Board of Trustees

Village Board of Trustees 01/12/2016 1 THREE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED FORTY-SEVENTH REGULAR MEETING Rutherford Hall Village Hall January 12, 2016 A Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Scarsdale was held in the Rutherford Hall in Village Hall on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 8:00 P.M. Present were Mayor Mark, Trustees Callaghan, Finger, Lee, Pekarek, Samwick and Stern. Also present were Village Manager Pappalardo, Deputy Village Manager Cole, Assistant Village Manager Richards, Village Attorney Esannason, Village Clerk Conkling, Village Treasurer McClure, and Assistant to the Village Manager Ringel. ******** The minutes of the Board of Trustees Limited Agenda Meeting of Tuesday, December 22, 2015 were approved on a motion entered by Trustee Finger, seconded by Trustee Lee, and carried unanimously. ******** Bills & Payroll Trustee Callaghan reported that he had audited the Abstract of Claims dated January 12, 2016 in the amount of $1,618,706.73 which includes $51,085.71 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 Callaghan and seconded by Trustee Samwick, the following resolution was adopted unanimously: RESOLVED, that the Abstract of Claims dated January 12, 2016 in the amount of $1,618,706.73 is hereby approved. Trustee Callaghan further reported that he had examined the payment of bills made in advance of a Board of Trustees audit totaling $89,219.13 which were found to be in order and he moved that such payments be ratified. Upon motion duly made by Trustee Callaghan and seconded by Trustee Samwick, the following resolution was adopted unanimously: Village Board of Trustees 01/12/2016 2 RESOLVED, that payment of claims made in advance of a Board of Trustees audit totaling $89,219.13 is hereby ratified. ******** Mayors Comments Mayor Mark stated that he had three issues that he wanted to speak about briefly as follows: “Metro North Replacement Staircase - At long last, the replacement staircase to the northbound side of the Metro North platform is in place although it is not quite ready for use. Finishing work remains to be done. The concrete slab has been poured but is still curing. The schedule calls for the safety railing on the lower landing pad to be installed over the next week. Also note that once the staircase is open it is intended that the bus stop now near the taxi area, can be moved back to the sidewalk at the top of the stairs. Though the project is not done yet, we thank to the Village staff for their work on this project to date to get this much-needed bit of infrastructure back in place. It is my sincere hope that the next time I am addressing you, the staircase will have been opened. Cayuga Pond Project - At the end of last year, the Village staff was notified that the Village had been awarded a state assistance grant of $1,050,000 for further work on the Cayuga Pond project. Initial work on the project, which is principally intended to mitigate storm water flooding from the Sheldrake River in the Cayuga Road area, was designed and constructed in 2014 and 2015 at a cost of $600,000. With this new grant, significant additional work, designed but excluded from the initial work due to lack of funding, will be possible. It is noted that some of the work will require the consent of private property owners bordering Cayuga Pond and portions of the Sheldrake River to allow Village workers to access their property to do the work. Village staff will be contacting the relevant property owners in the months ahead, and it is hoped that they cooperate by giving their required consents for a project that should be a benefit to them and many other residents living in the Cayuga Road area. The amount of the state award represents 75% of the $1,400,000 budgeted for the contemplated work. A condition of the grant is that the Village fund the balance of $350,000. Some of the Village funding may be provided “in kind.” It is expected that the 2016-2017 Village budget will include the funding required to meet this condition. The Village staff is congratulated on the work it did to obtain this grant money for a much needed infrastructure project. Food Composting - We have received a number of emails that enthusiastically support the proposal for a pilot project involving food composting. As background, what has been proposed by the Scarsdale Forum Sustainability Committee is a pilot project that would involve 100 households on a voluntary basis. The Committee’s proposal is discussed in some detail in its report dated December 1, 2015. The Committee presented its report to Village Board of Trustees 01/12/2016 3 this Board at a public meeting held on December 8, 2015 and we thank the Committee for the diligent work it did in bringing focus to this issue. As proposed, the pilot project would involve the Village purchase of plastic receptacles which would be distributed to the volunteers. One receptacle would be used to collect food scraps in the kitchen. The collected scraps would be emptied into a second, larger receptacle that would be locked closed and placed curbside once a week. A private vendor would collect the scraps from the curbside receptacle and haul to a composting facility outside of Scarsdale. The Committee estimates that the annual cost to the Village for the 100-household pilot would be approximately $44,500. It has been reported to us that a food composting program initiated in the schools has been enthusiastically received