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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-08-23 - Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes AGENDA VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 23, 1994 7:30 P.M. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ACTION PUBLIC HEARING 1., PROPOSED LOCAL LAW INTRODUCTORY #10-1994 ENTITLED: A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE CODE OF THE VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK TO ADD A NEW CHAPTER 245 TO PROVIDE FOR WETLAND AND WATERCOURSE PROTECTION 2. CONTINUATION OF OPEN SPACE EASEMENT FOR THE BLIND BROOK CLUB PROPERTY (Continuation) 3. TO CONSIDER APPROVAL OF FIRE CONTRACT FOR 1994-1995 FISCAL YEAR (Continuation) RESOLUTIONS 4. APPROVAL OF SIGN REQUEST COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE, RYE N.Y. 5. REFERRAL TO THE PLANNING BOARD FOR SPECIAL USE PERMIT NYNEX - 255 NORTH RIDGE STREET SECTION, BLOCK 5, LOT 54C 6. AUTHORIZING A CONTRACT WITH ROBERT A. POSNER, P.E. FOR CONSTRUCTION CONSULTATION SERVICES 7. SETTING PUBLIC HEARING DATE SUBDIVISION APPLICATION MADE BY GARY & ANGELA STROMBERG BOWMAN AVENUE AND OSBORN PLACE SECTION 1, BLOCK 23, LOT 4 8. SETTING PUBLIC HEARING DATE SUBDIVISION APPLICATION MADE BY EDITH NISSON/BEECHWOOD BLVD AND KING STREET SECTION 1, BLOCK 10, LOT 4 9. CHECK REGISTER APPROVAL OF MINUTES 10. APRIL 12, 1994 U. APRIL 269 1994 12. APRIL 29, 1994 13. MAY 10, 1994 14. MAY 24, 1994 15. JUNE 14, 1994 16. JUNE 28, 1994 DISCUSSION 17. RYE HILLS PARK 18. FIRE HOUSE LOCATION i f I i ilf 00545b MINUTES OF AN AGENDA MEETING VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK BOARD OF TRUSTEES VILLAGE OFFICES 90 SOUTH RIDGE STREET RYE BROOK, NEW YORK AUGUST 23, 1994 f I CONVENE MEETING The Meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Mayor Cresenzi in the Meeting Room iand the Pledge of Allegiance followed. Present were the following members of the Board: Mayor Salvatore M. Cresenzi Trustee Michele Daly Trustee Joseph Pellino Trustee Randy A. Solomon and Trustee Gary J. Zuckerman were not in attendance at this meeting. Also present were: Christopher J. Russo, Village Administrator Lori Ann DeMarco, Assistant to Village Administrator j Rocco V. Circosta, Director of Public Works Kenneth E. Powell, Village Attorney Elizabeth Bottali, Secretary to the Village Board Thomas Gissen, Frederick P. Clark Associates j Village Treasurer, Joseph Cortese was not in attendance. 1 I I August 23, 1994 005456®54 6 PUBLIC HEARING 1. PROPOSED LOCAL LAW INTRODUCTORY #10-1994 ENTITLED: A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE CODE OF THE VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK TO ADD A NEW CHAPTER 245 TO PROVIDE FOR WETLAND AND WATERCOURSE PROTECTION Mayor Cresenzi opened the public hearing at 7:35 p.m. and explained that this has been ongoing and most of the Village Board has had its input and there has been a lot of discussion about the law. He questioned if any members of the public would care to add anything to it. David Watson of 20 Hillandale Road stated that he had two points of concern in reference to this law, one relates to subdivisions and the other relates to the one acre exemption. He questioned how many properties this one acre exemption would apply to that are homeowner occupied and over the one acre exemption. Mayor Cresenzi stated that he does not have that information tonight. Mr. Watson stated that it may be worth looking into if the structure that is being set up only applies to a very small number of properties. Mayor Cresenzi explained that this came up because there is a 100 foot buffer on either side of the wetland that has been identified and given the residential nature of the Village and the variation in properties and our larger zones for example, say a third of an acre or a half acre zone, with the 100 foot buffer, assuming the edge of a wetland was at the rear property line, the 100 foot buffer would actually take place from the owners fiont door and the buffer issue became a little sensitive so in order to keep the buffer, we exempted properties less than one acre to avoid a nightmare of paperwork and procedures that would have to be followed by the homeowner yet recognizing that any properties over one acre would have to adhere to the wetlands law. We also included in the law that if there was a parcel of land consisting of ten acres and it was subdivided h into thirty homes, even though those homes were on a third of an acre because there was a new subdivision coming on line the wetlands would have to be adhered