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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-02-14 - Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes AGENDA VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK BOARD OF TRUSTEES I AGENDA MEETING FEBRUARY 14, 1995 7:30 P.M. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ACTION I PUBLIC HEARING 1. JOINT POLICE DISTRICT PROPOSAL VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK/CITY OF RYE { f� RESOLUTIONS 1 2. ESTABLISHING A FEE FOR COUNTRY WESTERN LINE DANCE PROGRAM 3. ENTERING INTO AGREEMENT WITH MOTOROLA RE: SERVICE OF COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT 4. ENTERING INTO AGREEMENT WITH WESTCHESTER SHORE HUMAN SOCIETY FOR ANIMAL CONTROL SERVICES 5. APPOINTING INSPECTORS OF ELECTION MARCH 21, 1995 6. ESTABLISHING PERSONAL REGISTRATION DAY MARCH 11, 1995 I 7. DENYING STROMBERG SUBDIVISION SECTION 1, BLOCK 23, LOT 4 62 BOWMAN AVENUE 8. BUDGET MODIFICATION 1993-1994 FISCAL YEAR 9. CHECK REGISTER WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS 10. ALAN BRISKMAN RE: RESIGNATION FROM PLANNING BOARD ITEMS FOR FEBRUARY 28TH i PUBLIC HEARINGS 1. RYE CENTER SERVICE STATION HOURS OF OPERATION 2. AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER 158 - NOISE 3. A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE ZONING LAW ON DWELLINGS ON SMALL LOTS 4. HAROLD LEITMAN 58 TALCOTT ROAD SECT. 1, BLOCK 5H, LOT 29 SITE PLAN APPLICATION RESOLUTIONS 5. APPROVAL OF SITE PLAN APPLICATION ST. MARY'S CEMETERY/MAUSOLEUM EXPANSION SOUTH RIDGE STREET DISCUSSION i 6. ANTHONY J. POSILLIPO COMMUNITY CENTER RENTAL POLICY AND FEE SCHEDULE APPROVAL OF MINU'T'ES 7. AUGUST 9, 1994 8. AUGUST 23, 1994 9 SEPTEMBER 13, 1994 10. SEPTEMBER 27, 1994 11. OCTOBER 12, 1994 12. OCTOBER 25, 1994 13. JANUARY 31, 1995 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1995 - GRIEVANCE NIGHT 6:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1995 - BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING 7:30 P.M. REGISTER TO VOTE! 005661 MINUTES OF AN AGENDA MEETING VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK BOARD OF TRUSTEES VILLAGE OFFICES 90 SOUTH RIDGE STREET RYE BROOK, NEW YORK FEBRUARY 14, 1995 CONVENE MEETING The Meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. By Mayor Cresenzi in Multi-Purpose Room at the Anthony J. Posillipo Community Center and the Pledge of Allegiance followed. Present were the following members of the Board: E { Mayor Salvatore M. Cresenzi Trustee Joseph Pellino Trustee Randy A. Solomon Trustee Gary J. Zuckerman Trustee Michele R. Daly was not in attendance. Also present were: Christopher J. Russo, Village Administrator Lori Ann DeMarco, Ass't to Village Administrator Rocco V. Circosta, Director of Public Works Kenneth E. Powell, Village Attorney Joseph Cortese, Village Treasurer Robert J. Santoro, Chief of Police Thomas Hroncich, Superintendent of Recreation & Parks Elizabeth Bottali, Secretary to Village Board Craig Benson, Raines & Pogrebin 1 February 14, 1995 005662 PUBLIC HEARING 1. JOINT POLICE DISTRICT PROPOSAL VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK/CITY OF RYE Mayor Cresenzi opened the Public Hearing at 7:35 p.m. and announced that the purpose of tonight's hearing was to take public comments from the audience which will be limited to three minutes. The Board would allow two hours for the Public Hearing which would be continued to the February 28, 1995 Regular Board Meeting. All residents who wish to speak must come up to the microphone and state their names and addresses. The legislation that is before you, is a structure that we are discussing tonight enabling legislation, it does not create a police district, it only gives us the ability to do so if we choose to. During the discussions that will be taking place in Rye Brook and if this is sent to Albany on February 28th there will certainly be discussions taking place in Albany as well. The Mayor then read a statement that he read at the first meeting which is as follows: This comes from the Official Village Release. There are three vial elements to this plan all of which must be accomplished for it to proceed. First we must maintain and in fact increase the quality of our protection to the two communities, second we must be sure that all police employees are treated in the most equitable fashion possible and third we must be able to achieve our target savings for the taxpayers. Those three elements are really needed for this to move forward and be successful. He turned the meeting over to public comment and asked the residents to form a line. Michael Stolzar of 19 Rockinghorse Trail wished all a Happy Valentine's Day. He stated j that both Rye Brook and City of Rye have fine Police Departments and any of his experiences with either Department have been great. That is not the issue here because no one is looking to take that away from the City or the Village. What is happening here is that the Board has taken the slogan of Shared Services and said "Let's have shared services and see if it could be implemented in a meaningful fashion in a way that really accomplishes the purposes. Mainly to provide better service at a cost that we can afford. We can't sit around at Election time and say to our officials, keep our taxes where they are, cut our taxes but provide more services and don't do anything to see what can be done to save money for us and keep our taxes at least where they are. It is all well and good to say expand services when things were going well and the General Foods and IBM's were paying for it but that time is no more. We see Mayor Guiliani and Governor Pataki talking about cutting everything but in Rye and Rye Brook they are saying Let's not cut services, lets see how we can provide better or at least the same level of service at less cost and I think the Elected Officials should all be commended for that. When we elected them, we said to them that we have confidence that they are going to govern us correctly and provide proper services and I think we should trust them and go forward with this now. I think that they should be commended as the Daily Item commended them and I look forward to seeing them attempt to implement the three points which our Mayor has stated. The concept of forming the Village was not to provide every service ourselves independently. The original concept was that we were going to be a rent a Village and rent our services from everyone else and after the Village was formed, the Elected Officials discovered that that concept did not work with everything and what has to be done in every municipality in this State and Country is explore what can be done properly. 2 February 14, 1995 Q o 5(7 6 L3 Mary Bellantoni of North Ridge Street stated that she watched the Board's Informati4 Meeting the other evening and was quite surprised at some of the concepts that the Mayor put forth. She referred to one of the charts which stated the same number of police patrols as today. Either someone was grossly misinformed or it was set out to intentionally misrepresent. She called the Police Department in Rye Brook several days in a row during different shifts and asked the Desk Officer how many cars were available at that moment. She was told on a number of occasions there were four cars available and on another number of occasions there were three available. When she asked if there were ever any less than three cars on the road, the Officer replied: "Oh No!" Why is the Board telling us that Rye Brook is going to get the same police protection with two cars. That is misleading. Also, this chart tells us how we are going to save a million dollars split 60-40. I don't think the Police Chief makes $99,000 per year in Rye Brook nor do the Sergeant's make $94,000 a year. I listened to the explanation and that includes the benefits packages but it does not include the buy out retirement that we are going to have to pay for and there are going to be 14 cuts as I understood. I don't know where these cuts are going to come from but this is all not reflected in this cost savings so I think that this chart is a little misleading. Another thing that I heard, which was surprising is the Board said that the uniform police were going to be housed in the City of Rye. Now we hear that the City of Rye owns that Building and the new Sound Shore District will not. We must pay rent to the City of Rye so now we will be paying rent there and on Bowman Avenue as well. Also, when we pay these two rents, all of the uniform police are going to be in the City of Rye, the Detectives are going to be housed on Bowman Avenue. I haven't heard of a Police Department that separated their detectives from their uniform police. My father was a police officer for thirty years and he never heard of a detective bureau being separated from the uniform police. I can envision in l three or four years the Board of the Sound Shore Police saying, why are we paying rent on Bowman Avenue, let's take the detectives and put them in Rye, now we have no police E presence in Rye Brook and maybe they will send us one or two cars per day. Do you consider this the same or better police protection and we are going to pay more money. I am really surprised at your figures here, I thought you would be more honest with the people. Mayor Cresenzi told Ms. Bellantoni that her three minutes were up. f Lena Accurso of 52 Rockridge Drive stated that she is absolutely opposed to the merger of the two police forces. The opposition is not based on antagonism towards the City of Rye or to anyone in the Rye Brook administration but on the violation of three final adages. Haste makes waste, Don't be pennywise and pound poorish and If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The Rye Brook Police Department is not broke, rather, it is one of the few things in this Village that functions perfectly as I have had many opportunities to witness on a first hand basis from incidents as small as kids throwing firecrackers to car crashes and 911 hospital calls. If the current fire department agreement is any indication, there is no guarantee that relations with any other municipality will always be smooth. This makes us vulnerable in our most vital areas which are fire and police. The newsletter sent out by the Board was not a comfort either. It carefully states that we could save money, not that we will. When this Village was formed 12 1/2 years ago we were told that it would not cost us anything and has done nothing but cost us ever since. Now you propose to eliminate our services and maybe save us money. That is a bad bargain all around. If you want to save money postpone or cancel the new Village hall, not the services to citizens. Page two of your newsletter is even more disturbing. It mentions enabling legislation but fails to mention that this legislation enables the Board to bypass the citizens rights to hold a referendum on the matter. 