Board of Trustees

Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 162 THREE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED THIRTIETH REGULAR MEETING Rutherford Hall Village Hall April 28, 2015 A Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Scarsdale was held in Rutherford Hall in Village Hall on Tuesday, April 28, 2015 at 8:00 P.M. Present were Mayor Mark, Trustees Callaghan, Finger, Lee, Pekarek, Samwick and Stern. Also present were Village Manager Gatta, Deputy Village Manager Pappalardo, Village Attorney Esannason, Village Treasurer McClure, Village Clerk Conkling, Deputy Village Attorney D’Andrea, and Assistant to the Village Manager Scelza. ******** The minutes of the Board of Trustees Regular Meeting of Tuesday, April 14, 2015 were approved on a motion entered by Trustee Pekarek, seconded by Trustee Lee, and carried unanimously. ******** Bills & Payroll Trustee Finger stated that he had audited the Abstract of Claims dated April 28, 2015 in the amount of $310,043.48 which includes $18,664.60 in Library Claims previously audited by a Trustee of the Library Board which were found to be in order and he moved that such payment be ratified. Upon motion duly made by Trustee Finger and seconded by Trustee Lee, the following resolution was adopted unanimously: RESOLVED, that the Abstract of Claims dated April 28, 2015 in the amount of $310,043.48 is hereby approved. ******** Mayors Comments Mayor Mark stated that he has some comments on a number of subjects before the Board gets started with the rest of the agenda. Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 163 First thing he would like to summarize is a point about refunding of existing debt and the affirmance of the Village’s AAA rating. At the March 24, 2015 Village Board meeting, the Board authorized the issuance of $3,655,000 in Bonds, the proceeds of which will refund $3,405,000 in existing debt which was issued in 2004 and 2007 and will also cover the issuance costs of the new debt. The existing debt bears interest of a rate of ranges that on average are slightly above 4%. The refunding bonds are not issued yet, but depending on market conditions when they are priced next month, are expected to bear interest rates ranging from 0.34% to 2.49% depending on their maturities. The refunding is expected to result in cash flow savings of approximately $340,000 over a 13 year period, which translates to a net present value savings of $293,000 over that same period. As a result of the proposed issuance, Moody’s Investors Service reviewed the credit worthiness of the Village and Mayor Mark stated that he is pleased to report that the review resulted in the assignment of a AAA rating to the refinancing and reaffirmed the Triple AAA rating on the $21 million dollars in existing outstanding general obligation debt of the Village. Moody’s review included positive comments on the Village’s governing, experienced management, conservative budgeting, maintenance of its unassigned reserve fund level, and a formal written policy which targets a 10% to 15% fund balance of the ensuing years budgets’ expenditures. Mayor Mark congratulated the Village Manager, the Village Treasurer and the rest of the Village Staff as well as to the prior Board for managing the Village finances with a discipline required to achieve this exemplary result. Regarding the Deputy Village Manager position, Mayor Mark stated that in conjunction with a succession plan for the Village Manager’s position, the Village has hired a new Deputy Village Manager. Robert Austin Cole, presently Assistant Village Manager for Oak Park, Illinois, will be joining the Village government on May 11, 2015 to assume the position of Deputy Village Manager. For the past 19 years, Mr. Cole has served the Village of Oak Park, performing important and progressively responsible and varied assignments and functions. His extensive experience in the area of land use, specifically building and zoning operations will assist the Village Board and Administration with our current land use items as will his experience as serving as Oak Park’s Sustainability Coordinator. Mr. Cole is also proficient in the areas of strategic planning, budget and finance, performance measurements and quality control, emergency management, development and management of capital improvement projects and grant writing. He also participated in local community service organizations in regional land use and legislative intergovernmental committees. Mr. Cole received his Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree and Masters in Public Service Management with distinction from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. We look forward to welcoming Mr. Cole to Scarsdale next month and formally introducing him to the community shortly thereafter. Mr. Mark next spoke about sustainability, stating that just before this evening’s meeting stated, a meeting of the Sustainability Committee was held. Representatives of the Sustainability Committee of the Scarsdale Forum presented a very comprehensive overview Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 164 of sustainability matters to be addressed or desired to be addressed both in the short and long term. These matters are up for consideration and will be given thought going forward. Specifically, there are a number of sustainability matters that have