.4 million or more.

 

Other projects

Barn at Lowe’s site. Would only be done if a new location was found

Historic graveyards: no cost or plan discussed

Vehicles: the supervisor said he thought the departments were okay with current fleet.

Commuter lot next to town hall. The supervisor was critical of the lot’s appearance and said that the town should be held to the same standard as private developers. He indicated the need for landscaping in the lot.

Phone system replacement. $25,000. The supervisor said this wasn’t a major expense and the savinags would pay for the new system in one year.

Generator for town hall. Councilman Diana is meeting with Con Ed which would extend a gas line to town hall. The existing oil tank is under the flag pole and when the town has to remove the landscaping and monuments in order to provide four additional handicapped parking spaces, it was suggested that that might be the time to replace the buried oil tank.

VacAll truck for Highway:  $275,000, of which $175,000 will be reimbursed. The truck  has been ordered.

Sewers. This would be paid for from the special district.

 

Comptroller Caporale participated in the end of the discussion, raising the issue of the cash the town would have to have available while it waited for the state to reimburse the town for some of the projects that would be paid for in total or part with grants. While there was no firm time frame on how long it took for the reimbursements to come through, a 3-6 month wait was possible.   

 


Town Board, 6-21-2016

The board approved a resolution to hire Charles A. Manganaro Consulting Engineers to design and survey the replacement for the Mohegan Avenue retaining wall  at a cost of $26,000, plus additional allowances is other work needs to be done.


Town Board, 6-14-2016

Mohegan Avenue Retaining Wall & Old Crompond Road Bridge Culvert

Town Engineer Quinn and Highway Superintendent Paganelli gave the board a status report on the need to proceed with both infrastructure projects.

 

Mohegan Avenue retaining wall (located on the lake side, in the vicinity of Sagamore): About 25% of the wall is compromised. It is the opinion of both men that rather than repair the damaged portion at a cost of approximately $300,000  (the same materials are not even currently available), it made more sense to replace the entire wall at a cost of approximately $600,000 and, in the process, widen the road a few inches.  The board agreed with that approach and Councilman Bernard suggested that in the interim, a road plate be put in place that could prevent further water damage to the wall. Mr. Quinn is currently in the process of getting design quotes from several outside engineering firms and he said he hoped to bring an approving resolution to the board at its next meeting. The actual work would be done in the summer of 2017.

 

Old Crompond Road (behind McDonalds): (See Town  Board, 2-24-2016.) This bridge culvert needs to be replaced at a cost of approximately $500,000. Mr. Paganelli said it made sense to do the job now and now wait until it collapses and becomes an emergency situation as happened in 2015 to other bridge culverts.  He would like board authorization to hire an outside engineering firm to begin design work.

 

In a brief discussion of how the two projects would be financed, Mr. Paganelli said that the capital budget had set aside $100,000 for the Mohegan wall but that there was some money left over the Lexington Avenue  and Hill Boulevard  projects.  He said the Lewis Ave/Fairview project also on the town’s “to do list” could be postponed. He said he was trying to be proactive about the town’s infrastructure needs and noted that the two projects could use up much of the Spectra $1.5 million.

 

In a related issue, the town said it hoped to get reimbursed from the insurance company for the damage done to the recently rebuilt Croton Heights bridge. (The sum of $12,600 was mentioned but it was not clear if the repair had already done or if the Highway Department might be able to do the work.)


Town Board, 2-24-2016

As part of an ongoing process of “overview”  meetings with department  heads, Highway Superintendent Dave Paganelli outlined the following department issues/needs

 

1. Paving. For small paving jobs, the department has borrowed a paving machine from other towns.  A new machine would cost $130,000.  For town-wide paving, he said that if the department can only do 6 miles a year,  that would put the town on an unacceptable 33 year cycle.   In addition to the state CHIPS money of about $450,000/year, he said the town could consider a bond as other towns have done.  Another source of funds discussed but ruled out was the $30/year open space fee. (See discussion below under Town Attorney about this fund.)

 

2. Sidewalks.  More needs to be done to repair existing sidewalks. No money amount or plan was discussed.

 

3. Infrastructure needs.  He called attention to the fact that much of the town’s infrastructure was 50-60 years old and will need replacing.  Two projects that need immediate attention are a bridge on Old Crompond Road (behind McDonalds) and a retaining wall on Mohegan Avenue.  He has a preliminary estimate from the town’s bridge consulting engineer for the design of the former.  He said that the Mohegan project, for which specs have already been prepared and which would cost about $200,000, needs to be done over the summer as there is no detour route for school buses.

 

4. New highway garage. In response to questions from Supervisor Grace, Mr. Paganelli said that the current garage, with administrative space, is roughly 17,000 sf and that Parks Department currently has about 3,600 sf. (it was not clear of this space was just the Parks garage at Downing Park or if it also included the administration trailers at Sparkle Lake.)  If highway had to share a new 20,000 sf building with Parks, he said that to provide sufficient space for his trucks and equipment, a second story might be needed for administration and/or storage. Unclear was where the Parks trailers would go.

 

5. Trucks. Although the department has been able to purchase several new trucks over the  past two years,  he indicated that some of the existing inventory also needs to be replaced.  He gave the board an inventory list with vehicles classified either in “good” or “not good” condition.

 

6. Mulch at Greenwood St. Supervisor Grace advised the board that the repaired “beast” machine would be returned to the town. This led to a brief discussion of how the town should dispose of the end product of different categories of mulch. No decision was made. (SeeTown Board 11-12-2015.)

 

7. Street sweeper . A new one would cost $285,000, but preferred option would be to subcontract out work at a cost of $70,800 for 3 years ($23,616 per year). Note: Town is required to perform this function as part of its stormwater compliance program

 

8. Catch basins. As part of stormwater program, town is required to inspect/clean 20% of its 5,700 catch basins a year. To contract out would cost $55/basin, or $62,000/year.To do in house,  department needs a vactor truck. A new one would cost $380,000. Alternately, and the best option would be to repair the existing vactor shared with sewer department for about $80,000. A third option is borrowing the Water Department’s vactor.

 

9. Detention ponds. Located  throughout town, these need to be cleaned. Mr. Paganelli suggested this could be done over the summer by assigning one person, with summer help.

 


Croton Heights Road bridge repair

Town Boarsd, 2-7-2017

Authorized an additional payment of $94,479 above the original $300,000 authorization for the repair/rehabilitation of the bridge.  The additional money covered work already done that was not in the original scope of services for the emergency project.


Town Board, 10-25-2016

When the bridge was replaced last year on a no bid emergency basis, there was a $300,000 contract with the contractor that was based on time and materials.  While the work was done satisfactorily, the contractor has now  informed the town that actual costs were $103,000 more because more work and materials were required than original estimates; roughly a 25% increase in the total cost of the project.  The additional work included more guardrail and about 1,000 feet more of the stone wall that had to be rebuilt. The town engineer subsequently revised the contractor’s overage to about $90,000.

 

A discussion followed as to whether the contractor should have to live by the $300,000 contract he signed,  whether W.S. Sells, the outside consulting firm that supervised the job, should be responsible for at least part of the overage, or whether the town should pay some or all of the overage. Once it was determined that the issue might involve litigation, the board went into closed session. When it returned to open session, there was no further discussion of how the town planned to proceed.


Town Board, 8-11-2015

The board authorized the supervisor to sign permanent and temporary easements with two property owners that were needed to provide access for the repair of the bridge; one homeowner has already agreed to the easement and the supervisor was anticipating agreement from the second owner. As soon as the agreements are signed, the repair work can begin.


