From Edgemont: Next Steps on NextG and a New Assistant Principal
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The installation of cell phone antennas on residential streets in Edgemont could be averted. At a well-attended meeting of the Edgemont Community Council (ECC) on Thursday, January 5th, ECC President Geoff Loftus told the group that Crown Castle, a company that owns, operates and leases cell phone towers, now has an agreement to acquire NextG, who has filed an application to install antennas in Edgemont. Since Crown Castle holds an exclusive license to operate wireless facilities on state property, including right-of-ways on Central Avenue, Dobbs Ferry Road and Saw Mill River Road their purchase of NextG would remove any impediment to NextG's use of the right-of-way and eliminate NextG’s need for a special permit to install antennas in residential neighborhoods.
According to a memo from the ECC, Michelle McNally, an Edgemont resident and member of the Antenna Board of Review, has written to Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner as an individual, urging him to refer NextG's application back to the Review Board. Feiner believes this will happen at or after the Town Board public hearing on January 25th. Feiner has repeatedly stated that he would prefer that the cell phone antennas not be placed on residential streets and hopes that a solution can be found that does not violate federal law. Federal law limits the ability of governments to reject antenna applications for health reasons. The ECC hopes that since NextG, as a part of Crown Castle, should now be able to provide service without installing residential-area antennas, it will not be granted a special permit to do so. Feiner says that the Crown Castle purchase changes the dynamics of the application and feels there is a good possibility that the Town Board will refer the matter back to the Antenna Review Board.
However, in an update on 1/12/12, Loftus sent the following letter to Scarsdale10583 that was read into the record during the Public Comment portion of the Greenburgh Town Board meeting on Wednesday night January 11. According to Loftus, the Town Board is poised not to follow the Town's law and appears ready to allow NextG to install antennas in residential neighborhoods.
To the Greenburgh Town Board: My name is Geoff Loftus, and I'm the president of the Edgemont Community Council.
I'm here to ask the that Town Board refer the ECC's proposed amendment to the Town's antenna law to the Planning Board as soon as possible and ask for an expedited process, so that a public hearing can be held promptly. (The amendment was sent via e-mail to all of you on Monday evening, and I've brought hard-copies tonight.)
Given that the Board has invited NextG representatives to attend next week's work session, and that NextG may file new or modified applications, it is especially urgent that this amendment not be held up for changes that Town departments also might want to make to the law. There's no need to wait on our proposal: the Town can amend the antenna law later if there are other amendments it wishes to add. Additionally, there is no need to wait on Federal input – Federal law is not controlling in this instance. And, if the events of the last several weeks prove anything, it is that residents need immediate notification about applications to install antennas in their neighborhoods. And why would the Board hesitate to give them adequate advance notice? After all, aren't the residents the people the Town Board is supposed to represent and protect?
The ECC's amendment to the antenna law has three important points:
* It moves the notification of residents to the time an application is filed, not when it's completed.
* It increases the geographic area of notification from a 250-foot radius to 500-feet, ensuring that all the residents who are concerned will be notified.
* It invites those notified residents to comment before the Antenna Review Board.
We believe these changes will help the Antenna Review Board do its work -- greater input from the community, earlier in the process has to be beneficial.
I also want to express the ECC's ongoing concern regarding NextG. It is our understanding that you have invited representatives of NextG to next week's work session. If that's correct, shouldn't residents directly affected be invited as well? And . . . is it really fair to hold such a meeting on a Tuesday morning when many residents are at work? And even more important, with the public hearing on NextG's applications still pending, is it even proper to hold a Town Board work session with an applicant at all?
We ask that you give us a timetable for when our proposed amendment will be introduced and acted upon. Please stop utilizing decoys such as Federal law. Please do not meet with the applicant or do not meet with the applicant without involving the residents. Please enforce the town code as written and serve the residents of Greenburgh and not the applicant.