been carried over from the prior Board. These include a proposal to convert street lights in the Village to LED lights, proposed bans on single use plastic bags and expanded polystyrene containers and leaf collection practices. Tonight’s agenda includes the proposed appointment of an Ad Hoc Committee comprised of residents who researched this topic and Village Staff to advise the Board on moving forward with a Pilot project for LED street lighting. The proposed 2015- 2016 Budget, approval of which is also on tonight’s agenda, includes $25,000 budgeted for the pilot project. The other two sustainability matters and others that were discussed in the meeting earlier this evening will remain under consideration and will be the subject of future public meetings of the Board’s Sustainability Committee. Mayor Mark stated that he has been asked by the Scarsdale Forum to remind the community that is interested that the venue of the Thursday, April 30th meeting of the Forum has been moved to the auditorium of Scarsdale High School. The general meeting will begin at 8:00 P.M. A portion of the meeting will be to honor Village Manager Alfred Gatta and the other portion of the meeting will be a discussion of the Common Core standards for the schools. ******** Managers Comments None. ******** Public Comments Robert Harrison, 65 Fox Meadow Road, spoke as the Chairman of Scarsdale Taxpayer Alert. He noted that at the last Agenda Meeting of the Board there was a discussion on the conditions of the roads in Scarsdale. Trustee Stern made strong statements about those conditions. Mr. Harrison stated that he requested by FOIL a presentation given when he was on the Board of a report entitled ‘Village of Scarsdale Road Resurfacing Pavement Management Study’ dated February 2009, prepared by MHM Associates. This study covered the 79 miles of the Village -- 2.78 miles of poor roads, 18.64 miles of fair roads. At that time he had proposed that the Village do a $5 million bond issue; at $300,000 per mile approximately 15 miles of road could be resurfaced. Interest rates are lower today than they were when he was on the Board. He felt that this is something the Board should consider – the bonds do have to be paid back, but if the roads are repaved well, using a construction manager and using a competitive bid arrangement, the roads should last 15-20 years. The report breaks down the roads that are heavily used, and those in the residential areas with less usage. He urged the Board and staff to give this strong consideration. Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 165 Mr. Harrison also noted that there was a letter to the Editor in the Scarsdale Inquirer concerning the Spring Youth Tennis League that had 85 youth teams and 650 youth from 4th grade to 8th grade playing in the early 1990’s. Unfortunately that program went down to almost zero in the early 2000’s. Today with excellent leaders in the Recreation Department, Jason Marra and Anthony DiDomenico, there have been approximately 180 children sign up for the short court tennis program and the parents are paying $180 for a ten week program. There were 76 players in the Spring League last year – the number so far is very low. He urged the women playing on the Scarsdale tennis teams to volunteer as tennis organizer coaches. He would like to see the tennis league get back to where it was in the 1990’s. Those interested can contact either Anthony DiDomenico directly at the Recreation Department or himself at proscars@aol.com. As there were no further comments offered by the public, Mayor Mark closed the public comments portion of the meeting. ******** Mayor Mark stated that in light of Mr. Harrison’s comments about road repair, and as well as some of the comments that he has received from residents in last two weeks prompted in part by the article in the Scarsdale Inquirer about the roads, he thought it would be worthwhile to take just a minute to comment further on this matter. Hopefully, after this comment, the Board can execute their plan. Mayor Mark made the following statement concerning his thoughts on the subject of road repair: “In light of the comments this evening and comments I have received from residents during the past two weeks, it appears that an Inquirer article of two weeks ago may have left the impression that there is an unresolved debate on what to do about road repair this season. That is not the case. The Village has a course of action on road repair and it is being implemented. For the fiscal year ending May 31, 2015, the capital plan budget for road repair amounted to approximately $1.3 million, approximately $520,000 of which is still available. The capital plan budget for 2015-2016 together with a commitment this Board plans to make this evening in adopting next year’s budget, contemplates having approximately $980,000 for road repair in 2015-2016. These are substantial sums which in rough numbers could cover repairs to approximately 6.5 miles of roads. Note however that this estimate can vary depending on the cost of asphalt which increased dramatically this season with increased demand, and subsurface conditions road crews encounter when doing the work, among other things. In addition to these capital budget amounts, the operating budget for each of the two fiscal years referenced includes approximately $330,000 for road maintenance. Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 166 The subject of bonding is a topic that has been discussed many times by previous Boards (including Boards on which I served) and Village staff. For the reasons reported in the Inquirer article and which I can briefly review, raising funds from a bond issuance for road repair is generally not considered prudent financial management. The proponents of bonding typically have argued that with prevailing low interest rates some substantial amount of funds should be raised for road repair. That comment has been made again by Mr. Harrison during the public comment portion of this meeting. What these commenters tend not to mention, or minimize, in their arguments is the rather fundamental fact that borrowed money must be repaid. Prevailing low interest rates are not the critical issue, in my opinion. The practice in the municipal bond market is to amortize repayment of borrowings on a straight line basis. So for example, if $2,000,000 were borrowed for ten years and assuming for the sake of argument the interest rates were zero, $200,000 per year would have to be budgeted in each of ten years to retire that debt. That amount, which by the way would not excluded from the 2% cap calculation, is about two-thirds of a percentage point of tax rate. This is a heavy burden to place on future budgets for a problem that is not susceptible to a long-term solution. Potholes and less severe road deterioration are an annual issue. In some years, such as this one, it is a more severe issue than others, but road repair is a hardy perennial. It is bound to reoccur. For those who remind us of the importance of long-term financial planning, it is noted that it is not considered good long- term planning to borrow long to solve a short-term problem – especially a recurring one. A question was asked why the Village would be willing to bond a portion of the proposed library project and not road repair. And as pointed out, a building, unlike our roads, once built stays built and lasts for many years with relatively predictable maintenance costs. Similarly, a resident has written to us asking why I am comfortable moving ahead with the 2016 revaluation given the fact that property values change, and do not presently support issuing bonds to fund road repair. To reiterate a comment I made at the last Village Board meeting, spending the funds budgeted for the revaluation refinements to be made by the 2016 revaluation should yield lasting benefits to the Village for years to come in the form of a comprehensive, updated data base. That data base is expected to allow the Village to update property values more efficiently and at lower cost than was the case in doing the first Village-wide revaluation in more than four decades. This anticipated long-term benefit is in contrast to the annually recurring cost of repairing Village roads each season. In short, bonding for roads is a financial pothole -- even a sinkhole -- since it would burden future budgets to pay for a problem that nature does not allow to be fixed permanently. Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 167 A resident has written an email, asking whether a onetime charge of a few hundred dollars might be levied Village-wide to raise a special fund for road repair. This seemed an attractive possibility and one that many residents might be willing to pay, perhaps even voluntarily. However, I am advised by the Village attorney that the taxing authority of the Village Board is a matter of New York State law and that while a variety of specific authorizations are set forth in the law, a charge of the sort suggested is not one of them. Therefore, based on my understanding of the current state of the law this suggestion, while an interesting one, does not seem to be one that can be implemented. One other comment on the timing of repairs. Road maintenance is a seasonal business. The vendors that supply asphalt close their plants during the winter primarily because the high fuel costs they would incur to heat asphalt to the needed temperatures are a disincentive to keeping plants open. Thus, it is only when the temperature warms up that the asphalt needed can be purchased. In addition, I am told by the Village Department of Public Works that hot patching can only be done effectively when outdoor temperatures are 40 degrees and above. Therefore, until the weather warmed up, cold patching of potholes was all that could be accomplished. Over the past month and a half, the DPW has had two crews out repairing potholes using hot patches. The DPW reports that over that period, approximately 1,800 potholes have been filled. The DPW estimates that it will take approximately another month to fill a like number of potholes. Now that we have warmer weather, contractors to be retained by the Village will be doing more extensive road repaving with the budgeted funds as mentioned. We will be monitoring their progress, along with all of the residents. If there comes a point when it seems prudent to allocate more funds than those budgeted for road repair, we will consider what options, other than bonding, might be implemented including deferring other capital projects or drawing from the general fund reserve. However, neither of those options would be considered lightly and any decisions along those lines would require a very hard look at the