Town Board, 6-23-2015

Croton Heights Road

The new pipe has arrived, but at the last minute the engineering consultant discovered that the town’s existing right of way didn’t encompass the entire area needed for the repair. So now, the town will enter into negotiations with the abutting property owner. The board also authorized an additional expenditure of $7,740 to cover the costs associated with the need to get a permit from DEP.


Town Board, 5-5-2015

Croton Heights Road

Work on this project will be delayed for a few weeks to allow delivery for a special size and quality pipe . The special pipe is needed to meet NYCDEP size requirements but also to install a longer lasting pipe.


Town Board, 4-28-2015

Croton Heights Bridge/Baptist Church Road culvert

As part of this discussion, Highway Superintendent Paganelli called attention to the fact that within one year, the town has had to declare emergency situations for three bridge/culvert projects: Lexington Avenue, Croton Heights Rd and Baptist Church Rd. (Note:  when a capital project is done as an “emergency” there is no competitive bidding.)

 

Croton Heights Rd: The board passed a resolution that retroactively declared an emergency as of April 25th and approved spending $300,000 to replace the collapsed culvert and rebuild the stone wall. In response to Councilman Bernard’s question as to whether the Highway Department could do the job in house, Mr. Paganelli said it could, at a possible savings of about $15,000, but he added that he’d have to borrow some equipment from another town to do the job and the project could be delayed if the other town needed its equipment. Supervisor Grace explained that what failed were the parapet walls that held up the culvert, not the stone wall. (Note: As discussed at the April 25 meeting, the town was aware of the decaying culvert situation for at least a year.)

 

See below on discussion on Baptist Church Road.

 

The money for both projects will come from the $1.45 million road repair bond issue that board approved in December.


Underhill Avenue Speed Limit

Town Board, 2/7/2012

 After closing the public hearing, the board voted 4-0 to increase the speed limit on Underhill Avenue, from Route 118 to the northbound ramps of the Taconic Parkway to 40mph from the current 30mph. Supervisor Grace explained that the speed limit had been 40mph when Underhill was a county road but that when the town took over the road several years ago as part of the Legacy field project, the speed limit was reduced to 30mph. He said that the average speed on the road was 48 mph and that studies have shown that slow moving vehicles can be a cause of accidents. He did not think that raising the limit would increase the current speeds.

William Kellner and Jonathan Nettlefield suggested that the change to 30mph start somewhere on the hill leading to the Taconic and both Supervisor Grace and Highway Superintendent DiBartolo said they would look into the possibility of installing a blinking “intersection ahead” type of light in order to caution people proceeding down the hill.


Town Board, 1/10/2012 

Explaining that the 30mph speed limit on Underhill Ave. was one of his “pet peeves,” Supervisor Grace said that he had had discussions with Councilman Paganelli, the Police Chief and Larry Eidelman, the public safety officer, about raising the limit to 40mph. He explained that the speed had been 40mp in the past but was reduced to 30mph when it became a town road. Mr. Paganelli summarized a report from the Police Department indicting that the average speed on the road was 48mph. Raising the speed to 40mph, he said, would not be precedent setting, and the police had no problem with the change.

 

A local law will be drafted raising the speed limit from Route 118 to the westbound southern entrance to the Taconic. The 30mph limit for the remainder of Underhill Ave. would remain unchanged. Supervisor Grace explained that he hadn’t had the law drafted in advance of the meeting as he wanted to know if the board was in favor of the idea. He said he didn’t want to do something for naught.


Road Paving

Town Board, 4-7-2015

Highway Superintendent Paganelli explained that he’s in the process of evaluating the condition of town roads and deciding which ones  will be paved  this summer. He anticipates that the town will be able to pave between 5-6 miles with the available $683,000. The town has 205 miles of roads.  In selecting which roads to do, he said priority is given to roads used by the most number of people. He also wants to include roads in different parts of town. His department is also exploring alternatives to black top paving for some less traveled roads.

 

He reported that 7 of the 23 storm events this winter happened on a Saturday thru Sunday when the town had to pay time and half and double time.

 


Town Board, 7-23-2013

Having previously transferred $539,000 in a FEMA reimbursement to the Highway Department, the Board transferred $500,000 of that amount to the department’s paving line so that additional streets could be paved this summer.  The FEMA money will supplement the $378,000 in state CHIPS money, which was $88,000 more than budgeted.

 

Although the Board has a discussion scheduled for August (the date was not clear) dealing with Garden Lane, after some back and forth as to the legal status of the street, the Board decided to direct the Highway Department to pave the street. (In the past, it was generally understood that the town owned only a portion of the road.) Supervisor Grace said that as the “privately” owned portion of the road had been deleted as a separate taxable parcel many years ago, he suspected that there may be a deed to the town that was never filed. And Highway Superintendent DiBartolo said that based on Highway Law, there was an “implication by use” provision that would allow the town to pave the road even in the absence of ownership documents.

 

Mr. DiBartolo and the Board agreed that the town should oppose any request by Cortlandt to have a traffic light installed on Route 202 at Garden Lane.

 

Mr. DiBartolo also raised the issue of remaining funds the town was due from the county to pave certain roads as part of the Legacy Fields agreement signed many years ago.  When that issue is resolved with the county, he said, additional funds should be available for paving this year. The amount was not clear.

 

Mr. DiBartolo said that next year, the town would need $720,000-$840,000, in addition to CHIPS money,  for paving. He pointed out that paving Stony Street from Judy to Quarry Roads would cost $311,000, and that a small portion of Barger Street completed this year had cost $111.000.

 

Supervisor Grace noted not the town had not spent money on paving for several years and Councilman Patel , citing the $500,000 FEMA money to be used for paving this year noted that it was because God gave us the storm that we now have money for paving.

 

 


Town Board, 7-24-2012

Highway Superintendent DiBartolo told the Board he would like an additional $200,000 for paving but would take whatever the Board gave him. In a 4-1 vote, with Councilman Murphy voting no, the Board ultimately voted to transfer $100,000 from Fund Balance to the highway department paving line.The additional money will allow paving to go forward for portions of Hanover Street and Somerston Road. Had an additional $100,000 been made available, it would have been used for portions of Front St.

 

Mr. DiBarto explained that given limited funds, his department paves the worst sections of several roads, rather than spendingthe available money to pave fewer entire roads. He said that past administrations went out of their way to “make him look horrible.”

 

Councilman Bianco explained that recent budgets had not included money for paving (over and above what the Town received in state CHIPS money) in order to limit the amount of the tax increase. The money has to come from somewhere, he said. In the past, he said, if there was money left over in the highway budget at the end of the year, the money was put towards paving.Supervisor Grace, noting that 80% of the calls he received from residents dealt with paving issues, said that the Town needed a long range policy dealing with paving. He added that if roads were not paved, it actually cost taxpayers more money because of the wear and tear on their cars.

 

Councilman Murphy voted against the budget transfer, saying he wanted to wait until budget time.

 

In response to a comment by Councilman Patel, Mr. DiBartolo said he would give the Board a list of streets that would be paved over the nest five years.

Mr. DiBartolo suggested that traffic counters be put on Hanover Street so that the Town could track the increased “beating” the street was taking due to the Taconic bridge repair detour. With that information, he said, the Town should appeal to the state for additional paving funds.

 


Town Board, 7-17-2012

In a two part discussion, at the beginning and end of the meeting, the Board approved an initial budget transfer giving the Highway Department $313,000 for additional paving that can be done this week and next. $113,000 will come from a FEMA reimbursement for Hurricane Irene and $200,000 will be transferred from the “snow line.”

 

Initially, in addition to the FEMA and snow line money, Highway Superintendent DiBartol o asked for an additional $200,000 from the Fund Balance. He said he could use the money now while the outside contractor was paving in town, using the roughly $294,000 the town has received from the NYS CHIPS program.If he had gotten the $538,803 requested,he was planning on paving portions of Hanover, Broad, Lexington, Somerston and Front Streets.

