Sleepy Hollow Board of Trustees Roundup - 2/8/2011

Here's a look at what happened at Tuesday's Sleepy Hollow Board of Trustees work session of February 8, 2011.

Bueti Made Lieutenant

Sleepy Hollow Police Sgt. Anthony Bueti was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on Tuesday. Bueti will fill in the position left vacant by the promotion of Lt. Greg Camp to Chief of Police. It is the second promotion for Bueti in less than a year. In April 2010, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

History of GM Design Guidelines Reviewed

David Smith, Sleepy Hollow's planning consultant for the GM property, reviewed some of the decisions that were made over the years that shaped the . 

Smith noted that previous boards had set "critical design steps" that were made so an applicant knows where the bar is set when proposing a development.

He reviewed the so-called "Linkage Study" which set the groundwork for the GM development. Some of the key concepts in the study included walkability, road designs that encouraged slower vehicle traffic, designs for on-street and off-street parking as well as the general look and feel of the development – a planned eclecticism modelled on the downtown areas in Hudson and Rhinebeck.

Other important design aspects were the creation of public spaces and open access to the waterfront along with grading on the site and traffic flow.

"This is what the village was looking at when conducting their linkage study," Smith said. "It set the bar very high for a developer."

Trustees Reports

Trustee Tom Capossela said that he wanted to talk to Chief of the Sleepy Hollow Ambulance Corps about their snow watch procedures, citing that some members of the corps were on snow watch duty for over 20 hours. "That means they were there the whole day," he said. "I would like someone to explain this policy and procedure for snow watch sooner than later."

Trustee Barbara Carr wanted to make sure a line item for the replacement of the Webber Park sign did not come out of the village's budget. The Village Treasurer noted that the payment was offset by the insurance payout from the driver who ran into the sign months ago.

Carr also said that the village is working in earnest on the new budget. She noted that there would likely be no stimulus money this year, meaning that every department would have to do their share to reduce costs in the run up to approval of the 2011-2012 budget.

Village Administrator Anthony Giaccio said that furniture for the Sleepy Hollow Senior Center will arrive by Feb. 22. An inventory was also made of items that need to be purchased for the kitchen area.

Trustee Bruce Campbell said that the village is still in negotiations with Cablevision to secure a new contract for public access monies that are owed to the village. Campbell said the issue hinged on whether the agreement would be a 15-year or a 10-year plan.

Trustee Karin Wompa said that she recently met with TUFSD Superintendent Howard Smith to discuss what remains to be done at Morse Park. She noted that donations from Rivertown Runners still needed to be spent to finish work on the park.

Update on Building Department Violations

Trustee Evelyn Stupel announced how busy the building department was in 2010.

Over the year, the building department issued 1,285 permits, handled 118 complains and issued 120 building code violations. Many of those violations ended up in court where more than $105,000 in fines have been doled out to problematic landlords.

She said the village would likely have to hire a collection agency to get all the building fines owed to the village.

Public Comments

Lawrence Ave. resident Donald Caetano expressed his wish that Lawrence become a one-way street. He said that one truck with a snow plow was too much for the road to handle as it was narrow and had cars parked on both sides.

He also said the auto repair shop on the corner of Lawrence and North Broadway routinely used the street to park vehicles and noted that trucks that are parked with plows often made it a hazard for people driving along the road.

Trustees said the issue would be forwarded to the Public Safety committee and the complaint would be reviewed by the police department.

Trustees Approve St. Patrick's Day Parade

The village has approved the application for the 15th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. The parade will occur on Sunday, March 13, beginning in Tarrytown at 1:30 p.m. and ending up in Sleepy Hollow.

Public Hearing on GM Next Week

A public hearing on issuing a special permit for the proposed GM development will take place next Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. at Village Hall.