trade-offs involved and cost/benefit to be realized. None of us are satisfied with the present condition of Village roads. The DPW is working hard to remedy the situation. In the meantime, please drive at speeds and with the caution that road conditions warrant – and when they improve, which they will, please observe Village speed limits and exercise common courtesy to others on the roads.” There were no further comments from the Board. ******** Mayor – Jonathan I. Mark Upon motion entered by Mayor Mark, and seconded by Trustee Lee, the following resolution regarding an Ad-Hoc Committee on LED Streetlights was adopted by the vote indicated below: Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 168 WHEREAS, Mayor Mark has announced the creation of an ad-hoc committee (Committee) comprised of Scarsdale residents and Village staff for the purpose of further investigating the applicability, advancement, and installation of Light Emitting Diode (LED) streetlights to replace the existing streetlights currently in use in the residential neighborhoods and business districts; and WHEREAS, the Village currently deploys roughly 2017 streetlights through a combination of sources including high pressure sodium, metal halide, mercury vapor and incandescent, at wattages ranging from 50-215 utilizing approximately 633,000 kilowatt hours per year at an annual cost of roughly $180,000; and WHEREAS, the primary advantage of LED streetlights compared to the above referenced conventional sources is their ability to produce the same amount of luminance while using half of the power consumption thereby saving energy and decreasing costs; with other reported benefits including a longer useful life than traditional sources, fewer outages, more accurate color rendering and consistent light distribution; and WHEREAS, recent advancements in technology and cost competiveness have made the installation of LED streetlights more attractive to municipalities and coupled with the aforementioned benefits, have resulted in conversions from traditional lighting sources to LED lights nationwide including the northeast and more recently local governments in Westchester County; and WHEREAS, the Village Board’s Sustainability Committee together with Village staff, have performed a preliminary investigation of replacing the Village streetlights with LED lights and conducted cursory discussions with a few LED vendors; and WHEREAS, as a result of this preliminary work, the Village Board appropriated $25,000 in the FY 2015-16 Capital Budget to replace a small percentage of existing street lights with LED lights at various locations in Scarsdale as a community demonstration to gauge the effectiveness of the LED lights and their acceptability by the Village, said analysis to be performed and reported by the Committee under certain parameters; now therefore be it RESOLVED, that in furtherance of the February 13, 2007 Village Board resolution (attached) regarding the pursuit, development and use by the Village of renewable energy sources, Mayor Mark and the Village Board of Trustees, hereby, formally establish the Ad-Hoc Committee on LED Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 169 Street Lights to serve in an advisory capacity to the Board of Trustees, with Victor Goldberg, former Planning Board Chair, as Chair of the Committee; with the following residents appointed as members: David Raizen, Aspen Road Ronald Schulhof, Springdale Road Michelle Sterling, Brayton Road Benedict Salanitro, DPW Superintendent – Staff Member and; be it further RESOLVED, that Trustee Deborah Pekarek and Trustee William Stern, comprising the Village Board’s Sustainability Committee, shall serve as liaisons to the Committee; and be it further RESOLVED, that the Committee’s charge is as follows: 1. To identify a representative sampling of Village locations both on arterial, collector and residential roads throughout the Village’s residential neighborhoods and business districts, to install LED street lights, estimated at roughly 70-80 units with the $25,000 budgeted, with enough placed in each location to provide a meaningful representation and comparison with the existing lights; 2. Determine the proper type of LED light for each identified location relative to color, light distribution, height placement on pole and spacing between each pole; 3. Coordinate with the appropriate neighborhood association representatives on the location installation of the LED street lights; 4. Monitor the LED street lights and determine the methodology to obtain sufficient feedback from the neighborhood associations on the performance of the LED lights and acceptability including achieving a balance between public safety and security with homeowner privacy and quality of life; 5. Provide a written report to the Mayor and Village Board on the work performed, functioning of the LED lights and recommendations moving forward including a cost/benefit analysis and, if applicable, a 5-10 year capital amortization plan to convert all Village street lights to LED. AYES NAYS ABSENT Trustee Callaghan None None Trustee Finger Trustee Lee Trustee Pekarek Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 170 Trustee Samwick Trustee Stern Mayor Mark ******** Upon motion entered by Mayor Mark, and seconded by Trustee Pekarek, the following resolution regarding the Employment Agreement – Village Manager was adopted by the vote indicated below: WHEREAS, the Village Board of Trustees at its organizational meeting of April 14, 2015, appointed Stephen M. Pappalardo as Village Manager for the Village of Scarsdale for the 2015-2016 official year, effective on or about June 1, 2015, to serve for the official year or until a successor is appointed, said appointment necessitating the execution of an employment agreement; now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Employment Agreement, attached hereto, includes the terms, conditions, expectations, duties and responsibilities of the position of Village Manager in accordance with Chapters 57 and A318 of the Scarsdale Village Code, and pursuant to Sections 4- 400(c) (i) of the New York State Village Law, Mayor Jonathan I. Mark is herein authorized to execute said Employment Agreement dated March 25, 2015 between the Village of Scarsdale and Stephen M. Pappalardo. AYES NAYS ABSENT Trustee Callaghan None None Trustee Finger Trustee Lee Trustee Pekarek Trustee Samwick Trustee Stern Mayor Mark The Board congratulated Mr. Pappalardo. ******** Finance Committee Trustee Samwick reported on the statements of expense and revenue for the various funds of the Village for the first ten months of fiscal year 2014-2015. Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 171 General fund appropriations were 77.68% spent as of March 2015, which is a decrease of 4.1% from the 81.81% in 2013-2014. General Fund Revenues other than property taxes are $13,658,515 through March 2015 compared to $13,671,226 through March 2014, a decrease of $12,700. Both years include non-recurring revenues of approximately $500,000. Current year revenues included $500,000 from the sale of the land abutting 2-4 Weaver Street and 2013-2014 receipts include FEMA receipts of $400,292 and $100,977 2013-2014 also includes the Con Edison Substation lease renewal payment of $148,824. Building Permit revenue (included in License and Permit revenue) is $40,000 less than last year’s record pace. Please note that the 2013- 2014 first quarter License and Permit revenue included a single permit fee of $196,000. The largest single permit fee for 2014-2015 to date is $91,000. Tax penalties and delinquent tax collections are down $70,700 as the balance of taxes and liens declined from last year. The Village received $500,000 from the sale of an abutting parcel to 2-4 Weaver Street. Excluding the receipt from the sale of property, Public Utility Tax, Sales Tax, Equipment Sales, Department Fees, Licenses and Permits and Parking Permit and Meter revenue net of Investment Earnings are up a net of $28,700. Court revenue is down $73,900. Mortgage tax is down $114,900. Recreation fees are up $173,000. Property Rentals are down $197,400 due to the aforementioned Con Ed lease payment and the cancellation of the Nextel leases; State Aid is down $495,700 since the 2013-2014 figures included FEMA aid. The actual collection of Village taxes through March 31, 2015 is at 99.46% which is up 0.17% from the last year’s collection percentage of 99.29%. ******** Upon motion entered by Trustee Samwick, and seconded by Trustee Lee, the following resolution regarding Adoption of the 2015-2015 Village Budget was adopted by the vote indicated below: WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 5-508 (3) of the Village Law, a public hearing on the 2015-16 Tentative Budget was held on April 14, 2015, and WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 5-508 of the Village Law, the Board of Trustees must adopt the budget no later than the first day of May, now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Tentative Budget filed on March 20, 2015 is hereby adopted as the Budget of the Village of Scarsdale for the fiscal year June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016, and the several amounts stated in the columns entitled “2015-16 Proposed” in the Appropriations Schedules, including the total amounts listed in the Position Summary Schedules for salaries and wages, are hereby appropriated for the objects and purposes specified, and be it further Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 172 RESOLVED, that the salaries, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment of employees represented by a bargaining unit be provided in accordance with contract terms; and, that salaries, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment of employees covered by written agreements be provided in accordance with such written agreements; and, that salaries and benefits for employees not provided for within the terms and conditions covered by written agreements, be paid in accordance with budgetary provisions as may be determined by the Village Manager and as provided by the adopted Fringe Benefit Policy for non-union employees; and be it further RESOLVED, that the sums enumerated in the columns entitled “2015-16 Proposed” in the Revenue Schedules, including estimated revenues and appropriated fund balances, are hereby made available for the purpose of financing such appropriations, and be it further RESOLVED, that a sum of up to $772,000 from the audited FY 2014-2015 General Fund Balance, as provided for in the Village Manager’s February 6, 2015 memo, attached hereto and made a part hereof, if available and prudent, be appropriated to the appropriate Capital Fund