3 February 14, 1995 005664 Lena Accurso stated that this omission from the people is deceptive and evasive. It doesn't hold well for full disclosure without all of the other facts in this debate. No offense to Rye, but from where I see it, Rye gets all of the benefits, including the station and the naming of a police commissioner and we get nothing but phantom pennies. The fact that Gannet's editorial board endorsed this plan is a minus not a plus. They have consistently proven themselves out of touch with the needs of Rye Town on every issue from the Airport to the Diamond Club. This issue was not part of anyone's platform last year which would have given us a chance to have our say on it. The fact that it is being rushed through now before Elections makes me wonder where the fire is except I am scared to ask where's the fire in this Village. I urge this Board in the most respectful but strongest term possible to drop this nutty idea. If you persist in this folly than you at the very least owe us our right to a referendum. You will not succeed in another kind of referendum if you insist on ramming this down our throats before we can discuss it. It's called your next re-election campaign. Jerome Myer of 3 Charles Lane stated that he is a 30 year resident that he feels that the image of Rye Brook is at stake. Rye Brook has a very fine reputation and is a prestigious Village and has accomplished this through our Officials. How they conduct their garbage collection and how they handle the various organizations in the Village has been done so efficiently in the past and built up a reputation about Rye Brook as a quality place to live. I very much fear that our reputation will be at stake if we dilute the effect of our Police Department which would be inevitable if we are going to quadruple the area of which are Police Officers are going to patrol in order to keep law and order within the communities. I know that the Boards are interested in efficient operation of all of the functions that ought to conduct the business in the Village and yet I think that the attitude authority starts at the top. It must seep down from the top to the bottom. If we are not vigilant about the quality and the efficiency of our Police Department, we are going to languish and that means property values are going to decline. I doubt very much that the savings that will accrue through the j consolidation of these police departments will be worthwhile when you consider that you will f be sacrificing the image of efficiency in Rye Brook. Rory Bellantoni of 375 North Ridge Street stated that he has heard from the Board and the first speaker this evening about the importance of cutting and cutting and trying to save money and the Mayor and Governor cutting, however, they are not cutting their police departments. The municipalities all across America are increasing the number of police officers on the street. Mayor Guiliani is graduating more cadets every year and every year there is more Federal funding available for municipalities to expand police departments. Someone mentioned postponing the Village hall and I am sure there are many other places to cut the budget if need be. It says that we will be saving 1 million dollars a year which is misleading because if it is true, we would in actuality only be saving 400,000 dollars a year and I don't think the taxpayers ever expressed a desire to save $400,000 dollars year at the expense of losing our Police Department. I also heard someone say to trust the Village Board to make decisions and that is true. But they also must be responsive to the residents that elected them. I watched the joint worksession and there is a timetable notwithstanding the attitude that the residents have, the comments the public is going to make. The Boards have decided already that the enabling legislation will go up to Albany on February 28, 1995 and this will be a done deal by July. I don't understand how the elected officials can have this timetable established before hearing from the public. 4 February 14, 1995 Brian Rothschild of 12 Candy Lane stated that he grew up in Rye Brook and chose Rye 005 Gua Brook to settle with his family after moving away during college. The reason for this choice was the safety. It is a nice, safe community. In looking at the figure of 1.2 million, he doesn't even see a $400,000 savings. The old budget for the combined department is 6 million dollars, the new budget is 4.8 million dollars, currently we are spending 2.1 million on the police force while Rye is probably spending 3.9 million. Under the new proposal and the 40% ratio they are talking about, Rye Brook would still be paying 1.92 million dollars which would only come to a bulk savings of $180,000 while City of Rye would be spending 2.8 million which gives them a savings of 1,000,020 approximately so where is all of this savings. For that small amount, I want my children playing in a safe community. Brendan Murphy from 3 Park Drive South, Rye, stated that he is not here to condemn or criticize but the creation of a Sound Shore Police Department is politically motivated and lacks common sense. It gives the appearance of more amateurs tinkering with public safety and this is an area so often trivialized by politicians like the ones sitting before us. They are ignorant of their full ramifications of their acts. A merger of two police departments is a savings of loosely projected 1.2 million dollars. That is approximately a $5 to $10 per month savings on the average residents tax bill which is also 16 to 34 cents per day. There are two suggestions which would not only save money but approve the level of emergency services in a manner in which these services are provided in both municipalities. One is contract police services. You simply set forth in writing what services are required to the Community individually or collectively and you contract them. You can lease those services from the Westchester County Department of Public Safety which is something that has not been discussed at all or you could probably lease the services from the City of Rye Police Department. All the salary, labor, liability and training issues would be the responsibility of the Department that took over that lease or contract and it is likely that the local governments t could save an additional 30% on assessment arrangement. The contract would be the only police related issue before these local governments. You could ask for County patrol which t is very similar to the other idea except that there is no fee or lease. County taxpayers would pay for this and there would be no burden on the taxpayer as a reduction in local taxes would more than offset the cost of these services. The arrangement that you are setting out for right now is not going to achieve the three points that were outlined by the Mayor in his opening statement. Mary Bellantoni stated that she is a twenty year resident of Rye Town and the purpose of creating the Village of Rye Brook was to have our own identity. The only thing in this Village that is solely ours is the police department and you want to take it away. She questioned Section 8.800 of the Village Law regarding the Board of Trustees abolishment of a police department and it states that that type of action is subject to permissive referendum. She added that there is an opinion from the attorney general that states: "A Village that does not have its own police department may not contract with a neighboring Village for ordinary police protection since in that situation, the Town in which the Village is located is already obligated to provide such police protection to the Village." I understand it has something to do with expending funds. You have set out to create a new department, we are not being merged into a County level police department which is a distinction they make in here when you don't need a referendum. You are creating a new district and you are creating it with a City and we are a Village and a City is governed by different laws than the Village is governed by. Are you going to just ignore the laws that you don't like and apply the ones that you do like. I hope by the end of this evening we will all be in agreement to allow a referendum. 5 February 14, 1995 005666 William Aughavin of 16 Mohegan Lane stated that he is not speaking as a police officer tonight as he is only an Auxiliary Police Officer. He is a volunteer to this Village in cooperation with the Police Department and he looks at this merger as a detriment to the Village of Rye Brook. About 12 years ago, he and his wife bought into Rye Brook because there were good schools, we were self governed, beautiful properties and self policed. We are being stripped of our Police protection. The new plan calls for two sectors in Rye Brook and that is the minimum protection that we receive currently. In its worst moments, Rye Brook has two cars on the road three, four and more in better times. How can you say we are increasing or improving our protection. We are not improving our protection but taking away our protection. We haven't spoken about the pension layoff costs, facilities costs, etc. How are you saving 1.2 million dollars? You don't have all the facts. You say you can do this without a public vote and you have already proceeded without public input. Hear your constituents. We want our own police. They help make Rye Brook what it is and that is a place where our property values are up and without that police protection I believe our property values will fall. Louis D'Alisso, President of New York State Association of Chief's of Police in Schenectedy, New York stated that the association has over 900 active and retired members representing Local, County and State Law Enforcement Executives as well as Federal officials serving in this State. Our association has some serious concerns about this proposal k and our association is perfectly willing to sit down with the Mayors or their designated representatives in an effort to ensure due process to all the police officers on the New York j State Civil Service Law and the Taylor Law. After reading the proposal I was disturbed because it appeared that there was little or no input from law enforcement executives from all communities or PBA officials. The long and dedicated service of both departments should be r the Boards consideration of all future discussions and decisions involving the formation of a new police department after all they will be directly effected. It is your proposal also to dissolve both police departments without the need for public referendum. The residents of Rye Brook and Rye will also be directly effected. Yes you have been elected to represent the citizens and make decisions which would be in their best interest however this is too important a matter. They, the citizens, should be heard and allowed to decide by voter referendum as to what is best for them. Mario Nardi of 11 Maywood Avenue stated that the most important function that a municipality has is public safety and after that is land use and zoning. When we formed the Village 12 years ago, it was our intent to give back control to the residents of the Village of Rye Brook which they did not have before. We decided to retain the Rye Town Police Department 12 years ago when we became a Village and found it did not work because the Police could not serve two masters. We severed that relationship and formed our own Village Police Department. At that time, we did consider other options and utilizing the Westchester County Police Department was one of the options we considered and although that would have been the greatest cost savings, it was felt not only by the Board but by a majority of residents that we spoke with that it was important that if we were going to have our identity as a Village to retain that control within the Village. I have serious concerns about how the Police Department is going to be managed, what occurs if one board approves their budget and the other does not and most of all, what the entire safety issue will be in the Village. There are serious concerns about the Village to be properly served from downtown in the City of Rye. Being that this is such an important issue and so basic to the foundation of the Village, it would be just folly to propose any legislation in Albany that would not include a referendum by the people. 