 

Mr. DiBartolo said that the Town expects $213,000 from FEMA, $140,000 of which should be a reimbursement to the Highway Department. Comptroller Goldbherg confirmed that the Town had received, to date, $113,000 from FEMA.It was not clear when the other money would be received and it was noted that the Town is appealing FEMA’s denial of funds for the Macie property on Sherry Drive and the Lexington Avenue bridge. Regarding the snow line, Mr. DiBartolo said that the salt bins were full. Councilman Paganelli noted that the town had not appropriated any moving for paving for the past three years over and above the CHIPS money.

 

When the discussion resumed at the end of the meeting, Mr. DiBartolo reduced his request for fund balance money to $100,000 from $200,000,and that some streets, or portions of streets, would be removed from the paving list. While Councilmen Bianco and Paganelli appeared ready to vote for the additional $100,000, Supervisor Grace said he wanted that discussion to be postponed to next week’s work session when the Board could look at the larger fund balance policy. The Board agreed, and transferred only the $213,000.

 

Mr. DiBartolo reported that $446,000 remained in the special road maintenance fund created several years ago when the county gave Yorktown money in exchange for taking over certain county roads. He said he will be using some of those funds to pave East Main Streetin the Jefferson Valley area and that the remaining $130,000 would be kept in the fund for possible future work that may be needed on Seven Bridges Road. There is no time limit on when the funds have to be used.

 


Town Board, 5/8/2012

Highway Superintendent DiBartolo presented the Board with a list of 15 roads he said were in the worst shape and needed to be paved. If all the streets were done, the total cost would be $834,803. The Town will be getting $296,000 from NYS under the CHIPS program. For the balance, Mr. DiBartolo asked the Board for $300,000 from fund balance and the remaining money from an anticipated FEMA payment associated with Hurricane Irene. Supervisor Grace said he did not know exactly how much the Town would be receiving from FEMA and that the money would be a reimbursement for costs incurred by several departments.Mr. DiBartolo didn’t want the reimbursement to go into the General Fund.

 

When Councilman Bianco said that the fund balance was estimated at $3.6 million, Supervisor Grace noted that there were other expenses that would have to come from the fund balance, such as labor contract commitments and that he didn’t want to mislead people. He said that he hoped to have additional information on the amount of the FEMA reimbursements by next Tuesday.


Town Board, 3-20-2012

After Councilman Bianco raised the issue of the need to do something to pave the town’s roads, a discussion followed on how to finance additional paving. Councilman Bianco said that there was a possibility that a likely 2011 surplus could be used for paving to supplement the state CHIPS money. Highway Superintendent DiBartolo said that the town has applied to the state for $750,000 to help offset the likely wear and tear on the town’s local roads that will result from the Taconic bridge closure. He said he was encouraged that the town’s grant application had made it through the first round.

 

Mr. DiBartolo said that this year his department plans to continue using an outside contractor to do the paving as it was less expensive than having the town’s staff do the job. Roads scheduled to be done include some in the Fox Meadow area, Hunterbrook Road, Hanover Street, Moseman, and East Main Street from the shopping center to Route 6N. The East Main Street work will be financed with the remaining funds the town received from the county when the town took over the road as part of the Legacy Fields project. Other roads, like Hunterbrook, will only be paved in “swaths” in order to make the available funds go further.

 

Whereas the town used to pave roads every 10-13 years, the cycle was now every 19 years because of the increased cost of blacktop and diminishing town funds allocated for paving. It was noted that the town had not appropriated any paving money in excess of what it received from the state in the past three budgets. If the town has $1.5 million for paving this year, he said, the town might be able to get to a 16 year cycle.

 

Supervisor Grace acknowledged that the town could not pave all the roads that needed to be paved and that as money became available the board would have to meet with the highway superintendent to set priorities on how the money was used.


Taconic Bridge Closing

Town Board, 3-20-2012

Police Chief McMahon discussed preparations the town has made in conjunction with the state DOT and local and neighboring fire and ambulance corps to deal with both anticipated and unanticipated problems. Of special concern is the area south of the reservoir during the morning rush hour when the parkway typically experiences 7,500 cars per hour.Cameras on the parkway will be used to adjust the five temporary traffic lights on local roads, police cars and tow trucks will be strategically located, and sections of the jersey barriers on the temporary bypass will be movable to allow traffic to be diverted if it becomes necessary.


Route 202 Improvements

(See also Trees for a discussion of a forest managment plan involving the State Land parcel.)

Town Board, 2/23/2012 special meeting

Supervisor Michael Grace convened a special “stakeholders” meeting to discuss the future of the Route 202 corridor from the Taconic Parkway to Lexington Ave.

 

Invited to the meeting were property owners along the corridor and county and state officials. A representative of Congresswoman Nan Hayworth’s office was also present.

 

Calling the corridor a “poster child” for inaction, Supervisor Grace said that the $3 million spent on studying the corridor would have been better spent actually making improvements. He said it was time to blow the dust off the studies and make improvements before the situation got worse.His goal in calling the meeting was to establish a public/private partnership that could help finance the estimated that $10-$15 million would be needed to make the required road and drainage improvements. He said there would be significant gains in terms of tax dollars and jobs generated as a result of the improvement and resulting new development. The supervisor also cited the need for a regional approach to handle drainage and stormwater from the corridor in order to alleviate flooding conditions affecting property owners on the south side of Route 202.

 

One idea proposed for the corridor was the creation of a boulevard-like landscaped median strip with turning lanes, although a representative of the NYS DOT said that there could be access issues with this type of approach.

Representing Costco, Mr. Breslin said that his development team was prepared to work with local officials and residents to address any of their concerns.

 

Addressing the comments of a member of Yorktown Smart Growth who expressed concern that Costco would hurt BJs and other mom and pop shops, the owner of Staples Plaza said that what retailers want is more retail which bring more traffic and that he was not concerned about the proposed Costco. That’s why, he added, Bed Bath and Beyond had moved from Staples Plaza to the Cortlandt Town Center.

 

Charles Monaco, the owner the 100acre State Land property reminded the audience that 30 years ago when he wanted to bring Home Depot to Yorktown, he was almost “lynched” at meetings. And Al Capellini, the attorney for several property owners along Route 202, said that existing problems can’t be used as a justification to say no to future development.The town, he said, has to be willing to solve the problems.

 

The NYS DOT representative advised the group that with less state money available, the town should look to incremental changes along Route 202, not a one shot improvement. He added that the difficulties associated with constructing the Bear Mountain Parkway extension (financial as well as environmental) were the reason why that plan has not progressed.

 

County Legislator Michael Kaplowitz advised the Town to initiative “adult” discussions with Cortlandt, Somers and Peekskill regarding the allocation of the remaining capacity in the Peekskill Sanitary Sewer District treatment plant.He noted that the plant has a 10 million MGD capacity and is currently treating approximately 6.5-7 million MGD.

 

Joe Visconti, president of the Yorktown Chamber of Commerce said that all groups should work together to facilitate the development of the corridor and said Yorktown has to move forward as competing developments were being proposed in Mahopac and Cortlandt.


Town Board, 2/21/2012

The following comments were made during Courtesy of the Floor

Ray Arnold, the town’s former Planning Director, gave board members some documents outlining the history of the Route 202 corridor dating back to 1956 when the corridor was initially proposed for a town park. That changed with the 1966 master plan which designated the corridor for general and light industry. He called the 2010 comprehensive plan a “zoning map” and not a comprehensive plan.

 

Paul Moskowitz stated that the Route 202 meeting was “a good thing to do” but wanted to know why, since at least three board members were likely to be at the meeting, the meeting hadn’t been advertised as required by law. In response, Supervisor Grace said that because the meeting was a “forum” and not a “work session” it didn’t have to be advertised.

