Dear neighbor, Here is the 600th installment of Decoding Village Agendas to keep Croton residents informed of the actions of the Village Board at their meetings. I continue to add recipients to this email update on agendas so you may be receiving it for the first time. I enjoy getting your feedback and hope to continue to hear from you. If you do not wish to receive these periodic email updates from me, please reply to this email and your name will be removed from the email list.

Ann Gallelli

Decoding Village Agendas – November 1, 2022

Regular Board Meeting of the Village Board

7:00 pm

Georgianna Grant Room

Municipal Building

NOTE: This meeting is on Tuesday.

PUBLIC HEARING:

Public Hearing to consider Local Law Introductory No. 15 of 2022, to delete §197-9 of the Code of the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, General Use Regulations for Street Trees, to align with provisions in §208 of the Village Code, Trees. This is not a change in regulations but rather a clean-up of the sections for consistency.

CORRESPONDENCE:

a. Letter from New York Power Authority and Clean Path NY regarding the submission of an application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need for the Clean Path NY transmission line project. The transmission line project is 178 from Delhi, NY to Queens, NY. The announcement letter indicates more information on the project can be found at http://www.cleanpathny.com.

b. Email from John Munson, President of the Croton Fire Council, regarding membership status changes in the Croton Fire Department. Chief Munson notifies the Board of changes in the Fire Department membership.

PROPOSED RESOLUTIONS:

a. Consider adopting EAF Parts 2 and 3 Determination of Significance attached hereto, adopting a Negative Declaration under SEQRA and a statement of consistency with the Village’s LWRP in connection with adopting Local Law Introductory No. 11 of 2022 and Local Law Introductory No. 12 of 2022. At its’ last meeting the Board completed the EAF parts 1 and 2 and the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP) Consistency Review. This resolution formalizes their review.

b. Consider adopting Local Law Introductory No. 11 of 2022 to amend the provisions of the zoning code of the Village of Croton-on-Hudson to expand the area of, and modify the zoning regulations for and related to, the Harmon/South Riverside Gateway Area. The Harmon Geteway are would be expanded to include the lot on the east side of South Riverside across from ShopRite and lots on Clinton and the former EMS building on Wayne street. It would also allow multi-family as an allowable use.

c. Consider adopting Local Law Introductory No. 12 of 2022 to amend the provisions of the zoning code of the Village of Croton-on-Hudson to allow for transit oriented mixed use and multi-family residential buildings in the Light Industrial zoning district. The area specified in this amendment is limited to the lots to west of route 9 on Croton Point Avenue.

d. Consider scheduling a public hearing to consider Local Law Introductory No. 16 of 2022, increasing the income eligibility level for the tax exemption for persons with disabilities. Currently, the Village allows a 50% reduction for disabled ersons with an income of $19,500 or less annually. This would raise that reduction for disabled persons with an income of less than $50,000 in accordance with NYS legislation.

e. Consider authorizing the Village Manager to implement a new minimum wage schedule This minimum wage policy would apply to all seasonal parttime employees of the Village, including, but not limited to, camp counselors, lifeguards, gate attendants and laborers. The minimum wage of $14.20 per hour would become effective as of December 31st, 2022, for all seasonal part-time employees of the Village.

f. Consider authorizing the Village Manager to execute the agreement between LaBella Associates and the Village of Croton-on-Hudson for services related to the technical review of the proposed Riverside Apartment project located at 25 South Riverside Avenue. This would provide technical assistance to the Village Engineer for evaluating the retaining wall proposed at this location.

g. Consider authorizing the Village Manager to execute the agreement between Worldpay, LLC and the Village of Croton-on-Hudson for services that will enable the Village to accept credit card payments in Village Offices. This would allow the Village Office to accept certain bill payments by credit card. Currently, some types of bills cannot be paid by credit card while others can be. It applies to Discover, Master Card and Visa.

Dear Neighbors:

Keeping housing affordable is a key objective of our Village of Croton-on-Hudson’s Board of Trustees. That’s why we adopted a resolution expanding eligibility for the senior tax exemption.

Previously, the village maintained a senior tax exemption at the maximum level of 50% for those senior citizens earning $29,000/year or less. Under the new threshold, the maximum income level is raised to $50,000.

