https://sleepyhollow.localarchives.org/files/original/1388f46a3c1af38e58321b988ec141da.pdf f2ca2df6b997b1f5f3f622828a736455 PDF Text Text A regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of North Tarrytown was held on Tuesday, February 6, 1996 at 8:00 PM in Village Hall, 28 Beekman Avenue, North Tarrytown, New York. Present: Mayor Sean Treacy Richard C. Sweet Morris Alter Jose Blanco Scott P. Horecky Michael Hyland John T. Hayes, Jr. Trustees Also Present: Linda E. David, Village Administrator James Simmons, Village Attorney Mayor Treacy called the meeting to order with a pledge to the flag. Public Hearings-None Approval of Minutes Trustee Hayes moved, second by Trustee Horecky to approve the minutes of January 16,1996 with an addition made by Mayor Treacy. On page 3, first paragraph, "The Mayor discovered the grant, the Mayor received the grant application, the Chief filled in the grant application and the Mayor lobbied for the grant and was awarded the grant for the Village of North Tarrytown." Motion carried 6-0. Trustee Horecky moved, second by Trustee Alter to approve the minutes of the Special meeting of January 18, 1996 as written, motion carried 5-1 with Trustee Hyland voting no. Approval of Warrants Trustee Alter moved, second by Trustee Horecky to approve the warrants of January 16, 1996, motion carried 5-1 with Trustee Hyland voting no. Total of the General Fund is $81,967.45, Capital fund total $2,690. and the Water fund total $5,391.88. Trustee Hayes moved, second by Trustee Alter to approve the warrants of February 6, 1996. Brief discussion ensued on payments to Hitsman,Hoffman & O'Reilly, Insurance Reserve, and Depository Trust; motion carried 5-1 with Trustee Hyland voting no. Total of General Fund is $192,351.46, Capital Fund total $11,908.19 and the Water fund total $18,655.28. Public Comments-Agenda Items Trustee Alter moved, second by Trustee Hayes to open the Public Comment section, carried. Mr. Occhigrosso, Mr. Perlmutter, Mr. Carlin spoke in favor of having a public hearing for Palmer Avenue onto Route 9" and felt that solution for Devries and Merlin and hoped the law tonight. and Mr. Bucik all "no left turn from this is the best Board passed this There being no further comments, Trustee Horecky moved, second by 1 �I Trustee Alter to close the public comment section, carried. Resolutions\Attached Public Comments Trustee Alter moved, second by Trustee Horecky to open the public comment section, carried. James Tierney of 255 N.Broadway addressed the Board requesting that the village purchase a heating thermostat which is placed in an apartment for two or three days to see if the landlord is providing the proper amount of heat for a building. These thermostats cost approximately $200. Linda David commented that she spoke to the Building Inspector about this and he explained that heat complaints come under the jurisdiction of the County Health Department. Mayor Treacy asked that his request be put on the next work session agenda for discussion. There being no further comments from the public, Trustee Horecky moved, second by Trustee Hayes to close the public comment section, motion carried. Old Business Trustee Sweet asked if we have received any response from the County regarding the Police Officer's canvass. Linda David commented that the list needed to be returned and the list could not be extended as per our request, they needed more time to review the residency of the one candidate and then they would reissue a new list when we request it. Trustee Blanco asked that the Administrator give all the information regarding the proposed referendum to the Board in their packets this week. New Business-None Mayor*s Report Mayor Treacy gave a brief update on the problem that arose during the interviewing of the candidates on the civil service list. Mayor Treacy commented that there will be a GM Task Force meeting next Monday. Art Hestor, plant manager, their attorney and our attorney will be present. Discussions will continue with regard to a possible contract with GM and a departure package. Two weeks ago the Historic River Towns met. Metro North would like to underwrite our trolley program which would go through Tarrytown, North Tarrytown and Irvington. There will be a meeting on Thursday. The Mayor commented that he attended the public hearing held in Tarrytown regarding the proposed concrete recycling plant on River Street. Also in attendance were Trustees Sweet and Horecky, George Hritz, Planning Board Chairman and Robert Anello, Zoning 2 J* �I: ! Board Chairman. The consensus of the many people who were in attendance was that this plant is not a good idea. Many issues were not addressed according to a study we had done, such issues as heavy truck traffic, impact on school traffic, street maintenance, noise, odors, and many more. The next public hearing will be held on February 2 6th at 8 PM in the Warner Library. We are getting ready for our tourist season. Kykuit is the biggest attraction in Westchester. The museums in this area will be sponsoring many tours this year and March will be the Hudson Valley Art and Antique month. Mayor Treacy commented that the Board was considering adopting a local law to help eliminate vacrancy in this village. We