 

The board also voted to engage the Jacobs Engineering Group to review Costco's traffic study.

Town Board, 1/24/2012

Although not on the agenda, a discussion on pending improvements to the Route 202 corridor were discussed as an offshoot to the need for a traffic consultant to review the traffic chapter of the Costo DEIS.

 

Supervisor Grace said he wanted to get all the players involved in the Route 202 corridor together, including our state representatives, to discuss the possibility of state funding for infrastructure improvements for road and drainage improvements that would be tied to job creation.  He said he was working with Town Clerk Alice Roker to identify all the players. We should be “shovel ready,” he said.

 

This led to Planning Director John Tegeder giving the board an update on planned improvements, including the DOT plan in the Pine Grove area that is scheduled for construction to start late this year, the Costco improvements and future improvements linked to the development of the State Land property.  (See also Town Board, 1/24/2012 for a discussion of hiring a traffic consultant to review the Costco traffic impact.)


 


Baptist Church Road Reconstruction

Town Board, 12-22-2015

The board approved an additional $5,402 for WSP Sells for inspection and monitoring work related to the project.  Highway Superintendent Paganelli reported that over the five or so years the company has been working on various aspects of the project, its total fee was over $100,000. He said the cost of the actual construction of the new culvert and wall totaled  $693,000. While the board had earlier approved $950,000 for the project, that cost included work that did not have to be done, e.g., dredging the private pond .  The town anticipates receiving between $220,000-$240,000 from FEMA to help offset the cost.


Town Board, 9-1-2015

In a unanimous vote, the board approved two resolutions that pave the way for the reconstruction of the Baptist Church Road culverts and stone wall to begin by September 8th at a cost not to exceed $950,000.

 

The resolutions included one authorizing the supervisor to sign a contract with the contractor (because the project has been declared an “emergency,”  the contract can be awarded without competitive bidding.  The contractor is also a “sole source” provider for the work that is to be done for a portion of the project.)

 

The second resolution authoizes the supervisor to sign a settlement agreement with Dr. Salatin. Under the terms of the settlement, the town agrees to dredge the silt from the pond on his property and construct the new retaining wall above the culvert that includes a stone veneer over the concrete (this option will cost $100,000 more than the option without the veneer). In return,  Dr. Salatin will drop his damage lawsuit against the town. Supervisor Grace justified the additional $100,000 expense as being “proper and the right thing to do.”

 

The work is expected to take 6-8 weeks and Highway Superintendent Paganelli said the work should be finished by November 8th at the latest.


Town Board, 8-4-2015

Supervisor Grace gave the following update:  The two “east” culverts cannot be relined and the town will do a “hybrid” replacement that will keep the existing stone wall intact.  There is only one vendor who can do this type of work. The consulting engineer is preparing profiles for the replacement of the collapsed “west” culvert; the issue still to be decided is the relationship between the height of the rebuilt stone wall and the degree to which the culvert extends into the property of Dr. Salatin. The supervisor said that Dr. Salatin was being cooperative.  The supervisor was hopeful that the work could begin in the next few weeks but that the complete project would take longer to complete;  in response to a question from Baptist Church resident Patricia Peckham on when the work might be completed, he could not give an exact timetable.  He noted that while the town’s declaration of an emergency made bidding out the job unnecessary, the town was reviewing FEMA regulations which, he said, might require bidding out the job. The town is also waiting for the results of the soils test on the pond on Dr. Salatin’s property . Supervisor Grace said it was the town’s responsibility to clean out the pond and that the work had a public purpose and was not a benefit to a private party.


Town Board, 7-21-2015

Supervisor Grace gave an update on the status of the project.  Core samples will be taken on Friday of the silt in the private  and the two side by side culverts will be tested to see if they can be relined.  As for the collapsed single culvert, he explained that the key issue that needed to be resolved was how far into Dr. Salatin’s property the new culvert could/would intrude: the longer the culvert, the lower the headwall (rock wall) above the culvert and along the road. The higher the wall, the more expensive it will be to replace. The wall is on town property. Once both issues were known, he said, the town could proceed to work out a settlement with the two homeowners whose property needs to be accessed in order to make the repairs. He said the town was aware of the safety issue and was working as quickly as he could, trying to balance the safety issue, the rights of private property owners,  costs to be borne by all taxpayers for the repair and issues  of competitive bidding and not making a “gift of public funds” to a private property owner. He said the repair would be completed before the end of the year.   A settlement would end the current litigation that is pending in court and enable the repair to proceed faster.     

 

Attorney Marc Oxman, speaking on behalf of some area homeowners asked that the town invoke  Highway Law and make temporary repairs to the road so that emergency vehicles could pass through while it worked out the details of a long term solution. Both Acting Town Engineer Sharon Robinson and Highway Superintendent Dave Paganelli said that it was not possible to make any temporary repairs.  

 

Several area residents expressed concern  that the closure was causing a 10 minute delay  in emergency vehicles reaching their homes.

 

Supervisor Grace blamed “mother nature” on the collapse and that the repair was not made in 2014 because the town was under financial constraints due to the tax cap and the delay in approving a bonding resolution, I responded that the repair could have been made in 2014 using funds from the town’s $4 million fund balance. Councilman Bernard took exception to my comment, calling it politically motivated.

 

I suggested that the supervisor’s office send updates to the president of the Huntersville Association so that residents would be informed of what was happening.

 

Supervisor Grace also announced that FEMA has given the town $298,000 for the repair and that the money has to be spent by the end of the year.


Town Board, 7-14-2015

In an item not on the agenda, the board discussed the current status of both the legal and engineering issues that are holding up repairing the road. On the legal front, the town is preparing responses to the legal challenge by the two affected homeowners. At the same time, the town is considering a possible settlement with the neighbors in order to expedite the repair and avoid what could be a protracted lawsuit that would hold up the project. (See the history of the project and the delays caused by earlier lawsuits.)

 

As the findings of two pending engineering studies will determine the parameters of any possible settlement, the board directed the town attorney to ask for a short court postponement pending the receipt of the findings. One of the studies will determine whether the collapsed culvert can be still be relined, and if so, how far into one property it might extend.


Town Board, 6-23-2015

Highway Superintendent Paganelli and Town Attorney Koster reported that earlier in the day a judge denied the town’s motion to proceed with the repair on an emergency basis. The effort to proceed with the project is being opposed by the two homeowners on either side of the bridge culvert.  Both sides are due back in court on August 3.


Town Board, 6-2-2015

The board approved a resolution for WSP Sells to spend up to $3,500 for additional appraisals for the additional easements that will now be required, plus  up  to $1,800 for a new survey. Both expenses are to ascertain the value of the additional easements.


Town Board, 5-5-2015

The board unanimously approved a resolution to spend up to $634,000 to install the new culvert.  Mr. Paganelli anticipated that the work could be completed in about three weeks once the contract is signed.  The work will be done by the same contractor who did the emergency replacement for the Lexington Avenue culvert last summer and has also been hired to install the new culvert at Croton Heights Road (see below).  When a project has been declared an emergency, there is no competitive bidding.


Town Board, 4-28-2015

The board declared the collapse of the culvert under the road an emergency and authorized $20,000 for the outside engineering consultant to prepare the repair specs.  The project, which has been on the town’s project list for many years, was two weeks away from being advertised for bids to reline the existing culvert. Now that the culvert has collapsed, the project has to be redesigned and will be more costly.  Supervisor Grace said there were reasons why the project was delayed.


Town Board, 3-17-2015

The board voted to advertise for bids for this long delayed project. However,because  the rules governing the relining have changed since the original specs were done and the consulting engineer needs to update the specs, the actual date that the specs will be advertised was left open.