by students and the Sustainability Committee has urged us to take advantage of that momentum and investigate a Village-wide program. The pilot program would be a first step in considering whether to do so. While there appear to be a number of environmental benefits to be gained generally by food composting, none of them would seem to apply to Scarsdale in this instance. As the Forum Sustainability Committee report notes, one benefit from food composting is that it reduces the food waste dumped in landfills where it would otherwise generate methane gas, a pollutant. However, Scarsdale’s food waste does not go into landfills. Rather it is burned in a Westchester County owned resource recovery facility in Peekskill as part of the Westchester Solid Waste District of which the Village is a member. The Forum Sustainability Committee report candidly indicates that there would be virtually no savings to the Village from the program. There is principally cost. While the $44,500 for the pilot would not seem to be a lot of money to spend on an environmentally beneficial project, it is hoped that there would be at least some benefit, economic or otherwise, to the Village to justify that expense even in part. Apparently, there is almost none. It is understood that the Village already has the benefit of a discounted tipping fee at the Peekskill facility where its waste is ultimately deposited so no additional discount is expected as a result of eliminating food waste from that process. Thus, the Committee estimates savings to Scarsdale from the food composting project at somewhere between $1,000 and $3,000. The Sustainability Committee report notes that no other Westchester municipality has instituted a food composting program, but expresses the view that if Scarsdale and others did so, savings might increase as the costs of the programs would decline. The report also notes that the NY State Department of Conservation may reimburse municipalities for up to 50% of the costs of bins and community education programs. However, these costs are rather minor – on the order of $3,500 for bins in the pilot project. The report also states that the DEC is about three to four years behind in issuing rebates. In short, little would seem to flow back to the Village economically from these sources. Further, and somewhat less quantifiable, the food scraps would be picked up by a truck circulating among 100 households participating in the pilot. The truck would then Village Board of Trustees 01/12/2016 4 travel 48 miles to the food composting facility. This compares to the 27 mile trip to the resource recovery facility where food waste is presently burned. Again the Forum Sustainability Committee report notes that use of the truck entails additional fuel and CO2 emissions and so would seem to be at least a partial trade off of one environmental harm for another. Lastly, mention was made at the presentation to the Board on December 8th that removing food waste from materials that are burned at the resource recovery facility in Peekskill might reduce the amount of ash produced by that facility. Assuming that is true, that would seem to be a benefit to Peekskill residents, not to Scarsdale residents. A further cost concern is that if the program were more widely instituted and as a hypothetical example was expanded 10 fold, presumably the cost would be ten times as much -- $445,000 per year. To give some context to that number, that sum would pay for repaving approximately one mile of Village streets. When analyzed in this fashion, it is less than clear that doing the good work of food composting at Village expense is an appropriate allocation of tax dollars. And why should other residents shoulder some of the cost if there is no identifiable benefit to the Village as a whole? Or looked at another way, would each of the 100 volunteer households be willing to pay $445 apiece to participate in this program for a year? Perhaps so, but it is likely that those who are composting on their own presently are doing so at far less cost. In short, we are grappling with this issue – or more particularly whether or not tax dollars should be allocated to it. Certainly residents are free to compost their food scraps on their own and a number of residents, and one institution, who have written to us in support of the program, say they are already doing so. We applaud their efforts in that regard. In light of the relatively modest cost of the indoor and outdoor containers used in the process, perhaps more residents will take up this practice on their own. The question before us, however, is whether or not to take the cost of such a program on as a Village expense when the direct benefits to the Village are not demonstrable. Another way of framing the question is whether we are willing to pay for a program that some, including Trustee Stern, will say should be done because it is the right moral choice to make notwithstanding the absence of any significant economic benefit. The Board will continue to consider this issue as it goes through the budget process and we will see where we come out once that process is complete. Given other Village needs, it is not yet presently clear, at least to me, that adding food composting to Village- provided services is supportable from an economic point of view. However, we will keep an open mind on this topic in the event other persuasive factors are brought to our attention for consideration.” ******** Village Board of Trustees 01/12/2016 5 Trustee