Seniors must apply annually for this exemption to ensure their income remains within the eligible range. This year, 35 properties have applied for and received the senior tax exemption.

Based on an analysis of census data, the Village staff estimate for the number of new eligible households will be between 25 and 46.

The cost of living crisis continues to affect us all. Its impacts are particularly acute on those with limited incomes, especially senior citizens. The Board of Trustees will continue to do what we can with the resources available to us to mitigate the impact of these challenging economic times on our community.

Sincerely,

Brian Pugh

Croton-on-Hudson, Mayor

Dear Neighbors:

“Slow Down Croton” is more than a slogan or a yard sign – it’s a guiding principle for all of us here in the community and a key priority for our Village government.

So we should all be very pleased that our Croton Police Department has won the Gold Award in the AAA Northeast  2022 Community Traffic Safety Awards program, recognizing communities that identify local traffic safety problems and then work to solve them. 

Our Board of Trustees is proud of Croton’s police for achieving the Gold Award. But we all know there is more work to be done, which is why we were so glad to hear at our Monday night Board meeting from Police Chief John Nikitopoulos regarding the ongoing work to achieve better traffic safety. You can view the Chief’s comments by going to Village website at https://www.crotononhudson-ny.gov/board-trustees/pages/webcasts clicking on “October 17 Board of Trustees Meeting”, and then clicking on the Chief’s presentation, the 4th item on that night’s agenda.

In his remarks the Chief noted that speeding is one of the biggest issues raised to the department by Croton residents. To help address the problem, he is now dedicating one full time officer each month to traffic enforcement.

This intense focus on traffic safety translates into real action – a 28.9% increase in traffic summonses issued in the January-August period compared to the previous year, including speeding, illegal right on red, going through a stop sign, or other violations. These summonses represent both a response to violations but hopefully also a deterrence to future ones.

Assisting the public to follow the law are the speed machines posted all around the Village to monitor a driver’s vehicle speed, with a new one to be added at the end of this month. The department’s strategy is to deploy these in numerous locations moving them to new streets when necessary. These devices are an effective way to let the driver know in real time that they are going too fast and must slow down.

We’ve made a good deal of progress on traffic safety, including by implementing suggestions made by our hard-working Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee, but we can’t stop now. For a safer Croton, we all need to decrease our speeding and increase our observance of all the traffic laws in place to protect all of us and our families.

Len Simon, Trustee

Village of Croton-on-Hudson

Dear Neighbors:
Congratulations and kudos to Croton resident, Janet Meyer, and being nominated to the Westchester County Senior Hall of Fame.
Janet is a past President of the Croton Seniors Club and had the unfortunate job of leading the Seniors through most of the Covid pandemic years. Janet, working with others, was a key force in keeping the group together with regular ZOOM meetings and online events and communications. Janet’s background in organizing events no doubt helped the Croton Seniors organization remain intact throughout this challenging period.
Janet, a former Cryptographer in the Women’s Army Corps during the Vietnam War, is also an active member of the Fox/Eklof Post 505 of the American Legion in Croton. In that capacity she has been a regular speaker at the Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day ceremonies held in the Village. Janet’s “talks” always add an interesting anecdote and insight to the ceremony of the day bringing home its importance locally. Janet also organizes and promotes a monthly food drive held at the Municipal Building to benefit the Veterans at the VA facility in Montrose.
Janet is also a member of the Croton Caring Committee and an active member and volunteer of Croton’s Asbury Methodist Church. Janet is a champion of encouraging more participation. She was, and is, interested in the challenges of interpersonal connections among family and friends during the COVID and post-COVID world. She is always looking for new ways to connect. As such, Janet was one of two seniors who participated with local high school students in an Innovation Challenge focused on building intergenerational connections in the post-COVID world.

Congratulations, Janet, on your well-deserved recognition and nomination to the Senior Hall of Fame.

Ann Gallelli, Trustee

Dear neighbor, Here is the 598thinstallment of Decoding Village Agendas to keep Croton residents informed of the actions of the Village Board at their meetings.  I continue to add recipients to this email update on agendas so you may be receiving it for the first time. I enjoy getting your feedback and hope to continue to hear from you.  If you do not wish to receive these periodic email updates from me, please reply to this email and your name will be removed from the email list.