to during that. Mr. Watson suggested in reference to the buffer zone, the Board consider the buffer zone being keyed to the lot size zoning in the area you have proposed rather than just saying that because this activity is taking place on a lot less than one acre, we are going to disregard any potential negative effects it might have on a wetland if you were to establish a proportional buffer zone that has perhaps 50% of the minimum lot depth or 30% of the minimum lot depth in that zone. Then you might come up with a law which afforded more protection and was more fair. Mayor Cresenzi stated that the Environmental Council prepared a schedule of surrounding jurisdictions that have dealt with that and there were some that regulated lot size, some that regulated buffer and some that you still had the 100 foot buffer regardless of the lot size and what we did was take the comments that were made and find something that we felt would work in the Village. 2 August 23, 1994 (� Mr. Watson stated that it is a good law in its intent, however we may have taken tQeO:)457 teeth out of it by excluding so large a proportion. Mayor Cresenzi stated that there are many large parcels within the Village that this law will help. Mrs. Sherlock stated that perhaps Administrator Russo could clarify some of the one acre properties that currently exist. Administrator Russo stated that he does not know offhand. There are not many one acre parcels, however we do have an inventory of the properties that are two acres or more. Mr. Konigsberg of K&M Realty stated that at the last meeting, he made a request that i his application be grandfathered from the wetlands law. There are no environmental issues and the project is almost through the site plan process. We have basically done everything under the wetlands law. Mr. Konigsberg pointed out that the site is currently j a dump and environmental mess. To substantiate his claim, he produced various enlarged photographs of the mess in the area. Trustee Daly stated that if all of the environmental issues were met, why would the application need to be grandfathered. She also pointed out that the law is not even adopted yet. I Mr. Konigsberg stated that he is aware that the law has not been adopted but will most definitely be adopted prior to approval of his application. The reasoning for the grandfathering request is because the applicant has already gone through the entire wetlands law and once the law is adopted, we would have to go through the entire process again and duplicate everything, including the expense and time and we would not come out in a different position than what we are in now. Mayor Cresenzi stated that this is the second request to be exempted and it is noted and will be taken under`consideration. Mrs. Sherlock stated that if there are any questions from the public, Mr. Donovan, the Village's consultant will be coming later in the evening and will be able to answer those Iquestions. She stated that she was not aware that K & M Realty made a request to be grandfathered and pointed out that a letter was received by the County pertaining to K & M Realty stating that any development of this property should take into account the amount of land that is actually buildable. They also stated that the County Executive's Citizen Committee for non point source pollution on Long Island Sound has recommended buffers of at least 100 feet from wetlands or bodies of water. Mrs. Sherlock stated that grandfathering would not be economically feasible and would be socially unacceptable and hopes that the Board of Trustees will take into account this law and the August 17, 1994 memo from Attorney Powell which do not consider the idea of grandfathering. Mayor Cresenzi stated that Trustee's Solomon and Zuckerman are not in attendance at this meeting and suggested that the hearing be held over to the September 14, 1994 agenda meeting and afford them some input that they may have. 3 August 23, 1994 005458 Attorney Powell suggested that the public hearing be re-noticed as a continuation of a public hearing due to the many changes that were made since the first public hearing. Trustee Daly questioned if we could call for public hearing at the next meeting and vote on it the same night. i Attorney Powell replied yes, as long as the Environmental Declaration and Resolution is prepared. On Motion made by Trustee Pellino, seconded by Trustee Daly, the public hearing was adjourned at 8:00 p.m. to Tuesday, September 13, 1994 at 7:30 p.m. pending a re-notice. Trustee Daly Voting Aye Trustee Pellino Voting Aye Trustee Solomon