https://sleepyhollow.localarchives.org/files/original/d945c6747fdac8cd309e771e40ac4a5e.pdf 7ff662ef74c8e4d183d92654bae818a6 PDF Text Text The Board of Trustees of the Village of Sleepy Hollow held a meeting on Tuesday, March 8, 2011, in Village Hall, 28 Beekman Avenue, Sleepy Hollow, New York. Present: Mayor Kenneth G. Wray Deputy Mayor Thomas Capossela David Schroedel Barbara Carr Bruce Campbell Karin Wompa Evelyn Stupel, Trustees Also Present: Anthony P. Giaccio, Village Administrator Paula A. McCarthy, Village Clerk Sara A. DiGiacomo, Village Treasurer Richard Gross, Village General Foreman Sean E. McCarthy, Village Building Inspector Gregory Camp, Police Chief Absent: Janet Gandolfo, Village Counsel At 7:02 pm, Mayor Wray called the meeting to order with a pledge to the flag. Promotion Resolutions R-1 and R-2 Trustee Schroedel asked to move Resolutions R1 and R2 to the front of the meeting. The Board of Trustees agreed. Trustee Schroedel stated that the Public Safety Committee has recommended that two police officers be promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Deputy Mayor Capossela read aloud Resolution R-1 to promote PO Felix Corona. Mayor Wray swore in Felix Corona as a Sergeant. Trustee Wompa read aloud Resolution R-2 to promote PO Michael Gasko. Mayor Wray swore in Michael Gasko as a Sergeant. Public Hearing for Amended General Motors Application The Village Clerk read the announcement for the public hearing aloud for the record. Mayor Wray acknowledged that the Trustees had received letters from Dave Bedell, Ann Berozowski and Karin Lane. He said that Karin Lane stated that she thought that the development of the GM site was a bad idea. Mayor Wray explained the 5 minute rule and opened the public hearing. �Michael Campton of Webber Park spoke about the potential future sea level rise that was noted in The Tarrytown Patch. He asked about the proposed membrane and fill that was proposed to be used on the site. He stated that he calculated the amount of fill to be used and he stated that it would be about 2-feet on top of the membrane. He asked about the tax increase to the Village. He stated that the Village is taking on liabilities of $22 million to provide the proposed amenities. He stated that this is a long process and he thinks that the village should say what it means. He wants to know if there is a summary posted on the website. Trustee Schroedel responded that The Tarrytown Patch is not the official record of the Village. He stated that the prior Trustees hired specialists in this area. He stated that the amount of fill will put the site at over 6 feet above sea level. He stated that this board inherited a long history of legal decisions, including of a 2002 lawsuit, and then the village gave up the right to impose additional environmental obligation on the developer. He stated that the prior board asked the Villages planning consultant about the total amenity. This board sought to increase the value of that package and how those monies would be used. He stated that the FEIS has a detailed analysis showing that there is a $750K surplus after the village provides the required additional police, fire, etc. He stated that the Board will eventually issue an Executive Summary. He stated that the Executive Summary is the Special Permit and that it will serve as the simplified document that will specify the environmental requirements, etc. He stated that the board has not yet seen the document yet. Michael Campton asked if the special permit would be available to the public before the vote. Trustee Schroedel said yes. Mayor Wray said that the documents are available at the Warner library. Phil Musigas of River keeper thanked Trustee Schroedel for responding to comments. He asked about availability of the documents. He asked if the village has an electronic version that can be posted on the website and also stated that the special use permit process should allow the public a chance to review. He thinks public is dealing with a limited amount of information. He asked about the relationship between the NYSDEC and the village regarding the Special Permit as well as the relationship with GM, the developer and special permit. He stated that the public should understand the special permit and that the remediation process should be explained to the public. Mayor Wray stated that the Hudson River testing was completed by the NYSDEC. He stated that the DEC told the Mayor that Riverkeeper had those documents. Phil Musigas asked when GM does sampling studies, do they share documents with the Village. Trustee Schroedel responded that the board was pleased to know that NYSDEC has broken up the site into the east and west parcels. He also stated that the DEC has made clean up of the river, part of the sign off on the west parcel. He also stated that the 2002 restriction �settlement, the special use permit will not allow a shovel in the ground before the NYSDEC signs off on the remediation. Don Cateano of Lawrence Avenue asked who would be the lead agency for the special permit. Mayor Wray responded that the Board of Trustees is the lead