accounts as specified in the February 6, 2015 memo from the Village Manager. AYES NAYS ABSENT Trustee Callaghan None None Trustee Finger Trustee Lee Trustee Pekarek Trustee Samwick Trustee Stern Mayor Mark Before the vote, Mayor Mark commented that this budget comes under the Cap and commended the prior Mayor and Board, the Village Manager for doing the hard work necessary to achieve that result – a terrific result and very well done. Going forward, he assured the community that this Board will use the same degree of care in formulating future budgets, however, the likelihood of coming in under the Cap again next year is probably remote. The driving features continue to be State mandated payments over which this Board has no control. The Board will do what they can to come in again with a livable budget, but it may not be under the Cap. ******** Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 173 Trustee Samwick stated that the next resolution concerns the acceptance of a gift for implementation of the Scarsdale Library Master Plan; however, before he read the resolution he stated that he would like to say a few words. Trustee Samwick stated “I am very pleased to read the next resolution because it shows how remarkable Scarsdale. The community is made up of quite a few extraordinary individuals who care and give enormous amounts of time, energy and resources to make Scarsdale a very special place. Stacey and David Brodsky lived in Scarsdale for over 20 years and recently moved back to New York City. Stacy and David were the epitome of community service. David served on the CNC, and was Chair of the Scarsdale Bowl Committee among other things. Stacey was a PTA President, served on the Board of Architectural Review and served on the Village Board for the past four years. This resolution relates to a generous gift from the Brodskys that they are giving to improve our Library. Stacey and David clearly care about our Village at their core, to show that generosity after leaving our community sets a remarkably high bar for each of us who reside here. The Library is a fundamental part of our community and our day to day lives. We should all be humbled by the generosity of the Brodsky’s and use this donation as a reminder to give to our community in any way we are able – to volunteer, for Boards, Councils, the PTA, Youth Sports, or provide much needed support for organizations that are meaningful to our community such as the Library. It hardly seems adequate but I would like to thank the Brodskys for their years of service and their generosity in their gift to the Library.” Upon motion entered by Trustee Samwick, and seconded by Trustee Lee, the following resolution regarding Acceptance of Gift for Implementation of the Scarsdale Public Library Master Plan was adopted a unanimous vote: WHEREAS, the Scarsdale Library Board completed a Master Plan dated June 10, 2013 which identifies a number of building renovations and additions. These renovations and additions will increase the capacity of the Library to provide a broader range of rapidly evolving library services while maintaining popular traditional collections and programs by offering a more balanced utilization of the building space within a safe, attractive, inviting and comfortable environment; and WHEREAS, the improvements identified in the Master Plan will transform the Library into a multi-purpose community asset for future generations, maintain its preeminent status among free public libraries in the County and State, enhance its technological capacity to further library services and create a physical environment that will be a welcoming and versatile learning center; and WHEREAS, the investment for creating this future environment of additions, alterations and renovations is presented in the June 10, 2013 Village of Scarsdale Library Master Plan and estimated at a cost of Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 174 approximately $12 million, to be implemented in phases over a multi- year period, that keeps the Library open throughout the construction; and WHEREAS, the Scarsdale Public Library Board, at their October 21, 2013 meeting, authorized the retention of the fund raising consulting firm of Plan A Advisors, P.O. Box 165, Thornwood, NY 10594, to design and conduct a capital campaign to implement the projects in the Master Plan, said authorization supported by the Scarsdale Village Board via resolution dated December 10, 2013, attached; and WHEREAS, as a result of the capital campaign fund raising efforts, David and Stacey Brodsky have donated the sum of $10,000 toward the Scarsdale Public Library Master Plan Capital Improvement Project; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Policy #103: “Gifts to the Village of Scarsdale” of the Village of Scarsdale Administrative Policies & Procedures Manual, acceptance of all gifts valued at $500 or greater must be approved by the Village Board of Trustees; now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Village Board of Trustees hereby accepts the gift of $10,000 from David and Stacey Brodsky toward the Scarsdale Public Library Master Plan Capital Improvement Project; and be it further; RESOLVED, that the Village Treasurer herein take the necessary steps to complete the transaction and accept this financial gift of $10,000 and deposit in the Library Capital Campaign