Stern stated that he went to the Greenacres School last week and watched three lunch program shifts of approximately 388 students. The students have a choice of either bringing their own food or buying food in the school. The food is catered from various stores in the Village. Two years ago, they decided to institute a more environmentally friendly type of operation. At that time they decided to do food composting. It was done under the leadership of Michelle Sterling and Ron Schulhof. The results have been remarkable. He urged everyone, including the Trustees, before a decision is made on this to observe this process. Pre-composting of food in Greenacres generated 18 48-gallon bags a day daily of waste. Today, the waste is one bag per day and the food waste is about half a container a day. If the children bring food from their house they are encouraged to bring recyclable containers or items that they would bring back home. The cater supplies everything with compostable materials. Anything that comes from the earth can go back to the earth. The plates are made of corn although they appear to be paper plates. They use wooden utensils. They have teams of monitors and three baskets for recycling. The monitors make sure the waste is placed in the appropriate containers. The benefits of this is that the children only take what they plan on eating and throw very little away. This has also filtered down into their home life. They have mixed recyclables, pure waste, and the food waste. If you look at what is left at the end of a meal where 388 children are served you will see very little thrown away. Trustee Stern stated that there are 2, 201 children in the elementary schools in Scarsdale. Quaker Ridge Elementary School, which has its own kitchen, just started food waste recycling. Now all of the elementary schools are doing it. All of their families are being influenced by food composting. He stated that it is an amazing thing to see 99.9% of these children doing this all on their own. He again encouraged everyone to see this with their own eyes. Trustee Stern also noted that there is an institution in Scarsdale that does food composting also at many of their events. There are 1200 families that go to this institution and are exposed to the food composting. Between the children in the schools and this institution there is a wide acceptance of food composting. According to the Scarsdale Forum, there are hundreds of families that want to be part of the pilot program and they will have to do a lottery for the 100 families that are accepted. He continued, stating that this is a very modest project for $44,500 it doesn’t have a big impact on any residents’ budgets. However, it has a big impact on the environment. Burning food may be a good idea but he felt it was better that it go back to the earth. Anytime you don’t deal with waste properly and increase carbon footprint you increase asthma and all kinds of related diseases in the environment. We have an opportunity here to preserve the environment and take a small step for a small amount of money. Village Board of Trustees 01/12/2016 6 Mayor Mark stated that when he heard Trustee Stern describe the program that is going on at the schools, two-thirds of what is included under the title food composting has nothing to do with food at all. It is the recyclables and other trash. It is only the third bin that the food scraps relate to. As to the food, what he heard Trustee Stern say is that the children aren’t overfilling their plates so it is not all about food waste and doesn’t have to do with food composting. Trustee Stern stated that it did have to do with food composting because if they didn’t have this and threw the excess food in one bin, it would filled up quickly. The children understand that they shouldn’t waste food and that is a tremendous lesson in conservation. Mayor Mark agreed that it is a good lesson. Trustee Finger stated that he would like to make a couple of observations based on what has been said. He stated that he thought no one was taking issue with the program in the school. His daughter is a recycling ranger in the school and it is a great program. Whatever the Board does in Scarsdale is not reflective of that program. He stated that he wants to keep the door open to this and other projects because it is complicated to say that Scarsdale doesn’t receive a direct economic benefit and therefore we should not do something. It is a criteria and may even be the most compelling criteria but there comes a point with all these environmental issues that we are dealing where the cost benefit analysis today doesn’t necessarily equate to what is happening overall. Sometimes it has to start somewhere and maybe that is here and maybe not; however, there is a possibility that a lot of the things they are talking about, whether it is the composting, or different aspects of solar, there might not be a dollar for dollar payback. Trustee Finger stated that he wanted to keep hearing about this and discussing it and looking for ways to do it and do these types of projects that are environmentally conscious and responsible even if there is a cost to them. That should not be the red flag for denial. Mayor Mark thanked Trustees Stern and Finger for their input. ******** Manager’s Comments Village Manager Pappalardo stated that the Village is embarking on the Budget process once again for the Fiscal Year 2016/17. The Village Administration has been at work on the budget since December 1st