6 February 14, 1995 00566 f Mr. Nardi stated that if the legislation that goes to Albany does not include a referendum he would urge all residents to contact their Assemblyman and State Senator and urge them not to entertain this legislation. I am not giving merit to the entire program, I commend the Board that they are looking at saving money and shared services but I certainly feel that the Police Department should not be the first area to share. Roseann Posa of Westview Avenue stated that she is a Social Worker and has a sense of Community and one of the most valuable features in Rye Brook is that we are a Community, not a City but a small community providing services to our Children and our family. Where is the mechanism to ensure that we are going to get better services if this goes through. I keep hearing financial factors but at what cost. The community was never consulted and the police department was never consulted in the inception of the planning or about the crime rate. It would lead us as taxpayers to believe that there is a hidden agenda here and that the taxpayers are not the ones that will be benefitting. It is very distressing as a member of this community that this motion is being passed and rushed through and that the taxpayers are not fully informed and consulted. I am very distressed that our Board has come down to this. Richard F. Hubert of 53 Doral Greens Drive and a new resident stated that he was unaware of this debate that was going on until receiving a flyer from the PBA. It was such an emotional flyer and so ill thought out that I wrote a letter to the PBA with a copy to the Board saying: "If you people have a reasonable case, make it intelligently and stop this emotionalism". On Sunday, I had a visit from Officer Austin who prepared for me a seven page memo and we sat down and had what I consider an hour long intelligent talk from his point of view about this proposed merger. I authorized Officer Austin to share his letter k with the rest of the Community and the Board. As a resident of Westchester I have been appalled by the overlap of services and Police Departments, Fire Departments and School Districts have massive inefficiency. I come from the Edgemont section of the Town of Greenburgh as a 20 year resident of a community that has its own school district but has their policing taken care of by the Town of Greenburgh which is the largest Town in the State of New York. My question is what is the most efficient way of looking at downsizing costs. Has the Board in its fiduciary responsibility, considered merging with Purchase or Harrison. Trustee Pellino contacted me and I asked him that question and he replied that they only looked at merging with Rye City. I would suggest that from an intelligent point of view, the Board look at the potential savings and the effectiveness of policing merging with Purchase or Harrison. I would be the first to commend you for the effort of even thinking about this because the overlap of services makes this one of the most expensive communities k in the Country and nobody could argue with me that we are too small to have a dignitary wide police force and I assure you residents of Rye Brook that the concept of having policing 'i taken care of by a larger entity doesn't bother me. The Town of Greenburgh Police Department is responsible for Hartsdale, Elmsford, Edgemont and lord knows how many other entities. You are getting upset by something that is not really an issue here. An issue here is what is the most efficient and effective way of delivering services whether it is Fire, Police or Schools. I urge everyone here tonight to use this occasion to intelligently look at the possibility of downsizing government in an efficient way which would benefit the taxpayers and not wreck your police protection. And beware of leaders of trustees with political aids look at it from your own selfish point of view what is best for the taxpayers because that is the issue and is how you have been voting in past elections. He urged the Trustees, from a business point of view to come back to us and tell us why Rye, as opposed to Purchase and Harrison. If you haven't had this discussion, you owe it to your constituents to do so. 7 February 14, 1995 On 5 f--)F, Mary Quigley of 148 North Ridge Street stated that she has lived in the Community for 3 years and is also a social worker. She stated that this was emotional for her because when her daughter was 15 months old, about a year and a half ago, she spiked a very high temperature and called the emergency number and asked for an ambulance and the police were the first to respond. I know CPR but when my daughter couldn't breath, I could not do anything for her. When the police arrived, I gave them my baby and they took her down and met the ambulance. She could have died. They were there in two minutes. When my son was first in kindergarten I had an accident on Ridge Street and fortunately there was a Policeman nearby and the man with whom I had the accident got out of the car and was very irate and the policeman got out of the car and stopped him. I personally would like our own police department. One that responds here, close to us and does not have to come up all the way from the end of South Ridge Street which is a long trip with many traffic lights. Randy Newman stated that he is a police officer in Rye Brook and stated that in reference to the lady who just spoke, he and Officer Fee were the two police officers that responded to the call when her baby could not breathe. On November 8, 1994, the Village gave them a commendation for performing the artificial respiration on that child which happened on September 28, 1993. Our response time was within two minutes, we put the child in the back of the police car and headed towards the hospital with her. I have been an EMT for 9 years and if the response time was two or three minutes longer, that child may not be here 1 today. Is it worth the small amount of money that you are speaking of for the lives of the children and the people of this community? Rory Bellantoni stated that he recently heard someone state that the citizens in Rye Brook should not be afraid of a larger entity patrolling the Village of Rye Brook, however this will not be a larger entity. When you merge the two departments you are losing police officers and service. The entity that will be created will be smaller than a combination of the two existing entities at present. As stated before, I am opposed to the merger and am concerned because you currently contract with Port Chester for Fire Services and have problems on a daily basis with that arrangement. We share Ambulance Services with Port Chester and the City of Rye and there are problems with that sharing. To think that problems won't arise with the Police is very naive. This district Board will be made up of the Mayors of Rye Brook and City of Rye, Rye Brook Administrator Christopher Russo and Rye City Manager Frank Culross and a fifth individual. At present the Board oversees the operation of the police department and everyone on the Board is a resident of Rye Brook. After the merger, there will be one Rye Brook resident overseeing the function of the Police Department and that bothers me. I believe that these services, over the years, will gravitate more towards Rye City, and make no mistake, the elected officials in Rye are concerned only with the citizens of Rye, not the citizens of Rye Brook and I don't want this to turn into a sparring C with the City of Rye but I had problems obtaining a parking permit for the Rye train station. When I went before the City Counsel, I was told "Well you are not a Rye resident and the most we can do is refund your money on a pro rata basis" I told them that I waited for three years for a permit and the attitude that I was given was "Sorry, you don't live in Rye and that is where our responsibility lies". If this merger goes through and conflicts arise they will not be resolved, just as the Fire and Ambulance issues are not being resolved now. Stanley Ross of 41 Country Ridge Circle stated that this is not an isolated situation. He once needed an ambulance for his wife and the police responded in two minutes, therefore, he is willing to pay the extra $20 or $50 a year to keep the Rye Brook Police Department. 8 February 14, 1995 005(;w9 Mark Bottali an employee of the Rye Brook Police Department questioned why the Board is proposing special legislation rather than following existing laws that govern the consolidation of Police Departments. Why are they not seeking a public referendum. There are free services that the Board could have utilized, one of them would be contacting New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services who would evaluate the entire operation. What other Police Experts were consulted? The Board, in the past, used Caroll Buracker to do a study on the Police Department a few years back and recently to conduct the Lieutenant interviews. Why were they not consulted for this? Also, the Board keeps quoting Westchester 2000. The way I read it, it states to leave the six Cities in Westchester alone, which includes the City of Rye. It says to merge everything including Police, Fire and Government which means one Mayor and one Village Board. Greg Austin stated that he is an employee of the Rye Brook Police Department and a member of the Union. He added that he grew up in Rye Brook, went to school in Rye Brook. This is our PBA's first chance to address the Board on this matter and I wish we could have done this in a non public manner but this is our forum so I have a few questions for the Board. This consolidation of the Police Department violates the philosophy of this Village. I voted to form the Village of Rye Brook and this philosophy of having the Rye City Manager controlling the budget and appointing a Police Commissioner who would report back to the Rye City Manager and having the Rye City Manager controlling the supervision of purchasing supplies, materials and equipment puts the Village at a disadvantage. This is not why I voted for the Village of Rye Brook. I became a member of the Village of Rye Brook Police Department because this is where I grew up and this is the Village I wanted to serve. How does the Village intend to keep politics out of the Police Department when two political entities will be running it. The governing body consists of two Mayors, the Village Administrator and City Manager and the Administrator and Managers will not go against their Mayors. Where is this fifth person going to come from, Mamaroneck or Bedford? He is either going to come from Rye or Rye Brook. What happens if he comes from Rye, Rye Brook is at a disadvantage and that is not why this Village was formed. Trustee Pellino brought up an interesting point at the worksession which was the question of what would happen if the residents of Rye Brook wanted to have a third post in Rye Brook and Rye City feels that this is unimportant. How would this be worked out. Currently, our schedule of 24 Police Officers have three officers on patrol, there are only two physical posts but there are always three on patrol whether it is three patrolmen or two patrolmen and a sergeant. The way this is structured there will be two police officers here and if Rye is busy with the wind and the rain and the wires coming down and the beach being flooded, the two