Village Board Moves Forward on Freightway Development and Seeks to Revitalize the Village Center

At their final meeting as a Village Board on Tuesday 3-28, which extended after midnight, the board passed some important resolutions, retaining auditors, consultants, and engineers and appointing a resident steering committee to set goals for the Freightway Development Project.

Auditors: After much discussion, the Board voted to retain PKF O'Connor Davies Accountants and Advisors to conduct an independent audit of the Village of Scarsdale. The firm bid $67,900 a year for three years.

Trustee Callaghan raised concerns about the firm after they were sanctioned by the SEC in connection with an audit of the City of Ramapo. He said, "I am queasy about the reval and I don't want to get in that kind of situation again." Mayor Mark explained that officials of the City of Ramapo engaged in a scheme to defraud their auditors and lied to them.

The remaining board members said that extensive due diligence had been done and that the situation in Ramapo was an isolated one. They all voted yes without reservation, as did the Mayor.

Freightway Site Development: The Board also voted to retain BFJ Planning to provide planning and community engagement services for the Freightway Site redevelopment study. BFJ Planning will study redevelopment at the Freightway Site and engage the community in the decision-making process. Trustee Veron explained that the process is likely to take several years and involve changes in the zoning of the property that is a 2.38 acre site along the Metro North tracks. To select the planning firm, the Village did an RFP for a planning firm with transit experience and received three proposals. A committee reviewed the proposals and determined that BFJ Planning best met the bill, as they have expertise in traffic and parking, urban design and development economics. The proposed fee is $78,000 and the projected time frame for the work is 11 months.

When the voting began, Trustee Callaghan opened by saying he was voting "NO." He objected to using consultants and recommended that informed residents run the project and invite developers to bid on the project. He objected to BJF saying they were the "Tiffany's" of site planners.

As with the vote on the auditors, the rest of the board voted aye, as they believe it is very important to hire site planners to explore the best use for the property. This is the last remaining piece of Village-owned property to be developed and it will ultimately be a revenue-producer for the Village. The Board and Mayor felt the consultants would bring a level of expertise to the project that citizens cannot match. It will be a big, expensive project which the Mayor said will need a "well thought out plan with community input."

As part of the process a Freightway Site Steering Committee was appointed to look into creating a vibrant site to enhance the Village Center. In concert with hiring the Planning Consultants, the Village Board passed a resolution to develop the Freightway Steering Committee to develop goals and objectives for the site Appointed to the committee were: Justin Arest, Farley Baker, Jim Blum, Kirsten Friedman, Heather Harrison, Barbara Jaffe, Matthew Martin and Andrew McMurray.

Communications Antenna: The Board then passed a licensing agreement with Crown Communications to place a VHS radio antenna on the cell tower at 395 Mamaroneck Road adjacent to the entrance to the Hutchinson River Parkway. This will improve emergency communications in the eastern part of Scarsdale.

Sanitary Sewers: The Board also voted to retain engineers to complete a Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Study analyzing inflow infiltration into the sewer system. Scarsdale is already in excess of their flow allowances. The Village needs to find the locations where excess flows of groundwater are going into the sewer system. H2M Engineers and Architects of White Plains were retained at a cost of $738,000. Village Manager Pappalardo explained that sanitary sewer rent fees would be used to fund this work. The Mamaroneck Valley Area that will be studied represents 40% of the sewer system in Scarsdale. The Village will later have to do a similar study the Bronx Valley Area. Ultimately the Village will have to undertake repairs that are projected to cost millions of dollars.

Village Center: Nearing the end of the meeting, Trustee Jane Veron offered the final update on efforts to revitalize the Village Center: Here are her comments:

"As you know I have been performing the liaison function between the Village Board, Village staff, and representatives of the Village Center community. We have made great progress in our plans to bring vitality back to the Village Center. Since the summer, we have been working in earnest, holding monthly strategy meetings with landlords, prominent merchants, and Village staff. I have also met personally with landlords and leasing agents and have been repeatedly assured that they will make fair deals, offering reasonable rent and incentives, to attract the right tenants to our Village. I am also meeting with Village staff and police enforcement to review data and devise plans to address merchant parking. In addition, the Village board has directed the staff to pilot mobile parking apps on a test basis. The Village staff, landlords, and I have participated in conversations and reviewed proposals from retail specialists. I regularly attend the Scarsdale Forum's downtown revitalization meetings and serve as a connector and information source for the committee. At present, we are working together to develop a public art and events plan to create more vibrancy in the Village Center. The Village board anticipates staffing up the Scarsdale Arts Council to assist in that effort. At the same time, we are looking forward to kicking off the Freightway project as foot traffic is an essential ingredient for a vibrant Village Center."

"As you are aware, in 2014 The Acceleration Project (TAP), the local nonprofit that I run, conducted extensive quantitative and qualitative market research and produced the Shop the 'Dale/Dine the 'Dale awareness campaign. TAP continues to work on a pro bono basis to validate the findings and to track evolving consumer needs. We have just completed consumer focus groups and will share the results with landlords, leasing agents, and prospective tenants. We have also monitored the trends, studied other markets, and emphasized the importance of eateries, value-added service, and experience. We are convening the Village merchant community on Monday, April 3, to share the results of our efforts with updates from TAP, leasing agents, Village staff, and the Forum arts and events group. I am energized by the positive spirit of collaboration and look forward to moving ahead with plans to revitalize the Village Center."

Village Budget: A public hearing on the Village Budget for 2017-18 will be held on Wednesday April 12 at 8 pm. The proposed budget is now available for review on the Village website here.