when the Department Heads commenced their work on their operating budgets which were submitted at the end of the calendar year as well as their Capital requests and any suggestions or recommendations that they have on some fees and charges that they manage within their departments. Village Board of Trustees 01/12/2016 7 The Budget Officer and the Village Treasurer met individually with all the Department Heads over the past two weeks to review and discuss their operating budgets and are currently preparing the ‘first pass’ of the General Fund Budget document. The Village’s New York State tax levy cap allowance for Fiscal Year 2016/17 as provided by our State Comptroller is .45% or less than one-half of one percent this year. Based on our current year tax levy of roughly $37 million, the Village could not increase our levy for 2016/17 more than $166,000. Between the myriad of State unfunded mandates relative to pension contributions, health insurance, contractual union collective bargaining agreements, sanitary and stormwater regulations and other existing debt service payments, general liability, workmen’s compensation insurance premiums and a host of necessary and worthy capital improvement projects, it is very unlikely that this 2016/17 Budget will stay within the Cap, but of course this decision will be up to the Board. This first draft of this budget will be presented in some reformat to the Village Board’s Finance Committee this week on Thursday evening, January 14th at 6:30 P.M. in the Trustees’ Room in Village Hall. As is customary, the participation of the Scarsdale Forum and the Scarsdale League of Women Voters and any interested residents is welcome. The balance of the budget calendar is available on the Village’s website, www.scarsdale.com. It is on the front page under “Hot Topics” and it is laid out for anyone who is interested in reviewing it and attending the meetings. It is a very quick process once started; there are a number of meetings in January and February with the Finance Committee. There are some general public organizations discussions mixed in there as well. The Tentative Budget, statutorily under New York State Law has to be filed with the Village Clerk by March 20th. At that point the Village Board will hold a public hearing in April and a final, balanced Budget is adopted by the Village Board no later than May 1st. ******** Public Comment Ron Schulhof, Springdale Road, member of the Scarsdale Forum Sustainability Committee stated that he was one of the members that worked on the Composting report. He stated that he wanted to correct a factual error from the Mayor’s comments related to on-site composting. If you compost in your house, in your backyard, you can compost anything and that is an alternative to commercial composting – that is not true. Composting in your backyard you can compost fruits, vegetables, coffee grounds – no meat, diary, no processed foods, and no cooked foods. There are many things that you cannot compost in your backyard. He stated that he has two bins at home; one for his backyard and one for a facility which he brings to Whole Foods. Mr. Schulhof stated that he would also like to talk about the true benefits of the program. The first is that we will have a conservation of resources. Food is a resource and a higher order use of that is to conserve that and use that to make compost. In the Northeast we are actually losing topsoil, which is made up of things like compost. The second piece is Village Board of Trustees 01/12/2016 8 reducing our trash and reducing what is burned. The third and most important piece is education and about teaching our children, our parents, and ourselves that food is not a waste and that there is a better way than plastic plates. We can use re-usables. In regard to the schools, in addition to less waste, there aren’t as many children with water bottles. They bring in reusable mugs. That happened because of the composting program and is an additional benefit. The education that there is a better way is what the program is about. He stated that he hoped that decisions in Scarsdale do not come down to dollars and cents. If he were willing to say to his children that they weren’t even willing to try for $45,000 in a $50 million budget, he didn’t know how he could look them in the face and say that. To not try for $45,000 would be a travesty. Mr. Schulhof stated that the ash from burning the waste is not Peekskill’s problem and the trash we send here is not the County’s problem, it is all of our problem. Something that is beneficial to the environment is beneficial to all of us. Scarsdale Schools were the second School District to this this; they have had at least 15 School Districts visit Scarsdale to see the program. This is being done at a House of Worship and now have twenty Houses of Worship that wants to see what’s going on. Sometimes we have to take the lead on something – it might be hard and it might cost some money but he needs to be able to look at his kids and that for $45K he is going to at least try and see what happens. Mayor Mark asked Mr. Schulhof to stay at the podium, noting that he was one of the harder working volunteers in the Village and thanked him very much for that. He stated that it sounds to him that the benefits that are being seen are really the ancillary benefits that are being put under the rubric of food composting and they are not so much about food but are about the utensils and the containers and the things that are associated