 

In a related resolution, the board approved a $29,300 contract with WSP Sells, the consulting engineer, for full time inspection and support for the project.


Town Board, 2-24-2015

I suggested that the town proceed to go to bid for the project and use the fund balance as an interim finance source, much the same way the board ordered over $800,000 worth of highway department trucks last year using fund balance as a backup funding source before the funds became available from the recently passed bond resolution. Just as the trucks likely won’t have to be paid for until the bond funds became available, I suggested the same be done with the culvert project so that it could get started.

 

Supervisor Grace said he would consult with the comptroller on whether this could be done and report back to the board next week. I also asked him for more information as to when the bond funds would be available.

 


Town Board, 9-17-2013

As explained by Town Attorney Koster, even though the eminent domain taking was “de minimus,” she thought it best to hold this additional public hearing.  The two property owners on either side of the road have not responded to the town’s offer and motions are pending in court. Also, there was a technical error in the town’s filing.

 

The two temporary easements are 2,900 square feet and 4,000 square feet. The permanent easement, which will permit an extension of the culvert to allow for better drainage, is 1,274 square feet.

 

Dr. Salatin, the owner of one of the properties, was the only person to speak at the hearing. In response to his question about who would be liable for any damage that occurred to his property during the work, Supervisor Grace said the contractor would be liable, and after that , the town.  Also, in response to Dr. Salatin’s request for more information about the project, he was given a copy of the drawings.

 

The Board voted to close the hearing, approve the taking and also to renew the previously issued wetlands permit that had expired.

 

Supervisor Grace said it was in everyone’s interest to get the work done as quickly as possible. He said that the highway department had begun work to relocate a catch basin that was not part of the culvert project.


Town Board, 4-9-2013

Although on the agenda, there was no discussion, other than either Supervisor Grace of the town attorney saying that the Highway Superintendent had to do some type of paperwork.


Town Board, 10-9-2012

In an update, Acting Town Engineer Sharon Robinson advised the Board that the project has not been bid out yet. Town Attorney Koster explained that the hold-up was that after the July 25 eminent domain hearing, she had not published, as required by law, the follow up Findings statement until about a week or so ago and that the property owners now had 30 days to challenge the findings.


Town Board, 7-24-2012

In a unanimous vote, the Board authorized the condemnation of the property and granted a wetlands permit.


Town Board, 7-17-2012

Eminent Domain and Wetlands Permit public hearings

In order to gain access to a culvert across Baptist Church Road that needs to be repaired, and because the owners of the property on the north and south side of the road refused to grant access to the Town or accept a negotiated amount of money for two temporary and one permanent easements, the Town has found it necessary to use the eminent domain law to gain access to the culvert.

 

According to Town Attorney Koster, the two temporary easements were appraised at $1,383 and the permanent easement was $2,815.

 

The owner of one property spoke at the hearing and expressed concern that the town had caused siltation problems in the pond on his property.He also charged that the town’s outside engineering consultant had trespassed on his property. During the wetlands hearing, Supervisor Grace raised the issue of whether the Town could do something to clean the pond.

Two area residents spoke about the dangerous conditions that existed on the road and the need to repair the culvert.

 

Acting Town Engineer Sharon Robinson explained that the work will take four months to complete, but only three months for substantial work. She was hoping that during the construction phase, the road could stay open, but in the event it had to be closed, a detour plan had been worked out.She said that if the work could progress faster if the road could be closed for a brief period, that that would be preferred to prolonging the job.

 

The board closedthe eminent domain hearing but has to wait up to 90 days to make a finding that the taking is in the public interest. The separate hearing on the wetlands permit was closed and the Board voted to grant the permit subject to the acquisition of the property.


Town Board, 4/17/2012

The board voted to advertise bids for the project.


Town Board, 4/10/2012

With little discussion the board voted to declare itself lead agency for SEQRA compliance in order to proceed with plans to rehabilitate the damaged culvert. The town attorney is still working on the condemnation notice needed to get the temporary easement that is needed for the work to proceed. Supervisor Grace said that if that doesn’t move forward, he would begin the project as an emergency.Acting Town Engineer Sharon Robinson said that she was ready to advertise for bids for the job but Supervisor Grace wanted to wait a bit longer.


Town Board, 2/14/2012

Without any discussion, and with some board members already gone, Town Attorney Koster advised Supervisor Grace that at next week’s meeting, the board should declare itself lead agency under SEQRA in order to proceed with the condemnation required for the Baptist Church Road project.


Drainage Issues

 

Mill Pond/ Hunterbrook drainage:

Town Board, 10-2-2012

Mill Pond resident , Mr. Scotto, asked for help to remove blockages and weeds in the Hunterbrook stream near the pump station that are causing flooding problems on his property. He said that earlier efforts have not resolved the problem and that in 2011 he was hoping that his area would be included in a list of proposed priority drainage projects.Supervisor Grace advised him that the Town was looking into a regional approach using MS4 money to help resolve the Mill Pond drainage problem that involved work on town-owned property on the north side of Route 202 and that the Town was “working on it.”The supervisor added that it was no longer feasible for government alone to be able to fix infrastructure problems and that the Town had to seek out private investment to help solve the problems.He said he was hoping that there could be “good” commercial development along the south side of Route 202 that would replace the car dealerships.

 


Town Board, 4-3-2012

Highway Superintendent DiBartolo advised the board that the flooding problem on Highbrook Street discussed at a previous board meeting had been satisfactorily addressed.


Town Board, 3/20/2012

Highbook Street

During Courtesy of the Floor, a resident of Highbrook Street repeated a request for something to be done along the brook on Highbrook Street that floods due to the accumulation of silt. In response, Supervisor Grace said that he was planning to take a “road trip” with the highway superintendent to check out problem areas, including her street.In response to her request for an update on an insurance claim filed about two years ago related to a sewer backup, the supervisor advised her to check with the town attorney.

 

Town Board, 2/28/2012


 

 

Route 6/Mohegan Ave drainage issue

As an offshoot to the discussion of the St. George’s Winery rezoning, Highway Superintendent DiBartolo updated the board on the state’s continued failure to address the problem of a collapsed culvert on the northern side of Route 6 that creates flooding problems on Mohegan Ave. Councilman Bianco said that when the problem was first brought to the attention of the DOT, they denied it was a problem. Then, after the town sent pictures of the problem, they have not acted to replace the culvert. He said he would bring the issue to the attention of Senator Ball.


Traffic Issues

 

Town Board, 4-5-2016

Police Chief Dan McMahon introduced Police Officer Justin Foley who will be the department’s new traffic safety officer. Residents wishing to contact him about traffic issues can email him at traffic@yorktownpd.org.

 

Residents can also contact Councilman Bernard at gbernard@yorktownny.org. Councilman Bernard, together with Officer Foley, Highway Superintendent Paganelli and the town engineer constitute the town’s Traffic Safety Committee that looks into resident concerns and, when appropriate, recommends solutions to the Town Board.

 

In response to the issue of speeding that was raised by Dan  Strauss during Courtesy of the Floor, Councilmen Bernard and Supervisor Grace noted that the police department does what it can to control speeding but that there aren’t enough officers to assign any exclusively to traffic enforcement. Supervisor Grace explained that the department has four fewer officers than it had many years ago but that because of the tax cap, it wasn’t feasible to add more officers at the present time. Noting that no one in town drives at 30mph, Mr. Strauss suggested  that the town increase the speed limit to 40-45mph and that there be no tolerance for any violator that is ticketed.

 


Town Board, 3-15-2016

Laurel Court/No Parking

(See 11/17/2015 below. On 2/2/16, the Town Board approved the No Parking restriction.)