Ann Gallelli

Decoding Village Agendas – October 17, 2022

 Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees

In the Georgianna Grant room

Stanley Kellerhouse Municipal Building

7:00 pm

CORRESPONDENCE:

a.      Letter from Mae Carpenter, Westchester County Commissioner of Senior Programs, announcing the induction of Croton resident Janet Meyer into the Senior Hall of Fame for 2022.   Janet Meyer, past President of the Croton Seniors Club and active member of American Legion Fox- Eklof  Post 505 has been accepted into the Westchester County Senior Hall of Fame.  The formal County-wide ceremony will be held on Friday, December 2.

b.      Email from John Munson, President of the Croton Fire Council, regarding membership status changes in the Croton Fire Department. As required, Chief Munson is notifying the Village of membership changes in the Fire department.

c.       Letter from John Corlett, Vice President of Public and Government Affairs, congratulating the Village upon earning a Gold Award in the 2022 Traffic Safety Awards Program.    The American Automobile Association (AAA) recognizes Croton for its commitment to traffic safety and will present the award at its annual Community Traffic Safety luncheon on October 26^th.

PROPOSED RESOLUTIONS:

a.      Consider authorizing the Village Manager to execute an agreement with Ten Old Post Road South Corporation for use of 6 parking spaces along the north side of 10 Old Post Road South. This formalizes a previous agreement that has expired for the Village use and maintenance of 6 spaces that are half in the Village-owned parking lot adjacent to Vassallo park and also half in the property of 10 Old Post Road South.  The agreement expires in 2027.

b.      Consider authorizing the Village Manager to execute an agreement with American Legion Fox-Eklof Post 505 to support patriotic observances and remembrances throughout the year.   The Village supports patriotic observances and remembrances throughout the year, including, but not limited to, Vietnam Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day and Pearl Harbor Day and wants to continue cooperation with Fox-Eklof Post 505 to further these events.  The Village agrees to provide up to $2500/year for supplies and refreshments to help sponsor these events.

c.       Consider adjusting the terms of the members of the Water Control Commission to align with the terms spelled out in the law.The terms of the current members of the Water Control Commission have become inconsistent with the terms spelled out in the law, namely that one member’s term should expire each year. This would adjust the terms as follows: Stuart Greenbaum: Term to expire December 31, 2022 Leo Wiegman: Term to expire December 31, 2023 Richard Wetherbee: Term to expire December 31, 2024 Mark Goldfarb: Term to expire December 31, 2025 William Pfrang: Term to expire December 31, 2026

d.      Consider adopting a resolution to acknowledge receipt of the 2022 Justice Court Audit. The Village acknowledges that the required audit was conducted.

e.       Consider scheduling a public hearing to consider Local Law Introductory Number 15, deleting §197-9 of the Village Code to align with the provisions in §208 of the Village Code, Trees    No change to existing practice is being proposed with this local law. This is simply a housekeeping change to ensure the accuracy of the Village Code.

f.        Consider authorizing the Village Manager to accept the proposal from Sullivan Architecture of White Plains, New York, to design an addition onto the Harmon Firehouse for Croton EMS to utilize as their headquarters.   Currently, Croton EMS is no longer operating out of 44 Wayne Street and has temporary headquarters in the Harmon Firehouse. A working group of EMS, Firemen and Village administration have determined that putting an addition onto the Harmon Firehouse for Croton EMS to use as their headquarters would be the most economical and wise use of Village resources.  The contract is not to exceed $32,000.  The funding was allocated in the current budget.;

g.      Consider adopting an updated FOIL Policy to include the Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York State Local Government Records (LGS-1) as the Village official subject matter list for records.    The Village is required to maintain a subject matter list of records available under the Freedom of Information Law. This resolution adopts the State’s subject matter list for Village purposes.

h.      Consider authorizing the Village Manager to execute the agreement between the Village and M&B Towers LLC of West Babylon, New York.   Since 2006 M&B Towers has leased a portion of the train station parking lot to host a telecommunications tower that currently has 4 carriers on it.  This will extend the number of renewals possible as well as increase the monthly rent.