have had a homeless person hanging around the village causing many problems. Our attorney has received a letter from the New York Civil Liberties Union stating that our Police Chief has sent them a copy of a video of the meeting where Michael White, the homeless person, was discussed. The Mayor commented that it was very interesting that our Chief of Police would send this video tape to the Civil Liberties Union. Mayor Treacy received a letter from the Westchester Rockland Guardian's Association inviting him to the dinner dance that will be held installing new officers. Sgt. Jimmy Warren will be receiving the Guardian of the Year Award at this affair. Trustees Reports Trustee Sweet commented that he has received the overtime and sick report for the police department. The Detectives are keeping him up to date on an ongoing robbery investigation. Trustee Sweet reported that he attended the hearing on the proposed concrete recycling plant and felt that the draft report is totally inadequate and incomplete. A prepared statement was not read because of the preponderance of speakers but was given to the Secretary for inclusion in the minutes of the prodceedings. Trustee Sweet reported that he received information from the Environmental Planning Bulletin to the effect that the cutbacks in the County budget has essentially eliminated the staff of the Soil and Water Conservation district. This is unfortunate because that office ws the one which provided us with the draft form for our wetlands watercourse ordinance. Trustee Sweet commented that he felt that the effort of the majority of the Board of Trustees to place the referendum on the ballot, has been thwarted. He felt that this was due to the incompentence of the Village Administrator and Village Attorney. He commented that the Board of Trustees has not been properly guided and counseled in this matter. Trustee Sweet then moved, second by Trustee Hyland that the Board of Trustees instruct the Village Clerk to call a special election for the exclusive purpose of putting a referendum dealing with the appointment power of the Board of Trustees for the Village 3 �Planning Board on the ballot, motion carried 4-3 with Trustees Hyland, Sweet, Horecky and Blanco.voting yes and Mayor Treacy and Trustees Hayes and Alter voting no. Trustee Sweet commented that he felt the Trustees have been kept in the dark regarding dealings with GM and felt that one or even all of the Trustees should be invited to future meetings with GM. He then read a memo with regard to the 1985 GM\Mt. Pleasant IDA agreement.(Part of official minutes). Mayor Treacy commented that Donald Stever, who drafted the local environmental law, has been consulted during the entire negotiation process with GM. Trustee Alter reported that baseball registration will be held this Thursday from 7-9PM and Saturday from 10AM-12PM. February 29th is the cut off date. This Friday, February 9th a dance will be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall for 6th, 7th and 8th graders. On February 10th a ski trip will take place from 8AM-4:30PM. Trustee Alter reported that during the recent wind and rain storm when approximately twelve trees came down, one tree fell in Douglas Park causing much damage. When the weather improves, we need to take care of the damage. Trustee Alter read the attached Public Works Report and commented that the update on recycling from the County coincides with ours. Trustee Blanco had no report. Trustee Horecky commented he had requested that a representative from Westchester County's recycling department meet with tenants and managers of multi-family dwellings. We are trying to get the large apartments to speed up their recycling programs. Law has been on the books since 1992 with regard to the responsibility of the large buildings with respect to recycling. He urged everyone to follow the recycling law. Our tonnage of garbage has increased and this is costing us more per ton. This is due to the fact that our recycling tonnage has gone down. The recycling list has been greatly expanded. Trustee Horecky commented that he also attended the public hearing in Tarrytown regarding the proposed concrete recycling plant which met with much disapproval from the audience. He urged everyone to attend the next one on February 26th. Trustee Horecky attended the GM Advisory Committee on Monday night where they received a presentation from Stephen Kass, the attorney handling GM discussions. He commented that the information that is reported in the newspaper is not always correct. He read a memo addressed to the Mayor and the Administrator regarding the site study, Phase I that Arthur Anderson is in the process of completing where he states that all proposals should 4 �without question be in strict compliance with the Village of North Tarrytown's Local Waterfront Revitalization Program; the riverfront development zoning district addresses this issue. Trustee Hyland commented that with regard to the hiring of the Police Officer, an anonymous letter dated November 25th was received by the Mayor's office on November 29th and on December 12th, the Board was under the impression three candidates were to be interviewed. Six weeks went by and no steps were taken before the special