 

Fred Gulitz, a resident of Laurel Court, asked the board to repeal the recently enacted No Parking restricition at the corner of Laurel Court and Hallocks Mill Road. Citing safety concerns, he explained that parents, waiting for their children to be picked up by the school bus,  now have to park further up Laurel Court and children have to rush down to the corner once the bus arrives. Previously, the children were able to wait at the corner, on his property.  In response, Supervisor Grace said he would look into the issue. He said that the board made the change in response to requests from residents and that no one spoke up at the public hearing in opposition to the plan.

 


Town Board, 11-17-2015

Hallocks Mill Rd. Mara Ziedins  thanked the board for the additional speed bump at Laurel Court but asked that one be placed on Hallocks Mill Rd at Gerard Court. (See public hearing notes below.) She added that something had to be done to control traffic in the Heights area. In response, Councilman Bernard explained that  although he wished there could be more traffic control, something he called a quality of life issue, he recognized that the police are short staffed and unable to assign officers exclusively to traffic control issues.

 

Public hearings on proposed No Parking signs

The proposed law would establish a 100 feet no parking zone on Laurel Court at the intersection of Hallocks Mill Road and on Rochambeau Drive at Underhill Ave.

 

The homeowner at Hallocks Mill and Laurel suggested that the distance be only 50 feet and two residents from

 Woods Lane suggested that the Rochambeau sign, instead of being a fixed number of feet, should be from the southern curb of Woods Lane/Woods View to Underhill and that the  law should also prohibit “no standing” as the safety issue is the parked cars waiting for children to be picked up or departing from the school bus stop.

 

The hearing was closed and Supervisor Grace said the board would take another look at the proposed law and “fine tune” both locations.

 


Town Board, 5-19-2015

During Courtesy of the Floor, resident Mara Ziedins complained about trailer trucks using the road as a bypass despite the posted weight limit as well as the excessive speeding. She asked for greater police presence on the road. In response, Councilman Bernard, a member of the Public Safety Committee, advised her of the plans for an additional speed bump and that he would look into the possibility of enlarging the truck weight limit signs. He said more police patrols were problematical given the non-availability of officers.

 


Town Board, 4-28-2015

Councilman Bernard reviewed some recommendations from the Public Safety Committee that included:

  • Installation of a third speed bump on Hallocks Mill Road in the vicinity of Laurel Court. When I suggested that the town’s traffic consultant be consulted on the placement of the new bump, the consensus was that unlike earlier bumps that were put in improperly, town staff had sufficient expertise to place them. Indications were that a majority of the homeowners on the street supported the plan
  • Installation of new stop sign at intersection of McKeel & Rutledge Dr. The town attorney will draft the legislation needed for a local law.
  • Intersection of Maple Hill Street at Saw Mill River Road.  The Highway Department can reconfigure the existing road to provide for dedicated right and left turns onto Saw Mill River Road
  • Wildwood Street and Suncrest Ave. Repositioning the existing stop sign, painting stop bars on the road and adding two new “stop ahead” signs.


Town Board, 10-14-2014

 

Road striping. Highway Superintendent Paganelli appeared frustrated that an August order for road stripping had not been done yet on the roads that had recently been paved. He suggested to the board that the highway department should purchase the necessary equipment and do the job itself.  Supervisor Grace said that some roads, such as Broad Street, needed white “fog” lines painted at the road edge.

 

See also discussions below for:

Whitehall and Mohansic Ave. 

 East Main Street/Jefferson Valley.

 Speed humps: 

 


Hallocks Mill Mill Road.

Town Board, 10-28-2014

A resident asked the board to do something about speeding on Hallocks Mill Rd, and suggested a stop sign at Hallocks Mill and Laurel Court.  Councilman Murphy said he would look at the situation with police officer Eidelman. Supervisor  Grace said enforcement [of the speed limit was no possible.

 

Town Board, 9-2-2014

Mara Ziedins asked for a police presence on the street to help reduce speeding and also that something be done to mow the grass on the bus stop at corner of Route 202 and Hallocks Mill Road. Supervisor  Grace said the town’s Safety Committee of which Councilman Murphy is a member would look into the issue.

 


Speed Humps

Town Board, 11-18-2014

Acting on the recommendation of Larry Eidelman, the town’s public safety officer, the board adopted a series of guidelines IF and WHEN speeds bumps are to be considered for any given street.  Supervisor Grace explained that in the past, residents would  approach the board and “rattle our cages” requesting speed bumps and that if they got the board in a receptive mood, the board would approve them which ended up making the problem worse.


Town Board, 10-14-2014

Almost as an afterthought to the discussion on spec ific traffic issues, Officer Eidelman brought up the issue of the board adopting a protocol for deciding where speed humps might be installed and how IF the board agreed to install them.   His reasoning was that the board should have the protocol (criteria for the installation of the speed humps) in place if and when.  Initially the board was going to pass a resolution accepting the protocols but Supervisor Grace said he preferred the protocol to be included in the town code and directed the town attorney to adopt the necessary draft local law. In general, he opposed the speed humps.


Town Board, 6-10-2014

Saying that there was renewed interest in installing speed humps (aka speed bumps), Officer Larry Edelman said that based on a class he had attended, plus 25 years experience with the humps, the humps can be effective in reducing speed if they are installed properly and meet criteria that the town establishes.  He said that in the past, the speed humps had not been installed properly and that there were too many of them on some streets.

 

He suggested the following objective criteria, but that each street be looked at on a case by case basis and approved by the Town Board: 

1. they needed community buy in  

2. proper placement and correct number

3. proper engineering

4. on a town road, but not a county bus route

5. traffic of under 3,000 trips per day, and with a documented history of speeding in excess of 35 mph.

6. that the installation not create a detour onto other streets

 

Initially, Supervisor Grace appeared not to support the idea, noting that in his experience as a lawyer, the bumps could create more hazards. Ultimately, however, he agreed that it would make sense for the town to have a policy on speed humps  and he asked Officer Eidelman to develop such a policy. Councilman Murphy was also supportive of the idea and said he and Officer Eidelman already had several streets in mind.  Highway Superintendent Paganelli reminded the board that there’s an expense to installing them, and possibly later removing them.  And Town Clerk Roker, remembering a discussion years back on the same subject, said that the town’s traffic consultant was not in favor of them. 

 


Proposed Stop Signs/No Parking restrictions

 

Town Board, 3-11-2014

Councilman Murphy reported that based on his meetings with police office Eidleman,  the town’s public safety officer, and complaints from residents, he was recommending that stop signs be placed at several locations. (It was not clear to the audience exactly where the signs would be placed.)

 

Highway Superintendent Paganelli, citing problems on Veterans Road when cars are parked on both sides of the street, asked the board to restrict parking  on the Solaris side of the street from Decem ber 1 to March 31. He said that the board’s earlier actions that restricted parking to “snow events” was ambiguous and had not worked.  He added that during several visits to the street, he observed many empty spaces in the gym’s parking lot while there were cars parked on the street.

 

The town attorney will draft legislation for both the stop signs and the no parking restrictions that will be subject to a public hearing.

 


Mohansic Ave/Whitehall Rd

Town Board, 10-14-2014

Councilman Murphy advised the board that when he and police officer Eidelman were parked at the site, they witnessed several drivers going through the stop sign without stopping. He added that given the location, it was impossible to have a police car follow the driver onto the Taconic.  Instead, it was suggested that the highway department paint a white “stop bar.”


Town Board, 10-15-2013

A resident at the intersection asked the Board to do something to enforce the stop sign at the intersection and slow the excessive speeding.  Acknowledging that the police department did not have sufficient staff to continually monitor the intersection at critical AM peak hours, she asked the Board to consider installing speed bumps, Councilman Murphy said he would work with police officer Eidelman to see what could be done.

