HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE JUNE 21 TOWN BOARD MEETING
- APPOINTMENT OF ABRAHAM "ABE" ZAMBRANO FOR BEDFORD TOWN COMPTROLLER I am pleased to report that the Board appointed Abe Zambrano as Comptroller. He has been a Village Manager for over ten years in Croton-on-Hudson and then Ossining. He has over thirty years of financial experience in both the public and private sector including as Treasurer for Croton-on-Hudson and prior to that, Sleepy Hollow.
- STREET LIGHT CONVERSION TO LED You may have read that the Town was awarded a $250,000 NYSERDA grant toward the cost of a project to convert 571
- NYSEG street lights to LED technology. The Town Board approved Public Works Commissioner Kevin Winn's proposal to purchase from NYSEG the portions of these street lights which it owns. LED street lights will use substantially less energy, reducing the Town's carbon footprint, and also reducing the Town's annual electricity cost, creating a benefit to the community. In addition, LEDs provide a better quality of light, enhancing safety and visibility at night.
- COURT ROAD PARKING The need for additional parking in Bedford Village long has been a concern which affects the hamlet's vitality and vibrancy. At the request of the Bedford Village Business Association (Keith Betensky, as president, speaking on behalf of the BVBA), the Friends of the Bedford Playhouse (John Farr, chairman, speaking on behalf of the group) and others in the community, the Board approved a plan developed by Commissioner Winn (following consultation with residents, the school, the fire department, merchants and business owners) to increase by approximately 11 parking spaces street parking on Court Road. The Town will closely monitor the effect of the change (the change in the Town's parking ordinance goes into effect upon filing with NYS).
- DEEPWOOD ROAD PARKING Following concerns expressed about sight distance on Deepwood Road, the Board approved a plan to prohibit parking for a portion of the road and to install advisory signs for another portion of the road. The Town will monitor this change as well.
POLICE STATION RENOVATIONS - PROGRESS AND COST POINTS At Tuesday's meeting, the Board also approved amendments to the construction management agreement with Calgi Construction. I updated the Board on the status of the project. As earlier reported, the Police Department now is in its temporary quarters in the lower level of the Town House building. The move is several months ahead of schedule due to the Town deciding last summer to pull out from the overall project the work on the lower level allowing it to start late last year. Early last year rough cost estimates for the overall project were $3.5 to $4 million. The Board last year approved a bond resolution for $4.2 million to finance it. Cost estimates, however, have steadily been climbing and Calgi last Friday provided a new cost estimate of approximately $7 million, which raises concerns over the magnitude of the debt service. The existing station is antiquated, shabby and functionally obsolete. As such, the Town needs the project to enable the Police Department to effectively carry out its mission. As such, we wish to construction as much of the project as possible while still meeting the following key fiscal benchmarks: remaining within the tax cap; providing sufficient operating and capital budgets for other Town functions; maintaining fund balances which meet the Board's adopted guidelines; keeping debt at prudent levels; and maintaining the Town's AAA credit rating. I have asked Comptroller Zambrano to work with Police Chief Mel Padilla and Architect George Rosamond and make recommendations to the Town Board at the July 5 meeting with Board action on the plans more likely to take place at the July 19 meeting. We will post information on the project to the Town's website.
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