meeting was called, therefore the Board tabled the hiring and he did not feel our grant is in jeopardy. Trustee Hyland commented that the reason he voted no on the payment of the bills was due to the fact that there are several items he disapproved of such as fees and felt they should be discussed at the work session first. Trustee Hyland commented that the homeless person was not in a shelter but has gone to another city. Trustee Hayes reported that the Senior Coalition will hold five more sessions on Italian culture but he had no dates as yet. Trustee Hayes commented he was unable to attend the January 25th Library Board meeting but met with Diane Boersma about our getting on the internet with Hitachi. Trustee Hayes commented that he had no November fire report and then read the December and January report. Trustee Sweet commented that we need to hold a hearing with regard to the Board accepting the LWRP, adjourn it and continue for two or three more meetings. The Administrator commented that discussion at the next work session. she will prepare it for Administrator's Report Linda David commented that the County has taken over the issuing of plumbing licenses and is thinking about doing the same with electrical licenses. She commented with regard to a recent newspaper article about the closing of the Catskill aqueduct and the water restrictions being imposed; North Tarrytown is not affected by this because we are below the Kensico dam, Linda David read the Planning Board agenda for February 15 and the. Zoning Board agenda for February 21. The Fire Prevention Board meeting scheduled for February has been postponed until March. The School Board will meet on February 8. She commented that we have requested the federal government and the County to reimburse us for some of our expenses during the blizzard. Saturday Nite Live is a program for Tarrytown and North Tarrytown seventh and eighth graders on Saturday evenings at the YMCA for 5 �recreational activities. Linda David commented that with respect to more garbage being generated costing the village more in tonnage fees, the cost per tonnage has also gone up, not only the poundage. Linda David commented that she took great exception to Trustee Sweet's remarks about her. She stated that she has been diligent in both principle and duty in trying to achieve whatever goals have been set. She was responsible for trying get the information regarding the referendum to the Board when asked. Communications, Petitions & Request Deputy Clerk read correspondence from Bernard Courtney informing us of their intent to renew their liquor license at 179 Beekman Avenue, also correspondence from the National Sokol Club informing us of their intent to renew their liquor license. (Referred to Police Chief) Deputy Clerk read correspondence from Father Mazza of the Immaculate Conception Church requesting a dance permit for April 13, 1996. Deputy Clerk read correspondence from Grace Carroll complimenting Sgt. Heyward and Officer Camp for their kind assistance during the recent blizzard when she needed a ride to the station due to the fact she was scheduled for a cornea transplant in New York that day. (Placed in personnel files) Mayor Treacy read correspondence from Wilma and Bob King commending the Sanitation and Highway Departments for their excellent service throughout the year and especially during the recent blizzard. (Placed in personnel file) Mayor Treacy read c o r r e s p o n d e n c e from L e o n a r d F o g e l , Vice-President Managed Care & Business Development at Phelps Hospital thanking Chief Brophy and his department and Chief Chulla and the fire department members for all their help during the recent elevator incident that occurred on January 5, 199 6. (Placed in personnel file) Mayor Treacy was in receipt of correspondence University regarding issues in North Tarrytown. from Pace Mayor Treacy commented that there will be an elementary school PTA meeting on February 15 at 7:15 regarding the space issue. February is African American History celebrated at the Warner Library. Month which is being The Hudson Valley Writers Center is continuing with their readings this month. There being no further business, Trustee Hyland moved, second by Trustee Alter to adjourn the meeting, carried. Respectfully submitted, Angela Everett Deputy Village Clerk 6 �Meeting Date: Resolution #: 02-06-96 02-11-96 Whereas the Village is committed to furthering the interests of tourism and the local economy, and Whereas, Hitachi America has an Internet Program call View Museum to promote such endeavors, and Whereas, North Tarrytown will provide Hitachi with photographs and information and Hitachi will digitize this information and convert it to the necessary format for the View Museum program, and Whereas, there will be no cost to the Village of North Tarrytown, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Village of North Tarrytown Board of Trustees does hereby authorize the Mayor to execute this agreement with Hitachi America. MOVED: Trustee Horecky Meeting Date: Resolution #: SECONDED: Trustee Sweet VOTE: 6-0 02-06-96 02-12-96 Whereas, the Town of Mount Pleasant has requested to use a portion of the Village's water for their Pocantico Hills Water