officers designated for Rye Brook will be busy over in Rye City. [ How does the Village of Rye Brook intend on having a twenty four hour presence in Rye Brook with the Detectives and the Youth Officer on King Street. Detectives are supported C by patrols and depend on patrols to conduct their investigation. What basis was used to determine the number of Uniform Officers for patrol. Rye Brook currently has far less the number of officers per population and we are one of the lowest in the County. How many men did the chief recommend to have on patrol. Why weren't the formulas and the expertise of D.C.J.S. consulted as it doesn't cost anything. It is in our best interest to have experts tell us what is needed to police this Village and then let the citizens decide if that is the way to do it. 9 February 14, 1995 0 0 G 7 0 Rory Bellantoni mentioned that the City of Rye is also secondary coverage for Playland Park and those of us who know anything about Playland know that there are many instances where policing assistance from Rye City is required so you are talking about taking patrol officers from the Village of Rye Brook as far into the City of Rye as Playland. At the worksession, Playland was mentioned and Mr. Culross mentioned the Westchester County Airport but there are not the six to ten thousand people a day flooding into the airport that flood into the amusement park so I do not think that the two are analogous of each other. He also mentioned that he was distressed about the incident that took place with Police Officer Heil some time ago and asked the Board to explain why an officer who has been as dedicated as Officer Heil has to this community for so long could suffer such severe disciplinary actions for trying to protect the union, his officers and the citizens of Rye Brook. Joel Simon of 34 Winding Wood Road stated that at this point, he has no view point about this merger because he does not have enough information. The PBA and Village Board are both setting forth their viewpoints but what we don't have are facts. There are experts whose jobs it is to investigate situations such as this, who can tell us how it would actually effect the Community. What I suggest is that you have this investigated and let the people know what the effects on the community in the area of police protection will be. James Heil stated that he was President of the Rye Brook Police Benevolent Association, a resident of Rye Brook. He added that his mother and aunt are also residents and taxpayers of Rye Brook and additionally, his brother and his family are residents and taxpayers of the City of Rye so no one is more concerned with Police protection in both communities than he. We don't have enough information on these changes that the Board states are conceptual. He has not heard any questions answered tonight. It is the intention of the PBA to present our questions in writing to you, and in turn get a response in writing to the best of your ability to answer these questions prior to the next meeting so that we can distribute our questions and the answers to the taxpayers who have a right to know what is going on. I would like to get an answer this evening as to whether or not you will agree to this. Mayor Cresenzi stated that he did not think there would be a problem with that. He invited anyone in the audience who would like to submit a question in writing for consideration or to be reviewed, they can feel free to do so. Mr. Heil stated that in response to some of the comments made, the Board did present him with a package of information, Westchester 2000 certainly talks about shared services and merging but it does not mention the City of Rye and the Village of Rye Brook merging. Additionally, this Board has control over the Police Department now right now and I think that the Board is to be commended to get the best deal whether it is the fire contract or the ambulance corp services, but right now you are getting the best police services that you can get and will not get any better. It was mentioned in the open meeting, although it was difficult to hear some of the responses, but one of the Trustees in Rye Brook questioned what what happen if there was a problem with police services. It was stated that if it wasn't a Sound Shore District that the Boards are going to go to these professional police officers. That hasn't been done now and no input has been solicited of any police officers, including the Chief of Police and the Supervisors. 10 February 14, 1995 005671 Elaine Eisenstadt of 49 Mohegan Lane stated that she has been a resident for 37 years. She has been listening to the young residents and the Policeman and now would like to say something for the senior citizens. None of us are getting any younger and many of us are on Medicare now. What happens if a school guard calls in sick, will we have an extra policeman to police Ridge Street or Blind Brook? When they were doing all that work on the Sewers on Ridge Street, at one point there were four police cars and maybe seven or eight policemen, patrolling, conducting traffic and it was a pain in the neck, but somebody was there. Who would do this if we merge with the City of Rye. Maybe we will do it for them, but will they do it for us? Kon Leong of 1 Candy Lane stated that in the last two years he had three occasions to call the police and they arrived at his doorstep in less than three minutes. I am absolutely satisfied with that service and he is open to cost cutting, however he added that he had a couple of concerns he wanted to raise. When going by the count of Police force employees, we currently stand at one police officer per 300 residents and Rye has one police officer per 400 residents and you are proposing something like one police officer per 500 residents. With my concerns being performance, I think it is a statistical stretch to say that this new entity can provide the same or better level of service. Who came up with the 60/40 revenue sharing because if it was done based on population we should be paying closer to 30%. Has anyone examined that. Rocco Spizzirri a member of the Rye Brook Police Department stated that he has been serving this community for almost 18 years. Many years ago, there was a pool issue before the Board and that issue seemed very important, having many hearings held at the Port Chester Middle School to provide residents with enough space. The Board felt it was important to provide a large area for people to speak their peace. Many hearings were held E on the matter before the taxpayers were finally listened to until the matter was finally r dropped. My concern is that in two weeks there will be another open hearing to decide whether or not to send this legislation to Albany and I believe you are rushing it a little bit. The Pool matter was important enough that they had several meetings over it and I would think that the Police Issue should have many more. Rory Bellantoni stated that this meeting is going to be adjourned to February 28th and I believe that is when you have planned to send the enabling legislation to Albany. F, Mayor Cresenzi pointed out that it is a tentative schedule. Rory Bellantoni asked for a good faith showing by this Board to show that they are aware of the concerns of the citizens and that the timetable be postponed until there are further hearings. At least by doing that, the Board would be showing a sign of good faith that they are interested in hearing what the citizens of Rye Brook have to say. Mario Nardi stated that this is a one way street with public comment and questions and no responses from the Board. From what I gather here, the operative word here is Public Referendum. I would like to hear back from the members of the Board because I understand that the proposed legislation calls for not having any public referendum and I would like to hear from the individual members of the Board as to why they feel that they should not have a public referendum. 11 February 14, 1995 005972 Mayor Cresenzi questioned if anyone would like to speak. Many members of the crowd shouted that they wanted answers. Mayor Cresenzi replied that the purpose of this hearing this evening is to hear the public input and not for the Board to respond to questions and engage in an open debate as it is not the Board's intent. Many residents in the crowd asked why not? Mayor Cresenzi reiterated that he would not engage in open debate this evening and explained that this was a way for the Board to hear the public's concerns and then address those concerns. The public disagreed with this response. Ken Heller of 22 Lincoln Avenue stated that we have all heard of shared services and one of his concerns is that we are beginning to share services with several different communities. Before we can do that, we should take a look at the total picture of how we are going to share all of our services if that is the way this community is going. Many questions were asked tonight and there was some misinformation stated and some need for more information. He suggested the Board take the additional time to give us the answers to these questions and also to give the community a more detailed response as to how this shared service might work if it were to go into effect. Most importantly, in Rye Brook, any basic decision should go to referendum and this Board almost decided to extend their terms to four years and by law could have done so by a majority of the Board voting on it but they saw the importance of putting that before the people and we will be voting on that in March. On the same basis, this decision will be so important to the entire community and it needs a referendum even it is means that it will have to be done at some future date rather than in March because it is very important that the entire Community has the final input and say as to how they want their money spent and how they want to share their services. f Rona Cannon of 219 Betsy Brown Road stated that she has two children and is a working mother and the knowledge that we have such a good Police Department close by to my children is very comforting because I can't get to my children as fast as they could. Also if you think you can do this, than we must have low crime rate so I think our Police Department should be thanked instead of eliminated. For the very small amount that comes back to the taxpayers for eliminating a Police Department I cannot believe that you would even consider that as a cost cutting action. Richard F. Hubert stated that he thinks he is going to be a total minority of one who believes in representative government. God help us if we are going to cut the federal budget and have to have the elderly citizens of this Country voting on Medicare and Medicaid. As a total outsider coming here for the first time, on one side we have a union sponsored packed meeting and on the other side we have a group that hasn't done its homework, which is the Board of Trustees. I urge the Board to do their homework and bring a thorough proposal to the community and then vote on it. If the people don't like it they can throw you out at the next election but you have been elected to make decisions and enforce that but make them intelligently. Judy Lanzilli of 29 Westview Avenue questioned how the Board proposes to answer the community while on the 28th the legislation is going to be sent to Albany anyway. I feel like we are being patted on the head here while you are really thinking, you can talk all you want because we are still going to send it out on the 28th. 12 February 14, 1995 005673 Mayor