Con Edison to Make Infrastructure Improvements in Greenacres
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Con Edison is working to improve Scarsdale's power infrastructure. Work will be done in Greenacres where continued non-storm and storm-related outages were brought to the attention of Assemblywoman Amy Paulin. After being told about the outages by a Greenacres resident, Paulin held a meeting with Scarsdale and Con Edison officials. During the meeting Con Edison laid out their plans to fix the electrical problems.
The work will include the installation of new poles, transformers, and 6,500 feet of new insulated wire to reduce power outages caused by tree contact. Additional fuses will be installed to help isolate power outages so fewer homes are affected when an outage does occur. The utility company said the improvements are set to be completed by the beginning of 2011. According to Con Edison Electric Operations General Manager Anthony Suozzo, "The infrastructure upgrades and installation of additional fuses will serve to improve electric reliability in that area."
People who live in the Greenacres are relieved to hear about the upgrades. "We appreciate Assemblywoman Paulin's effort in bringing together power company and village officials in response to our neighborhood's concerns," said Deborah Pekarek, President of the Greenacres Neighborhood Association. Scarsdale Mayor Carolyn Stevens said, "I'm hopeful that this will be a solution for the folks in Greenacres who have been dealing with these problems over the last 20 years. This is a step in the right direction from Con Edison."
Often Con Edison cuts down trees when working on the wires. Scarsdale10583 called and emailed a Con Edison spokesperson to find out how many trees would need to be removed, if residents would be informed before a tree was taken down in front of their house and to determine if there is an official policy on tree removal. Calls and emails were not answered.
Fall Happenings from the Scarsdale Forum
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The Scarsdale Forum (TVCCEF) presents its first Sunday Speaker Series program on Sunday, October 17th at the Scarsdale Woman’s Club, 27 Drake Road at 3 p.m.
Financial journalist Tom Herman who wrote for The Wall Street Journal for more than 40 years will discuss “The Economy and the 2010 Elections”. Herman currently teaches an undergraduate seminar “Behind the Headlines: The Press, Business and the Economy” at Yale University and a course on business and financial news coverage at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. He writes a weekly column “Ask Dow Jones” in The Wall Street Journal Sunday, a personal finance section that appears in approximately 70 newspapers and is a columnist for The Fiscal Times, an online news organization.
The Sunday Speaker Series programs are open to the public, free of charge and are underwritten in part by a generous grant from the Irving J. Sloan Education Fund, made possible by the Liz Claiborne-Arthur Ortenberg Foundation.
On Thursday October 7, The Forum invites the public, free of charge, to its membership meeting in the Scott Room of the Scarsdale Library at 8 pm. A welcome reception will begin at 7:30 p.m.
At the meeting, Mayor Carolyn Stevens will present the “State of the Village” and Eric Staffin of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee will moderate a panel discussion “Being Prepared: Emergency Management, the Village and You”. Panelists include Scarsdale’s Chief of Police John A. Brogan and Fire Chief Tom Cain as well as Commissioner Anthony W. Sutton, DES, Westchester County.
The Scarsdale Forum is a 106 year old civic club dedicated to improving life in Scarsdale. The Forum studies issues before the Village and County governing boards and provides input to them via reports and recommendations. Scarsdale residents are encouraged to join and participate in the process.
For more information, visit their website, call (914-723-2829) or e-mail office@scarsdaleforum.com.
Edgemont Seeks Candidates for the School Board Nominating Committee
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The Edgemont Community Council ("ECC") is seeking Edgemont residents who reside in areas covered by the Northern Greenville, Southern Greenville and Central Park Avenue civic associations to serve as members of the School Board Nominating Committee ("SBNC") for the 2010-11 term. The ECC sponsors the SBNC, members of which interview and recommend residents for the annual election to the Board of Education. The SBNC consists of two voting members as well as up to two alternate members from each of Edgemont’s eight civic associations and one member from the high school student body.
This year, the Northern Greenville, Southern Greenville and Central Park Avenue civic associations have not elected SBNC members. The ECC believes, however, that having SBNC members from each of the civic associations is important, so that the views of a broad cross-section of Edgemont residents are included in the consideration of potential School Board candidates. Accordingly and pursuant to its by-laws, the ECC may select members to serve a one-year term on the SBNC from areas covered by civic associations that have not elected members.
