HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-01-27 - Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes VILLAGE BOARD MEETING
AGENDA
DATE: 87/1-27
1 . APPROVAL OF MINUTES: December 9th and 23rd 1986 .
2 . PUBLIC HEARINGS:
1. LUNDELL PROPERTY (Adjourned from December 23rd, 1986 ) .
2 . UNNECESSARY NOISE LAW (Adjourned from December 23rd, 1986 ) .
3 . SUBDIVISION APPLICATION, GIORGI PROPERTY ON WYMAN STREET
BLOCK 22 LOT 4AH391D
4. PROPOSED LOCAL LAW RE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF VILLAGE
ADMINISTRATOR
3 . COMMUNICATIONS:
4. DISCUSSION & REPORTS:
1 . VILLAGE COURT
2. ESTABLISHMENT OF FORMULA FOR DETERMINING RECREATION FEES IN
CONNECTION WITH SUBDIVISIONS .
3 . CABLE TV.
5 . RESOLUTIONS:
1. ELECTION PROCEDURES ( 3 )
2. GRIEVANCE DAY
3 . BID FOR SENIOR CITIZEN BUS.
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MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING HELD ON JANUARY 27TH 1987 AT 8
P.M. AT THE VILLAGE OFFICE, 90 SOUTH RIDGE STREET, RYE BROOK,
NY 10573_
PRESENT: Mayor Kabcenell, Trustees Meiskin, Nardi, Cresenzi,
Zak, Attorney Kramer, Treasurer Cortese, Clerk
j Smith.
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Minutes of the meetings of December 9th and December 23rd,
1986 were approved as presented.
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PUBLIC HEARING - LUNDELL PROPERTY SUBDIVISION (Adjourned from
December 23rd, 1986 ) .
Mayor Kabcenell - approval has been recommended by the
Planning Board at their last meeting with certain caveats ,
essentially the caveats that they wanted considered further
had to do with traffic - they had not yet received the report
from the County - and drainage, and again they had not yet
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received the report.
For information a letter of January 12th from Westchester
County Planning Board, part of which relates to this
"Pursuant to Section 239L, M & N of the General Municipal Law
we have reviewed the proposed 46-unit, attached townhouse
cluster subdivision. The 4. 8 acre property abuts South
Ridge Street (CR548 ) and Wyman Street, a local road. A
park-like open space will be preserved adjacent to the Blind
Brook Drainage Channel which abuts the western edge of the
property. This site is zoned for R2-F ( 2 family
residential, minimum 5 ,000 s.f. lots ) .
The WCPB recommends approval of the proposed cluster
subdivision. The housing element of the project is
consistent with the County' s policy on residential
development while the cluster layout preserves the open space
character of the County drainage channel and mitigates
against the subdivision' s drainage impacts. A mechanism
should be established, however, to ensure adequate and
continuous maintenance of the proposed Blind Brook green
space. The proposed development is compatible with
surrounding land uses and will not result in any significant
adverse intermunicipal impacts. Access from the local road
ensures limited traffic impacts to the abutting county road.
A stream control permit must be obtained from the County' s
Department of Public Works , and we defer to the
recommendations of that department and those of the County
Soil and Water Conservation District regarding this aspect of
the project. The County' s DPW will also be reviewing the
project under the provisions of Section 239K of the General
Municipal Law.
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The County Planning Board' s Urban Form Refinement Guidelines
( 1985 ) places the property in the "High Density Urban 4-6" 1-
287 development corridor. The proposed density of
approximately 9 units per acre, while below the range
recommended for this Urban Form category, is appropriate
given the site ' s topography, surrounding development
patterns , and proximity to Blind Brook.
Traffic impacts to the County Road are minimized by the local
road connection. We support the Village Planning Board in
requiring a more generous cul-de-sac roadway width for
purposes of emergency access.
We support the proposed cluster design as it preserves and
enhances the contiguous greenbelt which follows the brook in
this vicinity. Provisions for the continuous maintenance of
this area should be ensured through either a carefully-
considered homeowner association agreement or public
dedication of land. Drainage impacts will be reviewed by
the County Department of Public Works. We recommend that
plans be forwarded to the County Soil and Water Conservation
District as well. We condition our approval upon the
findings and recommendations of these two agencies. "
Attorney Gioffre - a representative of the County is present
to answer any questions on drainage.
Mayor Kabcenell - we understand that some of these units are
now located within the 100 year flood plain and that they
will located above the height of the flood plain. Correct.
I assume that part of the flood plain will be filled in.
Correct. What provision has been made for the retention of
the water that is being replaced by soil and building?
Bruce Smith - Engineer - we were required to retain on the
site, or in the storm drainage system, 115% of the excess
runoff . We have provided on a preliminary basis, a design
which will retain something more than 2 1/2 times that
requirement. The net effect of the grading and construction
is that there will be an increase in the elevation of the 100
year flood by approximately 3-4 inches , which does not impact
any additional structure within the flood plain, although it
will moderately increase the level of flooding on buildings
that are already flooded. About 100 feet upstream, the
increase will be about 5 inches.
Mayor Kabcenell - I find some inconsistency in that the fact
that there will be increased retention on the Lundell
property.
Cross conversation between engineers present covered aspects
of this , and it was stated that the only way to eliminate an
increase in the flood plain would be to not have any
buildings in that area.
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Mayor Kabcenell - is there any way to deal with the edges of
the stream a 100 feet upstream so that it does not impact
people living there now.
Bruce Smith - the impact appears to be in the garage and
probably basement areas of two homes which are at the end of
Wyman Street - there is a low wall there and when the water
crests and reaches the top of the wall I presume it then
spills over and floods an area which is lower. Raising the
wall would not be effective, because there is a culvert which
would back up. These two homes are below the flood plain,
and currently flood to a depth of about 4 feet and after
construction that would be increased by a few inches.
Mayor Kabcenell - we have made it clear that any purchasers
of homes in these compromised areas be made aware of the
circumstances, and we have an agreement from this developer
that this will be done.
Trustee Meiskin - how will prospective purchasers be advised
that they will be .in a flood plain?
Attorney Gioffre - we have agreed to provide some form of
disclosure, one of the ways is in the offering plan which a
prospective purchaser is required by law to receive. We can
show the flood plain on the map, the location of the given
dwellings on the site in relation to the flood plain, and the
specific caveat with respect to those given to the buyer in
some fashion more than just the formality of going to the
Clerk' s office. Lenders require that in cases such as this ,
that they be provided with flood insurance.
Trustee Nardi - how many units are going to be in the flood
plain? - Eighteen - I have a problem with allowing
something to be developed which is going to worsen an already
bad situation.
Mayor Kabcenell - the other major consideration is traffic.
The County made some recommendations at the last meeting
about how they felt the traffic problems should be addressed.
A diagram showed the right side of South Ridge on the bridge
over I287 being painted to move traffic into the center lane,
away from the Wyman Street intersection, which would permit
cars coming out of Wyman to come out further for better
visibility, and widening that part of Wyman on the curve to
the right, would create an access lane to flow into the
traffic on South Ridge, so that cars could bypass a car
waiting to make a left turn to go north on S.Ridge.
The County has said that there is no need for a traffic
light, and we would have to get approval for these proposed
improvements from them.
Trustee Cresenzi - the units on the north side of the
property are in excess of 140 feet long, that bothers me with
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respect to the homes that abut that property in the rear
would be looking at a massive structure. Perhaps the plan
could be flipped.