Absent Trustee Zuckerman Absent Mayor Cresenzi Voting Aye i 2. CONTINUATION OF OPEN SPACE EASEMENT FOR THE BLIND BROOK CLUB PROPERTY (Continuation) Mayor Cresenzi opened the public hearing at 8:00 p.m. and stated that a letter was received from the Blind Brook Club withdrawing their request for a public hearing. On Motion made by Trustee Daly, seconded by Trustee Pellino, the public hearing was closed at 8:03 p.m. Trustee Daly Voting Aye Pellino -Voting A Trusteeg e y Trustee Solomon Absent Trustee Zuckerman Absent Mayor Cresenzi Voting Aye 3. TO CONSIDER APPROVAL OF FIRE CONTRACT FOR 1994-1995 FISCAL YEAR (Continuation) Mayor Cresenzi opened the public hearing at 8:03 p.m. Peter Patacco of 283 North Ridge Street stated that he has been a fire fighter for twenty- nine years and has been involved with Westchester County Fire Control and Mutual Aid system for close to twenty years and is presently the deputy fire coordinator for Westchester County for the last ten years. He stated that he was present this evening as a concerned resident and taxpayer. Contrary to figures provided by officials at the July 12, 1994 meeting, Rye Brook is not being raked over the coals by the fire protection contract and can be substantiated by using information from the Westchester 2000. 4 August 23, 1994 0 0 4 5 U Mr. Patacco added that in 1980 the cost of fire protection for the Rye Brook area was 30.4% of the Port Chester Fire Budget which was a total of $624,000. In 1990 the cost of Fire Protection in Rye Brook was $444.000 or 38.6% of the Port Chester Fire Budget of $1,150,0000. which was an 8% increase for Rye Brook's share over a 10 year period. At the same time there was a great growth in the development of Rye Brook constituting a greater response to fire alarms by Port Chester in Rye Brook. For this reason the Port Chester Fire Department started sending more equipment into Rye Brook. This equipment consists of 4 engines, a ladder and rescue truck. This is approximately 1.7 I( million dollars worth of equipment. Also during this period, greater financial demands were placed on fire departments nation-wide by OSHA Mandates such as new training requirements, new safer equipment, rebuilding air packs, new improved turnout gear and Iphysicals for all men. These mandates will continue to add to fire budgets through the 1990's. These factors in part as well as higher costs for equipment and salaries had caused the overall fire budget in Port Chester to increase 84% for this 10 year period which is not as bad as it sounds when compared to other fire departments in Westchester. In 1994 the cost of Fire Protection in Rye Brook is $607,000 or 39.5% of the Port Chester Fire Budget of $1,537,000. Although the fire budget for Port Chester has increased 34% since 1990 due in part by these mandated requirements. Port Chester has asked Rye Brook to pay only an increase of less than 1% from 38.6% in 1980 to $1,429,000 in 1990. This number is projected to increase to $2,239,000 by the year 2000. I During the years 1984- 1994 the Village budget for Rye Brook increased from $54.69 to 4 $103.42 per thousand or a little greater than 89%. The fire budget that Rye Brook Officials are saying is way out of line is no worse than what the taxpayers had to pay in lVillage tax increases. In a comparison of fire protection costs between the Village of Rye Brook and Pelham Manor, which are similar in size, population, real estate values and number of fire alarms per year. Currently, the fire protection costs in Pelham Manor are $1.2,000,000. It will cost Rye Brook the same thing, in addition to the costs j of building a fire house. It is time the two Villages' put politics aside and start talking to the present fire chiefs for they are the ones that are charged with the operations of the fire department under both local and state charter. I Trustee Daly stated that she is not complaining about the costs or services, she is complaining about the fact that we are unable to sit down and discuss things with the Village of Port Chester. Pelham Manor has input for the money that they are paying out for their fire service, we do not. Mr. Patacco agreed with Trustee Daly and added that it is incumbent that the two villages negotiate a long term contract that will benefit both of them. The Village of Rye Brook always talks about sharing services to save money and now can't seem to f continue to share something that has been going on for the past 125 years, which is I neither municipality's fault. If the Village of Rye Brook officials had contacted the state office of fire