Larchmont Meeting Recap: Oktoberfest Moves to Gilder Street

The Oktoberfest in Larchmont is moving!

Auray Gourmet, Espana Wine and Tapas Bar, and Vision of Tomorrow Salon and Spa—three local businesses taking the lead in planning the event—got unanimous approval from village trustees at Monday's meeting to move the event from the railroad station to Gilder Street and Post Alley. Oktoberfest will be on October 17 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Also discussed at the meeting were parking permits for 2011, which go on sale November 3 for Village of Larchmont residents and November 8 for Town of Mamaroneck residents.

During his report, Police Chief John Poleway gave a brief update about ongoing construction by ConEdison on Boston Post Road (you may have noticed the lane closures). Delays have been caused by inaccurate mapping of underground lines. ConEdison now estimates work in the area will be completed by next week, possibly Tuesday. A temporary road patch will be applied before more permanent repaving is done in late October or November.

Larchmont Fire Department Chief John Caparelli gave an update on the work of the department so far this year. There have been 642 calls: 22 fire calls, 3 explosions, 250 medical service calls, 68 hazardous condition calls, 106 service calls, 30 good intent calls, 147 false alarms, 9 mutual aid responses to other municipalities, and 7 storm related calls.

The Fire Department will be switching from its current phone method to a centralized dispatch system. Mayor Mandell said that by using computers "the system will be coming into the 21st century." The new system will be installed Wednesday.

Two items on the agenda were postponed until the next meeting. The first one is a proposal from engineering firm Woodard and Curran to charge $3,800 to provide additional services for the Palmer Avenue Streetscape Project. Mandell said the item needed more discussion among board members. Plans must be approved by November 30 to satisfy grant requirements for the $680,000 funded by the New York State Department of Transportation in 2006.

The second proposal came from Rizzo Engineering concerning dam safety performance monitoring and regulatory compliance at Larchmont Reservoir Dams, and will also require additional consideration. Mayor Mandell said the current proposal was incomplete and that additional information was requested from the firm.

Trustee Marlene Kolbert noted the decision of founders Judy Silberstein and Paula Eisenberg to suspend publication of the online journal Larchmont Gazette after eight years.

The board passed two resolutions to comply with New York State laws. One required the trustees to affirm that an audit of Justice Court records had been conducted as required. The other, upon recommendation by Village Treasurer Denis Brucciani, raised the threshold for competitive bidding on service contracts from $20,000 to the state's recently adjusted statutory limit of $35,000.

A request by the Newcomers Club sparked some discussion between Mayor Mandell and several trustees about how to best deal with requests for public space. The Newcomers Club, represented by Co-President Jennifer Helgelson and Charities Chair Kory Davis, requested permission to sell baked goods at the Larchmont Farmers Market to benefit their charity activities.

Though supportive of the group's mission, Mayor Mandell explained that the group's request might inadvertently create a precedent for use of public space that should be further considered. Trustee McAndrews suggested the creation of a community organization day that would allow non-profit and civic organizations to access the Farmers Market space for fundraisers.  

"Maybe we should throw the gate open," Trustee Richard Ward said. He was less concerned about the possible problems of precedent setting, especially if the trade-off was preventing groups like the Newcomers' Club from accessing public space. Mayor Mandell promised Helgelson and Davis they would receive a decision within two weeks.