Village Board Minutes - October 24, 2005

Meeting of the Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village/Town of Mt. Kisco held on Monday, October 24, 2005 at 7:30p.m. in the Frank J. DiMicco Board Room, Village Hall, 104 Main Street, Mount Kisco, New York.

Present: Mayor J. Michael Cindrich

Trustee Peter DiChiara

Trustee George L. Griffin, Jr.

Trustee Peter Grunthal

Trustee Anthony Markus

Also Present: William Williams, Village Manager/ Clerk

James Palmer, Assistant Village Manager

Whitney Singleton, Village Attorney

Mayor Cindrich opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and asked everyone to please reflect on why we are here and asked for guidance in the decisions that we make this evening will benefit the entire community.

1) Communications -

A. Letter from Ferd Vetare re: resignation from the Byram Lake Committee.

Mayor Cindrich read with regret the letter from Mr. Vetare dated October 1, 2005 resigning from the Byram Lake Committee.

Mayor Cindrich requested that a letter of gratitude be sent to Mr. Vetare from both the Byram Lake Committee and the Village Board of Trustees.

B. Letter from Allison Eckhart, Mt. Kisco Recreation Dept. re: Annual Halloween Torchlight Parade.

Motion made by Trustee DiChiara and seconded by Trustee Grunthal approving the Recreation Department Halloween Torchlight Parade subject to the Recreation Department paying for all expenses associated with this event and that next year's parade route be held in Leonard Park to save on expenses, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Trustee DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

C. Letter from Gina De Bernardo Picinich re: Mount Kisco Chase Block Party.

Motion made by Mayor Cindrich and seconded by Trustee Markus approving the request of Gina De Bernardo Picinich to hold a Chase block party on Sunday, October 30^th from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm to be held in the Brentwood cul de sac, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Trustee DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

2) Petitions - None.

3) Board, Committee and Commission Reports - None

4) Village Manager's Reports -

A. Level of Byram Lake

Village Manager, Bill Williams, advised that the overall level at Byram Lake was at 99.3% of capacity.

B. Green Street Bridge Update.

Village Manager, Bill Williams, stated that David Weiss from Chas H. Sells will be here this evening to discuss some contractual issues with the Green Street Bridge which should be discussed in Executive Session this evening.

C. Croton Avenue & Prospect Street Project Update.

Village Manager, Bill Williams, stated that the project is under construction it is a difficult job and the contractor proceeds and then this evening apparently unintentionally they broke the water line. Due to the current weather conditions there will be no work at the site tomorrow. The project is on a progressive schedule and the consulting engineer will have more of a presence on the site rather than just coming when he is called.

Mayor Cindrich stated that the contractor is leaving the area a mess every evening and that he needs to be reminded about house keeping issues and if the contractor can't keep the area clean then the Village should have the street sweeper clean the area and charge back the cost of this to the contractor.

D. Parking Permit Fees for 2006.

This item was tabled pending further cost analysis from the Finance Department. This will be discussed again at the November 7, 2005 Village Board Meeting.

E. East of Hudson Funds revised project application.

Village Manager, Bill Williams stated that the Village was originally told by its Consulting Engineers that we could use our East of Hudson Water Quality Improvement Funds for upgrades to our Saw Mill River Pump Station. Late last week Michael Stein advised him that the Westchester County Department of Planning rejected that concept after some months. As a result Mr. Stein is recommending that the Village re-evaluate under an improved formula utilizing our two grants to put sewers in non-sewered areas.

Mayor Cindrich stated that a letter needs to be sent to the East of Hudson Water Quality Improvement Funds stating that the Saw Mill Pump Station is way over capacity and that it should have been funded and rebuilt (not as a maintenance project) as a significant upgrade when construction took place here 10 or 15 years ago. This letter needs to articulate that the capacity demand on this facility is way over what the projections are and it has to be what they are saying that they would approve for an upgrade. These upgrades would stop the infiltration and we would be projecting the water supply of NYC. The Saw Mill Pump Stations is in dire need for an upgrade and maintenance.

