Village to Credit 1600 Water Users for Excess Water Usage

To those concerned about high water bills from the summer, Village Manager Steve Pappalardo announced that the Village needs to adjust the bills of about one third of Scarsdale's water users. A miscalculation for excess water charges for the summer months caused the Village to overcharge1,600 customers for excess water used during the billing period. The Village rechecked high volume accounts and found that additional water units from the tail end of the period were billed at excess rates. The 1,600 customers who exceeded 50 units with program use read dates of 100 days or more will each receive an average credit of $130, depending on usage.

To find out if you qualify for a credit, click here. You will need your water bill in hand to look up your account number.

The Village will adjust the residents' online accounts. If you have questions, call Village Hall at 722-1172 or email the treasurer's office at treasurer@scarsdale.com. Listen to a full explanation from Village Manager Steve Pappalardo here.

Pappalardo also spoke about upward pressure on water rates from New York City and encouraged residents to do everything they could to conserve water. He said that Scarsdale is among the highest per capita users of water of all water customers served by the City of New York and recommended that residents do the following to monitor and decrease usage:

• Check your water meter
• Buy web-based tools to regulate and monitor consumption
• Purchase low-flow plumbing fixtures
• Use aerators on faucets
• Check for leaks in your irrigation system
• Reduce lawn watering
• Replace lawn with native plantings
• Use leaf mulching and grass cycling to maintain moisture

Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps

David Raizen who leads the Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps (SVAC) made an appeal to residents to donate funds to support SVAC who makes 1,500 calls a year and is not supported by tax dollars. They recently mailed out an annual fund drive and report little response. Their goal is to raise $250,000 and to date they have only received $75,000, which is not enough to support the service for the coming year.

Food Scrap Composting

Trustee Deb Pekarek introduced a resolution to facilitate the collection of food scraps at the Recycling Center on Secor Road for composting and to create an ad hoc committee to oversee the program and to educate the public on using it. The resolution authorizes the placement of receptacles to collect food scraps at the recycling center that will be picked up by a commercial hauler on a weekly basis and brought to a composting facility. The program would allow residents to recycle meat, fish, dairy, bread, rice, pasta, oil bones and shells which are difficult to compost at home.

The ad hoc committee will include Ron Schulhof, Michelle Sterling, DPW Superintendent Benedict Salanitro and Sanitation Foreman Stephen Arangio. The resolution was passed unanimously by the Board of Trustees.

Parking at Hyatt Field

In other news, Trustee Matt Callaghan reported that the Parks and Recreation Council opposes the construction of a 27-space parking lot at Hyatt Field. In order to regulate parking and traffic near the park, they did support no-parking signs on the eastern side of Potter Road and the northern side of Lee Road as well as the construction of three additional spaces on Boulevard. They also supported the widening of Potter Road by three feet to allow emergency vehicles ample space. No parking lot will be built at the field.

Library:

Trustee Jane Veron reported that the trustees visited libraries in Darien, CT and Mamaroneck, NY and met with librarians to discuss public/private partnerships and building libraries for the future. A meeting to consider a possible referendum on the renovation of the library will be held on November 29 at 6:55 pm at Village Hall.