Report from the Greenacres Town Meeting

Scarsdale’s leaders gathered on March 11th to greet Greenacres residents, review town matters and answer questions. The turn out was terrific, and before the start of the program neighbors had the chance to get acquainted, snack, purchase Girl Scout cookies and renew their Greenacres Association memberships.

Panelists included the Police and Fire Chiefs, Al Gatta and Suzanna Busby from Village Hall, Greenacres Principal Gerry Young, School Board President Barbara Kemp, School Superintendant Mike McGill, Gary Sastow for SVAC, Jim Buck for the Volunteer Fire Company and Deputy Mayor Sharon Lindsay. Each was asked to give a two-minute update, with timing strictly enforced with a bell.


Police Chief John Brogan reported that construction on the new Police Headquarters building is now a few months behind schedule but assured the group that an efficient though temporary command center has been set up and that they can book, fingerprint and even hold suspects in the Police Trailer on Tompkins Road.

Jim Buck Volunteer Firefighter encouraged residents to join, saying that fighting fires “is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.” The firefighters work together as a team and the company will train volunteers to fight fires respond in an emergency and promote safety.

The Recreation Department is now enrolling residents for Day Camp, Tennis programs and pool permits, according to Recreation Department Superintendent Suzanne Busby. Enrollment at the Day Camp was up 25% last year and the return rate for staff for this coming summer is at an all time high. This year, they will be offering a film making program and an extended day at Camp Pathunke for children in grades 3 through 8. Sign up for camp by April 1st, to get an early bird discount.

It is increasingly challenging to finance Village government and services as costs are rising and residents are challenging their tax assessments. Village Manager Al Gatta told the group that the Village had received an unprecedented number of appeals to lower property taxes this year. At the same time, residents called for road repairs, tree removal and maintenance and the Village’s ability to self-govern is running into conflict with our ability to fund these activities.

All’s well at Greenacres School, where Principal Gerry Young has started a Haiti Relief Fund. He is calling on students to bring in their loose pennies and is hoping to collect a million pennies for the fund. Also under consideration at the school is the closing of Huntington Avenue during school hours to give children access to the playground and eliminate the need for staff to serve as crossing guards during the school day.

School Board President Barbara Kemp was pleased to report that the proposed tax increase to fund the school budget would be just under 3% and that Scarsdale Teacher’s had reopened their contract and agreed to forgo 1% in contracted salary increases for the next two years. This will mean a savings of $1,900,000 to the Scarsdale Schools. She encouraged everyone to vote for the budget on May 18th and hoped that we could improve on last year’s voter turnout, which was only 7%.

The Scarsdale Schools just celebrated their 225th Anniversary with a concert and lecture by residents Nicolas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, according to Superintendant Mike McGill. He told the group that our schools are nationally recognized and reports that the district is now doing exploratory work on what our schools should look like in 2050.

The Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps provides emergency services 24 hours a day using both paid paramedics and volunteers. They begin the life-saving process as soon as they arrive. Sadly, their appeals to the community for funding are not getting the response they need to meet their budget and they will have to dip into their reserve funds. Sastow asked the community to give to ensure that we continue to have this wonderful service available to the community.

Deputy Mayor Sharon Lindsay addressed community concerns about flooding. After the storm in April 2007, consultants were hired to investigate, and Scarsdale applied for grants to ameliorate the situation. The County has given us $1,450,000 and we will issue bonds to raise the balance of the funds needed to build a detention basic at George Field Park that will hold three million gallons of water and to clear the watercourse downstream. In the meantime, our public works department has dredged the watercourse and taken temporary steps to alleviate flooding until the bigger project can be started.

The session was then opened for questions. One resident asked if it would be possible to bury the power lines and Gatta responded that the cost would be millions of dollars and that it was not likely at this time. When discussing recycling, it was revealed that Village solid waste has decreased 30% in the past five years, indicating that residents are cooperating with recycling programs. Another resident complained about “uncivilized dog walkers" who constantly leave waste on her property and the police offered to help.

A Windmill Road homeowner told the group that there was a Village tree down on her property and just one day later we learned it had already been removed.

Strong work by Deborah Pekarek and the Greenacres Association, and thanks so much to all of the panelists for their time.