protection and control when they were first informed that a service was available to them to study the feasibility of fire protection and/or fire districting of the Villages by this agency, we might have been closer to a resolution of the problem by now, instead of continued bickering. As far as fire districting of the two villages being problematic as stated by a Trustee in his reply to the July 30, 1994 editorial in the Gannet, Mr. Patacco pointed out that according to the New York State Town Law Article 11 and 11A "Joint Fire Districts in Towns and Villages" it is not illegal for a fire district to encompass two villages. It would not be requiredto wait for our State Legislators to act on a measure to permit the creation of this joint district. 5 August 23, 1994 ()()1546U Mr. Patacco stated that the article also stated that one alternative is to involve the Town of Rye. Which he states has not been an operational entity since Rye Brook was created. This is also not true. As far as Rye Neck being a part of the Town of Rye hindering the fire district, under the Laws governing the fire districts in the State of New York, a district may encompass the whole or any part of the Town and does not have to follow the political subdivision, thus, Rye Neck would not have to be part of the fire district. Mr. Patacco stated that in reference to Fire Commissioners, they are usually individuals with fire service backgrounds as well as taxpayers themselves. Major expenditures cannot be purchased without public referendum. This takes the politics out of the fire service and allows persons who know about the fire service manage it. These five commissioners can be broken down to having two residents from each Village and a third member at large. The terms would be for five years and rotate each year, bringing continuity and better management to the fire service. The fire district budget does not have to be coordinated with the Village budget just as the sewer tax is not coordinated with the Village budget. It is a separate taxing district and does not impact either Village's budget. The issue of building a new firehouse was in the newspaper and the idea that Rye Brook needs a fire house within its border is without merit. The fire study commissioned in 1984 recommends that Rye Brook establish an equitable and reasonable 9 long term contract with Port Chester. It goes on to recommend that the economical ( desires of Port Chester can be reasonably worked out. If this cannot be achieved, the study states that Rye Brook is capable of establishing a fire department but in no way does the study recognize a need for a fire house. In reference to the Buracker study undertaken in 1992, it is erroneously assumes that Rye Brook is being overcharged for fire protection. As previously indicated, the deal is not that bad. The only anticipated benefit of the change that cannot be accomplished today is a reduced response time to certain geographical areas with possible increase to the response time in other areas of the Village. This study recommends that the maximum response travel distance should be four minutes at 30 miles an hour. This same company states in a study they did for Greenwich, Connecticut, that the recommended travel distance is 5 minutes at 30 miles per hour. The section on fire station location reads word for word in both the Rye Brook and the Greenwich study except for that. If we used the same numbers for the west side of the street as the east side of the street either would be no rational for an additional fire house in Rye Brook. The furthest building for which Port Chester fire department is the primary responder in the north end of Rye Brook is 4 miles to the closest firehouse and 4 1/2 miles to fire headquarters. Driving with traffic at approximately 4:00 p.m. on a weekday, this trip took slightly over 6 minutes to fire headquarters, which under emergency conditions using red lights and sirens, would be under 5 minutes, which is acceptable. This time can be extended for one and two family !, houses and buildings that have automatic fire alarm systems and/or sprinklers. In addition, homes in Rye Brook now have an insurance designation of 'BB" which is a community where a building is located 1000 feet from a fire hydrant and 5 miles from a fire department. In addition, building a fire house would not change the 'BB" rating so no cost savings would be benefitted. The cost of building a fire house would be much greater than any of the cost savings and not economically feasible and something that Rye Brook should not even think about. State law prevents a municipality purchasing equipment with their money to provide services to anyone other than their residents. To accomplish this, the Village would need special legislation from the State if Rye Brook insists that a Fire house be built within its borders and occupied by the Port Chester Fire Department. The only way this could happen legally, at this point would be a joint fire district between the two Villages. 