Mr. Walmsley - we have scaled down the units from the
original design, to create additional open space. The
footprint area of all construction has been brought down from
about 20 .8% to about 18. 80, which is actually less than would
result from a conventional 2-family layout. There are
elevational changes in the front and back of the building in
terms of offsets, so you will not see a long building, there
will be setbacks with balconies. The road is not in the
center of the property and flipping the plan would not permit
the corner property to be worked out.
Mayor Kabcenell - what we are saying is that we find the
north side far less desirable than the south side and are
calling on you to come up with something that would make it
more satisfactory.
Attorney Gioffre - we are willing to go back to the Planning
Board to work this out and try to come up with some alternate
schemes and see if they work.
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Mayor Kabcenell - what we need now is a motion to provide
preliminary plat approval with the reservation presented
clearly to the developer that the Board looks with favor on
the widening of Wyman in terms of traffic control, providing
it will be acceptable to the County, and the Board has a
great concern relating to the ambiance and the appearance of
this project from the homes on Wyman and would need to to be
satisfactory.
On the motion of Trustee Meiskin, seconded by Trustee Zak,
RESOLVED that the Village Board of Trustees declare itself
Lead Agency in the matter of the subdivision application for
the Lundell Property on South Ridge Street.
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
On the motion of Trustee Meiskin, seconded by Trustee Zak,
RESOLVED that the Village Board find a negative environmental
impact in the matter of the subdivision application for the
Lundell property on South Ridge Street.
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
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Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
on the motion of Trustee Meiskin, seconded by Trustee Zak,
RESOLVED that the Village Board give preliminary plat
approval to the subdivision application for the Lundell
property with caveats with respect to the widening of Wyman
and a consideration for the appearance of the back of the
units which face Wyman. (Fritz Weidle to prepare
resolution) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Prospectus to list flooding potential and to be carried
forward with the deeds,
Recreation fee agreement
Georgia Kramer - Is there going to be a prospectus for a
homeowners association? Yes.
Mayor Kabcenell - .we want prospective buyers to know what
the circumstances are.
Trustee Nardi - at whose cost would the widening of Wyman
Street be done?
Mayor Kabcenell - Not the Village ' s.
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
Ken Heller - Is the park available to the public?
Mayor Kabcenell - We haven' t resolved that, obviously the
developer would like that to be part of a recreation
facility, the Village has not assured that they find that an
acceptable general recreation area, that's why we have added
that there will have to be agreement in terms of recreation
requirements .
PUBLIC HEARING - UNNECESSARY NOISE LAW.
Mayor Kabcenell - this hearing was adjourned from December
23rd, 1986 , however, we are trying to get a little more
complete law in making it enforceable and making it
understood and so there is some more work to be, therefore I
would like to suggest that this be adjourned to the meeting
on February 24th, 1987 .
On the motion of Trustee Meiskin, seconded by Trustee Zak,
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RESOLVED that the Public Hearing on amendments to the
Unnecessary Noise Law be adjourned until February 24th, 1987 .
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
SUBDIVISION APPLICATION - GIORGI PROPERTY ON WYMAN STREET
BY LOUIS LARRIZZA.
John Colangelo - attorney for the developer, we are here for
preliminary site plan approval, pursuant to the
recommendation of the Planning Commission. At this point
the property is legal non-conforming garage with various
other accessory commercial uses . We desire to put
residential units on this property, a cluster type
development, which maximizes open space, and will result in
economy of construction costs, this means we are hoping to
provided more economical housing, which is sorely needed.
Another major consideration is tax implications for the
Village, this type of cluster development will provide almost
double the taxes than a development of two family houses.
It would remove the commercial character and the truck
traffic which now occurs on Wyman Street and would improve
the value of the adjacent properties.
Mayor Kabcenell - this proposal was before the Board in terms
of making a determination of acceptable number of units and
this Board accepted fourteen ( 14) units in terms of density.
The Planning Board is recommending preliminary subdivision
and site plan approval of Wyman Street North Town House
Project by Louis Larrizza for the purpose of holding a Public
Hearing to determine the following:
1. That a cluster development in this case is for the
overall benefit to the community in accordance with the
Village Law.
2. That the Village Board be made aware that while only a
small portion of the site is in the 100 year flood plain,
there have been eyewitness reports of flooding on the site.
The Planning Board recommends that records of Fire, Police
and Highway departments be checked to very such reports.
3 . That the Planning Board feels notification of the
adjoining residents and municipalities of the Public Hearing
is a valid vehicle for bringing this information to the
surface.
4. That if preliminary plat approval is granted it be
referred back to the Planning Board so that information
gathered at the Public Hearing, engineering, flood control
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and submission to Westchester County agencies can be studied
in depth for the Final Plat.
We should also take into consideration that this has been
before the Planning Board for about 17 months .
Ralph Mastromonica - Architect - we are proposing 14 units,
townhouses with fee simple ownership, a cul-de-sac, parking
would be one garage, one driveway and one offsite parking
space per unit, and one extra - a total of 49 spaces. For
deliveries and emergency use, there is ample parking along
the cul-de-sac. There are only two neighbors in the
immediate area. All utility connections are available in the
area. We propose filling the site an average of 2 feet, and
comparing this cluster with a conventional development, we
have a 21% improvement in open space. The existing buildings
on the site have a total floor space of 17 , 678 sf and we
propose a greatly reduced amount. We don' t disagree that may
have instances of flooding, but we have discovered that there
is a culvert which is the entire discharge of the Washington
Plaza parking lot; and we would be rechanneling this on our
site, if we have to, through a pipe directly into the brook.
We have calculated runoff and after development we will have
500 less impervious area.
Mayor Kabcenell - The County recommends that the lowest
finished floor of all the townhouse shall be at least one
foot above the 100 year flood level, the existing brook walls
shall be replaced where needed and set back away from the
brook approximately 5 feet in the area of the culvert, and
all leaders shall discharge into dry wells of adequate
capacity. I should also point out, as we did with the
previous development that if that main driveway remains a
circular pattern, it will probably be required by the Village
to be a fire lane to preclude any parking on it. We will get
a recommendation from the Fire Chief on this.
Ralph Mastromonica - we plan to build the road to
specifications and to dedicate it if the Village so desires.
Ken Heller - this pieces of property is basically a holding
pond in a flood situation, and if it is filled in, it should
be in the record that 1 1/2 acres or more of water is going
to be going into the brook, which will affect the houses
downstream.
On the motion of Trustee Cresenzi, seconded by Trustee Zak,
RESOLVED that the Village of Rye Brook declare itself Lead
Agency in the matter of the subdivision and site plan
application for the Giorgi property on Wyman Street.
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
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Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
On the motion of Trustee Meiskin, seconded by Trustee
Cresenzi,
RESOLVED that the Village of Rye Brook declare a negative
environmental impact in the matter of the subdivision
application for the Giorgi property on Wyman Street.
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
on the motion of Trustee Meiskin, seconded by Trustee
Cresenzi,
RESOLVED that on the recommendation of the Planning Board,
the preliminary subdivision and site plan for the Giorgi
property be approved and referred back to the Planning Board
for definitive site plan approval subject to all caveats
(resolution to be prepared by Fritz Weidle) . . . . . . . . . . .
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
PUBLIC HEARING - PROPOSED LOCAL RE DUTIES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE VILLAGE ADMINISTRATOR.
Mayor Kabcenell -Since the information has just been
distributed, I would like to hear a motion to defer this
until February 24th.
on the motion of Trustee Meiskin, seconded by Trustee Nardi,
RESOLVED that the Public Hearing to discuss a proposed
Local Law covering the duties and responsibilities of the
Village Administrator be postponed until the meeting to be
held on February 24th, 1987.
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
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DISCUSSIONS AND REPORTS.