Cresenzi stated that we set up a tentative time schedule to send it out on the 28th, there will be another public meeting where a lot of these issues will be discussed at the beginning of the meeting and a lot of the questions answered. Jim Heil stated that the union will gather questions and concerns in writing and asked that we answer them and I responded that we would and he indicated, or I got the impression that the PBA would mail those questions out to the residents. Some of the residents disagreed with the last statement. Mayor Cresenzi stated that he thought that is what Jimmy said and did not mean to put words in his mouth but Jimmy will have time to correct him. The real issue here is that on February 22nd, we have another public work session with Rye City at City Hall and a lot of these concerns will be discussed at that meeting. Unless we hear from you now, we don't know the concerns to really take up at the future meetings. Judy Lanzilli questioned who really benefits by this. Does the Mayor or anyone else have plans of becoming the Police Commissioner now or a year from now. Mayor Cresenzi stated that contrary to a flyer that is circulating, he has no intentions of becoming Police Commissioner of the Joint Police District nor am I aware of anyone on the Village Board past or present that has similar aspirations. Judy Lanzilli stated that she feels that she is also speaking for many people here that this whole situation seems to just benefit you people, meaning the Village Board and i Administration. There is nothing here for us. We look for you to guide us and not to take away our protection. Mayor Cresenzi stated that is why we want to address these concerns at a public meeting. We have all taken notes this evening and we will be answering the vast majority of the questions. A lot of the questions we can answer in one because many are repetitive in many ways. Judy Lanzilli stated that she really hopes that on February 28th you don't contact the State legislation and that instead you allow this to go to a vote because you are doing what is best for the people, not for your own benefit. Audrey Goldenberg of 12 Mohegan Lane stated that she has lived here for 35 years and stated that for the gentlemen that stated that this was a packed house, this is not a packed house as we have a long history in this Town of taking an active interest in our community and this is not a packed house. We received mailings from both the Board and from the Police Department and we decided that this is something that needs to be attended to and I take exception to that remark. People came here to get a sense of the Community and 1 hope this Board has a sense that we do not want them rushing into this thing. If you want to represent us I think you should listen to us. What is the rush, we have been the Village for 12 years, why in two months do we have to throw out the baby with the bathwater. There is an old saying that no good deed goes unpunished. You have a good police force here. What's to say about building morale when somebody does a good job and then you toss them out. 13 February 14, 1995 00m 674 jBrendan Murphy stated that the gentlemen that was talking about people not doing their homework, he referred to Purchase as being a separate entity from the Town of Harrison and they are the same thing. I would like to see something comprehensive done and I am sure that you have some professionals on this Board, some of you sell birds, some of you are salesmen and some of you do whatever and I am sure that you have really though this thing through. Some of these men out here have been doing this a lot longer than you have and will be doing it long after you are gone. It sounds to me that you need more cops in both Towns as they are growing communities. It is obvious that this community is very active and knows what is going on here, it is not a packed house, it is part of the American process and that is why we are here. I hope you listen to them. Pam Lustrin of 14 Holly Lane stated that she is a new resident of Rye Brook. What concerns me most is that the careless disregard with which this Board seems to be avoiding a referendum on this issue. I am not quite certain how that is going to be addressed in a public worksession in the City of Rye. How does the Board intend to address this issue. Rory Bellantoni stated that we want more than answers, you can spend two weeks coming up with answers that will benefit the Board. Mayor Cresenzi stated that somehow there seems to be a perception that the merger benefits the Board and doesn't benefit the residents. We have no intention of doing anything that doesn't benefit the residents of Rye Brook. This is a proposal that has come forward and we are taking public input. A gentlemen that spoke earlier stated that this was part of the American process and that is what we are doing here. Rory Bellantoni stated that the Board's minds seem to be made up while the citizen's don't know much about this and seem to be opposed to it and the reason I came back to the microphone is to say, more than answers, I want to know that every board member still has an open mind and that this is not a done deal and not definitely going forward, the questions will be considered and the answers will be genuine answers and that you are open to putting an end to this deal right now if in fact you feel that that is what the people want. The best way to find that out is by referendum. Mayor Cresenzi stated that the questions will be answered to the best of our ability. Everyone on this Board is open minded. Consideration will be given to everyone that spoke tonight as this matter moves forward. Our job is to sit here and listen to the residents of this Village and then take that information and use that to make the best determination for Rye Brook. Rory Bellantoni stated that he can't help feel that there are hidden messages in what is being said. You just used the terms "As this matter moves forward". Is this moving forward or will it stop for now. Mayor Cresenzi stated that it can move forward, again there is a tentative time table set forward with a vote scheduled for the 28th. Up until that vote happens anything in the legislation can be changed, and it may be that the Board will have that ability to decide whether or not they voted on the matter or not. Nothing is cast in stone and that is the tentative schedule that we are on and that is the best way I can answer the question. 14 February 14, 1995 Rory Bellantoni stated that he appreciated that but asked one last question...Why no referendum? What can it hurt by letting the people decide? Bill Nethercott of 942 King Street stated that about a year ago, he attended a meeting regarding the fire contract. At that time, I brought up how much the cost of Police and Highway went up and that night no one could come up with an answer except to say how you improved the Police Department and you got these different sectors and you were very happy with that area. What happened in a year? A year ago you were praising them and now you want to get rid of them. Mary Bellantoni stated that after having watched your information meeting I was upset because I always though we had an open government in Rye Brook until I watched that meeting. It was stated that you were going to vote, do your proposition, send the enabling legislation to Albany and I think it was Mayor Dunn, stated "Maybe with a little pressure we can move along a little bit so it is in this section and it will be voted upon in July". What is the big hurry. Is it a detrimental thing to have the Police Department in Rye Brook. So it gets into the next legislative section. I feel that we are just up here talking and you all have already made up your minds as this is the impression that was given when I watched that worksession. I Mayor Cresenzi stated that a decision will be made on the 28th as to whether or not this goes ' to Albany. Everyone earlier this evening was quoting different sections of the laws and until a Board takes an action, the enabling legislation doesn't do anything. It only gives us the framework to hammer out how a district would be planned, it does not create a district. I Mary Bellantoni stated that if the people of Rye Brook don't want this, why are you going to send it to Albany and have our Legislators go through this long process of passing enabling legislation when we don't want it. Aren't we putting the cart before the horse. Mayor Cresenzi replied no and added that in reference to the public worksession, other Board members and myself have gotten a lot comments that thought that the worksession was very productive and very clear so it really depends how people look at it and how they interpret it. We have a lot of positive comments on this concept also so it is not only one sided. Mary Bellantoni stated that if they received positive comments on this issue then why no referendum. It tally's up the negatives and positive and if the no's outweigh the yes's then we drop the whole idea if the yes's outweigh the no's then we proceed but why are we doing this in a vacuum. i I Mayor Cresenzi stated that it is not being done in a vacuum. It is what can legally be put to a referendum and what can't. That is why when people ask why we don't answer the question this evening we need legal opinions from people on that particular matter and that jquestion will be addressed on February 22nd and February 28th. I 15 February 14, 1995 005676 Philip Cicchiello of 561 Westchester Avenue stated that his fear of public speaking is outweighed by his fear of not hearing the questions answered. You started a precedent by already starting to answer some of the questions. I was a police officer and I am now a fire fighter and also a resident of Rye Brook and lived in Rye for twenty years previously. Where did the experience came from for getting these ideas and where the Westchester 2000 is involved everyone seems to site it towards their own personal opinion. He questioned if. anyone has a copy of it and the exact wording about what is going to happen with Rye Brook. As he understands it, Rye Brook pulled away from Port Chester and the Town of Rye to obtain their own identity. I don't see them giving it up. They have a large border with Port Chester, a large border with Harrison and from my understanding of Westchester 2000, it is to form a large group similar to County of Los Angeles and Counties of Florida where everything is combined. You are basically giving up part of your identity but keeping it new. Would you like to spend the time answering other people's questions as you have already answered some. Mayor Cresenzi stated that he shouldn't have started to answer the questions. Mr. Cicchielo stated that Mayor Cresenzi started to set the precedent and it was a wonderful idea. Mayor Cresenzi stated that he is interested in hearing the comments and questions from the public. Mr. Cicchielo stated that seeing the troubles that Rye Brook has had with the Fire Department already and you certainly can't seem to straighten that out, why go into another mess. He suggested that off the top of their heads, the Board should answer some of the questions and we will keep quiet and listen to you completely. I am not talking about looking down at notes and going through facts and figures that you put up on the board. You have to have a good solid opinion of all of these facts because it is going to effect a lot of people. It seemed like a nice idea. The City of Rye is a City, there are many different areas. Did anyone think about the other alternatives of going back with Port Chester. Mayor Cresenzi stated that the Village of Rye Brook never was the Village of Port Chester i so that is the first error in what you are saying. Mr. Cicchielo stated that he thought Rye Brook pulled away from Port Chester to stay away from the Port Chester stigmatism. Mayor Cresenzi stated that was incorrect and Mr. Nardi can explain it better than I as he was on the first Village Board. Mr. Cicchielo asked again if the Board would answer some questions. Mayor Cresenzi stated that he would really rather just hear from the people. Mr. Cicchielo stated that he is one of the people and he wants some answers. Mayor Cresenzi stated that his answers will be forthcoming. 