6 August 23, 1994 005461 Mr. Patacco stated that it is incumbent on the Village of Rye Brook to slow down and properly investigate this alternative before spending any time and money on locating where a fire house should be built otherwise, we will end up with either an empty building or the additional astronomical cost of our own fire-department. Mr. Patacco thanked the Board for allowing him to speak. Mayor Cresenzi questioned if Mr. Patacko was currently a member of the Port Chester Volunteer Fire Department. Mr. Patacco replied yes and explained that he was no longer active due to back surgery. Mayor Cresenzi stated that sharing services has been a high priority. He added that he has been in contact with Mayor Branca and a meeting will take place next week to continue the discussions. He thanked Mr. Patacco for the time he invested in his speech, adding that he disagrees with some of his statements and that Mr. Patacko has made certain assumptions that he is not positive can be worked out. One of the things we differ on is the fire district idea. Mr. Patacko stated that he would be happy to work with both Villages to resolve this f problem. Robert Comstock, a Port Chester Trustee stated that the fire contract is a critical issue to both Village's and Port Chester truly wants to continue providing the service to Rye Brook. He suggested that a committee be set up between the two Villages to meet regularly so that Rye Brook is better informed. Mayor Cresenzi stated that the Board will vote on a resolution on September 13, 1994 when the remainder of the Board is in attendance at the meeting. On Motion made by Trustee Pellino, seconded by Trustee Daly, the public hearing was closed at 8:35 p.m. with an approval resolution to be voted on at the September 13, 1994 meeting. Trustee Daly Voting Aye Trustee Pellino Voting Aye Trustee Solomon Absent Trustee Zuckerman Absent Mayor Cresenzi Voting Aye RESOLUTIONS 5. REFERRAL TO THE PLANNING BOARD FOR SPECIAL USE PERMIT NYNEX - 255 NORTH RIDGE STREET SECTION, BLOCK 5, LOT 54C On Motion made by Trustee Pellino, seconded by Trustee Daly, the following Resolution was hereby adopted: 7 August 23, 1994 005462 RESOLUTION REFERRAL TO THE PLANNING BOARD SPECIAL USE PERMIT NYNEX - 255 NORTH RIDGE STREET SECTION 1, BLOCK 51 LOT 54C RESOLVED, that the application made by NYNEX Co. for the installation of a controlled environmental vault is hereby referred to the Village of Rye Brook Planning Board on this 23rd day of August, 1994; and be it FURTHER RESOLVED, that the applicant submit an amount of $1,000 to be held on account by the Village for costs associated with the review of this application by its professional consultants. The applicant shall submit additional monies if so required during this review and any balance shall be returned by the Village. Roger Herman questioned what a controlled environmental vault was. Mayor Cresenzi stated that what they want to put in is approximately a 6x8x6 foot undergound air conditioned vault to handle fiber optics equipment. Trustee Pellino added that it is where the fiber optic lines will meet with the copper lines that service the Village of Rye Brook. Mr. Patacco questioned if this vault will be underground and no one will know it is there. Mayor Cresenzi replied and added that there would be a vent of some type. r Trustee Pellino added that it would also be screened. Mayor Cresenzi stated that they have made an agreement with the property owner in the Village to literally put this under his front lawn. The real issues that we need to discuss are zoning issues, whether you consider this a structure, does it require a variance and so on. He questioned if these issues need to be dealt with prior to going to the Planning Board. Mr. Circosta stated that assuming this is considered a structure, and would require a variance, the applications would go to the Planning Board and then from there to the Zoning Board Trustee Pellino stated that by definition, a structure is anything that is attached to the ground. Trustee Daly Voting Aye Trustee Pellino Voting Aye Trustee Solomon Absent Trustee Zuckerman Absent Mayor Cresenzi Voting Aye 8