VILLAGE COURT.
I Yt
Mayor Kabcenell - A brief history of what has gone on/terms
of the Village Court.
The Village of Rye Brook was incorporated in 1982 . At the
time of incorporation and throughout 1982 and the beginning
of 1983 all services were provided by the Town of Rye. In
1983 , the Village assumed the responsibility for and the
governance of many of its functioning units heretofore
provided for by Rye Town, namely: Police, Public Works ,
Building, Recreation Departments, and the contractual
relationship with the Port Chester Fire Department and
Carlucci Sanitation Service.
In 1984 , the Rye Brook Legal Advisory Committee consisting of
four volunteers was asked to examine the issues related to
Rye Brook assuming control over its own court system. The
report issued on August 28th 1984 was received by the Village
Board, discussed at and read into the minutes of a public
Board Meeting.
The recommendation of that committee was as follows:
"The Village Legal Advisor
g g y Committee recommends that the
Village of Rye Brook institute its own court system. This
action would be consistent with both the principles
underlying the formation of Rye Brook and the practicalities
of local government. "
Subsequent to this, the Village Board acted at a public
meeting on June 25 , 1985 as reported in the minutes:
"On the motion of Trustee Zak, seconded by Trustee Meiskin,
RESOLVED that the Village Board proceed toward the formation
of a Village Court for the Village of Rye Brook.
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE"
At the time of this meeting the Village Offices were located
in one room at 111 South Ridge Street. One of the
knowledgeable people upon whom the Board of Trustees called
to help with their deliberations on this issue was Rye Town
Judge Bruno Gioffre who provided most cogent information.
Whereas Judge Gioffre indicated that he favored the formation
II
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of a Rye Brook Court, he indicated that our facilities there
in the County Office Building seemed inadequate. He
expressed that the justice system needs a physical as well as
a legal dignity. The Board of Trustees seemed to agree with
this suggestion and implementation of the court was deferred.
In response to this , consideration was taken in the design of
our present Village offices . The architect was instructed
to provide for the physical facilities for a court in our
present offices . The architect used the present Rye Town
combination Meeting Room and Court Room to help design the
Rye Brook offices in terms of space and layout. During the
designing of these offices, Judge Gioffre was shown the plans
and he made helpful suggestions as to the placement of doors ,
position of the raised platform and the use of the conference
room for consultations. The Police Department made input
into the design to facilitate the movement of prisoners into
and out of the courtroom. These suggestions were
incorporated to the greatest extent practicable into the
final design.
The issue of the establishment of a Rye Brook Court was
further raised publicly when it became a prominent item of
discussion during the last election campaign in February and
March of 1986 .
Therefore, since this issue has been before the Board for two
and a half years and since this Board acted in favor of this
issue more than a year and a half ago, I believe that it is
obligatory on our part to now resolve it. Because the
budget for the 1987-88 fiscal year is now in preparation,
this is a particularly appropriate time for a decision.
Since this is for discussion, I will simply take the
prerogative to speak first and very briefly. Everyone
should certainly have an opportunity.
I believe the Village of Rye Brook would benefit from its own
court system for the following reasons:
1. The rights of the residents to select, directly or
indirectly, their own municipal officials is what Rye Brook
is all about. It was incorporated for just that reason.
To allow the principles of such an important system as a
court system to be selected by those from other communities
is inconsistent with all we have worked for these last five
years.
2 . In each instance in which we have assumed control of
various departments , their function and their relationship to
our residents has improved. This is particularly so since
everyone has been located here in the same offices . The
constant interchange among the various departments has
enabled them to recognize the special problems and potentials
of each other. This kind of interchange and dialogue among
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our judges and members of the various departments and our
Boards and Commissions could make for significantly improved
services to our residents.
3 . The Village Attorney, acting as our Prosecutor and
Police Officers are required to be present for court
hearings. These often involve delays and interruptions .
Their presence in these offices could be utilized much more
effectively than their biding their time at the Rye Town
Court on Pearl Street in Port Chester.
Trustee Meiskin - I would like to comment. I want to thank
you very much for a very, very concise expression of your
feeling and history as you perceive it. I picked up up some
disagreements, some inaccuracies, but that' s to be expected.
I would like to read some of my own concerns into it.
Appromixately some time ago, this Board including myself,
voted to approve the concept of a Village Court for Rye
Brook. At that time there were some unanswered questions to
be further explored. I ' ll bring those in in a moment. The
Trustees agreed with the concept of a Court subject to
research on costs. and other implications. Under discussion
is the thought, of implementing a Village Court now, and as
such, take one more step to make the Village a complete and
independent body. I am not in favor of this proposal for
the reasons among others, that follow.
Costs - the actual budget for the Rye Town Court of two
justices, a clerk, plus court related expenses in the 1987
budget is. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$66 ,127 . 00
composed of salaries for
two judges @ $18 , 160 .00 each
a clerk $15 , 257 . 00
expenses of $ 2, 550 . 00
plus benefits of approx. $12,000. 00
Against that expense is anticipated revenues of $13 , 000 from
fines etc. The net cost to the Town to operate a Court is
$53 , 000 . Having a Rye Brook Court will not eliminate the
Rye Town Court. That court will continue to exist,
hopefully at a lower cost, but it will continue to function.
The above costs speak only to the operations of the Rye Town
Court for a year.
In addition, the. proposed Rye Brook Court will cost Rye Brook
residents 2 judges, a clerk, law library, plus benefits .
Let' s now examine the physical facilities that were alluded
to in the history. It is now available to the proposed Rye
Brook Court. Examine this room, this would be the
courtroom. In addition there would be a need for judges '
chambers, court clerk' s office, storage for records and
files , a jury room, an area for lawyers and clients to confer
etc. Sure, we could make do with squeezing into the Mayor ' s
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office, squeezing into the Village Clerk' s office and
squeezing into the general office, using the recreation
office, but I believe that the same arguments that held true
then regarding the lessening of respect for the court system
and the justice court would hold true with that kind of
squeezing in. I also believe that within a short period of
time, there would be pressure and need to redesign the
physical facilities so that a proper court could function.
I don' t know what the financial cost of this redesign would
be, but having just completed the Village offices at a cost
far in excess of what "experts" told the Board to expect, I
am concerned with any costs relative to physically altering
this ares. I also note that Port Chester just went through
part of a redesign of their courtroom facilities and one of
the things they had to do was upgrade their law library. We
would have to create a new law library here for the court.
A courtroom in my opinion must have a uniformed officer to
maintain decorum. There are many heated feelings expressed
in a court and the presence of a uniformed police officer is
a necessity. It has been stated that we could do with a
desk officer for Rye Brook being in the vicinity. I ask
you to judge that. Look down the corridor - do you see an
officer in sight? Look at the distance and visual sight of
the desk officer to the proposed court. Additionally there
is only one desk officer on duty. Does he leave that place
and come into here, if he could even see or hear what' s
happening in here? Or do we incur additional charge for an
additional officer in this proposed court?
I am also against duplication of services. Currently the
Rye Town court has two elected judges , Judge Bruno Gioffre
and Judge John Colangelo, respectively of Rye Brook and Port
Chester, I have the greatest respect for both justices. I
have not heard negative complaints regarding the operation of
the court that services Rye Brook. In fact I have heard
positive comments regarding the fairness and understanding of
these judges. I cannot see how I can support an additional
government function with additional costs and taxes when the
present court is functioning in an excellent manner and at
minimal cost to the residents of Rye Brook. As I stated
before, the Rye Town Court would continue to function and if
Rye Brook had its own court we would have two courts,
servicing the same people at expanded costs. In reviewing
the concept of a court for Rye Brook, the name of Judge Bruno
Gioffre has been placed in the forefront as probably the
best, most experienced Rye Brook resident who would run for
election as a Rye Brook justice. I agree with this and since
Judge Gioffre is currently serving the needs of Rye Brook I
see no reason to implement another court. For the above
stated reasons among others , I cannot support a Village
Court. If in the future, these factors change , I will
certainly be one of the first to study, review these stated
positions , and then take a position that I feel would benefit
the residents of Rye Brook. I am firmly opposed to a court
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at this time.
