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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-09-15 - Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes REGULAR MEETING VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING VILLAGE HALL, 938 KING STREET TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009-7:00 P.M. ROLL CALL: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: REPORT: PUBLIC HEARINGS: WORK SESSION: (1) Work Session with Building Inspector to discuss Board of Trustees priorities RESOLUTIONS: (1) Considering prohibiting garbage contractor to enter into private residences for the removal of trash ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT: OLD BUSINESS: (1) Proposed Edgewood Drive Detention Basin (2) Arbors PUD Site Plan amendment NEW BUSINESS: DISCUSSION ITEMS: (1) Various Code compliance issues for the AHOA PUD property and review of the AHOA PUD site plan amendment submissions/ omissions (2) 2004 lot merger application of Kenneth B. Heller ACTION ON NON-AGENDA MATTERS SUBJECT TO THE CONSENT OF THE Board of Trustees September 15, 2009 Page 1 of 13 TRUSTEES PRESENT AT THE MEETING BOARD: Trustee Michael S. Brown Trustee Paul S. Rosenberg Trustee Patricia Sanders Romano Trustee Dean P. Santon Mayor Joan L. Feinstein STAFF: Christopher Bradbury, Village Administrator David Burke, Assistant to the Village Administrator Edward Beane, Esq., Village Counsel Chief Greg Austin, Police Chief Mike Nowak, Acting Village Engineer Fred Seifert, Public Access Coordinator Shari Melillo, Meeting Secretary WORK SESSION: Mr. Bradbury, Village Administrator, explained that this work session contained a list of Board driven items and not the day to day goings on of the Building Department. The basis of this session is to update the list and obtain a priority level from the board on each of the listed items. The first few items on the list are already in progress with the telephone system being near completion. 62 Rock Ridge Drive — there are many encroachments in regard to this property. Mayor Feinstein believes the Village needs to send a letter with a notice of violation and that the remedy will be based on the response. Trustee Santon does not believe it is fair for the people who have already corrected their issues if we go easy on the people who have not. Mr. Bradbury expressed his frustration at spending $10,000 and receiving a guilty plea yet nothing has changed Mr. Beane, Village Counsel, explained there are certain legal risks for the Village that need to be addressed. He has a non litigation plan that he will address with the board at a future meeting. Board of Trustees September 15, 2009 Page 2 of 13 Conclusion—letters with notice of violation and a return date will be sent out by Building Inspector Mickey Izzo. The letters will be tailored to each property and will outline all of the outstanding issues. Official Map — Mr. Beane has had many discussions with Trustee Santon and they have addressed multiple issues. He will schedule a meeting with Trustee Santon and Mr. Bradbury and a representative from his office prior to the board meeting to continue discussions. He suggested that the topic may need to be adjourned but will keep the board advised. Home occupations — Mr. Izzo explained that the problem is that the letters that went out said "if this does not apply, there is no need to respond". He would like direction from the board on the next step. Mr. Bradbury suggested that a sterner letter needs to go out now advising them that we have an understanding that they are operating a home business and need to come forward to become code compliant. Trustee Rosenberg believes it will be difficult to ascertain who is and who isn't running a home occupation and honestly does not remember the list. Mayor Feinstein believes the priority should be the ones that we are sure of. Mr. Izzo added that there is nothing stopping us from pursuing this, it's just knowing what the next step is. Landscape plan for Rye Brook athletic field—we have confirmation of receiving $15,000 grant money for plantings. Mrs. Timpone-Mohamed, Village Planning Consultant, will visit the site and has offered to keep her fee low and submit a plan to the board. Removal of parking area on South Ridge Street — a portion of the parking areas is in the Village right of way and there is a car parking there. Steve Fews, Code Enforcement Officer, has addressed this issue with the person parking there. Mr. Izzo's question is should we only focus on this one property because there are others throughout the Village. Mr. Bradbury explained that the way it's enforced is no newly created parking areas. The problem is we would have to eliminate a lot of other properties that are doing the same thing in that particular area and is this something the board wants to address. This could potentially cause parking issues which are a problem to begin with. The parking spot in question, the woman was told not to park there anymore but asphalt remains. Trustee Santon believes the owner should be told to remove it because it is in the village right of way. Mayor Feinstein would like to keep this as a low priority at this point. Roanoke Public Driveway next to Rye Ridge—this is a public entrance off an unimproved street. Mr. Bradbury added that the homeowner needs to be able to get to his driveway and believes a license agreement should be made between the homeowner and the village. Same issue exists on Woodland and Trustee Santon would like both addressed at the same time and does not want the Village to have any responsibility for that property— repaving— snow plowing etc. Board of Trustees September 15, 2009 Page 3 of 13 Anderson Hill Road transfer— County is supposed to do a resolution and a de-mapping of it and the County responded by saying it was not their problem. Mayor Feinstein asked Mr. Beane to intervene and speak to them. House