16 February 14, 1995 005677 Mr. Rothschild of 7 Jacqueline Lane stated that he only sees one person that really wants this other than the Board. The Board's legal council is sitting up there with them. Why can't they say tonight if it is legal, we will definitely have a referendum and tell everyone tonight and everyone can go and know that it will be decided that way. Mayor Cresenzi stated that he stated that a decision would be made on the 28th and I think• that this Board should have the ability to keep all of its options open until the time it has to vote. The enabling legislation is not cast in stone until it is voted upon so we are hearing the comments and that will be discussed by the Board. No one is turning the residents off, but we are saying that we are going to take your comments, listen to them, evaluate them and them and then make a judgement. Mr. Rothschild questioned if the worksessions are open to the public. Mayor Cresenzi stated that the worksessions are open to the public but generally we do not take public comment but welcome people to attend. Rocky Spizzirri stated that he took issue with the following comment made by Mr. Hubert: "God help the senior citizens vote on Medicare and Medicaid". He said we should let the official vote on such issues which they do, but what Mr. Hubert fails to see is that in essence, the seniors are voting on federal budget and that is by electing the people they feel do the job to protect their rights. With all due respect, it does not seem like many people are for this merger at this time, why should the residents allow five elected officials to decide an issue as important as this. I think a voter referendum is in order. { George Datino of 8 Bell Place stated if a proposal is up before the elected officials, the consituents should be allowed to tell them whether or not they are for or against it. Mayor Cresenzi stated that he thinks there is a predominant no in the room. ! Mr. Datino stated that he feels that a lot of people don't understand it, feel that they don't have enough information or the plans seem to be kind of quick in coming. We only heard about this a few weeks ago and now it is going to be voted on in two weeks. I have been watching the meetings on Cable TV and have seen curb cuts and certain subdivisions take longer to go through the process than this. We need these questions answered so that we can tell the Board if we are for or against it and February 28th will be too soon to do this. Mark Bottali, an employee of the Police Department read an excerpt from the information that the Board put out: Section II, Policy, Purpose and Effectiveness Act. It will allow the City of Rye and the Village of Rye Brook are hereby authorized and empowered to unilaterally dissolve their respective Police Department without the need for any public referendum. That is the enabling legislation that the Village Board would like to put through. Also, it appears to me that the PBA's position isn't exactly clear here. The PBA doesn't have enough information either. The only thing the PBA would like is that this go to a Voter Referendum. If the people want it, so be it. 17 February 14, 1995 005678 f Mr. Bottali also stated that back in December, there was a bad storm which was referred to as a Nor'easter and it produced high tides, flooding, high winds. The major part of this storm effected areas on Long Island Sound, which is the City of Rye. I happened to be working that night and they were evacuating people from the Harbor Area from the Milton Harbor House and they needed all the help they could get. They would have taken the two officers assigned to Rye Brook to help them with the evacuation and that would have left no one in the Village of Rye Brook. Also it was said about having intelligent comments. Everybody has two weeks to overlook this, the Board, from their own admission, has been working on this for over a year. We think you should have all the answers to any questioned posed this evening. Pam Kaplow of 28 Dorchester Drive stated that she has been a resident for 14 years and have found nothing wrong with this Police Department. Whenever I needed them, they have always been there, been very supportive and very friendly and have done their jobs to the best that I can imagine. I would like to know if we don't have Police Department in Rye Brook, what emergency services are we going to have within our Community Boundaries. This concerns me as a parent, a working parent and as a community member. Having a place in our Community where we can go within five minutes of our homes is very important. This is important for our schools, families and for the safety of our community. We live in a hot community, everyone wants to live in Rye Brook. The one thing that has been very consistent in this community has been the school system. Our Fire Department is not within our boundaries and we are always at odds with our Fire Department. Our Police Department is someone who we can depend on, is there for us, who can help us. I think it is a major plus for our Community. Let me ask you, if we do join with City of Rye, what is the chance of the Police force being located in Rye Brook and having them go to Rye for the emergencies. I feel very strongly that the Police Department stays in Rye Brook. It is a major security and a major plus for our Community. If we are going to save ourselves $50 or $100 a year, that is all you need is one family incident. What does that money mean if it is going to save you a child. Have we had any emergencies where our Police Department has not been able to respond on time. Before Rye Brook was formed, how many emergencies back then were they not able to respond to on time. Did anyone look into that. Mayor Cresenzi stated that the Town of Rye Police Department was located at 10 Pearl Street. When Police respond to an emergency, they respond from their patrol section. The cars were in the Village. We have no statistics at this time. Pam Kaplow stated that she does feel very strongly about having the Police Department in Rye Brook and that we have to go back and do our homework and look at every single angle and then come to the Community. If we have worked on this for a year, we have chosen a poor night, Valentine's Day to force the residents to come out. People have had to leave their family at home to come here this evening. This is really upside down, it is really a major event and the Board needs to have lot more homework done, a lot more input, before this can ever be discussed in front of the Community. 18 February 14, 1995 00 679 Brendan Murphy stated that it seems to him that your Fire Services are coming from Port Chester. There are a whole lot of cops in the audience. A patrol is generally a pro-active function. You are taking a patrol and moving it to the City of Rye and moving the Detective, Youth Officers and DARE into Rye Brook. You are going to have your DARE officers in the Schools, and your Detectives following up on crimes that the policemen are out there to prevent. You are creating something that does not exist anywhere else in the County. You mentioned that the residents can attend the upcoming worksessions, which are very similar to this, and this is the most aggravating part of the meeting. Here we can ask a question you can't answer. In a worksession, you can have your discussion and we cant' ask any questions. What everybody would like is the answer to just one little question...Why no referendum? Mayor Cresenzi stated that he said earlier on that what is written in the enabling legislation is not cast in stone until the vote is actually taken and can be changed. We have heard from many people tonight and we stated earlier that we are here to listen, and the speakers concerns will be taken into account. Brenden Murphy stated that the answer is not responsive to the question....Why no referendum? fMayor Cresenzi stated that he just gave the answer he is going to give. He stated that he f� feels that he answered the question and Mr. Murphy is not satisfied. Mr. Murphy asked if anyone in the audience was satisfied and the entire audience replied j No! Philip Cicchiello stated that someone here had a copy of Westchester 2000 and as the Board's excellent advice said to get more information, I followed up on what you told me and according to Section II, Policy Recommendations, Public Safety, Police, page five, it states that Establishing 17 Village/Town Police Departments pertaining to six City Police Departments. "We recommend consolidation of police services between the Towns and Villages which have the same political jurisdiction and who would serve the same constituents". On page 57, section four, "The City Police forces, six, are adequate in personnel, training and equipment and should not be changed. The focus should be on the Village's and Towns where overstaffing is apparent". That is the answer to my other question. Also, it states "A merger of Village and Town Police Departments, reducing them f to 17 would save tax dollars, avoid duplication of services and increase the amount of time that can be dedicated to investigations. Savings will be achieved by having one central dispatching unit, one detective division, fewer management personnel and less equipment to purchase". I don't see any combination of Village's, Towns and Cities in here in fact it recommends to leave the Cities completely alone. Thanks for the answers. James Heil proposed to the Village Board to have a transcript made of all the questions asked tonight, to the best of the ability of the Village, answer the questions and do a mailing to the taxpayers. Mayor Cresenzi stated that the Board intends to respond to the questions. 19 February 14, 1995 005680 Mr. Heil stated that in reference to the conceptual chart, the Board is saying that they are going to increase services. By having one desk officer answer the telephone for two communities that is not increasing the Police Services. I think that there are at least two gentlemen on the Board now that observed myself answering the phone one night during a blackout where many residents were calling with the same question and the answer to all of the questions was "Yes, Con Edison is aware of it". Fortunately there was no injury, but if you have one desk officer now that is going to answer the telephone for two communities, all the calls, I don't think that is an increase in services. If I can highlight on your legislation, I believe Sgt. Bottali read part of the legislation. I'll site Section 8 and that indicates your ability to contract with other communities. Say for example, Mamaroneck Village came on, you would then have one desk officer answering for three communities. Where is this going to go. Do the taxpayers want to maintain the same level of service that they currently have and did they ever not get a police officer to respond in an emergency. If there is a blackout, Con Edison is going to have to be called. If one circumstance effects both communities, somebody at that desk is going to make a decision, possibly, on their own or maybe it is going to be influenced by your own admission the day to day operation of the police department is going to be controlled by the police commissioner who directly answers to the City Manager of Rye. I am wondering who is going to get the services now that this one police department has a commitment to two communities. I don't think you are going to f increase the services especially when you have one desk officer answer the phone for two communities. 