Trustee Nardi - I would just like to say I am on the record
as favoring the formation of a Village Court. At the proper
time when we have the proper facilities. I don' t see any
crying need for a Village Court at this particular time. I
do see a need for some other things in this Village which I
feel. are of a higher priority. To get our office
administration in place, we have a new administrator here who
is to get his feet wet yet and reorganize our governmental
structure here. I think these are priorities that we should
address and take care of before we start a new court. A new
court will bring us many problems in this facility which I
don' t want to repeat, I think Milt Meiskin made them
perfectly clear, I just don' t think that we have the proper
facilities to run a proper court here and I think we would
overtax the Village services and the Village offices as they
are presently constituted. For that reason I would be
opposed to forming a court at this time, but I still feel
that when the time is right, and when we have the proper
facilities here, and when we have other things taken care of
I will be among the first to want to support this court.
Trustee Zak - I am in favor of the court actually, just like
everyone else, but I don' t think this is the proper time. I
think we have other priorities , I think there are a lot of
priorities we have, and I think probably at some future time
a court is feasible, possible and will be here, but not at
the present time.
Trustee Nardi - I would just like to add one thing - I have
talked to a number of people in the community about whether
we should have a court or not and how they felt about it and
the general response that I got was "it would be nice, but
it' s not urgent" . It' s not an urgent priority and that' s
why I can' t see any rush for it right now, and I don' t see
any demand for it in the community.
Trustee Cresenzi - I agree with Stan, I think that some time
in the future Rye Brook will have a court of its own. We 've
got to get some staffing problems taken away first within the
village offices , I think our new administrator has really got
to get to know the ropes of the village a little better
through some experience here, and I think that the cost
factors have to be addressed. We don' t know right now what
the costs would be because we would be in control in some
respect as to what the cost would be by the salaries we paid,
and so on down the line, so I think we really have to look at
those two issues.
Mayor Kabcenell - it is very clear - I would just like to
Provide information. Everybody knows how everybody stands
so its easy. I think one of the problems in the information
we are dealing with has been an assumption that the Rye Town
00070
Court expenses are a prototype. Milt shared with you some
information about it. However, I think they are really an
anachronism rather than a prototype. For instance, and I
only have a few, five or six, in Croton with a population
like ours, the cost of the court is $75, 000 , the income is
$80 ,000 . In Scarsdale, with twice the population, the cost
is $125 ,000, the income is $185 , 000 . In Ardsley, the cost
is $30 , 000 , the income is $40 ,000 . In Briarcliff, the cost
is $15 ,000 , the income is $21 , 000 . I am just doing this for
information. If I were going to do a cost analysis , and
this has not been done, obviously, until the Village Trustees
feel that it should be implemented, it isn' t done, but
everybody else seems to be making money. I am not
suggesting that ' s a reason for a court, I am suggesting
however, that since everyone else comes out with more income
than expense, that we probably should be dealing with, in
terms of our development of figures, with what everybody else
is doing, and perhaps the Town Court is not the prototype for
expenses. For information, too, if we had a court, as Milt
points out it would be necessary that the Town must continue
to have a court. Criminal cases would be treated here, civil
cases have a choice of jurisdiction, and I thinks its true at
the present time that probably most of the civil cases now in
the Rye Town Court are from Port Chester, and if I am
correct, it is because their own court calendar is so crowded
that they choose that, but the Rye Town Court must continue
to exist by law.
Trustee Meiskin - I 'd like to thank you for those figures,
they' re very illuminating. I think New York City is also in
the area of making money, in fact they tell their police
officers to go out and earn their salary - make sure you give
tickets. I don' t know how these sums were arrived at that
show a profit but I do know that our philosophy in this
community is that we don' t tell our police officers to get
into a whole mode of harrassment. We are a residential
community, we know each other, we obey the law, we function
as a law-abiding community, with police enforcing the law and
I would hate to see building up revenues to support a court
or a police system, and I don' t know, I just bring this out
for information, it has to be explored, whether this be a
modus operandi of those communities you mentioned or how they
get it, but I think these are all factors that should be
looked at and weighed as we look at the future of where we
go. We are bringing out some questions and some concerns ,
and I would hate to indict Scarsdale or Ardsley or those very
good communities as being ones that increase revenue at the
expense of residents, but I do think we should find out how
they do it, and whether it is applicable to this kind of
community. Maybe it is, maybe it isn' t, but there are a
number of unanswered questions.
Mayor Kabcenell - I believe you Milt, I just have to say that
you can' t be on both sides, you can' t say it' ll cost money
000704
and it' s bad when you make money and it' s bad.
Trustee Nardi - on the question of the revenues that you
showed in those municipalities, are those the net revenues
retained by the municipality.
Mayor Kabcenell - those are budget figures , so they are net.
Trustee Nardi - I find those figures hard to. . . . . . . .
Mayor Kabcenell - they are available to everbody, they are in
their budgets.
Barry Fischer - resident - I was on the original committee,
it seems longer ago than three years , when we looked into
this , and spent some time on it, and made a recommendation at
that time that it seemed first for purely philosophical
reasons that a court was an important thing to do, perhaps
not an urgent thing to do, but an important thing to do,
because it was the final piece in putting this village
together and I remember the concept which I think the Mayor
articulated absolutely right and I accompanied him to a
presentation with the Daily Item to discuss this philosophy.
First and foremost, Rye Brook was formed so that the people
that governed us in all respects were chosen by the people
who were governed. You gentlemen are all from Rye Brook, I
think one of two judges is not sufficient, I think both
judges should be from Rye Brook, and I think that is fully
consistent with other elements of this village. As to the
urgency question, I am somewhat perplexed, the last debate I
attended on this , and I am not a regular attendee so perhaps
I missed something, it seems almost two years ago, one cna
hardly say this- is a rush to judgement. I hope that the
Board doesn't consider this moving fast, because that' s a
very bad omen for the future. The other thing that disturbs
me and disturbs me a lot, is that I sat at a meeting in which
the whole Board as the Mayor correctly recited, quoted the
record, for this proposal. Now I ' ve heard all of you
explain why you are walking away from that, but what troubles
me is , I remember when three members of this Board ran for
re-election and as the Mayor points out, the issue of the
court was an issue, and I recall reading in the Westmore
News, interviews with the Mayor, Trustees Nardi and Meiskin.
their positions on the court, and strangely when they were
running for re-election, they didn' t say any of these things.
Trustee Meiskin I remember vividly, talked about whether we
should have one judge, two judges, appointed, elected? Those
are reasonable questions , but I didn' t hear that tonight. I
hear we' re back to beyond square 1 , and it' s very obvious
where everbody' s going, but it gives me some pause and it' ll
give me a lot of pause come the next election time, because
I now know that what people say at election time may not be
what they say once they are elected.