Trustee Markus asked what agency rejected this application.

Village Manager Williams replied that the Westchester County Department of Planning makes the initial screening of the project and that the New York City Department of Public Works makes the final determination.

Trustee DiChiara agreed that the Saw Mill Pump upgrades desperately needed to be made and that the initial criteria of the East of Hudson Funds application needed to be reviewed and to reiterate in writing to them how this project fits into their criteria.

F. Request an Executive Session to discuss pending litigation, personnel and real estate matters.

Motion made by Trustee Markus and seconded by Trustee Griffin, Jr. scheduling an Executive Session meeting immediately following tonight's Village Board meeting to discuss pending litigation, personnel and real estate matters, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Trustee DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

5) Board Reports -

Trustee Grunthal reported that the Byram Lake Committee is in the process of collecting all the water quality and flow reports for 2003 and 2004. This is to ensure that we are getting the reports that we need as recommended in the consultants reports about three years ago, to make sure we get a handle the Village's capacity needs.

Trustee Grunthal also reported that he attended a Finance Committee Meeting last week which addressed health benefits. The meeting concluded by requesting that a representative of POMCO meet with the Finance Committee at their November meeting explaining to them the plan benefits and costs.

Trustee Grunthal reported that he recently attended the Taxi Cab work session meeting and it seemed to him that the Taxi Cab owners/company representatives are recognizing that the Village must have clean cabs and licensed drivers and that there must be some regulations in place. The meeting proceeded very reasonably well.

Mayor Cindrich stated that the Village was possibly moving away from POMCO and maybe into an agreement with the Empire Plan, for health insurance. This switch would save the Village a significant amount of money. So please check with the Village Manager on the progress of this initiative.

Trustee Markus stated that the Community Relations Committee would be meeting on Wednesday, November 2, 2005 at 7:30 pm.

Trustee Markus stated that last night he attended the annual Italian American Club of Northern Westchester's annual dinner which honored Mayor J. Michael Cindrich as “Civic Leader of the Year” along with honoring Serafina Bueti Curro as “Woman of the Year” and Anthony Sturniolo as “Man of the Year”.

Trustee Griffin, Jr. reported that the Building and Grounds Committee had a meeting with Charlie Pieragostini in reference to Leonard Park and there is a list of must do's that is a mile long. It's a never ending battle in the amount of maintenance that is needed to maintain our infrasture. The Building and Grounds Committee will be sending the Village Board a list of items with projected costs for these items. Also the Building and Grounds Committee has a revised set of specifications for the repairs to the clock tower which will be given to Jim Palmer so he can rewrite the bid proposal and it be let out to bid.

Trustee DiChiara noted that he had been receiving a lot of quality of life complaints from residents and that he is working very closely with the Village Manager to address them and that he apologized if these issues haven't been resolved quickly enough.

Mayor Cindrich reported that Police Officer Michael Battlefield's daughter Kelly, recently suffered a very serious car accident and he asked every member of this community to keep them in their thoughts and prayers. Get well cards can be sent to Mike care of the Mount Kisco Police Department located at 40 Green Street.

Mayor Cindrich reported that he had a meeting with the director of Neighbor's Link. He encouraged residents who are looking for this type of labor to hire workers from Neighbor's Link. He also encouraged residents to take a tour of the facility. He noted that it was very rewarding the type of educational work and training that was being done at the facility.

Mayor Cindrich noted that the Village Board of Trustees was in very serious negotiations for the Swiss Benevolent Society Property that will not only resolve the financial issues the Village has been burdened with but, it may also resolve a Federal Lawsuit that's been filed against the Village and hanging around for five or six years.

Mayor Cindrich noted that he continues to meet with the residents of Pinecrest Manner to improve their living conditions. The new Board at Pinecrest Manner is very receptive to what's going on so hopefully we will make some headway there.