renumbering —when enhanced 911 went into affect it did not renumber the entire village. Some areas are out of sequence and Mr. Bradbury believes it should be corrected. Trustee Rosenberg asked about making changes to the code in relation to this issue and the previous number change on Country Ridge Drive. Mr. Bradbury will add it to the agenda to set a public hearing. Gas station — signage and storage of trucks — Mr. Beane believes Jennifer Reinke from his office is handling this and he will get and update and relay the information to the board. Work Session ended at 7:57 pm Regular meeting convened at 8:00 pm Mayor Feinstein called for the first item on the agenda: RESOLUTIONS: (1) Considering prohibiting garbage contractor to enter into private residences for the removal of trash Mr. Bradbury, Village Administrator, read the resolution after which a motion was made by Trustee Sanders Romano and seconded by Trustee Santon. Mr. Bradbury explained that over the years some residents have allowed private contractors access to garages and private sheds. The Village does not believe it is a good practice especially when accidents happen and personal property is taken by mistake. Mayor Feinstein added that it came to her attention with the change of garbage vendors. Most residents did not realize that carters can get the garbage from the garage if they so wanted and she realized some homeowners might be upset but the Village believes this is no longer a good idea. Trustee Brown asked legally what the ramifications would be. Board of Trustees September 15, 2009 Page 4 of 13 Mr. Ed Beane, Village Counsel, responded that if we have knowledge the legal ramifications to the village would be potential property damage or personal injuries as a result of giving permission to enter private property under conditions that we don't control. He believes it is an uncontrollable risk and while there have been no incidents or litigation he is aware of from missing items, the potential liability is there. Mr. Bradbury added that there have been two incidents with AAA, both of which they are paying for when items are mistakenly taken from garages. AAA will distribute the notices because they have the knowledge of who receives the service. As of 10/5/09 there will be no more inside pick up. Trustee Santon stated that it was AAA that initiated the request but he would prefer to know what addresses are receiving this service and have the Village inform them directly. Mr. Bradbury does not believe that is necessary because it is a letter from the Village directly delivered to the residents involved. Further discussion on the noise issue and the backing into the driveways in regard to the garbage pick up was discussed, but Mr. Beane does not believe those are legal problems because it is all part of the contract. Mr. Jeff Held of 33 Meadowlark Road asked what the policy is with regard to recyclables and rubbish at which the board responded curbside only. With their being no further comments, Mr. David Burke, Assistant to the Administrator, called the roll: Trustee Michael S. Brown Voting Aye Trustee Paul S. Rosenberg Voting Aye Trustee Patricia Sanders Romano Voting Aye Trustee Dean P. Santon Voting Aye Mayor Joan L. Feinstein Voting Aye ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT: Mr. Bradbury stated that there is a meeting set in regard to the Hutchinson River Parkway and the trucks hitting the overpass. Rye Brook officials will meet with County and State officials as well as George Latimer to hopefully find a resolution to this problem. The videoing of the drain lines is complete at Woodland and Edgewood and so far no illegal connections have been found. A complete report will be provided to the Board. Mr. Bradbury advised the board that milling has begun for the paving of streets and he will keep them abreast of the progress. Board of Trustees September 15, 2009 Page 5 of 13 OLD BUSINESS: (1) Proposed Edgewood Drive Detention Basin Mayor Feinstein advised that this is a continuation from the previous work session held on July 15, 2009. As we are all aware, the bids for the detention basin came in much higher thn anticipated and it was decided at that work session to attempt to take another look at the project,possibly redesign it, look for possible additional funding, etc. Mr. Dolph Rotfeld has submitted a memo regarding ways to change the basin project to make it more affordable. Mayor Feinstein noted those changes would be addressed tonight. Mr. Rotfeld said he can possibly reduce the cost by $188,000. She further stated that there is no additional funding available and the project is supposed to be completed by 5/30/2010. The Board needs to make some decisions on which direction to go with this project. Bilotta Construction is the lowest bidder and they believe they could reduce the cost. Mr. Bradbury advised the board that by changing the bid quantities the bidders would change so therefore the project would need to be rebid again. If we change the line items, we must rebid....not all of them, but most. It would take a month to rebid the project and he believes it could still be done as a winter project. Mayor Feinstein asked about changing the dimensions of the pond and the rock excavation item of the bid and asked what the impacts would be. Mr. Dolph Rotfeld addressed the board and stated that they had looked at the second bidder who was very close to the lowest and with respect to one of the major items, the landscaping, the second lowest bidder was substantially lower then Bilotta. If you took the same things out, the second bidder would become the lowest bidder. The board has to make the decisions on what items to reduce with the understanding that a lot of trees would be eliminated, which is where most of the money goes, around the perimeter or the upper level of the project. As far as the rock excavation, it's not just