000705
Trustee Meiskin - I 'm not going to respond to that simply on
the basis that I think that Mr. Fischer is trying to
. . .whatever he' s trying to do is obvious , but what I do want
to respond to to is that any elected official, who, on
looking at more facts and on researching the record, and
gathering more information, because as you stated there was
some question of one judge or two judges, but as you explore
more and more, any elected official who doesn' t stand able,
is unable to gather more facts , evaluate them and then change
his or her mind, shouldn' t be elected, because anyone who
takes a position and stays in concrete in that position has a
great deal of inflexibility. I understand your pique, I do
understand that you were on the committe that made the
recommendation, I can understand why you might be
disappointed that we haven' t acted directly an it, but we did
raise questions, and we searched out more information, I do
know I explored it very extensively and came up with a
statement. It doesn' t mean that you have to agree with me,
it doesn' t mean that I have to agree with you. But this is a
statement as I feel that duplication of services is not
essential to the Village of Rye Brook and the same services
that we currently, have which are excellent by all information
I receive, should not be duplicated.
Trustee Nardi - I just want to point out that contrary to
what Mr. Fischer is saying, I haven' t changed my position on
the court, I still feel that at some point in time the
village should have a court. For the very same reasons that
I did not want a court when we were at 111 South Ridge, are
the same reasons I do not want a court here, because I don' t
feel that these facilities here are much more adequate than
what we had a Ridge Street fopr a court, and until we are
ready to do whatever improvements have to made in this office
and to take upon us the expense that will be incurred, I
don' t think we should have a court.
Jared Scharf, Avon Circle - I was an assistant DA in the
Bronx for three years, a Federal Prosecutor in the Dept. of
Justice for 7 1/2 years, I tried cases from all around the
US, 25 states approximately from Hawaii to the Virgin
Islands , every place I went, I was in court in the
jurisdiction that had it ' s own court, I wasn' t next door, and
to me it would seem that the most relevant consideration,
would be one that I haven' t heard discussed yet, which is
whether or not we have an adequate case load to support a
court. If we do, then I don' t see that it is a duplication
of services , because village cases would be tried in the
Village Court and not in the Town Court, therefore it
wouldn' t be a duplication of services, so if the caseload is
there, I think we ought to have a court.
Trustee Meiskin - In 1985 the following court cases took
place in the Town of Rye, there were 361 parking cases , 399
other traffic moving violation cases, 69 other civilian kind
000706
of cases , 65 other civil cases , for a total of 1356 cases,
and that court services Rye Brook and part of it would
encompass some of the cases which came from Port Chester.
Do we need another court? In my judgement again, No.
In answer to a question - probably 950 of those cases are Rye
Brook. Traffic violations on state roads are included, if
they occur in the village.
Gene Strum - you gentlemen certainly know how I feel about
representative government, I am not sure how I think that
applies to the judiciary system, as far as elected judges ,
but that' s a different subject. Certainly, philosophically
we should be electing our judges. No question about it. I
also see what has gone on with the village government, moving
from one building to another, you have an item on the agenda
tonight about the . . . . . . . .village administrator, very
confused. . . . . . .much to be done, you want further studies.
Certainly administration of the court proceedings, court
employees, court clerk, ordering the library, and how the
court works, this is part of that administration. You are
not seemingly ready to take on more duties when you really
haven' t got your system down to handle what we are still
learning to handle today, and I think that the time is not
right to form a court. Philosophically, it is right, Rye
Brook should have its own court, but the time doesn' t seem to
be now.
Ken Heller - I am concerned about the swallowing that is
going on in Rye Brook, we had reference tonight to the fact
that these offices cost extremely more money than anticipated
that was because there was a rush to get into here, there
Hadn' t been sufficient planning, or even any public
discussion. We have a number of staffs in this community
which are working by themselves, they have no secretarial
help, no administrative help, we don' t have to go through the
Boards, we don' t even have a Village Engineer at this
point, in other words we are working lean, mean and without
sufficient backup, but what really disturbs me, knowing
Scarsdale and the other villages , in order to support a
court, you have to have the ordinances so that you bring
people in and fine them for all sorts of minor discrepancies
in order to support this and make a profit, because the money
that you are going to make on that court is not going to be
from the outside, it is going to be from the citizens
breaking one or two of your minor ordinances, and if this is
the type of community you want, where we' re going to make a
profit in our court by passing enough laws so we can catch
enough people breaking these things, then of course you' ll
make money in your court. . . . . . . . . . .the concept of a court is
not to make money. . . . . . . .
Mayor Kabcenell - in all fairness, I don' t think anyone
suggested that we would try to make money on parking and try
00070
to bilk the people, maybe that' s in your mind, but nobody
here made that. . . . .
Carl Miller - do we have any idea what we the Rye Town court
has taken in and what it has cost for the 4-5 years it has
been servicing us, and if we have our own court are we going
to be released completely from supporting the Town of Rye
Court?
Mayor Kabcenell - the Rye Town court must continue to exist.
We would all assume it would be smaller in size, but by law,
Rye Town must have a court. We must provide for it. What
form, is a judgement the Town would have to make.
David Sampliner - oriole Place - I have lived here for 31
years. At one time, I thought I lived in a school district,
I was a voting member in a school district and thought I had
my rights. We came to the School Board and said for three
consecutive years you've moved us from school to school
to school, Park Avenue to King Street to Olivia Street. we
would like to have assurance that there is some stability in
our children' s future. A gentleman sitting just as you are
sitting now look us straight in the eye and said "it was good
enough for our parents, what we' ve got is going to be good
enough for you, and if you don' t like it, next year you' ll be
in the Washington school.
What they were really saying to us was "you really don' t have
much rights here, you are those people who are not part of
our district, even though you've been made part of our
district. " I would never want to stand in front of a bar of
justice and look in the justice ' s eye and say to myself, I
wonder, am I getting a fair shake? I wonder is my identity
someone from the Village of Rye Brook appearing in a court
that is not voted in by the citizens of Rye Brook. So
although it may not be economically feasible at this moment,
I ask you to think very seriously about what your obligations
are to those of us who have elected you to office, and I
think you should think seriously at this moment of refining
your figures, determining whether Milt' s figures are correct,
or if Jack' s figures are correct, or whether there is a
combination of the two figures , and I think you should not
defer it and table it from meeting to meeting, and generation
to generation, because institutions, once they start to get
established, fall into a rut, and what this year may be a
novelty, thinking of a toen court or village court, five
years from now, may come up again and someone looking
straight in the eye and say if it was good enough for the
other people, it' s good enough for you. I don' t want that
ever to happen. I want you to think very seriously of what
you are doing right now and that is , are you thinking of the
future of the Village of Rye Brook? You probably don' t have
enough figures in front of you now, from what I hear, you
don' t agree on any of the sets of figures , so I urge that you
00Q7
do exactly that and put it on your agenda to bring out if you
must be at your next meeting, but to come to come conclusion
what are actual facts at this moment and what you feel the
future of the village is. I think the future of the village
is what it was described to be - independent, self-reliant,
vital, growing, you do your planning for your housing, your
planning for your streets, your planning for flood control,
do your planning for our justice. Give us a shot, we would
like to think that we do belong to a community in which we
have all the services rendered to us by people whom we elect.
If you can' t do it at this meeting, and I don' t think you
can, I would hope that you give a little more consideration
and get us some more facts and come to a decision that will
favor the majority of the entire village.
Trustee Nardi - first of all, the people in Rye Brook do
participate in the election of the justices in Rye Town.
David Sampliner - We also participated in the election of
that school board, but we were outvoted approximately 6-1 . I
think we will still be outvoted x-1.