Many Edgemont residents continue to worry about the possibility of NextG cell phone antennas on their residential streets and hope NextG will change course. Ellen Weininger, Educational Outreach Coordinator for Grassroots Environmental Education, and Deborah Kopald, a nationally recognized public health advocate who lives in Orange County and has consulted to governmental officials, nonprofit organizations and concerned Westchester residents on DAS and other wireless transmitters and devices, both expressed their concerns that radiation from cell towers can cause health problems and should not be taken lightly. They feel that these cell transmitter systems pose an even greater health risk than cell phone towers. The public hearing will be held on Wednesday January 25th at 7:30 pm at Town Hall and is open to public comment. It is still important that Edgemont residents attend the hearing and express their concerns to the Town Board.
New Assistant Principal for Edgemont High School:
On the school front, the Edgemont Board of Education will officially hire a new Assistant Principal for the high school at the January 10, 2012 meeting. After a wide search, Doron Markus will join the administrative team at Edgemont. He is the Science Department chair at Hastings High School and a popular teacher with students. Mr. Markus has a BA in Political Science from SUNY Albany, certification in Biology from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, a Masters of Science in Education Administration from the College of New Rochelle, and is working towards his doctorate (Ed.D) in Instructional Leadership at St. John's University. Prior to entering the field of education he owned a vintage clothing store in Toronto, Ontario. During his career as a teacher he taught in Ft. Lauderdale, in Barcelona, Spain at the American School of Barcelona, and at Hastings High School. Also at the January 10th BOE meeting, there will be a review of the new K-5 mathematics program: Math in Focus.
The Edgemont Scholarship Council (ESC) continues to work to help college seniors. The Council’s seeks to ensure that no child is denied a college education because of insufficient finances. Through the generosity of the community and through various fundraising efforts, each year the ESC awards thousands of dollars in need-based scholarship money to eligible Edgemont graduates to further their studies. Save the date for their annual Make-a-Difference event on February 3rd. Invitations will be sent out soon.
Finally the 2012 spring musical, Oklahoma, has been cast and the students are hard at work under the direction of Director Kelley Morse to bring to life the story of two young cowboys who vie with an evil ranch hand and a traveling peddler for the hearts of the women they love In the Oklahoma territory at the turn of the twentieth century. The show will run from March 22 – 25 and information about ticket sales will be available on February 1st on the school's website. Last year's spring musical, Grease, sold out three of the four performances, so order your tickets early.
Edgemont Grapples With Challenging School Budget
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Edgemont's December 13th Board of Education meeting was packed with residents, teachers, parents and students who turned out to learn about next year's school budget and how the NYS tax levy cap will impact the schools. A number of students spoke very passionately and asked that the BOE not cut programs at the schools, especially electives that they were planning to take during their senior year.
Assistant Superintendent Sue Shirken shared some new information that will affect the tax-cap formula, but many variables are still undetermined at this point such as the pension plan and insurance premium increases. The three principals, Dr. Barry Friedman (Junior/Senior High School), Dr. Ed Kennedy (Seely Place) and Ms. Jen Allen ( Greenville) presented recommendations intended to trim costs without harming the quality of an Edgemont education. Everyone is working together to figure out the best way "to do more with less."
Some of the recommendations at the high school level included increasing class sizes especially for electives and the honors/AP courses, eliminating Study Skills for Success class, eliminating some of the English and Social Studies electives, and eliminating the overnight 9th grade camp trip to Frost Valley every winter. The Science Scholars program would start in 10th grade (it currently starts in 9th grade) and there would be a re-structuring in the A-school. Also, certain electives would only be offered every other year. Some residents expressed concerns that the English curriculum would be impacted negatively if electives were cut (i.e. Modern American Literature and Speech). Dr. Friedman explained that there would be a new English 12 class that would replace the cut electives. This new class would combine parts from those electives.
At the elementary schools, the strings consultant appears to be saved much to the relief of the approximately 30 parents that had shown up to support the strings program but the percussion and brass music consultants will most likely be cut. The popular Washington DC (Greenville 5th grade) and Philadelphia (Seely 5th grade) trips are safe for now but 6th grade camp may be gone after this June. The principals also talked of decreasing teacher aides' hours and perhaps decreasing the Physical Education staffing by reorganizing how staff are used at the three schools. But this will not result in any change in the amount of PE that students receive.