the difference in relation to the 5, 10, 15, and 25 year storms, the 100 year storm must be included as well and changing the dimension would cause the 100 year storm to overflow. Mayor Feinstein responded that the first issue is whether or not the board has the desire to go through with the project at the bid received. She believes this board has a responsibility to review the cost as it is much higher then thought. Board of Trustees September 15, 2009 Page 6 of 13 Trustee Rosenberg responded that with bonding interest it brings this project to over a $1,000,000 and at this time in this economy he does not believe it is prudent and he can't support it at this cost. Trustee Brown stated that in his opinion, this was the Rolls Royce of plans because we put everything into it to make everyone as happy as possible. He never imagined the numbers would be this high. He too cannot support this project at this cost although he is in favor of project; we need to find another way that is financially responsible. Trustee Brown would like to see it rebid. Trustee Romano agreed and also thoroughly supports the project but is concerned of course with the cost. She believes the board needs to take a look at what we identified and possibly have another work session before rebidding. Trustee Santon does not think it is fair to add the interest cost because everything has interest costs and the reality is we have $218,000 on an $800,000 project. He believes this is a project that is another link in the chain as we head south through the Village and is hoping we can get past this and focus our energy on the next set of storm water concerns. He believes the budget figure that was set was unreasonable. Trustee Santon would rather go ahead with the project at the $833,000 cost then not do the project and there is no certainty that the new bids will be any better. He believes if we don't do this project now, it won't get done and it has been 30 years in the making and needs to be done. Mr. Bradbury added that in looking at the list from the work session, the board made suggestions on what could come out and what has to stay but can be changed in regard to the monuments and fencing as added alternates Making the changes he suggested could save $200,000 in addition to the landscaping. Trustee Santon would not want to short change the project because it is possible that we will get better pricing this time around. Go for the same scope of work just broken out into different pockets. He is not happy cutting down 16 more trees to avoid blasting. Mr. Rotfeld added that one of the items that could have an impact is to have a separate landscaping project as he believes that landscapers would provide better pricing. Trustee Santon stated that the main reason we had sticker shock is because we assumed too low. We have done other projects but they didn't hit so hard because other people were paying for it, like the County with the ball field project. He is prepared to go ahead with this project at the $833,000 and thinks that turning this project away is irresponsible if we believe it has merit. We may not get better pricing and he is not comfortable with increasing the dimensions of the basin and losing 16-18 more trees. Board of Trustees September 15, 2009 Page 7 of 13 Mayor Feinstein asked for comments from the public: Sam Schwartzman of 15 Edgewood Drive addressed the board and stated that from what he heard, this is a nightmare scenario. He hears and believes that this is a done deal— and his main concern is how it looks and the safety issue. He appreciates the efforts of Mr. Santon in regard to landscaping. He thinks the easy stuff to remove from the plan, like the landscaping, are the things that affect the surrounding residents the most. Mayor Feinstein took exception to his comments as this board made a policy decision subject to entering into a contract and the last step would be the cost. The determination was made to go ahead with the project long ago but it was subject to entering into a contract at a reasonable cost. Trustee Romano added that she has always been in favor of the project but not in favor of an extreme cost to the taxpayers. Trustee Santon is prepared to vote on the project for the full 5833,000. He stated that we have done other projects at similar costs and is confident that this project was bid out properly and he has no reason to believe we did not get value for what we put into the project. Mr. Brian Burke of 11 Edgewood Drive concurs with Mr. Schwartzman and Trustee Santon. The residents were originally told it would be the least amount of impact to the affected residents. He stated that he Board never said it was a Rolls Royce plan but just a plan to help the residents affected by the water. The residents knew the number that came in would be high. He does not want to see it piecemealed and believes the design change is a significant change and the impact statement clearly states there would be safety fencing — a retaining wall and landscaping. If you are going to pull those items out, you need to rethink the project. He wants the board to do it right with the least amount of impact to the character of the neighborhoods involved. He believes the board owes it to the residents. Mr. Jim Gluckson of 100 Brush Hollow Close concurs with Mr. Burke. The Rye Brook signs say tree city USA—this is a beautiful community and he takes it very seriously. Mr. Dom Accurso of 50 Rock Ridge Drive is a 45 year resident of the Village. He concurs with Trustee Santon in that if this project does not get done now it will never get done... He also believes it and is in favor of the project as designed. Board of Trustees September 15, 2009 Page 8 of 13 County Legislature Martin Rogowsky addressed the board and stated that Trustee Santon had visited him at the County Board meeting at which the vote on the flood mitigation project was passed. He