Trustee Nardi - I don' t see your analagy with the school
board, because it is one school district, but the other point
- we seem to be getting hung up on numbers, on dollars, and I
don' t think the majority on this Board is opposed to forming
a Court right now because of the cost figure, I am ready to
pay for a court, I don' t expect a court to be self-
sustaining, I am ready to pay for it, when the time is right,
and the time to me is not right now because I don' t think we
have the proper facilities here to run a proper court. And
that' s the reason why I am in favor of deferring it at this
point, not because its going to cost us money.
Morton Smith - let me say, first, that some months ago, I was
asked if I had any interest in possibly being a judge in Rye
Brook, I expressed that. I want to state that I no longer
have that interest. What I am going to say, I am going to
say as the person considered the principle architect in the
design of this Village, and I am going to tell you gentlemen
right now, that you have not lived up to what we formed this
village for. You are sitting here in many cases arguing
about sillier, petty arguments than I have heard in years.
Mario, let me tell you, I have tried cases for 30 years , now,
I have tried them in living rooms, I know that people who
know what' s going on helped design this place. I know for
example that the door being placed there was done
deliberately for two reasons, one, so that the judge could
come through, and secondly to take prisoners through so they
wouldn' t have to go through the public area. Do you know
what we are running a risk of when we go outside? A person
is arrested for a felony charge in Rye Brook, he has to make
an appearance most times down in Port Chester. What does
that mean, out of the lock-up here, into the car, downtown,
000709
out of the car, up the stairs , back here. Today the Daily
Item reported a breakout during an arraignment in Yonkers
this afternoon. You are running a dangerous risk. . . .With
regarding to the question of costs . We are not making
money, our job is not to make money. Our job here is to
provide service. I want to hear Mr. Meiskin tell me what
his arguments were about cost of effectiveness when we hired
the last police officer, was it cost effective to hire a
police officer, can you put a dollar and cents value on it?
You provide a service. With regard . . . . salaries , I agree
with the Mayor, Rye Town is not the typical example of the
court system. There are only two villages in this county
that don' t have their own court and we are one of them. We
didn' t create this village to be a second class citizen.
What I truly do not understand what has happened. Sal - it
was less than two months ago, you and I talked in Rye Ridge
and you said, yes I 'm for the court, yes the police want a
court, and you said to me that you had heard complaints from
members of the Zoning Board that they were not getting the
zoning laws of this village properly enforced, and therefore
we should have a court. Tonight, you' re telling me you' re
too busy, and you. are quoted in the paper that when all of
this gets straightened out with Mr. Russo, then you' ll have a
clear head. Sal, you don' t mean you don' t have a clear head
now? You must tell what is causing all these problems - I am
trying to explore what has caused you to change your mind
suddenly. I do not understand.
0007.1.0
We have just passed a Burglar Alarm Law. The fine is "Not
to exceed $250 . 00 per day" . It is outrageous to think that
we are going to spend money to enforce that law and have the
violations go to the Town of Rye. That is an absolute shame
when we hear rumors, and I haven' t checked it out yet that 40
summonses were issued for violations of a parking lane and
dismissed. There has to be a reason for the dismissal, but
that' s what is making the rounds in the police department.
That they are not getting the enforcement. People in this
village who have legal problems that would come within the
jurisdiction of this village should not have to go outside
this village to have them adjudicated. We didn' t form this
village for that purpose.
Trustee Nardi - Mort, you mentioned the fact that it is
dangerous for us to have our felons transported from here to
the Rye Town court. That is a common procedure in many
municipalities, the Town of Harrison for example, does not
have its police station and jail in the same building as its
court, and they have many more cases than we have and they
transport them,, that doesn' t seem to be a problem for them,
so I don' t know how serious a problem that is. Secondly,
you talk about people, experts who were here to design this
place. Where did they design a place for the judge ' s
chambers, where is the court clerk supposed to stay, where
are we supposed to file all the records? We don' t have room
for what our own needs are now without a court. We are
hardpressed right now without a court. Where are we going
to put these, where did the experts put all this place?
You seem to have a lot of knowledge of what was done here, I
hope you' ll share it with us.
Morton Smith - you don' t need a separate judge' s chamber,
Mario, we have a law office, we have an office of the Village
Attorney, we have a Mayor ' s office, we have a conference
room, we have Assistant to the Mayor' s office, we have a
Village Clerk' s office, we have a lot of offices , certainly
we don' t need trappings, trappings don' t make a court. What
makes a court is the spirit, the desire to serve the people,
that' s what makes a court. You don' t need trappings , you
don' t need all these separate things, we' re not running a
luxury operation.
Trustee Nardi - why then didn' t we form the court when we
were in Ridge Street.
Morton Smith - because you didn' t want to.
Trustee Nardi - for those very reasons. Everybody seemed to
agree.
Morton Smith - Mario, I suggest that no-one, certainly I
couldn' t support anyone for public office who wants to float
a bond issue to building a couple of more court rooms. That
000711
does not make sense to me, this is a perfectly adequate
facility for a court. I tell you, if you travel up-county a
little bit, this is magnificent compared to some places I
have been in trying cases . One other item - I want to allude
to what Mr. Meiskin said about the Rye Town court and the
continued existence, and the double exposure, two factors -
the law permits a town which has two judges to reduce that to
one, presumably responsible people would do that if we had
our own court since we carry 90% of what goes on in the Town
Court from Rye Brook, there would not be a need for two town
judges; secondly, you know and I know that the Rye Town
Supervisor was contacted, concerning that situation of our
having a court and was prepared to make budget adjustments
along his line to reflect that. So for you to make a
statement, sir, that it' s going to be a duplication of costs ,
100% of duplication, I find that difficult to buy.
Trustee Meiskin - I don' t find your statements difficult to
buy at all, simply because you start out your statements with
a great deal of misconception and carry all the way through.
I am sorry to do this in a public forum but I cannot allow it
to continue - Mr. Smith, you were not the principle architect
of this Village, 80 people were involved and 7000 people
became closely involved and voted for it. You did not form
this village. And that' s a self-serving statement you
continue to make and that misconception is carried through in
all of your other comments. But let me carry on with the
other thing, you asked a rhetorical question "what caused you
(meaning us as a group) to change our minds?" What caused
us to change our minds and I speak for myself, and as I hear
the others I listen to what they say, they gathered more
information, they questioned their first decision, they said
is this the proper time to do it, do we have other things of
a more pressing_ need, how much will it cost us , we don' t have
any of those facts. Mr. Sampliner said there is obviously a
difference of opinion on just how much it will cost, coming
from the Mayor and coming from me. How would you expect any
responsible legislative body to act without all the facts ,
and I say to you, that we are trying to gather the facts and
I say to you, I 'm sorry Mr. Fischer left because he talked
about two years, we haven' t had the facts in two years , we
have searched out the facts two years, we're still searching
as we talk this evening. So for us to make a decision
without all of the salient points answered, without all of
the concerns responded to, without the question about what
has been responded to, would be unfair to us , would be unfair
to the community, would be an abrogation of our fiduciary
duty as trustees.
Trustee Zak - I agree with Mr. Smith, I think the court would
round out the village. I think we all agree we need a
court, but we don' t want it now. We all agree we do want the
court, at some time or other, but now is not the time to do
it. What you are saying is true, we need a court, but there
000 7.12
are so many other things we have to do.
Amy Schoen - resident - I wanted to pick up on something Mr.
Sampliner said, I am sure not directing it deliberately,
however I was a little bit offended by it. I think no matter
whether it be the Rye Town Court or the Village of Rye Brook
Court, whomever sits as the presiding judge is going to judge
fairly and with justice, and I think it matters not which
court it happens to be in, and I think that was an oversight
perhaps in your statement.
