Town Board

March 5, 2013

1. Ballfields at Holland Sporting Club

In item not on the agenda, Supervisor Grace said the NYS DOT can give the town 86,000 cubic yards of clean fill once it starts work later this year on the Route 202 widening project. Calling the offer a “golden opportunity,” he is proposing that the fill be used to create a lawn area and ballfields on the eastern side of the Holland Sporting Club property. The state will also “push and roll” the fill which would also be a cost savings to the Town. Because of the state’s timetable, the Town will have to decide quickly if it wants the fill. If it does, the work would be done between April-August and the project could be completed by the end of the year. The Board voted to refer the plan to advisory boards and also to Mohegan area homeowner groups.   No date was set for a follow up discussion.

2. Sewers (Hallocks Mill and Peekskill)

In an item not on the agenda, the Board voted 5-0 to authorize the supervisor to sign a contract with local engineer Dan Ciarcia for up to $15,000 to do a study dealing with certain aspects of the Yorktown Heights sewage treatment plant and also the possible diversion of a portion of the flow into the Yorktown plant to the Peekskill plant. The study would look at cost per gallon for flows and also some of the critical Hallocks Mill areas in need of sewers. The money would come from the Yorktown Heights Sewer District budget, but Councilman Bianco asked if any of the DEP money could be used for the study. (Note: the DEP money Councilman Bianco was referring to  is the $10 million East of Hudson money that was set aside several years ago for Yorktown sewers.)

Supervisor Grace explained that he has had meetings with the supervisors of Cortlandt and Somers, the mayor of Peekskill and county officials about diverting some of the flow currently going to the Yorktown plant to Peekskill in order to open up capacity at the Yorktown plant for new hook-ups. He also said that he has had meetings with the DEC and DEP and that they were open minded about taking a second look at extensions into the Yorktown plant.  He is also considering re-routing the Mohansic pump station that is in need of rehabilitation, to Peekskill instead of Yorktown.

During Courtesy of the Floor, Susan Siegel (the person writing this summary) suggested that the Town seek proposals from other vendors who might be interested in doing the study, including the engineering firm that has worked on previous studies for the Yorktown plant. 

3. Zoning Board of Appeals Opening

Councilman Bianco announced that there is an opening on the ZBA.  Resumes will be accepted for a two week period and should be sent to supervisor@yorktownny.org.

4. County Local Development Corporation (LDC) for non-profit groups

County Legislator Michael Kaplowitz announced that the county is looking into the feasibility of setting up a LDC that would allow non-profit groups to take advantage of lower borrowing costs for planned projects. The groups would have to secure their own funding and there would be no risk to the county. 

5. Yorktown Beautification

Sheri Hughes, Ann Penkowski and Bernyce Strauber of the Yorktown Garden Club unveiled plans for year-round plantings in the 37 street planters along Commerce Street. The money for the project would come from the Town, which has committed $2,000, plus $2,000 each from the Chamber of Commerce and the Garden Club. The group needs an additional $3,000 and will be reaching out to the community for the additional funds. The group has selected the firm of Natural Greenscapes, represented at the meeting by John Gembecki, to implement the plan which calls for new plantings every 8-10 weeks.

6. Boniello rezoning (Route 202)

Supervisor Grace announced that on the advice of counsel to “cover all bases” dealing with the issue of how the rezoning can proceed, the issue will be referred out to advisory boards and that a public hearing will be scheduled.

7. Appointments

The Board appointed Peter Goldberg and Scott Ferreira as laborers for the Parks & Recreation Department and Michael Hoy as a laborer for Refuse & Recycling,  all at a starting salary of $38,866. Also, David Humphrey as appointed as a driver for the Nutrition Center.

8. Proposed law on electronic filing

The Board voted to refer the proposed law to advisory groups.

9. Bids

The Board awarded bids to several different vendors for specific printing jobs, e.g, stationary, forms, brochures.

10. Selected resolutions

a. Salary increase: The town attorney was granted a 3% salary increase retroactive to January 1, 2013.

b. Surplus vehicles: The Town will again use Auctions International to sell  9 surplus vehicles and other equipment.

c. Police Department staffing: Hired  Margaret Guinan as a consultant at a hourly rate of $25.00/hour beginning February 11, 2013.

d. Petty cash. Established a $200 petty cash fund for the Refuse and Recycling Department.

11. Courtesy of the Floor

(Note: there was only one Courtesy at the end of the meeting.)

a. Alice Roker read a letter from Ed Ciffone in which he asked about the tax impact of the proposed new group home and also what the starting salary would be for the new highway superintendent. There was no Board response.

b. Ambulance Corps. Randy Pratt, on behalf of the Yorktown Volunteer Ambulance Corps asked why, despite previous appeals to the Town, the Town was not picking up garbage from the YVAC building when it was providing the same service to the Yorktown Fire Company building. Supervisor Grace said that this was the first time he had heard of the issue, and asked Mr. Pratt to contact his office. Mr. Pratt said that YVAC currently pays $3,000 a year to Hudson Waste for its garbage pick-up.

c. Courtesy of the Floor. Susan Siegel (the person writing this summary) asked when the Board had discussed eliminating the second Courtesy for the second meeting in a row. Supervisor Grace said that he had done that at the previous meeting because there was no one from the public in the audience; Ms. Siegel reminded him that she was there was present and was a member of the public.