Tarrytown Board of Trustees Roundup - 2/22/2011

Here's a look at what happened during Tuesday's regular meeting of the Tarrytown Board of Trustees.

Andre Brook Restoration and Financial Audit

The meeting kicked off with a presentation on the restoration of Andre Brook and a summary of the village's 2009-2010 financial audit. We will be writing full stories on these issues for tomorrow. 

Administrator Presents Safety Progress

Village Administrator Michael Blau updated trustees on what types of training village employees have been receiving. He noted that there have been programs in air monitoring, confined space, work zone safety, safe refuse collection, confined space trainer programs, snow plowing and salting safety, respirator protection, blood-born pathogens, fire prevention, hazardous contamination, and emergency action plans. Many of the training programs were new, or reinforced other village programs. 

Blau noted these programs were on top of regular training being offered to members of the police department and fire department every year. Some of the programs were provided by ProSafety, which the village contracted with to enhance safety within village departments. Another item, a hazardous mitigation plan, is being worked on with the Town of Greenburgh.

Village Settles Litigation

The village settled a litigation matter involving a complaint made by former Tarrytown Fire Department volunteer member Catherine Hopkins.

Hopkins filed a complaint in January 2010 with the New York State Division of Human Rights alleging that First Assistant Chief John McGee, husband of Trustee Mary McGee, forcibly kissed her on a number of occasions. She also alleges sexual discrimination by two others who were volunteer firefighters in 2009.

Mary McGee left the room when trustees unanimously approved the settlement. Village Attorney Jeffrey Schumejda said, due to the terms of the settlement, both sides were not allowed to reveal the amount of money involved.

Two weeks ago, the village had said the case was not settled and Schumejda noted that no formal charge had been made against any fire department members, and that the Board of Fire Wardens would have to decide on any disciplinary actions to take within the department.

Snow Issues Raised by Resident

South Broadway resident Clarice Pollack said she was glad that Department of Public Works crews were quick to remove snow around Main Street after the most recent storm, but said that there were no posted notifications about the clearing for car owners. 

Blau said that after the snow season is over, the village plans to reassess its snow clearing routines and that part of that process would be to determine better ways to notify village residents to help comply with snow removal efforts. 

Pollack also raised questions about a DPW worker who had their truck fall into a collapsed piece of road on Tarryhill Road during the snow storm.

Blau said there was an indentation in the road that had been blocked off by cones for further examination, but that the DPW truck had caused a pipe collapse as the worker ran over the indentation. The worker sustained a neck muscle strain, but was otherwise uninjured in the accident. 

Pollack said she wanted to know if the worker was tested for drug abuse, and Blau said it was not something the village was interested in, as it appeared there was no negligence or fault on the part of the DPW driver. 

Continued Frustration Over Wilson Park Drive

Wilson Park Drive resident Karen Brown spoke during public comment to express her disappointment that the village had not repaved Wilson Park Drive – which is classified as a private road.

The village has been petitioned by Wilson Park Drive residents in the past to fix potholes in the road and repave the area as they would a normal village street. However, since the road is private, the village was hoping, in the past, to get some sort of easement along the road before a fix is made available.

Brown noted that, for all purposes, Wilson Park Drive is a public road, with vehicles and school buses that traverse it daily. 

Mayor Drew Fixell did not disagree, and said that the village was looking at the situation and trying to figure out a way to legally pave the road. 

"Right now there are limitations to what the village can do," he said, while noting that the issue was still on the front burner for trustees.  

Continued Debate Over DPW Foreman's Suspension

Tarrytown residents Clarice Pollack and Joe McCarthy continued to voice their disapproval over of Department of Public Works General Foreman Scott Weaver. 

McCarthy started out the public comment session, saying that trustees had "ruined Mr. Weaver's reputation" and that his family would be the ones to suffer as a result of the suspension. He reiterated his belief that a review of the PESH report by an outside attorney, which resulted in Weaver's suspension, was not fair. He wanted to make sure Weaver's disciplinary hearing was heard by someone not connected to the village in any way. Village Attorney Jeffrey Schumejda said that the hearing examiner was not connected to anyone in the village. 

Pollack continued her insistence that someone else in the village, whether it be Village Administrator Michael Blau, Village Engineer Michael McGarvey or Tarrytown Fire Chief Peter Saracelli, should have also been brought up on disciplinary charges. 

Firefighter Patrick Derivan gave a slightly opposing view at the end of the public comment session. Derivan started by saying that he liked that the village was making progress on training, but that if policies that were in place in the 90s were kept up to date, the Labor Day manhole accidents would not have happened. He also said that he understood why the action was taken to suspend Weaver. 

"Maybe it's not the most popular thing," he said, "But you understand who was in charge and who was responsible for policy and procedures... These policies needed to be followed."

Resolutions

• Trustees entered into an agreement with the New York State Department of State to conduct a feasibility study on creating an access tunnel underneath the Metro North Tracks in the area of the intersection of Cortlandt Street and Main Street. The state and village will each pay $45,000 to conduct the study. 
• The village hired an outside legal firm to help defend it from two lawsuits being filed by the families of John Kelly and Anthony Ruggiero. 
• The village will contract with Morabito Electric Inc. to install and relocate generators in various fire stations and at the Tarrytown Senior Center.