Larchmont Village Work Session Re-cap

Increased Parking Fees for Municipal Lot

Board members voted unanimously on Monday to increase permit parking fees from $4 a day to $5 a day in Lot 1 and Lot 3 near the Metro North station.

The system is changing in other ways. The village used to assume a 260-day schedule. Now it assumes 250, giving more leeway for days when people may not be commuting to work. In addition, the village will give a 10 percent discount to residents. Holidays remain free.

Modernized Water Meters Coming to the Village

Long-awaited upgrades to residential water meters are coming to the village. The upgrades will involve attaching a transmitter to all water meters, so the village can read the meter without having to come to each house. According to Mayor Josh Mandell, this will save time and money.

The news comes on the heels of a story about how Larchmont water rates will soon be rising.

According to the mayor, this will dramatically decrease the time spent reading meters. He said that the biggest single advantage would be that the upgrades would allow the village to increase the frequency of billing (From two payments a year to four).

"We are moving ahead with this," said Mandell. "It's been years in the making. Currently it takes us forever to do the readings because they are manual, and this would modernize the process."

According to the mayor, as the project continues, the village may have an outside installer come in for the meters that require a more complicated upgrade. "We are going to do as much as we can within the resources of the village," he said.

There are approximately 1,760 connections to homes with water filters, and approximately 1,100 are considered easy to upgrade. The remaining meters will have to be retrofitted.

More News from Monday's Meeting:

Oktoberfest is coming.  It will be located in spot where the farmers' market is currently.

Board members spoke about the possibility of establishing a do-not-knock policy for homes in the village. Members decided they were going to see how it goes in Rye before they consider implementing it in Larchmont.

The village needs a new historian. The current historian, Judith Doolin Spikes, will be relocating. "She has put us on the historical map," said Mandell. They will begin their search for a new historian soon.

Dog licenses, which have historically been managed by the state, will now be distributed by municipalities. According to Mandell, the village has to find a supplier for the dog licenses. He is going to speak to the town to further investigate the best way to go about providing licenses.