with preparing or eating the food. Food is part of it but the larger part of it seems to be these other benefits. The food composting program for the homes that is being targeted is just about food. Mr. Schulhof asked of all the Trustees to come to the school because they will see what he is talking about. Some of the things he mentioned are ancillary, but they went from 18 bags of trash at one school to one bag. We are reducing that amount of trash. When you food compost, you get the benefit of all the other aspects by becoming more cognizant about it. Mayor Mark thanked Mr. Schulhof for his thoughts and hard work. There being no further public comment, Mayor Mark closed the public comments portion of the meeting. ******** Law Committee Upon motion entered by Trustee Lee, and seconded by Trustee Finger, the following resolution regarding the 2016 Village Election was approved by the vote indicated below: Village Board of Trustees 01/12/2016 9 RESOLVED, that pursuant to Section 15-104 of the Election Law, the Village election shall be held on Tuesday, March 15, 2016. between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. and 12 Noon and 9:00 p.m.; and be it further RESOLVED, that the polling place for all Election Districts, Numbers 1-19 shall be at Village Hall; and be it further RESOLVED, that qualified registered voters who reside within Westchester County may be inspectors of election for Village elections held in Scarsdale. AYES NAYS ABSENT Trustee Callaghan None None Trustee Finger Trustee Lee Trustee Pekarek Trustee Samwick Trustee Stern Mayor Mark ******** Finance Committee Upon motion entered by Trustee Samwick, and seconded by Trustee Pekarek, the following resolution regarding Acceptance of a Gift for the Scarsdale Public Library Addition and Renovation Project was approved by 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 that 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 and inviting comfortable environment, said Master Plan supported by the Scarsdale Village Board of Trustees via resolution dated April 8, 2014 (attached); 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 Village Board of Trustees 01/12/2016 10 environment that will be a welcoming and versatile learning center; 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 such a project, subsequently identified in the July 20, 2015, Schematic Design Report prepared by Dattner Architects, at an estimated construction cost of $16,500,000 and total project cost of approximately $19,500,000; and WHEREAS, the Friends of the Scarsdale Library has offered to donate the gift of $79,600 to the Scarsdale Public Library Addition and Renovation Capital Improvement Project; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Policy #106: “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 hereby accepts the gift of $79,600 from the Friends of the Scarsdale Library toward the Scarsdale Public Library Addition and Renovation Project; and be it further RESOLVED, that the Village Treasurer take the necessary steps to complete the transaction and accept this financial gift of $79,600 and deposit it 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 the Friends of the Scarsdale Library, for their generosity and commitment to the Scarsdale Public Library and Community. ******** Municipal Services Committee Upon motion entered by Trustee Stern, and seconded by Trustee Samwick, the following resolution regarding Authorization to Execute the Westchester County Snow and Ice Removal Agreement was approved by the vote indicated below: Village Board of Trustees 01/12/2016 11 WHEREAS, The County of Westchester owns 3.22 lane miles of road within the Village of Scarsdale which require snow and ice removal services in order to provide reasonable passage and movement of vehicles; and WHEREAS, in the interest of public safety the Village of Scarsdale has historically provided this service to Westchester County through various inter- municipal agreements (IMAs); and WHEREAS, the latest Westchester County IMA had a five (5) year term which expired on September 30, 2015, and the County has subsequently proffered another five (5) year IMA for the identical services to be provided through September 30, 2020, with said IMA attached hereto and made a part hereof; and WHEREAS, the reimbursement rate received from the County for services rendered by the Village shall be in accordance with Schedule “B” of the attached agreement; and WHEREAS, any annual increase in reimbursement payments to the Village during this agreement shall be based on a percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (C.P.I.) for all Urban Consumers all items, Selected Large Cities for New York, Northeastern New Jersey Area, as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statics from the previous twelve months, but not to exceed 3 ½ % from the preceding year’s amount; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the Village Manager is hereby authorized to sign and execute an agreement, in substantially the same form as attached hereto, between the Village of Scarsdale and Westchester County for snow and ice removal services on County-owned roads located in the Village of Scarsdale; and be it further RESOLVED, that the Village Manager is herein authorized to complete all other administrative acts necessary pursuant to this agreement. AYES NAYS ABSENT Trustee Callaghan None None Trustee Finger Trustee Lee Trustee Pekarek Trustee Samwick Trustee Stern Mayor Mark Village