District pursuant to their January 4, 1996 letter for 2 to 3 weeks in February 1996 and for 5-6 months, November 1996 through April 1997, and Whereas, there will be a negligible impact on the Village's water system, and Whereas, Mount Pleasant will inter-connection, and incur the costs of making the Whereas, Mount Pleasant agrees to pay the cost of their portion of any water surcharges, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees does hereby authorize the Mayor to enter into such an agreement pursuant to the terms in the January 4, 1996 letter. The terms of an inter-municipal agreement to be drafted by the Village Attorney. MOVED; Trustee Horecky SECONDED: Trustee Sweet VOTE: 6-0 �I i Meeting Date: Resolution #: 02-06-96 02-13-96 Whereas, the Village of North Tarrytown is required to be in compliance with the Federal Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991 which requires alcohol and drug testing of municipal employees who have commercial drivers licenses, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees does hereby authorize the Mayor to enter into an agreement with Health and Safety Specialists to perform the necessary testing mandates along with four other municipalities (Tarrytown, Pleasantville, Briarcliff and Port Chester) to reduce training costs. HQVED: Trus tee Horecky Meeting Date: Resolution #: SECONDED:Trustee Alter VOTE: 6-0 02-06-96 02-14-96 Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the Board of Trustees does hereby authorize the following raise for Confidental Employees, School Crossing Guards and Court Employees to match what the Teamsters received. 4% 5% MOVED: T r U S t 8 e effective effective H ^land 12-01-95 06-01-96 through through SECONDED: T r U S t e S Ho 05-31-96 05-31-97 ^cky VQTE: 6 „0 �I Meeting Date: Resolution #: 02-06-96 02-15-96 Be it enacted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of North Tarrytown adopts Local Law No. 1 1996 to amend Village code Article XIII to add Section 57-63 through 65 entitled "Restricted Turns." Effective upon written approval of the New York State Department of Transportation, the Village of North Tarrytown adopts Local Law No. 1 1996 Chapter 57 Section 63 through 65 entitled "Vehicle and Traffic" Restricted Turns. Please see attached. M0VED ' • TniBf.eP. Horecky SECONDEDiTruaf.ee Hyland VOTE:J^l �1 Meeting Date: Resolution #: I • 02-06-96 02-16-96 4 «• Be it Resolved that the Assessor of the Village of North Tarrytown has prepared the Tentative Assessment Roll for the current year; and that said Assessment Roll has been filed with the Village Clerk at her office in the Municipal Building, 28 Beekman Avenue, North Tarrytown, New York, where it may be seen and examined by any persons at all times during business hours between 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM until the 20th day of February, 1996 and that on such day in the Board room, Municipal Building, 28 Beekman Avenue, in said Village, between the hours of 4 PM and 8 PM, the Board of Trustees of said Village will meet for the purpose of hearing complaints in relation thereto, on the application of any person considering himself aggrieved thereby. MOVED: Trustee Horecky SECONDED: Trustee Alter VOTE:6-Q �. <••* J H i * Meeting Date: Resolution #: * 02-06-96 02-17-95 The Mayor and the Board of Trustees does hereby call for a public hearing on February 20, 1996 at 8:00 PM to hear and consider amending Chapter 57 entitled "Vehicle and Traffic" to add Section 57-63; No left turn from Palmer Avenue onto Route 9 and No left turn onto Palmer Avenue from Route 9 northbound... MOVED:Tru,stPe Horecky SECONDED: Trustee Alter V0TE: —° �I Public Works Report February 6, 1996 Residents are asked not to put out bags of leaves or twigs at the curb until the Spring when curb side pick-up resumes. Pot hole repairs are temporarily being made now until the plant opens up in the Spring, at which time permanent repairs will be made. �As the time approaches when General Motors will shut down its assembly operations at the North Tarrytown plant it appears that an ever increasing amount of media coverage is generated. A great deal of fluff but very little substance! We, that is SOME ELECTED officials and many residents are kept in the dark as regards the progress, direction and ultimate goals of just what sort of DEALS are being concocted between the Mayor and GM officials. SURE, we are told— after the fact — of proposals and considerations which have been cut. But no one, not a single member of the Board of Trustees, all duly elected officials of the Village, be he Democrat, Republican or of any cut has been allowed to sit in, witness, nor learn first hand the nature, demeanor or attitudes expressed by any side except that which is spoon fed us by the Mayor. Now I have the greatest respect for the position of Mayor of the Village of North Tarrytown. We have had some excellent men serve, but I must confess I am somewhat uneasy about the situation which has developed. We are all human and we all are subject to make mistakes, occasionally, as is even our present mayor. I am not naive enough as to imagine that I or any of us for that matter are a match for GM administrative nor negotiation prowess. However, why does the