Tarrytown Merchants' Council Meeting Notes

The following information was provided by Theresa McCarthy, the Tarrytown Merchants' Council Chair. We are printing it at the request of the Merchants' Council, which would like to keep the community informed about their activities and concerns.

Tarrytown Merchants’ Council Bullet Points

Filming Guidelines

Concerned about filming in the Village, the Merchants' Council forwarded a letter to Village Administrator Michael Blau addressing the main issues discussed at the June Merchants’ Council Meeting. The full letter is printed at the bottom of this article. We posted an article about the filming concerns as well ().

Parking

The Village has initiated the construction process of the parking lot on South Washington behind the Mason Building (). There will be up to 24 spaces for parallel parking with a 20-foot travel aisle. The blueprints have been done and the area has been spray-painted so that the Board can examine it carefully. An environmental review process (approx. 60 days) needs to be conducted after which the Board has to declare that construction of this lot will not have any adverse impact on the community. Meter machines have been ordered. The Chamber has asked that public parking be allowed until 9:00 p.m. to give the retail stores/restaurants full advantage of parking for their patrons.

Citibank bought the old Wachovia building and has agreed to continue leasing 15 parking spots for public use. These spots will be metered.

Resident permit parking will be moved from the South Broadway lot to the Nearly New Shop lot, freeing up 14 meter spaces on South Broadway for merchant parking or public parking.

Commercial Permit System is in discussion for night parking in the commuter lot.

Con Ed Program

Con Ed has an Energy Savings incentive for small businesses. An authorized representative comes to your business and evaluates your savings should you opt to replace all the light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs. Con Ed pays for 70% of the cost. Allan Block Agency participated in this program and the survey indicates that they will recoup their 30% share of the cost within 8 months in energy savings. If you are interested in this program, contact Dean J. Angeledes, Director of CHI Energy, at 914-595-0988(office) or 914-325-2789(cell). Email is dangeledes@communityhousing.org

Beautification Foundation

All the trees on Main Street have been aerated and perennials are scheduled to be planted by the Foundation this week. Merchants have been asked to contribute $25 ($7-$12 more than cost to help with the tree wells that are not fronted by a business or for merchants who just cannot afford to contribute) toward temporary fencing for the tree wells until the Village is able to provide the ironwork for them. Merchants are encouraged to plant flowers of their choosing in the wells to add a spark of color. All are urged to honor their civic duty and keep the tree wells watered so that time, money and living things are not simply laid to waste. Chris Brazil of the Beautification Foundation reports that, thus far, the response on Main has been very enthusiastic.

Future Meeting

The next meeting of the Merchants’ Council will take place in September/October. Stay tuned for meeting place, date and time.

Recycle Bin Discussion and 3rd Friday Update/Evaluation are items that have been suggested for the next meeting. Please email Theresa McCarthy, Merchants’ Council Chair, with other agenda suggestions at
tmcc56@gmail.com.

Letter to Michael Blau, Village Administrator, Regarding Filming

Dear Michael,

On behalf of the Tarrytown merchants, I would like to thank you for your attendance and input at the two recent Merchant Council meetings.

As you were able to witness, the merchants are passionate about finding a way to accommodate filming crews to our Village without having their businesses adversely affected.

Based on the discussion/feedback at the June 8th meeting, I would ask that the filming guidelines be further amended to include the following:

Notification of the possible use of the Downtown for filming must be extended to the Executive Director of the Chamber and the Chair of the Merchants’ Council immediately upon the Village of Tarrytown’s knowledge of this possibility. In accordance with the current Filming By-Laws of the Village Code that would mean at least 21 days prior to filming – the deadline for the submission of the permit application.

Subsequent and periodic up-dates must be communicated as well.

Not only must the permit application be submitted 21 days prior to the filming date(s) to Village Hall, but the parking spaces to be allotted for filming purposes and any road closings must be established and posted by the Village for the merchants 14 days in advance of filming.

A liaison appointed by the Village and paid for by the filming company must be present on Main Street/Broadway during the actual filming to ascertain that the amendments to Chapter 157 entitled “Filming” of the Code of the Village of Tarrytown are enforced and that concerns are addressed and rectified as they occur.

I appreciate your continued attention to our concerns and to the importance that this matter holds for all merchants attempting to conduct their business as smoothly and as profitably as possible.

Respectfully yours,

Theresa L McCarthy
Merchants’ Council Chair