No Change in Leaf Pick-up Policy for Now

Michelle Sterling, Chair of the Sustainability of the Scarsdale Forum pressed Mayor Steves on the status of a proposed revision to village code that would end the village's current practice of curbside leaf collection at the February 12th meeting of the Board of Trustees. After a large and contentious public hearing about the change in November 2014, Steves agreed to continue to study the issues and though there was much dissension about the change, Sterling hoped that the Board would move forward with a proposed resolution. Under the new code, the village would encourage residents to mulch their leaves in place and end the practice of vacuuming up loose leafs. Bagged leaves would be collected and the village would sell recyclable collection bags to residents for a fee.

At the hearing in November, residents both supported and objected to the change. Some saw it as a cut in services, others said their properties were not big enough to absorb the mulched leaves and still others said the measure would impose an undue burden on residents who do their own yard work. Fans said they had tried mulching on their properties and said that the mulched leaves acted as fertlizer, yielding healthier lawns. They urged their neighbors to give it a try and recommended landscapers who use mulching blades and do not charge extra for the service.

However, as Mayor Steve's term draws to a close, Sterling appeared frustrated that no action had been taken. Steves let her know that the measure would be considered during next year's budgeting process but that for now, the funds for education and leaf pick-up had already been allocated for the 2015-16 Village budget. He added, "that is not to say that another board might do something differently."

Sterling appealed to the Mayor to take action this year, asking him to, "consider it so that there can be some resolution either for or against? As chair of the committee, there are many citizens who are for change, I am trying to move forward with an issue that's important to a lot of people, not just me."

Scarsdale Cable:

Michael Rubin of the Scarsdale Cable Commission announced changes to the public access channel and thanked the trustees and village managers for their support. He said, "The village is on the way to having a channel that the residents expect and deserve. We have built a new website, www.scarsdalepublictv.com that will be entertaining and informative and we have renovated the Scarsdale Cable website to show high quality videos about Scarsdale."

Revaluation:

Also coming to the microphone was Bob Harrison of Scarsdale Taxpayer Alert to urge the trustees to reconsider a resolution that was passed to conduct a second tax revaluation this spring. Harrison attempted to draw an analogy between the revaluation and a 1989 village contract with a consultant who was retained to formulate a bulk volume law that would require residents to formulate their home volume before construction.

He reproached the board for granting a "no-bid contract to John F. Ryan for $245,000 to do the second revaluation. Harrison asked if any other vendors were considered and wanted to know why Ryan had said that Tyler Technologies, (the firm that conducted the initial revaluation) was doing a good job when he was retained for $115,000 to monitor the first revaluation.

Referring to ongoing grievances from the first revaluation, Harrison said, "We still have 750 SCARS and Cert cases out there. These will be expensive to resolve. Each one could cost $1,000- $2,000 to settle. We are asking the Board to reconsider their decision to spend $245,000 for something that won't benefit Scarsdale. It seems absurd. No one has defended this decision. On Scarsdale10583 where the story was written up, commenter's questioned the decision. Harrison read these comments to the Board and said, "I have not seen this many comments on any other story."

He concluded by saying, "Support the next reval for 2018. We will circulate a petition. We have been through a stressful reval process and now is the time to let the dust settle."

Steves responded to Harrison and assured him that he reads his email on a daily basis and "has not seen many emails on this subject." He told Harrison, "You make a supposition that we wasted money on the consultants in 1989 and on John Ryan now. You insinuate that the board does not know what it is doing. We have been as open as possible. I resent the idea that no-bid contracts are sinful and deceitful. The Board relies on the professional staff to make good decisions." He continued by saying, "Getting us back where we need to be is difficult – but if we are going to do it, we want to do it right. "

In other business, the Board of Trustees approved the following:

30 Murray Hill Road:

In other business, the Board accepted a recreation subdivision fee of $92,500 for subdivision of a lot at 30 Murray Hill Road. Though the subdivision will create two non-conforming lots, lawyers for the Ansells of 30 Murray Hill Road argued that their application should be considered under the zoning code that was in force before 1947 when there were no minimum lot size requirements. The property has always been divided into two tax lots and the Ansell's ultimately won their battle to construct a second home on the additional lot.

2-4 Weaver Street:

The board set the fee for the building permit for the new condominium building at 2-4 Weaver Street at $94,680 with additional permits to be required for the individual condominium units. The building department will retain a building inspector to monitor the work. Developer Frederick S. Fish estimated that the construction would cost $6,575,000.

Streaming Online Video:

The Village will now have the capability to stream video online on their website. Under a new agreement with SWAGGIT Productions, the Village will purchase equipment and stream village board meeting on the web. They will also be able to index meeting agenda items, offer search and archiving. The cost for the equipment is $4,235 and the streaming will cost $500 a month or $6000 a year.

Recreation Fees for 2015-16

The Board approved a schedule of recreation fees for 2015-16.

15K/4 Mile Run

The Board approved a 15K and a 4-mile run through the Village, slated for April 19, 2015.

Plastic Bags:

Trustee Deb Pekarek announced that the County Board of Legislators would hold a public hearing on a new law involving the use of plastic bags and polystyrene at retail establishments at 3 pm on February 23 at 148 Martine Avenue in White Plains.