Mayor insist that none of his elected peer group can accompany him in these meetings? This makes me more that a little uneasy. This makes me apprehensive! Don Stever did a superb job in drafting and writing our current abandonment law. Obviously GM thinks the law to be too good, not for GM, assuredly, but at least good enough that it might well stand up in a court of law. Once again I call upon the Mayor to select (should I say invite) one, or even all, of the members of the Board of Trustees to be present at any future meetings with GM. Who knows but what someone might even be able to contribute something valuable and constructive. �It would seem to me that some consideration might be made by GM to continue the present payments the that point at which they no longer have any interest in the property. It would be an economic crutch for the municipalities and at the same time an inducement for GM not to delay and dawdle! I notice in the recent issue of the Westchester Business Journal that The Village of Irvington has had some waterfrontproperty action. A distribution center has found quarters elsewhere than in Irvington and the property has been purchased for 5 and 3/4 million dollars, eight and one half acres. Waterfront property, adjacent to a public park! That's about $676,470 an acre whichfiguresto be some $65,617,647 for a 97 acre tract. Yes, I know, analogies do have limitations, but these waterfronts and adjacent parks do have common aspects. I have earlier stated that the GM property was off the tax rolls, well almost! To that end, even exempt property must pay for special district and ad valorem levies, read that — sewer district and solid waste disposal. This is a bill issued by the Town for the benefit of the County and is determined by the assessed value of the property multiplied by the appropriate tax rate. In the case of GM the assessed value used for the total of all four parcels is $6,244,000 and for 1995 produced a total of $215,711,61 in special district taxes. Incidentally, that assessed value and our 1995 equalization rate of 3.75% reveals a so called full market value for the property of $166,506,666.70, pretty close to the $170,000,000 improvements the IDA put in and a far cry from the $70,000,00 which GM said shall be the assumed value of the property during the term of the agreement to 1995. There are other points which should be made, such as the effect of overvalued GM property on the remaining taxable property in the school district of the Tarrytowns. �With regard to the 1985 GM/Mt Pleasant IDA agreement there are several points which I would like to bring to the attention of the Board and to residents of our community. The agreement culminated the efforts of GM to seek relief from the most recent of three certeriori actions which had been brought over the period from late 60s to early 80s. The prior two were satisfied by agreement with the municipalities involved in the form of repayment to GM of taxes or credit thereto. The most recent agreement was quite different in that it involved the sale of their property to and the lease back from the Mt Pleasant Industrial Development Agency. As owner of the property the Mt P IDA would hold the property free of taxes, i.e. tax exempt, off the tax rolls, (well, almost). The IDA in turn was to issue bonds, both exempt and otherwise, in the amount of $170,000,000 (one hundred seventy million dollars) with which the IDA would make certain improvements, expansions, and create state of the art facilities. The lease period was intended to be twenty years with thefirstten years designated to invoke certain fixed payments to be made by GM to the municipalities as payment in lieu of taxes. The lease fee to be made by GM to the MT P IDA was to be certain payments of monies in such manner as to retire all the bonds which the IDA held within the period of twenty years. GM could, at any time, retire all the bonds and immediately regain deed and title to the property. For the period 1986 thru 1995 the grand sum of $37,115,00 has been paid to the municipalities, of which the school district has received $20,385,000, the Village, $11,180,000, the County $953,000 and the Town ,the balance $2,2542,141.83. Since 1988 GM has had a fixed annual payment of $3,500,00 NOTE THESE FIGURES NOT INCLUDE THE ADJUSTMENTS MADE AS A RESULT OF THE RAIL SPUR IMPROVEMENT. For a company the size of General Motors to experience afirmand fixed real estate tax fee for a ten year peiiod is quite an accomplishment. That it is now willing to extend this fixed payment for another two years is a CRUMB! A company wluch this year boasts the highest profits ever and they are willing to extend the fixed payment for a mere two years. �i The need to address the effect of the pilot payments on the Tartytown's school district taxpayers within the town of Mt Pleasant. Why was there an oversight in the original agreement ? Could there have been a conflict of interest? � 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-1996 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_1996-02-06 Subject The topic of the resource Board of Trustees Minutes-1996 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996 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