Board of Trustees 01/12/2016 12 ******** Upon motion entered by Trustee Stern, and seconded by Trustee Lee, the following resolution to award VM #1184 – Furnish and Deliver Meter Interface Units was approved by the vote indicated below: WHEREAS, The Village of Scarsdale Water Department receives, pumps, treats, and distributes potable water to approximately 5,800 accounts, consisting of both Village Residents and residents of Eastchester Water District #1; and WHEREAS, in order to read water meters, the Village’s current infrastructure requires that Village Personnel enter a residence or physically touch a meter on the side of a home; and WHEREAS, in an effort save on operational costs and increase efficiencies, the Village of Scarsdale has embarked on a program to install Meter Interface Units (MIUs), a device installed on each water meter that transmits meter reading data through a single radio frequency that can be easily retrieved by walking by or driving by an MIU-installed residence; and WHEREAS, there are currently 400 Village Water accounts with MIUs, however, once all customers are so equipped, water meter reads can be conducted at Village Hall via a single radio tower to be located in the Village; and WHEREAS, the current Water Enterprise Capital Budget includes $100,000 for the purchase of additional MIUs; and WHEREAS, on Friday, December 11, 2015, the Village advertised in the Scarsdale Inquirer for the receipt of bids under VM Contract #1184 - Furnish and Deliver Eleven Hundred MIUs through the Scarsdale Inquirer, and sent bid notifications to two MIU vendors; and WHEREAS, on the bid opening date of December 28, 2015, one sealed bid was received from Rio Supply Inc. of New York, 100 Allied Parkway, Sicklerville, NJ 08081, at a unit bid price of $106.00, for a maximum of 1,100 units totaling $116,600; and WHEREAS, the contract allows the Village of Scarsdale to purchase up to 1,100 MIU units at the unit bid price of $106.00 for up to six months after the award of the contract; and Village Board of Trustees 01/12/2016 13 WHEREAS, Rio Supply, Inc., an authorized reseller of compatible MIU’s in the Northeast, has satisfactorily supplied water meters and remote reading devices to the Village of Scarsdale in the past; now therefore be it RESOLVED, that VM Contract #1184 - Furnish and Deliver 1,100 Meter Interface Units be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, Rio Supply Inc. of New York, 100 Allied Parkway, Sicklerville, NJ 08081, at the unit bid price of $106.00, not to exceed budgeted appropriations; and be it further RESOLVED, the cost of the units be charged to the Water Department Capital Projects, Account EWS-8310-DSTRB-CAPTL-500-50; and be it further RESOLVED, that the Village Manager is hereby authorized to execute VM Contract #1184 on behalf of the Village of Scarsdale with Rio Supply Inc. of New York, 100 Allied Parkway, Sicklerville, NJ 08081, and to undertake administrative acts as may be required pursuant to the terms of the Agreement AYES NAYS ABSENT Trustee Callaghan None None Trustee Finger Trustee Lee Trustee Pekarek Trustee Samwick Trustee Stern Mayor Mark ******** Liaison Reports Trustee Stern stated that he is the Liaison to the Library Board and the Library Board had a meeting that he attended. The Library Board is advancing their program and results in raising money for the renovations. They are now looking to move this ahead with the cooperation of the Village. The Library Board thanks the Village Board for all their efforts in this regard. ******** Other Committee Reports Trustee Finger noted that the Personnel Committee will be seeking volunteers for all the Village Boards and Councils. Anyone who is interested is advised to go to the Village Village Board of Trustees 01/12/2016 14 website at www.scarsdale.com and submit their application so they may be considered in the upcoming months as the Committee reviews the Boards and Councils roster. ******** Written Communications Village Clerk Conkling reported that sixty-six (66) communications have been received since the last meeting. She noted that the full content of all communications that have been received can be viewed on the Village’s website at www.scarsdale.com under the Board of Trustees or Village Clerk section. Thirty-three (33) communications were received concerning the proposed Library renovations; 25 wrote in support of this project and 8 wrote in opposition to it. Twenty-six (26) communications were received in support of the Food Waste Compost Pilot Program. Additional correspondence was received as follows: • Emails from Christine Bessin, 20 Old Lyme Road, and Anne King, 88 Greenacres Road regarding the Scarsdale School Busing Policy. • An email from Sal Gulla, 1 Ferncliff Road regarding the bagging of parking meters during the holidays. • An email from Jerry and Joyce Hirsch regarding leaf collection. • An email from James Shenwick suggesting sidewalks for Drake Road; a response from Village Manager Pappalardo is attached. • Another email from James Shenwick regarding the 2011 Heathcoat Five Corners Roundabout study; a response from Mayor Mark is attached. Village Clerk Conkling reiterated that all communications are available for public viewing on the Village’s website, www.scarsdale.com. ******** There being no further business to come before the Board, Trustee Pekarek moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 P.M. seconded by Trustee Lee and carried by a unanimous vote. Donna M. Conkling Village Clerk