Several parents asked about the possibility of a 60% vote override. One parent, whose children have already graduated from the high school, spoke in support of the superior Edgemont education that her children had received while in the schools. She said she encouraged the BOE to try for the override and not cut programs for the students. The BOE has not made any final decision yet and has said that they will consider all possibilities. They also reemphasized that there are no final decisions regarding any cuts in programs at this point. Right now there is a $1.8 million dollar budget gap to fill if the Board elects to stay within the lax levy cap and maintain all existing programs and services. The proposed cuts discussed by the building principals do not add up to a $1.8 million dollar savings so more cuts in various areas (perhaps in sports) will be discussed during upcoming BOE meetings. This month the administration will also have final numbers for the pension plan and insurance premium increases and these two numbers will help with determining the final budget gap, which will hopefully be substantially less than the current projection of $1.8 million.
Superintendent Nancy Taddiken, acknowledge that "this is a stressful time," and spoke about a superintendents group that has been working together to petition Albany for mandate relief, especially in the area of pensions. She will send a letter to the PTA and PTSA to encourage everyone to petition Albany for mandate relief. However, these discussions on state mandate relief will not result in any changes that will affect the 2012-2013 budget cycle. The next two BOE meetings are on Tuesday, January 10th and Tuesday, January 24th (both start at 8:15 pm in the high school's LGI room). Once again, everyone is encouraged to attend the meetings to learn about the upcoming budget and voice their concerns. Once the budget is adopted in April, changes cannot be made, so now is the time to ask questions and express opinions.
Homeowner's Delight
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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We have lived in our 1914 Arts and Crafts style home in Greenacres for over 20 years. And though the house is almost 100 years old, for the most part it has held up very well. Yes, when we moved in we quickly realized that our ancient furnace could only put out enough hot water for one shower. So when we recovered from the shock of the closing costs we put in a separate hot water heater. There have been other bumps along the way – a White Pine tree fell on the house, a leaky kitchen ceiling – but these were things that could be cleared up with a little angst and a few phone calls.
That was then, and now is now – and it appears that our luck has finally run out. The sad story began in October when temperatures dipped and my husband decided to turn on the oil burner. Little did he know that there was sludge in the line, the safety switch was broken and voila, … our oil burner was saturated with oil. First it smoked and then it really burned. Not realizing the seriousness of the situation, we tried to turn it off and headed out to dinner. By the time we got home, we had to call the fire department. Smoke billowed out of the burner and rose from the basement to the third floor. Five trucks arrived, we grabbed our valuables and stood shivering outside, wondering why we had never bothered to change the batteries in our smoke alarms.
Now what? After the smoke cleared we learned that the burner was kaput. The trusty steel box had to go. We thought it might be good to convert to gas, but with a full tank of oil underground, worth $2,400, we were reluctant to waste the oil. After much deliberation and conferring with the insurance company and several contractors, we decided to eat the cost of the oil and move forward with the conversion to gas.
However we didn’t realize that Con Edison could take months to approve the new service. While we huddled next to our electric heaters, days turned into weeks and we waited and waited. And who knew that a freak October snowstorm would intervene and knock out the power. Now we were without heat, without power and without a solution to our problem.
We moved in with gracious friends awaiting the return of the power as the temperature in the house fell to 46 degrees. Strangely, throughout the entire crisis, there was still hot water in our trusty hot water heater – so chilly days of despair could be cured with a warm bath.
Finally, after emails and phone calls, Con Ed gave us the go ahead and a new heating system was installed that warmed a good part of the house. Cleaning crews swarmed the house to scrub away the soot left by the smoky burner, scouring every item we owned, including the walls and the ceilings. The upholstery was steamed and all the rugs in the house was taken out for cleaning. But that wasn’t the end. It turned out that we needed a new hot water system as well – as we had been using the same water that heated the house for cooking and bathing for years without knowing it!
So now, though we do have heat in most of the house, we are still waiting for hot water. The 1,000-gallon oil tank needs to be dug out of the front lawn and we pray the excavators won’t find an oil leak.
Though I liken the situation to the plagues …. Oil, Fire, Cold Showers, Darkness, etc. my aunt would call these “uptown” problems. And she is right. We still do own a beautiful house – and maybe one day all systems will be go. This humbling experience has made me realize how lucky we are to have a home, especially one in Scarsdale. … plus the resources to correct our myriad problems.