 


Speeding issues in Jefferson Valley.

(see also Resident Concerns section on Town-Miscellaneous page for other comments relating to Jefferson Valley)

Town Board, 10-27-2015

With a sense of impatience, two residents of the area, Janice Donadio and Julie Duquet, returned to the board asking what was doing done to address the speeding problem along East Main Street, especially from Perry St. to Hill Blvd.  Councilman Diana went over some statistics gathered by the Police Department but the residents were more interested in a board commitment to take specific actions that could range from stop signs, blinking stop signs, a light at Hill Blvd, a possible light or stop sign at the other end of East Main St near Jay’s gas station, more police enforcement, or other calming or traffic control devices.  They said they were tired of hearing the town say that there was no money for Jefferson Valley improvements.

 

At my suggestion and to avoid more fruitless discussions that go over the same ground, Supervisor Grace said he would invite Philip Grealy, the town’s traffic consultant, to attend a board meeting and go over the different possible measures, identifying which ones were possible and likely to improve the situation.

 


Town Board, 9-1-2015

During Courtesy of the Floor, Jefferson Valley residents Maria Donadio and Janice Donadio brought to the board’s attention several  long standing issues they felt have been ignored by the town:  parking along East Main Street,  especially at the intersection with Wood St; the replacement of a damaged lamppost  dating back to Hurricane Sandy; removal of the  unsightly “Wet Willie” building; and the speeding problem along East Main Street.

 

While acknowledging the work the highway department had done to clean out the brush at Wood Street, they wanted to know when the site work would be finished so that it could be used, as planned, for parking.  Highway Superintendent Paganelli said his department was planning to complete the job but that a question as to the ownership of the site had to be clarified first.

 

Supervisor Grace said that for constitutional reasons the town could not act to take down the derelict building and he said he hoped the owner of the former Osceola Beach property would take care of the issue.

 

In response to the residents’ request for stop signs, Supervisor Grace explained that  whenever one traffic calming device is added, it can produce negative consequences elsewhere. He added that speed bumps were not a solution as they caused accidents. In response to his suggestion that sidewalks on both sides of the street can be a calming device, the question was asked: where would the money for that come from? (The existing sidewalks, installed several years ago, were funded, in part, with Community Development Block Grant funds.)

 

I suggested that Supervisor Grace schedule a work session discussion on the traffic issue and bring in the town’s professional traffic consultant to provide input.  Councilman Diana said he would contact the police department about doing traffic enforcement in the area.


Town Board, 6-2-2015

Public Hearing/No Parking on East Main Street in Jefferson Valley

Without any comment, the hearing was opened and closed and the board voted unanimously to erect No Parking signs on East Main Street to the east and west of Wood St. However,  Supervisor Grace said he would ask the Highway Department not to put up the signs until after the department had had time to work out the details of how the town owned lot on the east side of Wood St could be cleaned up and configured for up to about 14 possible parking spaces.


Town Board, 10-14-2014

Two residents returned to the board, this time with police accident reports showing 105 accidents over a five year period, three of which involved their property. All agreed that the area in question was a problem but there didn’t appear to be a clear consensus on what should be done/could be done to deal with the dual problems of volume and speed. Of particular concern was the intersection of Hill Blvd. and East Main Street.

 

The board rejected a light at the intersection on the grounds that the volume didn’t warrant a light. The board did, however, consider a blinking light, with the suggestion that the developer of Lake Osceola Square and Ceola Manor which is planning an expansion would pay for (It was not clear if the two businesses would be asked to pay for all or a portion of the cost.)  Officer Eidelman said that stop signs are not effective in controlling speed. Another option suggested by Supervisor Grace was installing sidewalks on the north side of East Main Street; he said that the sidewalks on both sides of East Main Street in Shrub Oak were effective in reducing speed.

 

When the residents asked not to be forgotten, Supervisor Grace assured them that the town would be working on the issue


Town Board, 8-5-2014

Two area residents, citing 14 accidents over the past four years, asked the board to do something about the speeding problem on the street, especially near the intersection with Wood St.  In response, Supervisor Grace said the street had been looked at often in the past and Councilman Murphy said he would look into the situation with Police Officer Eidelman. Speaking later, Susan Siegel (the person writing these notes), advised the board that a traffic engineer had recently completed a study of the street in conjunction with the proposed Lake Osceola Square project and she suggested Councilman Murphy review some of the consultant’s findings and recommendations.

 


Town Board, 6-18-2013

Greg Bernard asked for an update on the Perry St. traffic issue. In response, Councilman Murphy said he had visited the site and said it appeared that the town had an easement at the corner of East Main and Perry Streets and that if some of the brush was weed wacked and possibly some small trees taken down, the sight distance could be improved.


Town Board, 5-7-2013

Citing traffic accidents, poor sight distances, and stopped school buses, two Jefferson Valley residents spoke passionately requesting speed bumps be installed on East Main Street at Perry Street. In response, Supervisor Grace said that speed bumps would actually exacerbate the problem and be counterproductive but that the Town would consider other possible traffic calming devices.  Councilman Murphy, the Board’s traffic safety liaison said he would meet with Larry Eidelman, the Town’s public safety officer, to review the problem.   Former councilman and current candidate for highway superintendent Greg Bernard suggested that the Town could use the remaining $400,000 in the funds it received from the county several years ago when it took over East Main Street to finance needed improvements. Supervisor Grace wasn’t sure there was $400,000 left but said he would look into the issue.  It was also noted that Putnam County has refused to move forward on legislation that would limit truck weight limits on Wood Street, something that  Yorktown has already done.

 

 


Front Street parking

 

Town Board, 10-23-2012

A representative of Bauman Bus Company explained the company’s need for additional parking for its drivers. The drivers are currently parking on Front Street and this is creating problems for other businesses on the street that do not have access to rear parking lots as part of their leases.

 

The company is currently in violation of its 1973 site plan that requires all parking to be on site. The representative explained that since the plan was approved, the company has grown and there is a need for additional space.

 

Three near term and long term options were discussed.

a. Working with the abutting UPS company to allow Bauman drivers to park in a side lot on the UPS property. (The driveway into UPS is an easement across Bauman property.)The Supervisor will follow up on this.

 

b. Expand the Bauman lot into the rear of the property which is a wetland. Supervisor Grace said that as a trade- off for disturbing the wetlands, some mitigation measures could possibly generate some phosphorous reduction that would help the town meet its stormwater requirements.The Bauman representative said that the company had discussed encroaching into the wetlands about a year ago but was discouraged by the Planning Department.

 

c. Remove the No Parking signs on the east side of Front Street from the UPS building to the end of the street.It was explained that these signs were put up when there was a trucking company on the street but that the signs may no longer be needed as that tenant is no longer there. Planning Director Tegeder and Councilman Paganelli will visit the street on Wednesday to see if the signs can be temporarily suspended.

 

The idea of having the drivers park in the Food Emporium lot and have a shuttle bus take them to the bus lot was rejected as not feasible

 


Speed bumps on Quinlan Street.

Town Board, 9-4-2012

 Speaking on behalf of several residents of Quinlan Street, a three year residentasked the Board to revisit the issue of appropriately placed and sized speed “humps,” as opposed to speed “bumps,” on the street in order to slow the traffic. He asked the Board to meet with the residents and get their input on the issue. Supervisor Grace said the Board takes the issue very seriously but said that the town’s options for dealing with the situation were limited.Councilman Bianco, the only Board member who was on the Board in 2009 when the previously installed speed bumps were removed, said that while something had to be down to slow traffic on the street, he didn’t think bumps or humps were the answer. The Board referred the issue to the Traffic Safety Committee

 


Shrubbery obstruction on Clearview and Meadowcrest Road.