4 Goldie Solomon a Port Chester resident since 1948 stated that she has been a Red Cross i nurse since 1965 and currently the American Red Cross representative for disaster for Port Chester, Rye Brook and Rye Town and we also cover Rye City. I have been working with the Fire and Police Departments for many years now in disaster. One thing we never know is when a disaster is going to come about. I find that the Port Chester Fire Department covers this area very well because they know it very well and the history is there. We also have Police Department that overlaps or covers Port Chester. I don't understand why we are speaking of merging with the City of Rye when 99% of Rye Brook's border is with Port Chester and not with City of Rye. Unfortunately, at the expense of Port Chester and Rye Brook residents, we have a government that is not working for the benefit of the people. It is the government that has created many of the problems in this world including being responsible for world wars. Currently, I am the 50th anniversary chairman for the commemorative communities of Port Chester Rye Brook and Rye Town commemorating World War II and in World War II it was the governments of Germany, Italy and Japan that put this world into war and all of the people suffered. From my life experience, I see that we have a Westchester 2000 committee that came in and said that government should be downsized and work together. It should look right now to save expense and I understand what you are going to say. There is always one side that doesn't want to do what the other side wants or vice versa, but there is a word that we have always used in the United States of America, and that is compromise. If you can't find a way to compromise than maybe we should get a mediator between the Village of Port Chester government, which doesn't seem to want to do anything much to compromise with what you want and a mediator who will work to do what you want with the Village of Port Chester to work with the Village of Rye Brook Government because whether you like it or not you are overlapping communities. You have a history of being covered by the Village of Port Chester in every sense of the word whether it be religion, Fire Department, Police Department or the Library. Some how, you have got to learn to work together. 20 fFebruary 14, 1995 005681. f Mrs. Solomon stated that she has had problems in Rye Brook in which the Police Department was reciprocal and problems in Port Chester where the Village of Rye Brook was reciprocal and it is because we have a school district that is divided between Port Chester and Rye Brook. It is not with the City of Rye. She suggested that you get a mediator to mediate. If they could do it for baseball, then they could do it for the two villages. It affects all of the 25,000 people in Port Chester and the 8,000 people in Rye Brook and I know because I did the Census in this area. Please on behalf of all of the people, all of the children, in the Town of Rye in this area to please get a mediator and work this thing out. Robert Chittendin, a police officer in the City of Rye for 15 years stated that last year Rye Brook had 5,200 calls and the City of Rye had 11,000. Where do you think most of the Police Officers are going to be. He announced that tomorrow night is the City of Rye Council meeting at 8:00 p.m. and I believe you will get more answers from our City Council so please attend there also. On Motion made by Trustee Solomon, seconded by Trustee Pellino, the public hearing was adjourned at 9:30 p.m, to the February 28, 1994 meeting. l( TRUSTEE PELLINO VOTING AYE TRUSTEE SOLOMON VOTING AYE TRUSTEE ZUCKERMAN VOTING AYE MAYOR CRESENZI VOTING AYE TRUSTEE DALY ABSENT f RESOLUTIONS 2. ESTABLISHING A FEE FOR COUNTRY WESTERN LINE DANCE PROGRAM On Motion made by Trustee Solomon, seconded by Trustee Pellino, the following Resolution was hereby adopted:' RESOLUTION ESTABLISKNG FEE - COUNTRY LINE DANCING RESOLVED, that the following fees are established for the Country Line Dance program conducted by the Recreation Department: $6 per person, per evening. Trustee Zuckerman questioned why the fee was $6.00 per person. Why not $12.00 per couple and $8.00 per person. 21 February 14, 1995 005682 Mr. Hroncich, Superintendent of Recreation and Parks stated that we could try that, however we may not get the turnout that we would expect and desire to get. TRUSTEE PELLINO VOTING AYE TRUSTEE SOLOMON VOTING AYE TRUSTEE ZUCKERMAN VOTING AYE MAYOR CRESENZI VOTING AYE TRUSTEE DALY ABSENT 3. ENTERING INTO AGREEMENT WITH MOTOROLA RE: SERVICE OF COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT On Motion made by Trustee Solomon, seconded by Trustee Pellino, the following Resolution was hereby adopted: RESOLUTION MOTOROLA SERVICE AGREEMENT RESOLVED, that the Village of Rye Brook is authorized to enter into a service agreement with Motorola for service of communication equipment in the Police Department at $415.00 per month for the period of June 1, 1995 to May 31, 1996; and it is FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Mayor is authorized to execute and deliver all documents necessary or appropriate to accomplish the purposes of this Resolution. TRUSTEE PELLINO VOTING AYE TRUSTEE SOLOMON VOTING AYE TRUSTEE ZUCKERMAN VOTING AYE MAYOR CRESENZI VOTING AYE TRUSTEE DALY ABSENT 4. ENTERING INTO AGREEMENT WITH WESTCHESTER SHORE HUMAN SOCIETY FOR ANIMAL CONTROL SERVICES Administrator Russo explained that we are not ready to approve the Humane Society agreement this evening as we have not yet received a revised negotiated agreement. Trustee Pellino stated that these numbers don't make any sense. We paid $16,000 last year and according to this we are paying $1,300 a year. Administrator Russo stated that he honestly does not know, as this item is off the agenda until February 28, 1995 and we do not have a new agreement. 22 February 14, 1995 005683 5. APPOINTING INSPECTORS OF ELECTION MARCH 21, 1995 On Motion made by Trustee Pellino, seconded by Trustee Zuckerman, the following Resolution was hereby adopted: I RESOLUTION REVISING INSPECTORS OF ELECTIONS RESOLUTION RESOLVED, that the Resolution adopted by the Board of Trustees on January 24, 1995, appointing chairpersons, Inspectors of Election and Alternate Inspectors of Election is revised as follows: Chairpersons and Inspectors of Election Delete: #22 Rita Messina, Chair 808 King Street BBHS 937-1645 #22 Barbara Minnitte 814 King Street BBHS 939-9021 Add: I #22 Aniela Moore, Chair 16 Woodland Dr. BBHS 939-7718 #22 Angela Repaci 20 Woodland Dr. BBHS 939-9051 Delete: #23 Aniela Moore 16 Woodland Dr. RSS 939-7718 Add: #23 Anthony Moore 16 Woodland Dr. RSS 939-7718 Alternate Inspectors of Election Add: Jane DiLeo 20 Wyman Street 939-2071 ;and it is FURTHER RESOLVED, except as modified above all other provisions of the Resolution adopted January 24, 1995 shall remain the same. TRUSTEE PELLINO VOTING AYE TRUSTEE SOLOMON VOTING AYE TRUSTEE ZUCKERMAN VOTING AYE MAYOR CRESENZI VOTING AYE TRUSTEE DALY ABSENT 23 February 14, 1995 6. ESTABLISHING PERSONAL REGISTRATION DAY 0 U 5t-8 4 i MARCH 11, 1995 On Motion made by Trustee Zuckerman, seconded by Trustee Pellino, the following Resolution was hereby adopted: RESOLUTION SETTING VOTER REGISTRATION DAY VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK ELECTION SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 1995 WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 15-118, Sub. 3 of the Election Law of the State of New York, the Board of Trustees is required to designate the hours for the Registration of Voters; the date of Registration being fixed by the law as the 10th day preceding the Election, (March 11, 1995) NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that in accordance with Section 15-118 (Sub.10) of the Election Law of the State of New York, the locations where the Registration of voters is normally held shall be consolidated into a single place, to wit: RYE BROOK VILLAGE OFFICE, 90 SOUTH RIDGE STREET ;and be it FURTHER RESOLVED, that a single Board of Elections shall be used for taking the Registration for each Election District; and be it FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Village Clerk is hereby authorized to appoint an Election Inspector and a Clerical Assistant, who shall also act as an Alternate Inspector if necessary, to serve on Registration Day; and be it FURTHER RESOLVED, that if said Inspector of Election or Clerical Assistant is unable to serve on Registration Day, the Village Clerk is authorized to appoint an Alternate Inspector; and be it FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Inspector of Election shall prepare a register for such Village Election in the manner provided by law and shall meet on the 10th day preceding the coming annual Village Election, to wit: Saturday, March 11, 1995 at the Village Office, 90 South Ridge Street, between the hours of 12:00 Noon and 5:00 p.m, on that day, for the purpose of completing said register of the Village; and be it FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Village Clerk shall furnish, at the Village's expense, the necessary blank books in connection with such Registration and Election; and it is 24 February 14, 1995 0 0 5 6 O FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Inspector of Election and Clerical Assistant shall each receive the sum of Eight ($8) Dollars per hour as their compensation. Trustee Pellino requested that a notice is put on the Cable TV Station in reference to the date and times and that any press release or newspaper article should advise people that when they register for this election, it is only a temporary registration if they have not registered with the County, it is only good for this election and they still have to permanently register for upcoming elections. TRUSTEE PELLINO VOTING AYE TRUSTEE SOLOMON VOTING AYE TRUSTEE ZUCKERMAN VOTING AYE MAYOR CRESENZI VOTING AYE TRUSTEE DALY ABSENT 7. DENYING STROMBERG SUBDIVISION SECTION 1, BLOCK 23, LOT 4 62 BOWMAN AVENUE Trustee Solomon stated that we voted on this resolution already. k Attorney Powell explained that the resolution that was before the Board at the last meeting was an approval which failed passage so that means that there was no determination to deny. In order to deny a subdivision you have to state your reasons on the record as to the reasons being denied and the best manner of doing that is to pass a resolution stating those reasons. The subdivision wasn't denied by the passage of an affirmative resolution. Upon the request of Mayor Cresenzi, Attorney Powell summarized the resolution. On Motion made by Trustee Zuckerman, seconded by Trustee Solomon, the following Resolution was hereby adopted: RESOLUTION DENYING THE STROMBERG SUBDIVISION APPLICATION 62 BOWMAN AVENUE/SECTION 1, BLOCK 23, LOT 4 WHEREAS, by application dated October 4, 