Account; and be it further RESOLVED, that the Board of Trustees hereby extends their heartfelt thanks and great appreciation to David and Stacey Brodsky for this generous gift to the community. ******** Police Commissioner Upon motion entered by Trustee Samwick, and seconded by Trustee Pekarek, the following resolution regarding Acceptance of a Gift, was adopted by a unanimous vote: WHEREAS, in recognition of the Scarsdale Police Department’s community efforts and good work, Mr. And Mrs. Tod Johnson, 10 Heathcote Road, Scarsdale, NY, have donated $1,000 to the Village of Scarsdale to be used by the Scarsdale Police Department as determined by the Chief of Police; and Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 175 WHEREAS, pursuant to Policy #103 of the Village of Scarsdale Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual entitled, “Gifts to the Village of Scarsdale”, acceptance of all gifts valued at $500 or more must be approved by the Village Board of Trustees; now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Village Board of Trustees hereby accepts the gift of $1,000.00 from Mr. and Mrs. Tod Johnson, 10 Heathcote Road, Scarsdale, NY; and be it further RESOLVED, that the Village Treasurer deposit said funds in the appropriate account for use by the Police Department; and be it further RESOLVED, that the Village Board of Trustees hereby extends it thanks to the Mr. and Mrs. Tod Johnson for their generosity to the community. ******** Municipal Services Committee Upon motion entered by Trustee Stern, and seconded by Trustee Pekarek, the following resolution regarding the Rejection of Bids for VM Contract #1179, Tree Stump Removal Services was adopted by the vote indicated below: WHEREAS, on an annual basis the Village removes and newly plants approximately 200 trees in the public right-of-way; such removals require the extraction or grinding of stumps in most instances; and WHEREAS, the Village has traditionally performed the services using an outside contractor through either a request for proposal or sealed bid process, in accordance with the Internal Control Policy; and WHEREAS, the Village Manager reports that he advertised for bids on March 30, 2015, under VM Contract #1179, “Tree Stump Removal Services”, and on April 14, 2015 two bids were received and open, bid summary attached; and WHEREAS, after analysis of the two submittals staff recommended that the prices offered were excessively above the market for such services, and although the Village’s current vendor, Almstead Tree Services, has not performed at the level expected, there is a one (1) year extension remaining on the Almstead Agreement and with closer monitoring and supervision it would be in the Village’s best interest to extend the current contract for the one final year as the price for stump Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 176 removal on the current contract is much more favorable compared to the recent bids that were received; now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Village Board of Trustees, pursuant to section 103 of the New York State Municipal Law and Chapter 57 of the Village Code, herein rejects all bids for contract #1179 – “Tree Stump Removal Services”, and be it further RESOLVED, that Village Manager extend the current contract with Almstead Tree Services for the 2015-2016 year and explore the market for the cost for said services that may be more reasonable and rebid the work for the 2015-2016 Fiscal Year. AYES NAYS ABSENT Trustee Callaghan None None Trustee Finger Trustee Lee Trustee Pekarek Trustee Samwick Trustee Stern Mayor Mark ******** Upon motion entered by Trustee Stern, and seconded by Trustee Lee, the following resolution regarding the Sale of Surplus Village Vehicles and Equipment was adopted by the vote indicated below: WHEREAS, the Village’s Internal Control Policy 202, section 3.1, attached hereto and made a part hereof, authorizes the Village Manager to declare as surplus any items of scrap metal, used equipment, motor vehicles, and any other property having a value of not more than $5,000.00; and WHEREAS, said Policy requires that items of scrap metal, motor vehicles and other property declared by the Village Manager as surplus and estimated at a value greater than $5,000.00 be disposed of after sealed bids or a public auction has occurred and the Board of Trustees has approved that sale by resolution; and WHEREAS, the Village Manager reports that the items attached to this resolution were certified to him in writing by Village staff as having no further use or need to the Village; and Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 177 WHEREAS, on February 5, 2015 the Village Manager declared the items attached as surplus and recommended them to be sold via an online auction, publically held by Auction International of Buffalo, New York; and WHEREAS, the online auction ended on April 22, 2015 with the high bid for Village Vehicle # 381, 1992 International 4700 Dump Truck being submitted as $6,700.00; and WHEREAS, in the interest of efficiently completing all auction sales, it is recommended that the sale of Village Vehicle # 381, 1992 International 4700 Dump Truck be approved by the Village Board in accordance with the Internal Control Policy now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Village Board of Trustees hereby approves the