Tarrytown Board of Trustees Roundup - 9/15/2010

Here's a look at what happened Wednesday during the Board of Trustees' work session:

Updates on Parking Lot Agreements

The village is slowly approaching agreements to make the Elizabeth Street parking lot and the Masons Lot open for public use. 

Village Administrator Michael Blau said the village was waiting to hear back from the Junior League regarding an agreement pertaining to the Elizabeth Street lot. 

For the Masons lot, the village is waiting to schedule a closing date on the matter which should be completed this month. The village will then demolish some existing structures to make for a more car-friendly facility. 

Patriots Park Fencing Still Being Debated

A group of community members has been pressing the village for years to enclose the playground facilities at Patriots Park to make a more safe environment for children. 

"They have been very patient," Trustee Becky McGovern said.

The village made some progress addressing the group's concerns with the recent installation of bollards and chains to prevent cars from driving on the south side of the loop through Patriots Park. 

"We did deal with most important issue, which was the cars," Mayor Drew Fixell said. 

However, many joggers, and walkers with children's strollers, sent an avalanche of criticism to the village because there was no way for them to navigate around the barriers without going off-road. That problem has also been fixed.

"We've now created an opening for people who run the loop and people with strollers," Blau said. 

But the core concern of the community group, to enclose the playground, has still not been addressed. Trustees on Wednesday said that installing a fence at this time may not be wise because of an ongoing dispute with the county over funding for a new playground. 

The village has not signed the agreement with the county for the $35,000 in grant money, because it came with strings attached to follow the county's affordable housing program (story here). The new playground facility would include a train structure for kids to play on. Trustees said the positioning of the train would likely dictate where the fenced area would be created (see rough map attached in this article). 

"We're not having the train unless the county gives us the money," Fixell said. "If we don't have a train that greatly reduces the size of the fence we need." 

Trustees also said that if they installed a fence soon, it would likely have to be removed and re-installed if the disagreement with the county was resolved and the $35,000 was released. Another issue is how much open space to enclose in the play area, a point that trustees debated. 

"Why are we going to take away all that park space," Trustee Doug Zollo said. "If they want to go out in the field, why don't they take their kids out to the field."

Trustee Becky McGovern said that the village should possibly allow the group to fundraise for the fence so they could get it built quicker if they wanted to do so.

"Would we allow them to fundraise? It's not impossible for that group," she said. 

Trustee Tom Basher said that if the group fundraised, they might feel they have the ability to dictate where the fence would be positioned in the park. 

"This board needs to decide, do we want a fence; and two, where the fence is going to be," he said. "We have to come to a decision, we don't want a fence that is going to move a year or two years down the road."

McGovern said that trustees needed to walk the park to fully understand what the community group was proposing. They agreed to meet at 6:30 p.m. at Patriots Park on Wednesday, Sept. 29, before their next work session. 

"It has to be walked, you can't see it clearly unless you walk it out," McGovern said. 

Trustees Debate Handicap Parking Spot on Franklin Street

The issue of whether or not to rescind a disabled parking space has come before the board on recommendation of the police chief. 

The issue involved a contested handicap space on Franklin Street. The police department had received a complaint that the parking spot should be removed. The spot was originally created for a village resident who has since passed away. 

However, the spot is now in use by another disabled resident who is choosing to park on the street rather than in his two-car driveway. The handicapped man has requested the spot remain designated as it is. Trustees decided to err on the side of the disabled.

"You have two different people wanting two different things," Trustee Robert Hoyt said. "I think the handicapped person takes precedence."

Regulations Coming for West Main Street Parking

Trustees will soon officially regulate parking on West Main Street. Currently, there are no signs in place and a confusing assortment of rules governing parking in the area. 

The signage will discourage parking on the street after dark, and will allow for four-hour, non-permit parking during the day.

New Cleaners for the Village

Trustees will get a new cleaning service after it went out to bid on the contract again. 

The bids came back and the current cleaner of Village Hall, Guardian, came in two dollars higher per month than they had in the past. However, another company, CFM Services, underbid Guardian. 

The company will clean village hall, the old police building and, twice a year, the library. 

Trustees Debate Costs of Securing the Eastview Pump Station

The Eastview Pump Station is set to be refurbished, possibly into a community center, but there is an issue with the cost. 

There has already been an adaptive reuse study of the building prepared by the Irvington architectural firm of Earl Everett Ferguson. Another architect did a study on what it would cost to stop the building from deteriorating. Both plans included very different numbers for sealing the station. 

"The difference in prices are astronomical," Fixell said. 

One estimate pegged fixing the roof, windows and some structural problems at $1 million, while another estimate, according to trustee's recollection, was much lower than that. Blau noted that it wasn't clear why the estimates varied, but could be due to how manpower was accounted for. 

One of the specs "leaves the village to do a lot of the work," Blau said. "The second was more involved... [it included] going out and finding the people, doing the contractual part, and then going into the project."

Trustees were concerned that if the initial amount to simply stop the building from further degrading was at a million dollars, it might put the kibosh on the project.

"Whats the value of pursing it if you are not going to appropriate a million," Fixell said.

Trustees will look in closer details at both proposals to find out the true cost of the project.