advised the board that in regard to the housing lawsuit which the county is facing, they have 45 days to ratify the settlement agreement and if they can't, the trial is set for November 2"d. If they were to accept the settlement, the county would have to pay approximately 60 million dollars and if it was to go to trial, the lawyers speculate it would cost approximately 180 million dollars. There would be a federal monitor appointed by the federal government to oversee 750 units of housing throughout Westchester County in communities with populations of less then 3 percent African American and 7 percent Hispanic. He is leaning for voting against the settlement because he wants to fight this and believes we have a decent chance on appeal. HUD is prepared to sue us if we go to court and lose— they will sue us for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009 as well as 1996-97 a potentially 400 million dollar exposure. They need 12 votes out of 17 to fight this and he is particularly perturbed that someone living and working in the Bronx would have the same legal rights to housing as someone in Port Chester. The principle of affordable housing is something we all understand and agree with. The county has built 1700 units over the last few years and has an excellent record in building affordable housing. This lawsuit assumes that we have fostered segregation and because of that he is against it. Mayor Feinstein added that Rye Brook has 44 units of affordable housing which includes BelleFair. This is a proactive community in regards to affordable housing and she is glad that the County Legislatures have to make the decision and not us. Trustee Santon thanked Mr. Rogowsky as he appreciated the visit to the county board but does not appreciate what the federal government is trying to do and wished him luck. Mayor Feinstein called for a short recess. The Board reconvened at 9:49 Mayor Feinstein called for the next item on the agenda: (2) Arbors PUD Site Plan amendment Mayor Feinstein explained that this item has been under discussion for some time for a PUD amendment to reflect changes made to The Arbors property. There has been no formal site plan amendment since The Arbors was built but there have been improvements, such as decks. A formal submission was made and a site plan application was submitted to the Village. Board of Trustees September 15, 2009 Page 9 of 13 Mr. Rick Wasprock of LAN Associates, representing the Arbors, addressed the board and stated that this process actually started IS months ago at the request of the Village. There are two main components to the PUD update: what is the baseline of the original PUD and how have things changed. Projects were done through the Building Department but no PUD update was ever done. Information has been hard to come by because there is a limited amount of information available. They are attempting to move forward to establish the baseline. LAN Associates has been involved with the Arbors for about 7 years and has studied the sewers, road pavement and maintenance in the detention basin. Today is the start of the formal discussions to continue to move this forward. Mayor Feinstein responded that a formal submission was just made last week and there has not been enough time to review it. Since there has not been an update in 30 years, the goal is to streamline the process when improvements are made in the future. Mr. Bradbury stated that we have had very cooperative discussions with the Arbors. In some cases where changes were made the village was involved and in some case they were not. The challenge is to create development standards of what type of work is acceptable through the Building Department and what work would have to go before the Board of Trustees as a PUD amendment. Mayor Feinstein added that on the new plans it shows deck, patios etc., and it is possible that some of those improvements did not go before the village for permits. She asked that if we vote on this PUD and they have not been before the Building Department, are we in fact approving it. This is her concern and if so, how to deal with that because they have not gone through the approval process. Mr. Bradbury responded that the projects that have not gone through the Building Department still have to go through the process to certify the work was done up to code. Mr. Wasprock added that he can help with the projects LAN was involved with, but the others are difficult to get a grasp on because of the records problem and not being able to find additional records. Trustee Santon called Mr. Wasprock to task on a letter that states an agreement was made with village staff to accept a drawing as a baseline. He went on to give a brief history of The Arbors and explained that the other two PUD's, BelleFair and Talcott, have already completed their processes. Board of Trustees September 15, 2009 Page 10 of 13 Trustee Santon had drawings that he found on file at the town rooms as well as our Building Department. Every plan had a model and every model has a floor plan. They are on the tax website under the historical property card. There are now over 100 decks in The Arbors yet none are on the plan submitted by LAN. There is a lot of history that is available here and at 10 Pearl Street as well. Trustee Santon would be happy to assist Mr. Wasprock and loan him the information he has found. The drawings he was given tonight show the grading plans and the sewer design plans. Mayor Feinstein believes that there is a lot of information available and it needs to be on the site plan. She wants to make sure that decks and changes to the properties that were done were done properly. Mr. Wasprock thanked Trustee Santon for his research and would like to see the documents he has found and agreed that it would be very helpful. Trustee Santon is in the process of sending a memo to this board. He has done a lot