final sale of Village Vehicle # 381, 1992 International 4700 Dump Truck for $6,700.00, in accordance with the Internal Control Policy 202, section 3.2, attached hereto and made a part hereof. AYES NAYS ABSENT Trustee Callaghan None None Trustee Finger Trustee Lee Trustee Pekarek Trustee Samwick Trustee Stern Mayor Mark ******** Personnel Committee Upon motion entered by Trustee Finger, and seconded by Trustee Pekarek, the following resolution regarding Re-Appointment of Member to the Advisory Council on Parks and Recreation was adopted by a unanimous vote: WHEREAS, the Village Board, at their April 14, 2015 Annual Organizational Meeting, adopted a resolution appointing members to serve on various Village Boards, Councils and Committees; and WHEREAS, Rochelle Waldman had served as a member of the Advisory Council on Parks and Recreation for a previous two-year term and wished to continue to serve; and WHEREAS, based on their deliberations, it was the intent of the Personnel Committee of the Village Board to reappoint Rochelle Waldman for a Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 178 two year term; however, the appointment was inadvertently omitted from the aforementioned April 14, 2015 resolution; now, therefore be it RESOLVED, that Rochelle Waldman, is hereby re-appointed to serve as a member of the Advisory Council on Parks and Recreation for a term expiring April 3, 2017, or until such time as a successor is appointed. ******** Other Committee Reports None. ******** Liaison Reports Trustee Pekarek stated that she had two announcements for Scarsdale Public Television. One is for the League of Women Voters – they had an incredible presentation on the Non Partisan System and that can be viewed at Scarsdalepublictv.com. Also on March 18th, the Leaf Task Force had a panel discussion and that can also be viewed on Scarsdale Public Television. At the panel discussion of the Leaf Task Force, representatives of the Cornell Waste Institute was in attendance and they are instituting a multi-year study of the effects of mulch mowing on turf and soil. Madeline Eppenstein, who is Co-Chair of the Friends of the Scarsdale Parks will be involved in that study and we will be using Chase Park and a residential property to investigate how mulch mowing works on soil. On this upcoming Saturday, at the Harwood Park (which is the space between the Library and the gravel lot) the Village Parks and Recreation Department and the Scarsdale Friends of the Park will be doing a huge planting project. They have received 285 trees and shrubs from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. There will be community support to help plant these – there are over 60 people who have signed up to help put in the plantings. It is a wetlands restoration project; the State has given them an amazing number of plants and shrubs. The community is very involved in restoring this wetland area. The event will start at 10:00 A.M. and end at 4:00 P.M. ******** Trustee Finger reported as Liaison to the Fox Meadow Neighborhood Association, he stated that the Neighborhood Association is having its Annual Playground Party this Sunday at 3:00 P.M. at Willow Playground. Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 179 Trustee Finger also reported that there are two (2) vacancies on Village Councils – the Conservation Advisory Council has two vacancies and the Advisory Council on Technology has two (2) vacancies. The Personnel Committee hopes that residents of the community will volunteer and participate. They should submit their applications on line at the Village website, www.scarsdale.com. ******** Trustee Lee explained how residents could view the events being aired on Scarsdale Public TV on the web. He explained that you would visit the Scarsdale website at www.scarsdale.com and click on ‘Cable Television’ and then the available videos are shown that can be viewed. Trustee Pekarek stated that you can also go directly to www.scarsdalepublictv.com and there are links to the various videos that are available. ******** Written Communications Village Clerk Conkling reported that five (5) written communications have been received since the last meeting, one (1) after preparation of the agenda:  A letter from Phyllis Finkelstein, 41 Fenimore Road, regarding leaf mulching  An email from Victor Ghiozzi, 15 Barry Road regarding the 2016 reval and current road conditions  An email from Susan Levine, Ardmore Road regarding road conditions and resurfacing, suggesting a special one-time assessment per family.  An email from Lou Mancini, 40 Carman Road, regarding road conditions and his opposition to a bond issue to repair them, suggesting instead an annual road repair program within the financial means of the Village.  An email from David and Tamara Dachinger, 54 Crossway, in opposition to the 2016 reval. ******** Future Meeting Schedule  Tuesday, May 12, 2015 – Agenda Committee Meeting – 7:30 P.M. – Trustees’ Room  Tuesday, May 12, 2015 – Village Board Meeting – 8:00 P.M. – Rutherford Hall  Thursday, May 14, 2015 – Sustainability Committee – 6:30 P.M. – 3rd Flr. Mtg. Room ******** Village Board of Trustees 04 -28-2015 180 There being no further business to come before the Board, Trustee Samwick moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Trustee Lee and carried by a unanimous vote at 9:00 P.M. Donna M. Conkling Village Clerk