Gene Strum - I 've gone to, too many Town Board meetings
Mort, to let stand what you said about what goes on with the
Town government, yes, a perfectly reasonable town government
would have reduced the size of town government when Rye Brook
was formed, but the number of employees has risen, the
salaries of the Councilmen and the Supervisor have gone up, I
really question whether the court expenses whether the number
of judges or the salaries paid to the judges would be reduced
in the Town. I certainly have no evidence to lead me to that
conclusion.
David Sampliner - I do want to echo what Milt said, and he
said it better than I could, I think you definitely have an
obligation to do exactly what you said you were trying to do,
but not to let it go on the grounds that now isn' t the time.
Now is the time to do everything you said, Milt, get every
fact that you possibly can, put it right down on the table so
we all can see it, then make your decision. Don' t put aside
simply because "now isn' t the time" , I think now is the time
to get everything you can possibly get together then make
your decision. Don' t let it go, don' t keep tabling it and
tabling it,: please for all of our sakes, get the facts.
Morton Smith - Milton, I 'm sorry that you get involved in
personalities, I 'm trying to talk about issues, and you
always come back with personalities. The issue here is
whether you are retreating from the basic tenets under which
this village was formed, the issue is will we continue to
have the rights of our citizens adjudicated by those whom we
do not elect, who do not live in Rye Brook. I believed when
we formed this village we were forming a first class village,
it hasn't achieved it yet. I join Mr. Sampliner in urging
you, no more 2 1/2 year delay, get the job done, you can' t
tell me you don' t have the time, because you tell the people
you have the time for all of the issues . You can certainly
appoint committees, you can appoint citizens' groups, you can
do it yourselves, but get the job done.
Roz Klem - I am having a lot of difficulty understanding
something here. Bruno Gioffre has been described to me as
an extremely competent and able jurist. so I 'm having a real
hard time understanding why justice is not being served to
the residents of Rye Brook by a resident of Rye Brook at the
000713
current time, and I have not heard that response indicated
here. I 've heard a lot of criticism being levelled, I 've
heard implicit criticism that enforcement is not taking place
and by the way, if the Board is so unhappy with enforcement,
it seems to me a lot easier to speak to the two judges and
talk to them about our problems instead of creating a court
to do that. I certainly think if enforcement is not taking
place in selected areas that a sit down conversation might
accomplish what we want in this direction, but I really take
exception to the idea that we are not being served by a
resident of Rye Brook, when Bruno Gioffre is sitting there.
I don' t see how you can reconcile this , he either is a very
competent and able jurist or he is not.
Mayor Kabcenell - I will ask nobody to comment on anybody' s
competency, that is really not the issue.
David Sampliner - I agree that' s not the issue at all,
because the day after Bruno retires or moves on to something
else, will not be the day this group sits down and decides we
need a court. We are not talking about one individual, of
course he is a competent jurist, we are talking about the
institution of a court.
Mayor Kabcenell - I would now suggest we terminate this
discussion, I share everyone' s confusion, I don' t know what
the direction of the Board should be. I understand it said
that we should get more information, I also understand that
some people don' t think this is an appropriate time, I don' t
know if the Board members want to suggest a direction at this
time, or we just terminate the discussion. We have never
made a point that we don't want to pursue it.
Trustee Zak - I- suggest that we terminate the discussion at
this time.
Morton Smith - Does that mean that you will not get the
facts? What does that mean, Stan?
Trustee Zak - it means that right now, we just terminate the
discussion.
Morton Smith - with no direction for the future, with no
request that somebody gather the information. Is that
what' s going on?
Trustee Nardi - I would like to suggest that we direct our
Village Administrator to gather some information for us as to
what, and I am leaning toward facility, structural
improvements would be necessary in this office, not only to
accommodate the court, but also to accommodate our present
needs for the staff in the village office here and the police
department, because we have problems in both those areas and
I would like to see recommendations made along those lines to
0007:x.4
accommodate our present needs and incorporate with that what
we would need to facilitate a court in the proper fashion.
Trustee Meiskin - I would disagree with that, I think our
Villager Administrator is just finding his way around here
and to impose that kind of burden on him at this time with
the lack of other personnel we have in the area, we are still
looking for a bookkeeper and it seems to me we have other
kinds of needs right now, so I would hate to give that to him
as an issue.
Trustee Nardi - I 'm not suggesting that it be on the top of
his priority list, but I am suggesting that he be directed at
some point in the future, when he can accommodate it, to
gather this information. This is the reason why I feel this
is not the time, because we have other priorities.
Trustee Zak - we' ll ask him to put it on the grocery list.
Mayor Kabcenell - this thing came up at this, time because we
are sitting down now to prepare a budget. I don' t know
whether it got misconstrued, it was hardly my intention that
next week we have' a village court. Not possible, not
practical, that doesn' t make any sense. However, if it is
to be implemented in six months, whatever it is, it would be
prudent for us to have some kind of thing built in, some kind
of consideration in the budget, therefore I 'm not sure and
maybe .the Board in future discussion will do it. I 'm not
really sure what direction should be taken, I have a feeling
some people would be more comfortable if we just didn' t
address the issue now. Some others seem to feel that we
should gather some information and discuss it further. I am
going to take this general non-direction and see where we go
with it.
Trustee Cresenzi - this Board has a responsibility to the
citizens of the village for basic services , to make sure that
the streets are plowed, to make sure that buildings get
inspected, to make sure that the Boards function - you can
get a zoning variance if you need it, you get through
Planning Board, that you can get a check from a bookkeeper
that exists in the village, when one does exist. We 've got
these basic concerns to overcome first, and I truly believe
that in order to keep the day to day operation of the village
running smoothly, we must address these problems first with a
great priority. Once we get these positions filled and we
get good policy set in the village from the administrator
down through the department heads, then I think we can look
in the other areas and address issues such as the court.
Mayor Kabcenell - your suggestion, I 'm assuming, is deferring
it not discarding it.
Trustee Nardi - I think some people here have the impression
000715
that the majority on this Board are opposed to having the
court, and I think I 've made my position clear.
ESTABLISHMENT OF A FORMULA FOR ESTABLISHING RECREATION FEES
IN CONNECTION WITH SUBDIVISIONS.
On the motion of Trustee Cresenzi, seconded by Trustee Zak,
BE IT RESOLVED that the recreation fee for subdivision
of property when land has not been required by, the Village
Board, shall be $1750 per dwelling unit plus $7 , 000 per acre.
The fee shall be payable upon the signing of the subdivision
plat.
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
RESOLUTION - AWARD OF BID FOR RECREATION DEPT. BUS.
On the motion of Trustee Cresenzi, seconded by Trustee Nardi,
RESOLVED that the Wayne Lenox Equipment Co. 109 Central
Avenue, Tarrytown, New York 10591 as the only bidder, be
awarded the contract for the 16 passenger bus for use in the
Senior Citizen and other recreational programs, according to
specifications provided, in the amount of $25 ,920.00 to be
delivered within 120 days.
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
Gene Strum, resident - I am a former representative of the
village to the Metro North Commuter Council, and I have
fought in front of the council realty committee in connection
with parking provisions for non-residents. This has come up
again and to my knowledge we have no representative on the
Council. I would strongly urge that you put. out some feelers
and try to get somebody. We are going to be closed out of
parking sometime and the village might be thinking toward
providing bus service for commuters or looking into whether
buses can be used for multi purposes, including the bus you
are now getting.
Mayor Kabcenell - If we can get some volunteers, perhaps we
can do something.
Any Schoen - perhaps in the next newsletter, we can suggest
that citizens address written complaints to Senator
006716
Oppenheimer and bombard her office, and make her aware that
she is responsible to the constituents.