agency for the special permit. He stated that this dates back to 2003. When a developer comes thru it goes in front of the other boards for their specific areas of the process. Frank Stanisak stated that you can walk underneath the slab. He stated that the I beams sticking up from the site should be re-used. He also stated that he worked for some of the businesses that used to be in the area. He spoke about how the traffic flowed. He stated that Tarrytown will absorb a lot of traffic and they better get used to it. Dan Scott of 101 River Street stated that he disagreed about the Special Permit acting as an Executive Summary. He said the purpose of this meeting is to discuss the process openly with the public. He stated that the Village has an obligation to provide written material to the public. He briefly spoke about the 2002 settlement. He stated that this is ultimately a business transaction. He made the following statements and asked the following questions: 1. Make the physical layout of the site available to the public. The public should know what it would look like. 2. What are the Villages construction responsibilities? What are the costs? 3. Explain exactly what GM's legal responsibilities in the process. 4. Is GM going on tax rolls? What is the current proposal? He stated that the public should not wait until the special permit is drafted. Deputy Mayor Capossela responded that the information was available to the public back in 2004 and 2005, and then again in 2006 and 2007. He stated that there were about 50 public hearings about this process. Mayor Wray said last week's work session was very helpful and he recommended that the public look at the meeting. David Pysh stated that he was involved in 18 public hearings from 2006 and 2008. He stated that he wants to know if the current developer has to use the previous plan that was reviewed by the public. He stated that he appreciates the comments from Riverkeeper. He stated that it comes down to the design professional on board. He stated that 1% of the project is spent on thinking and planning. Trustee Wompa asked for David Smith to talk about the designs guidelines. She also stated that the board inherited a project where thousands of dollars were spent on many consultants. She also stated that there was a 2 year lag when GM was in bankruptcy. �She stated that the Board was given an FEIS. She stated that the Village retained a law firm to sit at the table with experts. She stated that she agrees that the FEIS should be online. She stated that people keep asking for things that have already been done and to go back and re-do the process over again but it cannot legally be done. David Schroedel said some of this projects design guidelines were modified slightly in response to court decisions and economical factors. David Pysh said that the design guidelines do not dictate the designs. He said that the developers will hire design professionals that will ensure quality. He stated that the developers will not guarantee a quality product. Trustee Campbell responded that he agrees. He stated that this project will bring relief and help revitalize the village. He stated that we will watch the process every step of the way and move forward. David Bedell stated that he is the Chair of the Villages Environmental Council. He stated that the Council submitted a few questions. He stated that the Negative Declaration says the Village will use the $11.5 mil for certain amenities at the GM site. He stated that he spoke to a friend in construction management who told him that added contingencies will drive up costs. He asked if GM will turn over construction drawings on the entire site. He also stated that the Village will be responsible for the soil cap and methane mediation. He asked since GM is not going to indemnify the Village, to what extent is the Village on the hook. He also stated that the membrane will be installed on the entire site not just under the roads. This was agreed to by the previous developer. He stated that the Village should keep the special permit hearing opened so that the public can have time to review all of the documents. Trustee Schroedel stated that Judge Hubert's decision had interesting comments to make about GM's environmental responsibility down the road. Jack Gasko of Webber Avenue stated that the Village is dealing with GM not the developer. He stated that things need to be examined if GM goes bankrupt again. Chuck Lanckaster stated that this has been a constructive discussion. He stated that the next 20 years of this Village depends on this project. He stated that if the Board could know future impacts for traffic, water, etc it would make the process easier. He stated that the Board has set funds aside for a master plan for the whole community. He stated that this has to be done. Adrienne Berozowski of Phillips Manor stated that just because the study is out there, it doesn't mean you can use it. He stated that part of the SEQRA process is to put the FEIS documents on the web. He stated that this is the best way for the public to know what's �going on. He stated