Town Board, 7-24-2012

Several area residents expressed concern that the 6-8’ high shrubberies on Meadowcrest limited sight view lines and created a traffic problem.Because the house is located on a “curve” in the road as opposed to being a “corner” lot, the current restrictions in the Town Code do not apply and the Town’s code enforcement officer and highway department have no power to require the property owner to cut them back.

 

The only recourse, Supervisor Grace explained, is to determine if the shrubs are on private property or a part of the Town’s right of way. If the former, he said, nothing could be done, other than asking the property owner to trim the bushes. He directed the town attorney to review a copy of the original subdivision map to see where the Town’s right of way existed. If the shrubs are in the right of way, the Town can remove them.

 

 


Catherine Street

Town Board, 1-29-2013

Highway Superintendent DiBartoloadvised the Board that four residents of the Glasbury condos had filed claims against the Town for damages arising out of the condition of Catherine Street and that they want the curbs, that they requested be put in, removed in order to return to a 24 foot wide pavement. (Supervisor Grace noted that he had a meeting scheduled with the residents.)

Mr. DiBartolo said that in 2009 he opposed installing the curbs but that the residents would not be talked out of their request. He said that removing the curbs would create drainage problems along Old Crompond Road, and, he noted, that the narrower roadway had helped slow traffic to and from Panas High School.


Wildwood Street.

 

Town Board, 7-24-2012

A resident of Wildwood Street asked the Board to dead end Wildwood as a way to control traffic on the street. Supervisor Grace explained that that could not be done. He suggested that a weight limit for the street might be possible and when Councilman Paganelli suggested speed bumps, Town Clerk Roker said “don’t go there.”

Councilman Murphy will visit the site with the Town’s traffic safety officer to see what can be done to reduce speeding on the street.

 


Wood Street

Town Board, 1-29-2013

No parking designation on East Main Street @ Wood St.

There appeared to be some confusion as to whether the proposed “no parking” signs should be on the north or south side of East Main St. Councilmen Murphy and Biainco said the problem was that cars were being parked on the south side of the street which created problems for people making turns from Wood St. However, Officer Eidelman had reviewed a request for “no parking” signs on the north side of the street. Councilman Murphy will confer with Officer Eidelman and report back to the Board.


Town Board, 5/8/2012

Wood Street

Planning Director John Tegeder and Police Officer Larry Eidelman, the Town’s public safety officer, presented two possible changes to the Wood St/East Main Street intersection that would address some of the complaints they have received since the intersection was redesigned. They said, and Councilman Bianco agreed, that the complaints were coming from Putnam County people.Everyone agreed that the new intersection was properly designed and had reduced the number of traffic incidents. The problem, they said, was that some drivers didn’t have the skills to access the intersection properly. After discussing the pros and cons of two possible changes, Supervisor Grace asked Highway Superintendent DiBartolo to come up with a budget for one of the possible changes.

 

In response to Councilman Bianco’s request for an update on efforts to reduce the speed limit on Wood St and also ban trucks, Officer Eidelman said that the efforts had stalled in Putnam County where the towns of Putnam Valley and Carmel, as well as the County, have to pass the necessary legislation. Supervisor Grace said he would follow up with the county executive.

 

Perry Street

Although not on the agenda, the Board discussed how to resolve a safety issue for a house at the corner of Perry St and East Main Street that has been the scene of nine accidents in six years, including three times when the house was hit. The problem, it was explained, was people coming too fast around the curve in the road, even though several traffic calming devices have been installed along the road.

Highway Superintendent DiBartolo explained the pros and cons of installing a guardrail which he said would cost $10,000-$12,000. No decision was reached and Supervisor Grace said he would take a look at the situation.

 

Stony Manor Court

The problem is that Lakeland High School students park on the cul d’sac that serves the five houses.While Public Safety Officer Eidelman recommended that No Parking signs be posted 100 feet into the road on both sides, Super visor Grace suggested that the residents be given a second option: No parkingMonday-Friday between 7-2 pm, and let them decide which option they prefered. Highway Superintendent DiBartolo said that on other streets that had had similar parking situations, the limited parking signs were typically ripped out.


Granite Spring Road


Town Board, 9-18-2012

 Don Roberts asked for an update on his earlier suggestion (see Town Board, 4/17/2012) that Old Granite Springs Rd off Route 202 be opened up in order to relieve traffic on Route 202. Supervisor Grace explained that the Public Safety Committee had looked into the suggestion and rejected it because it felt that opening up Old Granite Springs Road would create a dangerous right turn situation onto Granite Springs Road.

Town Board, 4/17/2012

 Don Roberts commented on traffic issues on Route 202 in the vicinity of Granite Springs Road and suggested that one way to address the backup problem would be to remove the guardrail blocking off the entrance to Old Granite Springs Road. Supervisor Grace noted that because Route 202 is a state road, the modification would have to be approved with the DOT.


Town Board, 4/3/2012

During Courtesy of the Floor, a resident of Hanover St. asked the board to do something to reduce speeds on Hanover St. which he estimated were 50mph. Not sure what the solution would be, he suggested a range of possibilities: more enforcement, speed limit signs, speed bumps and Children at Play signs. Councilman Paganelli said that part of the problem was the narrowness of the road.

 

A second resident asked the board to look into speeding problems on East Main Street in Jefferson Valley between Route 6N and Perry St.

 

In response to both concerns, Deputy Supervisor Murphy said that he would contact Larry Eidelman, the Town’s trafficsafety officer, and see what could be done.


Town Board, 2/28/2012

 

Traffic Safety Committee

Saying that he was getting calls from residents about traffic issues and that something had to be done, Supervisor Grace initiated a discussion on reviving the Traffic Safety Committee. He said he didn’t know why the previous committee no longer functioned. He cited a specific call about a house where cars were going on to someone’s property andthe resident felt that a guardrail was needed.

 

Town Attorney Koster said that the previous traffic safety committee had been established pursuant to a local law and that the law had been repealed. Councilman Murphy said that Larry Eidelman, the town’s Public Safety Officer, was supposed to let him know when there were trafficissues that needed to be reviewed. “Larry and I were on it. It’s no problem,” he said.


Commerce Street One-Way Plan

Town Board, 2-23-2016

Eric DiBartolo, president of the Chamber of Commerce, asked the board to consider the Chamber’s plan to try out, on a one month trial basis, making Commerce Street one way going east from Friendly’s to the Fire House, then Downing Drive, one way to Route 118, and prohibiting left turns at  Downing and Route 118, something that would require state DOT approval.  Veterans Road would remain 2-way. The plan also calls for installing lights along Downing Drive.

 

Once Commerce Street became one way, the street could accommodate parking. Mr. DiBartolo said 74 spaces, but it was not clear if these were diagonal or parallel.  He was proposing parking on the north side of the street.  Supervisor Grace noted that currently there are no parking restrictions on the street..

 

Noting the traffic problem created by the BOCES buses in the afternoon turning onto Commerce Street from Veterans Road, Mr. DiBartolo advised the board that the original BOCES site plan dating back to the 1970s called for the buses to use Route 35, not Veterans Road. 

 

The overall goal of the Chamber plan is to give greater visibility to other businesses in the hamlet besides those along Commerce Street and to create a village-like walking environment.

 

Supervisor Grace and Councilman Bernard appeared non-committal on the plan, but noted that because sometimes fixing one problem at one location ended up creating new problems at other locations, a more detailed traffic study needed to be done, including a computerized modelling of how the one way system would work.   Supervisor Grace said he had no problem speaking to BOCES about the bus situation. Mr. Bernard noted that people just don’t walk.

 

No decisions were made and the Chamber representatives indicated that they would proceed with the traffic study and “keep in touch” with the board.