Tracing the Roots of Scarsdale's First Black Families
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An exhibit tracing the ancestry of Scarsdale’s first black families that was originally on display at Scarsdale Village Hall has now been moved to the Mount Vernon Public Library, where it will be on view until January 7, 2012. The exhibit is titled, "Early Scarsdale Along Saxon Woods Road" and was compiled by Phyllis C. Murray with contributions from Donna Lockley, Robinette Purdy Allen Robinson and Alfred Surya Peterson.
The display includes documents and photos from the Purdy African-American family that date as far back as 1850 and extend into the next century. Their descendants, friends and family lived along Saxon Woods Road. Included are photos of tombstones in the African-American cemetery in Rye, a display of matriarchs and their properties, and a military chronology from the Civil War to World War II.
The importance of education is highlighted with photos from the early days of the Quaker Ridge School which was always
Mount Vernon Public Library
28 South First Avenue
Mount Vernon, NY 10550
Virginia McClellan Moskowitz Local History Room
Municipal parking across from South Second Avenue entrance.
http://www.mountvernonpubliclibrary.org/First-Avenue-Window
Pictured at top: The Barry Avenue Church organized by Robert Purdy of Scarsdale in 1852. Erected in Mamaroneck, NY circa 1903. Photo from the Larchmont Historical Society.
LWVS News: CNC Election Review, Roundabout Study and Strauss is Honored:
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Procedure Committee Chair Michelle Lichtenberg and Vice Chair David Brodsky will discuss the recent Scarsdale Citizens Nominating Committee and the amendments to the Non-Partisan Resolution at a meeting to be held by the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale on Monday, December 5th at 10:15am at Village Hall. The nonpartisan Citizens Nominating Committee (CNC) selects candidates for the Scarsdale Board of Trustees and Mayor. Members of the community are welcome to attend the presentation Following the presentation, League members will seek consensus on recommendations to the Procedure Committee. Members of the community are welcome to attend the presentation. For more information, contact Sara Werder at (914) 472-6264.
LWV Honors Barbara Strauss: Scarsdale's Barbara Strauss was recently honored for her 50 years of membership in the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale. Ms. Strauss has greatly enjoyed her participation in the League and finds its mission of educating residents and studying issues to be very valuable. Scarsdale League President Marylou Green remarked, “For Barbara to remain involved in the League for 50 years is extraordinary. The League owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to our long-time members.” Ms. Strauss served as the President of the League of Women Voters of Westchester from 1981 to 1983. Her sister Eileen Innes originally recruited her to join the Scarsdale League. For many years, Ms. Strauss’ main focus was the League’s annual review of the budget of the Village of Scarsdale. She is currently a member of the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee, which reviews the Westchester County budget.
Roundabout Statement: In other League news, the Scarsdale League recently issued their consensus statement regarding the construction of a 5-legged roundabout at the Heathcote Five Corners.
In their statement they find that the benefits of a new roundabout outweigh the challenges of the construction, finding that a roundabout would have the following potential benefits:
- Shorter queuing, leading to a reduction of gas emissions
- Improved intersection capacity during all times of the day
- Reduced traffic speed in intersection and approaches
- Improved NYSDOT LOS grade
- Reduction in number and severity of accidents
- Provision for emergency vehicle access
- Improved pedestrian safety by incorporating safer crossings
- Potential increased business for local merchants as a result of increased pedestrian traffic
- Aesthetic improvements
However, they also noted the following concerns:
The proposed 105-foot diameter of the roundabout is 10% smaller than the smallest roundabout studied by Creighton Manning in Phase 1.
- The location of entrance and exit points are challenging due to the proximity of some of the legs. The roundabout must be designed with great care in order to attain the desired safety and traffic improvement benefits.
- The Village must dedicate appropriate resources to provide significant and plentiful public education regarding the traffic rules applicable to driving on the roundabout prior to, during and after its construction.
- Residents and businesses located in this area will be disrupted during construction. The League urges that they be inconvenienced as little as possible during the construction phase.
To read the entire statement, go to: http://www.lwvs.org/consensusstatements.htm
Pictured at top: Scarsdale League of Women Voters President Marylou Green with honoree Barbara Strauss