i.        Consider authorizing the Village Treasurer to amend the 2022-2023 General Fund Budget in the amount of $5,000 for expenses related to Oktoberfest. This is a budget amendment to reflect income and expenses related to the event.

j.        Consider authorizing the Village Treasurer to make an interfund transfer in the 2022-2023 General Fund Budget in the amount of $23,176 for recordkeeping purposes related to the hiring of a new assessor.  The Village has hired a part-time Assessor. This reflects the transfer of salary expenses to the position from the General fund.

k.      Consider authorizing the Village Treasurer to amend the 2022-2023 General Fund Budget in the amount of $12,385.40 related to police overtime reimbursements.  The Croton Harmon School District, Con Edison, and the Croton Rotary Club requested police services for various events during the fiscal year and have agreed to pay the overtime costs for the officers.  

Dear Crotonites,
It gives me great pleasure to share with you that at the Village Board meeting on October 3, 2022, the Board voted unanimously to adopt a Resolution in support of Statewide Ballot Proposal 1: Clean Water, Clean Air, Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022. The Act was passed by the New York State Legislature as part of the 2022-2023 New York State Budget, and will appear on the November 8, 2022 New York State General Election Ballot for voter approval.
The Clean Water, Clean Air, Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act would authorize the four billion and two hundred million dollars of bonds to finance critical environmental restoration, clean water, and infrastructure projects across New York State. The Act will provide funding for a variety of environmental initiatives, among them protecting our local waterways from pollution and modernizing water infrastructure to safeguard clean water, reduce flooding, and reduce lead exposure and other health threats. Funding will also go towards building green roofs, upgrading cooling centers, upgrading transportation and stormwater infrastructure, restoring natural resources, growing urban forests, protecting open space and farmland, upgrading facilities at state and local parks and preserves, and creating new outdoor recreational areas, thereby protecting wildlife habitat and providing more people with access to nature. All of these initiatives will reduce the pollution that causes climate change, and protect the State’s vulnerability to extreme weather, characterized by rising temperatures, stronger and more frequent storms and storm surges that put people, properties and public assets at risk. In addition, these funded initiatives will support more than 84,000 family-sustaining jobs for New Yorkers: green jobs, with strong labor provisions . The Environmental Bond Act also stipulates that at least 35%, with a goal of 40% of the measure’s funding will go towards addressing pollution, public health threats and other hazardous conditions in disadvantaged communities across the State.
For all these reasons, the Village Board is pleased to support the Clean Water, Clear Air, Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act, and hope you will too when it appears on the ballot for public approval on Election Day, November 8th!
Sincerely, Sherry Horowitz, Trustee, Croton Village Board

To those in Croton who lift their trash lids and think “It sure would be great if the Village sponsored a food scrap recycling program” – here’s some good news!

Croton will soon be running a pilot six-month program that will recycle food scraps so they can be converted into compost. It will be open to 40 Croton households and run from Saturday, January 7, 2023, through Saturday, June 24, 2023. If you’d like to participate, visit the Village website (crotononhudson-ny.gov) and click on Sustainability Committee under “Boards and Committees”. Once there, at News and Announcements on the right, the top news will tell you all about the Food Scrap Recycling program.

This new initiative is a great example of an all-hands-on-deck partnership. Since waste reduction and recycling is an important Village goal, our Sustainability Committee, led by Lindsay Audin, sought and was awarded a grant for the Village from the NY Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for this pilot. Subsequently, the Committee has worked with DEC, our DPW and the Westchester County Residential Food Scrap Transportation and Disposal Program to get the program underway. Our Conservation Advisory Council and great groups like Croton100 and Mothers Our Front will help us to get the word out.

Monday night our Board of Trustees approved an Intermunicipal Agreement for the County program. Our bagged scraps will be picked up weekly by a county truck and taken to a commercial composting facility in Cortlandt Manor.

The program will be described, and materials distributed at a kick-off meeting at noon on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022, in the Municipal Building Community Room – the only opportunity to complete the sign-up process and receive the necessary start- up supplies.

Croton has an “all of the above” strategy for sustainability – now we can add this food scrap recycling pilot to our tool kit. We look forward to a great kick-off, success for the pilot and then, with your help, looking at next steps for food scrap recycling in Croton.

Len Simon, Trustee

Village of Croton-on-Hudson