If you are resident in an area covered by one of these three civic associations (please see the back inside cover of the blue book for the civic association boundaries) and are interested or know of someone who would be interested in serving on the SBNC, please contact Marc Ackerman at mackerman@omm.com or 914-472-1892. The strength of the nominating process depends on our community’s willingness to invest the time and effort to serve on the SBNC, and we encourage all residents to consider such service.
Candidate Bob Cohen Releases First TV Spot
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NYS Senate Candidate and Scarsdale resident Bob Cohen has released his first television commercial. Scarsdale residents will recognize the setting in Scarsdale Village and see many familiar faces in the spot that will air on cable TV in the 37th Senate District. Cohen has already raised $260,000 in his effort to unseat State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer who has held the seat for 26 years.
Cohen contends that state spending is out of control, property taxes are sky high, and New Yorkers need opportunities to return to work. See the commercial here: http://www.youtube.com/user/BobCohen2010 and visit his campaign website to learn more.
Trustees Ponder Driveway Lease for Tavern Owners
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The Trustees Law Committee met early Tuesday morning August 31 to review community comments on the proposed lease of the village-owned driveway of the Heathcote Tavern parking lot to building owners Frederick Fish and Stephen Odor.
The developers have leased the restaurant to parties who plan to open an Italian restaurant, Apulia II on the site of the former Tavern. However, without the right to use the driveway, there would be no access to the parking lot, so both the Village and the developers are eager to come to an agreement.
At an August 9th meeting, members of the Heathcote Five Corners Coalition charged the committee with being secretive in their negotiations, but this meeting was more cordial. The Coalition had reviewed the proposed lease and sent comments to the Trustees for their consideration. The Coalition’s goal is to prevent Fish and Oder from developing their property and using the Village's land without coming back to the Village for approval. The Coalition's analysis of the current draft of the lease revealed that the developer would be able to expand the use of the property beyond its current scope.
Peter Gordon, an attorney and member of the Heathcote Five Corner’s Coalition assured the Trustees that the Coalition believes it would be advantageous to have a restaurant on the site and agrees that that the developer has a right to make use of his property. However, he believes that this new lease should not allow Fish and Oder to further develop the property, in a similar manner to what was proposed in 2009.
Gordon felt that there were glaring deficiencies in the proposed lease that would allow the developer to exploit loopholes and use the Village's land to expand the Tavern building or otherwise develop the property. He asserted that the lease needed to be well drafted and tightly written to prevent Fish from proposing one plan now and reinterpreting the text later on.
Larry Bell, another member of the Coalition thanked the Trustees for inviting the group to the meeting and considering their comments. However he felt that they were invited in too late in the process, after the proposed lease had already been sent to Fish and Oder. Echoing concerns from the August 9th meeting he said, “We were invited in at the very end, when it was too late to consider substantive changes to the lease.”
His wife, Janet Bell urged the Board to proceed with great caution and to serve as guardians of the village for now and the future. She told the Trustees that these same developers had added a top floor and a penthouse to a project in New Jersey that violated local height restrictions. Ultimately they had to tear off these top two stories.
Mayor Carolyn Stevens defended the Trustees, telling Larry Bell that the public was notified about all meetings and “did not need a personal invitation” to attend. She said, “to criticize the process is extremely unfair.” In an effort to mediate, Trustee Toder said, “In retrospect, perhaps we could have done more.”
Stevens assured the Coalition that they share a common goal with the Village, which is to keep the property viable so that the developer does not want to tear it down. Despite differences in language she assured the group that the Village and the Coalition were in agreement on the intent of the lease.
The proposed lease requires Fish and Oder to pay the Village $15,000 per year for use of the driveway for an initial term of five years. After 2015, the lease will be automatically renewed for one-year terms until 2025, provided the property is leased to a full service restaurant. The Heathcote Coalition has proposed the addition of wording to the contract that gives the developer use of the driveway, only if the tavern building includes an operational restaurant, cocktail lounge and offices “that is comparable in size to the restaurant, cocktail lounge and office space operated there prior to April 2010. “ This would prevent the developer from building apartments, additional parking and more offices without coming back to the Village for permission.
At the close of the meeting the Trustees thanked the community for their input and agreed to review the Coalition’s proposed changes to the lease.