that this is NYS law. He stated that the public cannot be expected to understand the process if they don't have access to all of the documents. Trustee Schroedel said all of the information will be on the website. John Lofaro from 29 Pine Close stated that he has been hearing the same questions and same issues. He stated that we need to get started moving forward. Eliot Martone of 18 Farrington Ave stated that the PMIA had a few questions for the Board. He asked if a cost analysis has been done to support the new facilities structures, infrastructure and new services that will be required. He also asked when this payment would come to the Village and in what form would this payment come to the village. Mayor Wray responded that the Trustees have mentioned that the developer will be providing a few building shells. He stated that the Trustees have decided to use all of the monies that were proposed to be set aside in this project and permit future Village Trustees to have the authority to decide what to spend it on. Trustee Schroedel stated that General Motors lawsuit challenged everything, line by line. He stated that because it all came out of the SEQRA process, the Trustees can only negotiate the forms of the payments. He stated that the Trustees can only negotiate that the monies go to the Village General Fund. Trustee Wompa said that while negotiating, the Trustees asked Dave Smith to do research to support the Trustees ability to negotiate with GM. Mayor Wray explained that there was no flexibility in the items. He stated that the Trustees looked at the amounts of money and how to place it and where to place it so that Village did not have limitations on how the monies were spent. Trustee Wompa said that the Trustees examined every item line by line. Trustee Schroedel stated that all of the proposed incentives are on the developer. He stated that NYS came out with a grant for solar panels. He stated that the Village can now go after those funds. Trustee Carr said that shortly after being elected, she asked about the project. She stated that it's too big and asked if the agreements could be changed. She learned that the agreements couldn't be changed. She stated that it was a huge frustration but the Trustees have made the best of this situation Marc Frye of Hudson Terrace stated that he has followed this on TV and on the Village website. He stated that it took him a couple of days to review all the documents. He stated that he found missing documents on the Roseland website. He stated that if the Trustees can �adapt this technology so that the documents can be posted on the web, he would volunteer to donate the 2002 documents and put on the website. He stated that he remembers people in this room talking about what would be done and there are still questions to be answered. He read a section from the documents stating that the NYSDEC has agreed to set higher standards for the work performed at the site. He stated that GM convinced the NYSDEC that the cleanup is an $18M job. He stated that under the Brownfield clean up agreement; GM is locked in to get a tax credit of 22% of what is built on the site. He stated that based on a $650M project, GM will get a $130M tax credit. He stated that the Village should let GM know that the Village is aware of this tax credit and its associated clean-up costs. The stated that the fiscal analysis was well done. He stated that the design guidelines are important. Dan Scott spoke again. He talked about negotiations. He stated that there is availability to negotiate. He stated that GM values this property and want to see it developed. He wanted to stress that there are legal requirements we can negotiate. He also stated that GM can't move forward unless they have the Village's approval. Trustee Campbell said anything can be negotiated. He stated that it's reached a point, and came back with a deal. He stated that you have to decide at what point to continue to negotiate of start the project. Adrienne Berozowski spoke again. He stated that given the fact that problems that the Village is facing now were based on decisions made in the past, the Trustees must consider the language in the permit and 15 years down the road. Marc Frye spoke again. He stated that the Village needs a Supplemental EIS to provide the updated fiscal analysis. He stated that the market has changed and the Village needs to better know what the tax revenue will be. He also stated that when he looked at the list for the proposed agreement, contributions, etc $11M seems like a lot, but it's not enough. He stated that a $700M development will require a larger amount than $11M. Don Cateano spoke again. He stated that if you're still negotiating, the Trustees should have GM come in with a new library. He stated that the Warner library is very crowded. Trustee Campbell responded that the value of the proposed amenities has been negotiated upwards from a $9M initial offer. He also stated that he is annoyed that Tarrytown is suing the Village after they built Hudson Harbor. At 9:05pm , since there were no further public comments. Trustee Schroedel