5-Year Bond OKd for Design/Planning of New DPW Facility

The New Rochelle City Council OK'd borrowing $600,000 for design and planning of a new public works facility.

The city has set its sights on relocating the current City Yard to a city-owned lot on Beechwood Avenue. A study determimed that renovating the facility on East Main Street would cost $16 million, where the construction of a new facility on the Beechwood site would cost a little over $13 million.

Only Councilman Louis Trangucci, R-District 1, voted against the resolution.

Councilman Ivar Hyden, D-District 4, said it was a difficult decision, but voted for the bond.

He said renovating the current City Yard would be "throwing good money after bad. I feel very strongly that the workers at that site are working in poor conditions."

Hyden said moving the facility could save money in the long run, but he had reservations.

"I am concerned about paying the bond," he said, "and I certainly feel that going forward I would be hard pressed to vote for the actual bonding of the yard unless we had a way to pay for it."

City Manager Charles Strome III said the bond would be paid out in five years, likely beginning in 2013. He estimated the debt service to be between $125,000 and $150,000.