of research and will share it with Mr. Wasprock and is sure it will be helpful. Policy decisions will have to be made as a board. Mayor Feinstein added that we want to address any changes that The Arbors wants in the PUD and not only show the changes that have taken place, but also what they want changed for the future. Mr. Bradbury stated that the village will share all information and ultimately then the staff can provide the Arbors with certain information that is readily available that can be involved in the plan. In terms of what is out there and what might be proposed, it should all be included, adding the easements and the dimensional issues as well. Mayor Feinstein wants to streamline the process and is also cost conscious for The Arbors. She believes we have made a lot of progress. Mr. Bradbury advised that the village has applications before us where there are existing decks that do not have building permits. One of them is going through a sale and he would suggest that it go through a building permit process so as to avoid a backlog. Trustee Rosenberg suggested that we waive penalties for people who are legalizing their changes and make it as painless and cost effective for the homeowners as possible. Mayor Feinstein requested to put amnesty on for discussion at a future board meeting. Board of Trustees September 15, 2009 Page 11 of 13 Trustee Santon added that the applicant should tell us what changes they know about because there are some things they have to know, such as parking spots being removed and roads being reconfigured. In terms of fencing, if you don't want to have the obligation of perimeter fencing you have to request that. This was designed so there was a buffer and it is important to maintain the integrity of it. If any installations go beyond the property boundaries, this board will have to make a policy decision. There are a lot of issues and believes they can be dealt with and would be happy to help. Trustee Brown recommended that they come up with some suggestions to bring to the board so that when a homeowner wants to make changes to their property, they don't have to pay to make changes to the PUD as well. This board will explore it and believes the applicant and the architect and engineer should do that also. Mayor Feinstein called for questions from the audience. Mr. James Glucksman addressed the board stating that it would be a traumatic and expensive process for the residents that is adding a layer of red tape for something done by the Homeowners Association and in his opinion is not necessary. Ms. Toby Marrow of 223 Treetop Crescent understands the process but what she does not understand is that the biggest change is the land used for the ball field and sold to the village. None of the changes have been done in secret. She is not arguing with the process, but a lot of information has been given to the village and yet no one ever asked for a PUD update. She requested that the Village please make the process easy. Mr. Bradbury responded that no one is pointing fingers, the past is the past. The roadway and curbing changes all came to the village and that is not part of this discussion. No one is criticizing the Arbors. Some people got permits and some people didn't. Right or wrong, that is the process. Ms. Moge Agahian, President of The Arbors Homeowners Association, stated that The Arbors is well represented here tonight. Her request is that this board makes their demands more concrete because in the past 18 months the standards and what is being demanded of the Arbors is fluid and seems to change. She is requesting something in writing and more concrete. Mr. Mark Weingarten, 25 Bayberry Lane, asked how the issue came up after 30 years of the PUD being in place and is wondering why 18 months have passed with discussions and suddenly plans are available now when they were not before. Board of Trustees September 15, 2009 Page 12 of 13 Trustee Santon responded that about 18 months ago the Building Department received inquiries from a resident of Meadowlark Road regarding the pathway and the falling of the fence and she had asked the Arbors about replacing it. The story that was told is the resident was upset because the manager said we can split the cost of fixing it or they would just take it down and be done with it. He did some research and found that The Arbors was responsible and from there other information came to light. He flipped the question and asked why the Arbors did not know what was being done on their property. Trustee Santon feel that the Arbors has to take some responsibility for where we are and that there has to be an accurate baseline and that is hopefully where we are headed. Mayor Feinstein is not concerned with the past and what has already been done and now wants to develop a plan to streamline the process for the residents. Mr. Wasprock asked if there were as built drawings and the response was there are none. Mayor Feinstein asked if there were any other comments or if anyone else from the public would like to address the board. Mr. Capocci, 499 Ellendale Avenue, addressed the board with concern regarding a tax issue on his property. He has received a bill for an increase of $5000 in his school assessment. Last year he paid $6,900 and this year it jumped to over $11,000 increasing the property value 150 percent in one year. The Board explained we have no jurisdiction and suggested he speak to the Town Assessor and Town board. After further discussion, it was revealed that Mr. Capocci has 3 houses on his property but had only been paying tax for two of the properties which may account for the increase. There being no further comments or discussion, Mayor Feinstein called for a motion to adjourn and on a motion made by Trustee Sanders Romano and seconded by Trustee Santon, the meeting was adjourned at 11:19 pm. Board of Trustees September 15, 2009 Page 13 of 13