Mayor Cindrich noted that last week for the first time he intervened directly with the negotiations between the PBA and the Village. I sat with members of the PBA and we discussed the Village issues. I think we have made significant headway. It is going to be discussed in Executive Session tonight. It is something that should have happened a long time ago and we may have accomplished something and we'll know by the end of the week.

Mayor Cindrich introduced Suzanne Grant, a member of MKESA's Playground Committee.

Ms. Grant explained that the Playground Committee would be holding a community build on Sat. November 12^th and Sun. November 13^th from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm and that the community was looking for volunteers for one shift or the whole weekend.

If anybody was interested in volunteering or making a contribution, please contact Ms. Grant at 666-5131.

6) Old Business - None.

7) New Business

A. Schedule a Public Hearing to discuss the proposed changes to the Taxi Ordinance.

Village Attorney Whitney Singleton reviewed the changes in the proposed Taxi Ordinance.

The following motion was made by Trustee DiChiara and seconded by Trustee Grunthal scheduling a public hearing to discuss the proposed changes to the Taxi Ordinance for Monday, November 7, 2005 at 7:00 pm, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Trustee DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

B. Resolution authorizing the Village Manager to sign the NYS DOT 2007-2008 Snow & Ice Agreement.

Motion made by Trustee Markus and seconded by Trustee Griffin authorizing the Village Manager to sign the NYS DOT 2007-2008 Snow & Ice Agreement, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Trustee DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

8) Bills - General, Senior Nutrition, Water, Sewer, Library and Capital Projects Funds

The following motion was offered by Trustee DiChiara and seconded by Trustee Markus to pay the bills, all in favor.

General Fund $223,308.12

General Fund Claims $216,819.41

Water Fund Claims 958.61

Sewer Fund Claims 56.38

Library Fund Claims 1,889.22

Trust Fund Claims 3,584.50

Senior Nutrition Fund 3,425.32

Water and Sewer Funds 74,478.02

Water Fund Claims $ 73,439.70

Sewer Fund Claims 1,038.32

Library Fund 17,079.76

Capital Projects Fund 131,262.27

Trust and Agency Fund 27,004.16

TOTAL $476,557.65

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Trustee DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

9) Minutes

Resolution Approving Minutes

Motion made by Trustee Grunthal and seconded by Trustee Griffin, Jr. hereby approving the minutes of the October 11, 2005 Regular Village Board Meeting , all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Trustee DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

10) Local Business - None.

11) Public Comment -

Mr. Rick Koffman, Library Trustee stated that the Library has another informational meeting on Saturday, which went every well. At the informational meeting there was a public question and answering session. He noted that the Mount Kisco Library Foundation web site link address a lot of questions that have been brought up by residents. He added that yard signs in favor of the bond referendum were available, if anyone is interested in showing their support for the bond, by placing a sign in their front yard please contact Susan Riley, Library Director.

Mr. Brian Parked, 83 Willetts Road, stated that at the last Board Meeting he expressed the belief that the public had insufficient information to make a reasonable decision on the upcoming referendum for the $8,000,000.00 Library bond. What he has learned since then had confirmed his fears that the proposed Library Project, is too big and is likely to run over budget. Also if completed the annual cost of operating and paying for the Library would be excessive. The proposed building will run way over budget and it is the owners who will pay when things go over budget.

Mrs. Anne Whalen stated that we don't know all the fact regarding the proposed Library because we don't know what we are going to build we don't have a blue print which will be needed to get the estimated costs.

There being no further business to come before the Board, a motion to close the meeting was made by Trustee DiChiara and seconded by Trustee Grunthal, all in favor. The meeting was closed at 9:40 pm.

_________________________________

William F. Williams

Village Clerk

Regular Board Meeting

October 24, 2005 1.

Created by superuser. Last modified 2005-11-14 09:55:21.