made a motion to adjourn the public hearing. Trustee Campbell seconded. It was unanimous (6-0). Approval of Warrants: Trustee Schroedel made a motion to approve the warrants as submitted. Trustee Carr seconded. It was unanimous (6-0). �Approval of Minutes: 02/15/2011 and 02/22/2011 The Board reviewed the minutes of the 02/15/2011 meeting. Trustee Schroedel made a motion to approve the minutes as submitted. Trustee Carr seconded. It was unanimous (6-0). The minutes from the 02/22/2011 meeting will be reviewed at the next meeting. Mayor announcements: Mayor Wray stated that next Sunday is the St. Patrick's Day parade. He also stated that there are a number of properties around the former Malory plant. He stated that some people have chosen to have it remediated and some didn't. He urged owners to have their properties tested. He stated that the NYSDEC will not tell the village about the results since this is for private properties. Public Comments: Mayor opened Public Comments and evoked the 5 minute rule: Shelly Robinson told the Trustees about the woodland trail from Kendall to Rockwood Hall. She submitted a petition for the Village to provide access from Birch Close to Rockwood Hall. She stated that the Trustees need to give Kendal the go ahead to build gate and the trail and that this will be done at no cost to the Village. Mayor Wray stated that the Trustees are discussing it with the PMIA and SHMA. Mario Belanich of North Washington Street asked about any updates on the Philipsburg Manor street parking issue. Mayor Wray responded that the Trustees have received a number of interesting proposals from the residents. He stated that the proposals are being reviewed. Mario Belanich said there are "no parking signs" in the Manor. He stated that the Village should be consistent. He stated that the streets in the Manor are public, not private. Mayor Wray responded that the residents understand where we are and will come to conclusion soon. Don Cateano asked if the property across from Union hose is being changed to condos. He also asked if Barnhart Park is completely contaminated from the Malary Plant. He stated that the Village should change parking signs in the manor to limited parking. Mayor Wray stated that the Village doesn't know about the contamination at Barnhart Park. �Trustee Schroedel - Stated that the current auditors are waiting for the last auditors to send info to them so that they can complete their report. Trustee Carr - Stated that the last few meetings were spent with the General Motors hearings. Trustee Campbell - Stated that Cablevision agreement may be available at the next session. He stated that Halloween just around the corner and the Village is starting to seek sponsors. Deputy Mayor Capossela - Stated that Devries and Quator Parks are closed until further notice. He also stated that yard debris needs to be bagged as residents perform spring cleanup. Trustee Worn pa - Stated that the Environment Advisory Council has been meeting to discuss a Kingsland Park cleanup. She also stated that there is a planned Earth Day celebration on April She stated that she will meet with David Bedell for Morse Park renovations. Trustee Stupel - Stated that Court convened on Feb and several cases were resolved. She stated that ongoing discussions were taking space on collections. Administrator's Report: Anthony Giaccio, Administrator stated that the rail in front of the Police Dept will be replaced. He also stated that the stairway will also be redone. He also stated that funding for the Munimeters will be discussed at the next meeting. He also stated that the Douglas Park last phasing will be starting shortly. He stated that the 50% of the lights on Hunter Street are not working but Con Ed was working on it. He also stated that the St. Patrick's parade starts at 1:00 p.m. Resolutions: (see attached) New Business: Trustee Wompa wants signs for "No dogs" at the Morse school. Anthony Giaccio responded that it's not Village property. Trustee Wompa also stated that there is a Morse parking sign at the soccer field. She stated that it should be taken down. Trustee Stupel asked about KVS project progress. Sara DiGiacomo responded that it's still in progress. She stated that they are working with taxes, water, building department to resolve. �Communications: The Village Clerk reminded everyone that districts 6 & 10 have been relocated to Phillipsburg l^anor for the March election. Public Comments: Mario Belanich said we should change the voting districts. He stated that the Village should cut back the districts. At 9:47 p.m. Trustee Wompa made a motion to close the meeting. Trustee Schroedel seconded. It was unanimous (6-0). Respectfully submitted, ?aula A.I^Carthy Village Clerk /-] � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes & Resolutions-2011 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource MINS_TRUST_2011-03-08 Subject The topic of the resource Board of Trustees Minutes-2011 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Village of Sleepy Hollow All Rights Reserved. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text