1993, Angela and Gary Stromberg residing at 570 King Street, Chappaqua, New York, made an application for the approval of the subdivision on an approximately 18,186 square lot located in an R2F zone at 62 Bowman Avenue, Rye Brook, New York also known as Section 1, Block 23, Lot 4; and WHEREAS, applicants propose to subdivide the existing single lot into two (2) lots, with Lot 1 fronting on Bowman Avenue to consist of 10,033 square feet, and Lot 2 not fronting on Bowman Avenue and to be accessed from Osborne Place to consist of 8,153 square feet; and WHEREAS, the current residential structure would, upon subdivision, be located on Lot 1 fronting on Bowman Avenue; and 25 February 14, 1995 0056 8G WHEREAS, the application was referred to the Planning Board on or about October 13, 1993 and on July 14, 1994 the Planning Board recommended disapproval of the application; and WHEREAS, at the September 17, 1994 meeting of the Board of Trustees, the applicants' attorney requested an opportunity to make an application to the Zoning Board of Appeals for variances; and WHEREAS, on or about November 1, 1994, the Zoning Board of Appeals conditionally granted a 29 foot average depth variance, required any house erected on Lot 2 to face Bowman Avenue, and the yard facing Bowman Avenue on Lot 2 to be the lot's front yard, with the stated result that no setback variances would then be required; and WHEREAS, a public hearing was held by the Board of Trustees on December 27, 1994 on the subdivision application after due notice; and WHEREAS, the application consists of the following plan: r Option No. 1, Preliminary Plat, Proposed Subdivision -- Property of Gary and Angela Stromberg, Rye Brook, New York, prepared by J. A. Kirby Company, Civil Engineers and Surveyors, Port Chester, New York, dated April 6, 1994; i and WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees has reviewed the Environmental Assessment Form and ! has determined the application is an Unlisted Action under SEQR. I NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT I RESOLVED, that the within application is found to be an Unlisted Action and the accompanying Negative Environmental Declaration is adopted; and it is ( FURTHER RESOLVED, that the within application of Gary and Angela Stromberg for subdivision plat approval as shown on the plan identified above is hereby denied for the following reasons: I ' FINDINGS The proposed subdivision is poorly planned and its compliance with the Zoning Ordinance and the Subdivision Regulations is technical at best, to wit: 1. The Planning Board recommended denial of the subdivision application. 2. The configuration of the proposed subdivision would create lots with the front yard of Lot 2 facing the backyard of Lot 1. This arrangement results in a deficiently planned subdivision. 26 February 14, 1995 005687 3. Lot 2, as proposed would be accessed from Osborne Place with a driveway extending from the blunt dead-end of Osborne Place which has no turnaround or cul-de-sac. The proposed Lot 2 does not have sufficient area to provide a circular turnaround at the end of Osborne Place that conform with Section 219- 31 (E) of the Subdivision Regulations. The easement turnaround area, as proposed by the Applicant, is not a satisfactory substitute. 4. Under Section 219-37(C)(2) of the Subdivision Regulations side lot lines are generally required to be at right angles to street lines. 5. The side yard of proposed Lot 2 is oriented toward the dead-end of Osborne Place, thereby making the side yard lines parallel, rather than perpendicular to the street by which the proposed lot is gaining access. 6. Section 219-33 (E) of the Subdivision Regulations discourages double frontage lots. Proposed Lot 1 fronts on Bowman Avenue. Under the proposed subdivision, this lot would have also a hybrid form of frontage on the proposed turnaround on Lot 2. TRUSTEE PELLINO VOTING AYE TRUSTEE SOLOMON VOTING AYE TRUSTEE ZUCKERMAN VOTING AYE MAYOR CRESENZI VOTING NAY TRUSTEE DALY ABSENT Mayor Cresenzi explained that the reason that he felt this subdivision was a good idea was because overall the benefit to the building was primarily giving the residents in a very tight area the means to make a turn. The turn around that was proposed and I think it would aid the Village in snow removal. 8. BUDGET MODIFICATION 1993-1994 FISCAL YEAR On Motion made by Trustee Pellino, seconded by Trustee Zuckerman, the following Resolution was hereby adopted: RESOLUTION BUDGET MODIFICATION 1993/1994 FISCAL YEAR RESOLVED, that the following budget modifications be hereby approved to close the 1993/1994 fiscal year: FROM TO AMOUNT 101.1230.199 101.1325.477 $ 2,000.00 (Administrator-Temps & (Treasurer's Office- Summer Interns) Audit Fee) 27 February 14, 1995 005688 101.1910.422 101.1930.439 $46,946.01 (Unallocated Insurance) (Judgments & Claims) 101.1650.497 101.1980.423 3,596.16 (Central Communications) (Consulting Fees) 101.1620.130 101.1989.100 4,243.15 (Village Offices- (Personal Services) Inter. Typist/Acct. Clerk) 101.5110.412 101.5142.199 1,289.48 (Highway Maint.- (Snow Removal- St. Maint. Supplies) Overtime/Temp Help) 101.1640.415 101.9030.427 7,543.86 (Central Garage- (Social Security) Fuel & Oil) 101.3120.470 101.9040.800 6,514.95 (Police Dept.-Prof. (Workers' Comp) Development) 101.1420.458 101.9060.817 9,856.22 (Village Attorney- (Health & Dental Supplemental Services) Insurance) 101.9730.101 101.9710.301 .27 i (Bond Antic. Notes-Interest) (Debt Service-Interest) 101.1910.422 101.9950.900 15,000.00 (Unallocated Insurance) (Interfund Transfer) 101.1620.440 101.9950.900 10,000.00 (Village Offices-Rent) (Interfund Transfer) k r 101.1990.424 101.9950.900 10,000.00 ! (Contingency) (Interfund Transfer) 101.3120.120 101.9950.900 11,000.00 (Police Dept.-Lieutenant) (Interfund Transfer) 101.3120.130 101.9950.900 17,000.00 (Police Dept.-Inter. Typist) (Interfund Transfer) 101.3120.160 101.9950.900 65,000.00 (Police Dept.-Patrolmen) (Interfund Transfer) 28 February 14, 1995 005689 FROM TO AMOUNT 101.5182.402 101.9950.900 90,000.00 (Lighting District) (Interfund Transfer) 101.8120.403 101.9950.900 13,497.06 (Sewer District) (Interfund Transfer) Village Treasurer Joseph Cortese explained that at the end of any budget year it is not permissive to have anything over budgeted so you take the over budgeted items and reallocate it and what you do is take a line item, for example, temporary help that you over extended and within that same department you may have another salary or an overhead item that was not, so what you do is just take the overage and put it into another line item. It is basically a vice to comply with the State requirements that you do not overbudget any line item. These are very much chosen at random where you have additional surplus or items that you haven't expended and you just allocate and totally eliminate your negative budget lines. Trustee Zuckerman questioned if Interfund Transfer was some Unallocated surplus. Mr. Cortese replied no and explained that it was a line item that we had and it basically came down to mostly capital projects that we just didn't spend during the course of the year and the interfund is where we actually advanced the funds for the Capital projects. When we don't expend those funds it was just a surplus item so it was better to find an account. You could have done it to other line items had you had as much there. TRUSTEE PELLINO VOTING AYE TRUSTEE SOLOMON VOTING AYE TRUSTEE ZUCKERMAN VOTING AYE MAYOR CRESENZI VOTING AYE TRUSTEE DALY ABSENT 9. CHECK REGISTER s On Motion made by Trustee Zuckerman, seconded by Trustee Pellino, the following Resolution was hereby adopted: RESOLUTION CHECK REGISTER RESOLVED, that the following checks, representing payment for services rendered, have been submitted to the Treasurer's Office for payment and have been certified to by the Village of Rye Brook Administrator: 29 February 14, 1995 0 0 5 6 J O On-Line Checks: 10561-10603, 10609-10677 Pre Paid: 9872, 10481-10484, 10556-10560, 10605 Payroll Checks: 14911-15135 Environmental: 450 & 451 Capital: 2287-2292 Capital Pre Paid: NONE Birthday Run: NONE NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that this Board hereby approves payment of the above-mentioned claims and authorizes payment thereof. Administrator Russo stated that there is just one modification, to remove from the approval of this Check Register the Capital Item to Capstone which should be under a separate resolution and was slipped into the bill run as I was informed this afternoon. That will be on for a separate resolution at the next board meeting. TRUSTEE PELLINO VOTING AYE TRUSTEE SOLOMON VOTING AYE TRUSTEE ZUCKERMAN VOTING AYE MAYOR CRESENZI VOTING AYE TRUSTEE DALY ABSENT WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS 10. ALAN BRISKMAN RE: RESIGNATION FROM PLANNING BOARD Administrator Russo read a letter from Alan Briskman. Mayor Cresenzi thanked Mr. Briskman for his dedication to the Village of Rye Brook and added that he would really be missed as he was a great asset to this Village. i ITEMS FOR FEBRUARY 28TH PUBLIC HEARINGS 1. RYE CENTER SERVICE STATION HOURS OF OPERATION Administrator Russo stated that we received a communication today from Gioffre and Mascali's Office requesting for an adjournment to March 14, 1995 because they will be unable to attend the meeting. 30 February 14, 1995 005691 Mayor Cresenzi stated that this is the third adjournment they have requested. He directed Administrator Russo to relay to them that they must be ready for March 14, 1995 and we are not up to adjourning the hearing any further. 2. AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER 158 - NOISE 3. A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE ZONING LAW ON DWELLINGS ON SMALL LOTS 4. HAROLD LEITMAN 58 TALCOTT ROAD SECT. 1, BLOCK 5H, LOT 29 SITE PLAN APPLICATION RESOLUTIONS 5. APPROVAL OF SITE PLAN APPLICATION ST. MARY'S CEMETERY/MAUSOLEUM EXPANSION C SOUTH RIDGE STREET Mayor Cresenzi questioned what we decided to do about the barbed wire issue. j; Mr. Circosta stated that they are looking into replacing the existing fence with a new fence and removing the barbed wire. He will have something in writing from their architect soon. is ff DISCUSSION 6. ANTHONY J. POSILLIPO COMMUNITY CENTER C RENTAL POLICY AND FEE SCHEDULE APPROVAL OF MINUTES 7. AUGUST 9, 1994 ' 8. AUGUST 23, 1994 t 9 SEPTEMBER 13, 1994 10. SEPTEMBER 27, 1994 11. OCTOBER 12, 1994 12. OCTOBER 25, 1994 13. JANUARY 31, 1995 Mayor Cresenzi announced the following meeting dates: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1995 - GRIEVANCE NIGHT 6:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1995 - BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING 7:30 P.M. 31 February 14, 1995 005692 Trustee Zuckerman stated that he would like to have a resolution formally referring the siting of a Rye Brook Firehouse to the Facilities Committee and also to request a report from the Village Attorney to advise the Board on what steps might be necessary to create a Rye Brook Fire Department and possibly the Village Administrator might be able to discuss potential costs if such a department were formed. Trustee Pellino stated that he wanted to promptly reschedule the budget hearings for the Recreation Budget and the Human Services Budget for March 1, 1995 at 6:00 p.m. if that time is agreeable. The Board agreed. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Cresenzi adjourned the meeting at 10:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, r I r Elizabeth Bottali Secretary to Village Board 'r k t l i 32