ELECTION DAY PROCEDURES - REGISTRATION DAY
on the motion of Trustee Zak, seconded by Trustee Nardi,
WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees , pursuant to Section 15-118 ,
Sub. 3 (a, b, c) of the Election Law, is required to
designate the hours for the registration of voters, and the
date of registration being fixed by law as the 10th day
preceding the election, and
WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees have determined that more than
one-half of voters qualified to vote at a forthcoming village
election for village officers were personally registered at
the last preceding general election other than a Village
election in a single place will be accomplished more
efficiently and economically.
RESOLVED, that ,in accordance with Section 15-118 (Sub. 9 ) of
the Election Law, , the places where the registration of voters
are normally held shall be consolidated into a single place
as follows:
VILLAGE OFFICE, 90 SOUTH RIDGE STREET, RYE BROOK
FURTHER RESOLVED, that a single Board of Electors be used for
taking the registration of each election district, and
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Village Clerk be authorized to
appoint two ( 2 ) election inspectors who shall serve on
registration day, and
FURTHER RESOLVED, that if said inspectors of election are
unable to serve on registration day, that the Village Clerk
be authorized to appoint alternate inspectors, and
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the inspectors of election of this
Village shall prepare a register for such election in the
manner provided by law an shall meet on the tenth day
preceding the coming annual election, to wit: on the 7th day
of March, 1987 at the Village Office, 90 South Ridge Street,
Rye Brook, N.Y. between the hours of 12 : 00 in the afternoon
of that day and 9 : 00 in the evening of that day, for the
purpose of completing said register for such election in the
manner provided by law, and
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Village Clerk shall furnish the
necessary blank books, in connection with such registration
and election at the expense of the Village, and
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the inspectors of election shall
receive as their compensation the sum of $6 . 00 (six dollars )
000717
per hour.
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
ELECTION INSPECTORS.
On the motion of Trustee Zak, seconded by Trustee Cresenzi,
RESOLVED, that pursuant to Election Law S 15-116 , there shall
be two ( 2) inspectors of election for each Village election
district in the Election to be held on March 18 , 1987 from
7 : 00 a.m. to 9 : 00 p.m. , and
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the following inspectors are
appointed:
Marion Meyer - 71 Bowman Avenue, Rye Brook
Joyce Meyer 71 Bowman Avenue, Rye Brook
Betty Greto 3 West Street, Rye Brook
Beth Bandy 11 Lincoln Avenue, Rye Brook
Katherine Budinoff 39 Avon Circle, Rye Brook
Judy Uhry 19 Rock Ridge Drive, Rye Brook
Jean Mendicino 81 Hillcrest, Rye Brook
Mildred DiSanto 151 N. Ridge Street, Rye Brook
Milly Wolfson 4 Terrace Court, Rye Brook
Barbara Nardi 10 Woodland Avenue, Rye Brook
Franklin Spear 44 Bonwit Road, Rye Brook
Filomena Piro 78 Grant Street, Rye Brook
Maria Belden 1 Sunset Road, Rye Brook
Earl Aune 60 Windsor Road, Rye Brook
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the following alternate inspectors are
appointed:
Gloria Falk 141 Country Ridge Drive, Rye
Brook
Agnes Aune 60 Windsor Road, Rye Brook
Barbara Feigin 48 Lawridge Drive, Rye Brook
June Benerofe 3 Holly Lane, Rye Brook
Dorothy Tannone 42 Woodland Avenue, Rye Brook
Sissy Sherlock 54 Rock Ridge Drive Rye Brook
FURTHER RESOLVED, that compensation for such election
inspectors by $6.00 (six dollars) per hour for each said
inspector.
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
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w
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
ELECTIONS - POLLING PLACES.
On the motion of Trustee Zak, seconded by Trustee Cresenzi,
RESOLVED, that at the next Village Election to be held on
March 18, 1987 , voting machines shall be used, said voting
machines being owned by the Town of Rye, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that is said voting machines are not
available, the use of paper ballots is hereby authorized, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the polls in each of the seven
(7 ) election districts shall be opened at 7 : 00 in the morning
and remain open until 9: 00 in the evening of said day, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the following polling places be
designated for the respective districts:
District: #20 A.J. Posillipo Center, Garibaldi Place
#21 Port Chester Middle School Main Lobby,
Bowman Ave.
022 Blind Brook High School Main Entrance,
King St.
#23 Ridge Street School Gymnasium, N. Ridge
Street
#26 Port Chester Senior High School, Neuton
Avenue
#27 Ridge Street School Gymnasium, N. Ridge
Street
#29 Ridge Street School Gymnasium, N. Ridge
Street
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
GRIEVANCE DAY
WHEREAS, the assessment roll of the Village of Rye Brook from
the fiscal year 1987-1988 will be filed in the office of the
Village Clerk, February 1 , 1987 , where it may be seen and
examined by any person at all times during business hours
until the 17th day of February 1987 .
On the motion of Trustee Zak, seconded by Trustee Meiskin,
RESOLVED, that the Board of Trustees sit as a Board of
Assessors pursuant to Section 1406 of the Real Property Tax
Law on Tuesday, February 17 , 1987 , to hear grievances in
000719
relation to assessments from 6 :00 p.m. to 10 : 00 p.m. , at 90
South Ridge Street, Rye Brook.
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell - suggested that the Agenda Meeting be moved
to February 17th, 1987 .
On the motion of Trustee Nardi, seconded by Trustee Zak,
RESOLVED that the Agenda Meeting for February be moved to the
third Tuesday, February 17th, 1987 .
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
CONSTITUTION AWARENESS YEAR.
Mayor Kabcenell - there has been a request that the Board
declare this year to be Constitution Awareness Year as part
of the celebration of the Bicentennial of the Constitution.
On the motion of Trustee Nardi seconded by Trustee Nardi,
RESOLVED that 1987 be declared Constitution Awareness Year as
part of the celebration of the Bicentennial of the
Constitution.
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
RESOLUTION RE STATE AID TO VILLAGES.
Mayor Kabcenell - one other quick issue - there has been a
challenge to the equity of State Aid for cities and villages.
It has been clearly documented that villages are getting
short shrift - similar populations -
City of Sherrill gets $253 ,000+, Village of Attica $59 ,000+
City of Canandaigua $914 , 000+, Village of Newark $181 ,000+
City of Salamanca $718, 000+, Village of Medina $125 , 000+
etc. , etc.
It has been recommended to us by the Mayor of the Village of
000no
Le Roy that we pass a resolution calling on our Senator and
Assemblyman to see that equity is established in State
Aid between the cities and the villages.
WHEREAS there is a terrible imbalance in New York State' s
Revenue Sharing system which results in a heavily slanted
favor toward cities without regard to the level of services
they provide, and
WHEREAS a village with the same population and services can
expect to receive substantially less Revenue Sharing funds
than a neighboring city,
on the motion of Trustee Meiskin, seconded by Trustee Zak,
NOW BE IT RESOLVED that the Village Board of the Village of
Rye Brook, New York, hereby calls for a new and equitable
system of State Revenue Sharing, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Village Clerk be directed to
send copies of this resolution to the following officials:
Governor Mario Cuomo
Hon. John L. Marchi, Senate Finance Committee
Hon. Sol Weprin, Ways & Means Committee
State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer
Assemblyman Ron Tocci
Trustee Meiskin voting AYE
Trustee Nardi voting AYE
Trustee Cresenzi voting AYE
Trustee Zak voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell voting AYE
Mayor Kabcenell asked that the Board move into executive
session to discuss personnel matters .
The meeting was adjourned at 11. 15 p.m.