At Village Hall: Ad Hoc Committee on the Pool, New Liquor Store and Trustees Remember Bob Steves

Village Trustees continue to work through the summer and took action on the pool, professional service agreements and an application for a female-owned liquor store on Christie Place at their meeting on Tuesday August 8, 2023.

At the opening of the meeting the Mayor and Trustee Gruenberg remembered Former Mayor Bob Steves who passed away on July 30, 2023.

Mayor Arest said, “I want to start my mayor's comments this evening by remembering someone who sat in this seat less than 10 years ago. Mayor Bob Steve's who passed away on July 30, at the age of 77 was a dedicated pillar in the Scarsdale community, recipient of the Scarsdale Bowl and called Scarsdale home for almost 25 years. serving on the Board of Education from 1998 to 2005. Bob spent one year as President. He would later join the Village Board as a trustee from 2009 to 2013 and as mayor from 2013 to 2015. My personal experience with Bob was working with him on the Library Project Capital Campaign Committee that he co-chaired. His leadership and knowledge of Scarsdale was invaluable. He was also generous with his time we had breakfast soon after I'd been elected to serve on the Village Board. I will never forget his advice as it was grounded in his experiences but it was far from a soliloquy of greatest hits. There was plenty of humility and lessons learned from experiences with mixed results. And that advice has absolutely helped to make me a better public servant. Bob's legacy reminds us of the importance of selfless service and putting the community first. He truly cared for Scarsdale, and he will be remembered for his dedication.”

Dara Gruenberg said, “Bob and I worked together as co-chairs with Betty Pforzheimer on the Scarsdale Library's Capital Campaign to reimagine our library. With dedication and humility, Bob was a shining light, devoting countless time to uplifting our community throughout his decades. of service. His unwavering willingness to contribute was a testament to his resolute spirit. Above all, Bob was a man of profound integrity and the embodiment of generosity. In a quiet unassuming way he impacted lives, leaving an indelible mark on our community. His gentle spirit and his impressive legacy will continue to resonate with all who had the privilege of knowing him. And one piece of trivia that a lot of people don't know is the reason that the Rec Department has their beautiful new home is that when we were talking about closing the library and moving to a temporary space, we couldn't figure out where to go. And Bob was the one who suggested that we renovate Supply Field and move there and hoped the Rec Department would ultimately move there. And so we have that renovated space thanks to him.

Scarsdale Pool

What’s the next step for the renovation of the Scarsdale Pool Complex? Mayor Arest explained, “The board understands the importance of the pool project and the impact it will have on generations of residents. We also know that getting to the finish line will take a village. We will need the input and diverse perspectives of the community as well as continuity. “

He announced the formation of an Ad Hoc Scarsdale Pool Redevelopment Committee. The mission of the committee is stated as follows:

To advise and assist the Board of Trustees in achieving the successful redevelopment of our municipal pool facility in a manner that reflects the needs, desires, and spirit of our diverse community. We are dedicated to creating a safe, accessible, and engaging space that fosters health, connection, and enjoyment for all residents. Through the integration of community involvement, we aim to design a pool that is environmentally sustainable, financially viable, and is a source of pride for our municipality.

The following residents were appointed to the committee:

Larry Medvinsky, Chairperson
Lynn Brooks Avni
Anothny East
Diane Greenwald
Casey Klurfeld
Mark Mathias
Anne Moretti
Aubrey Phillibert
Andrew Sereysky
Carol Silverman
Anita Singhal

The Mayor continued, “Our next steps for this project will be engaging a construction manager, to assist us in ensuring that we are building a new complex that fits within our project constraints and is completed in an efficient manner. In the coming weeks we will also refine the needs of the facility that have already been identified with the help of our expert consultants and move into schematic design.”

Con Edison Gas Lines

Village Manager Rob Cole gave an update on the continuing work on Con Edison’s installation of a gas main and gas service lines in Scarsdale.

He said that the utility continues to make progress along Fox Meadow Road, with two crews working simultaneously near Chesterfield and Kent Road. They skipped a portion of Fox Meadow Road just south of Fenimore Road where they were unable to traverse the Village’s water system and are looking into how to do that work.

Con Edison will continue to work south on Fox Meadow Road until they reach Crane Road where the work will go east on Church Lane. They are on schedule for completion of this phase of the project to Church Lane by the end of 2023.

Simultaneously Con Ed is currently working on Church Lane between Crane Road and Wayside Lane on a residential service main that provides connections for each residential property up and down Church Lane. This is not connected to the larger project along Fox Meadow Road. This work is supposed to be done before the beginning of school this fall.

After the project on Church Lane is complete, similar work is expected to be done on Drake Road.

Community Events:

Cole highlighted the following upcoming events:

The last summer concert of the season featuring the Westchester County band will be held on Thursday, August 10 at 8 pm where they will be playing a medley of rock, classics and marches.

There will be a Party in the Park at Hyatt Park on Friday, August at 11 from 6pm to 8pm.

The Farmers Market, will be open this Sunday from 9am to 1pm and each Sunday during the same hours through November 19.

Senior Program Coordinator

Cole announced that after a long search, the Department of Parks Recreation and Conservation had hired Mehta Silver to be the Senior Programming Coordinator. She is seeking to collaborate with the Scarsdale Public Library, Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Service and the Village Advisory Council on Scarsdale Seniors to produce frequent and helpful programming.

New Liquor Store

An application has been filed for a special use permit for the location of a female-owned liquor store on Christie Place, in the space formerly occupied by Patisserie Salzburg. Amici Dei Vini will sell domestic and international wines and spirits. If approved,the 2,543 square foot space would be renovated from a bakery to accommodate a liquor store. The Trustees scheduled a public hearing on the permit for their meeting on October 10, 2023 at 8 pm.

During public comments, Yaliana Hernandez from Studio Architecture spoke in support of the application. She explained that Amici Del Vini is a liquor store that hopes to go into One Christie Place which is located within the planned unit development 1.4 zone. This specific space that they are hoping to go into is on the ground floor of the building across from DeCiccos and next to Chat and said, “We would like to be able to apply for a special use permit for this liquor store within the zone.”

Master Service Agreements for Architectural and Engineering Services

In order to get access to the highest quality services at the best value for the Village, Village Managers issued an RFP for professional and technical services for architectural and engineering services. Thirty firms submitted proposals and the staff reviewed the proposals and interviewed multiple firms.

After deliberating, the staff recommended four consulting firms to be a part of this master services agreement and proposed to sign two-year service agreements with these firms:

H2M Architects and Engineers, 2700 Westchester Avenue, Suite 415, Purchase, NY 10577for architecture/building design, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP), structural, civil engineering (including stormwater and wastewater conveyance), landscape architecture, and surveying services.

Mott MacDonald, NY Inc. 120 White Plains Road, Suite 140, Tarrytown, NY 10591 for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP), structural, civil engineering (including stormwater and wastewater conveyance), traffic engineering, landscape architecture, and surveying services.

LiRo Architects + Planners, P.C, One State Street Plaza, 28th Floor, New York, NY 10004 for architecture/building design, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP), structural, civil engineering (including stormwater and wastewater conveyance), traffic engineering, landscape architecture, and surveying services.

Peter F. Gaito & Associates, 102 Waller Avenue, White Plains, NY 10605 for architecture/building design services;

The resolution was approved by Village Trustees.