Updated February 2, 2012 Councilman Michael Schiliro asked the Town Board to table several appointments for an opportunity to discuss volunteer appointments to several advisory boards in a town board's executive session. This became a contention among Councilmen Michael Schiliro, Diane Roth and John Cronin at the January 25, 2012 North Castle's Town Board Meeting.
Schiliro explained that residents are solicited and asked to submit resumes for all volunteer positions; the Town Board then may meet with prospective candidates during an executive session. After the meeting, the Town Board determines if there is concession among its members on volunteer appointments. Schiliro expressed his concerns with resignations and immediate appointments of volunteers. He said it is important that board members solicit the opinion of the committee members, especially the chairs, when there are committee vacancies. In some instances, this did not occur.
A motion was made by Schiliro and seconded by Councilman Steve D'Angelo to table the Planning Board’s appointment of Art Adelman. Mr. Adelman had previously served on the Planning Board for several years. The motion was denied by a 3-to-2 vote, as Arden, Roth and Cronin voted against the motion.
Newly appointed Planning Board Chairman Bob Greene said, "We have had one meeting on Monday night with four (of five) people. I'd appreciate it if any member doesn't stand on ceremony, whether there was a detail missed here or not. I need a full board going forward-- we have a heavy workload."
"As chair of a different committee," said Sue Shimer, Chairwoman of the Landmark Preservation Committee, "the Planning Board is quite different than other boards in our town. We are looking for someone who knows the town, someone that can jump in with knowledge." She pointed out that other committee members who served on committees such as the Landmark Preservation Committee might understand landmarks, but can learn the history of the town that applies to landmarks.
Adelman was reappointed unanimously, not by a 3-to-2 vote, as orignially appointed. Sorry for any inconvenience that this might have caused.
"Being new on the board, I may not be as familiar with people as other board members. There are a number of people being appointed to boards that I don't know. In good conscience, I can't vote for somebody I haven't met or haven’t seen their resumes. In certain cases I will vote no because I have not met these people. It is no indication of their qualifications," said D'Angelo.
Adelman will replace Beata Tatka; Ms. Tatka, who had served on the Architectural Review Board (ARB) prior to her position on the Planning Board, was appointed as Chairperson of the ARB at last night's meeting.
The ARB has been understaffed; even so, there was a request from Schiliro to table appointments for further discussions among the ARB and the Town Board.
"With this procrastination, we (the prior Town Board) have left the ARB as a four- member board; this town board is willing to make decisions," said Roth. A motion was made by Schiliro and seconded by D'Angelo to table the ARB appointments. A similar action had been recommended earlier for the Planning Board appointment, but was defeated with Nay votes from Arden, Roth and Cronin. Frank Benish and Angelo Monaco were appointed to the ARB by a 3-to-2 vote.
Schiliro also asked that the appointment to the Zoning Board be tabled because it had not been discussed in executive session. "When we have personnel situations, there is a process to review them before they are put on the agenda so that we all agree on it. This is no reflection on the individual, just asking for the consideration."
Arden responded, "This appointment had been on last’s Town Board meeting agenda and we did not have time to get to it."
“If you don't want to grant it, that's fine," said Schiliro.
"These are important boards and I understand we want to put someone on quickly because we have to fill a spot," said D'Angelo. "Putting candidates on the agenda for two days doesn't give the proper attention that the process deserves."
"Don't suggest for one minute that there is some elevated process to do this. Since I've been on this board for two years, it has been a different process every single time. Sometimes we get (applicants) as a red dot (on the agenda) minutes before the meeting starts or we would get an application on the Friday before the meeting," said Cronin.
A motion was made by Schiliro and seconded by D’Anglelo to table the Zoning Board of Appeals’ appointment, but defeated by "Nay" votes from Arden, Roth and Cronin. John Stipo was appointed to the Zoning Board by a 3-to-2 vote.
"Out of respect for people that serve on the committees that were appointed by previous boards, we should consider replacement appointments as a board in executive session, unilaterally, not individually," said Schiliro. He asked that the appointments to the Housing Board be tabled since one of the appointments being considered was an owner of one of the town's middle income units; as a result, it could present a conflict of interest.
Arden asked Town Attorney Roland Baroni to review the confidentiality of the housing application documents and to make a recommendation if there was a conflict of interest. "I'd be happy to render an informal opinion, but I can't do it off the top of my head because I don't know what is in the package,” said Baroni.
Roth said the input of a resident of a middle-income unit could be very helpful. She added that confidentiality would be the same for anybody serving on the board. Cronin agreed with Roth’s comments.
Everyone agreed to table the housing board appointments so they could discuss the appointments in the next executive session, after hearing Baroni's opinion. Schiliro said it shouldn't be done on the floor before they have an opportunity to discuss it in an executive session. "We shouldn’t have names on the agenda, in case they don’t get approved.”
Roth said, "We were just up in an executive session. If you had any questions, you should have said it then, upstairs with us in the past hour, and not have done it on the floor: You are the one that threw it on the floor, not us."
Town Board Offers Westwood a $475,000 Settlement
The North Castle Town Board approved of a settlement to be offered to Westwood Organic Recycling. Special counsel Richard O'Rourke of the White Plains law firm, Keane & Beane presented the conditions of the settlement. A thorough analysis of the cost of Westwood's performance of its work done so far at the highway yard in downtown Armonk led to a settlement offer of $475,000. O'Rourke says that after serious discussion the town's insurance carrier will defray $150,000 of this expense.
O'Rourke believes this offer will be acceptable to Westwood. And with the exception of Councilman Diane Roth, who recused herself due to the similar nature of her family's business to Westwood's, the Town Board unanimously approved the settlement offer. O'Rourke says the members of the committee who were appointed by the Town Board to study the issue are also in favor of the settlement.
With full attorney fees not yet in, Supervisor Weaver estimates that the total cost to the taxpayers will be less than $400,000. He says the way to cover the cost will be to either use the fund balance or a bond anticipation note (BAN). Weaver says if the fund balance were stronger that might have been a better option, but with current BAN interest rate of less than 1% over a five year note, he is leaning toward the BAN option. And if the fund balance becomes stronger, the BAN balance could be paid off early without penalty.
Weaver says that the highway department will take advantage of the yard work done by Westwood, which includes a new access road off of Route 128 and other site improvements.
Watch O'Rourke's presentation here
Town Board Stops Work at the Recycling Yard
March 15, 2010
The Town Board recently appointed a group of residents to study the organic recycling yard on the property behind Town Hall, where the Highway Department has been operating for sixty years. The recycling yard has become controversial because of excavation and reconfiguration of the site during the past five months. After the new committee reviewed the ten-year contract between the Town and Westwood Organic Recycling to operate the yard as a private facility, Bob Greene, co-chair of the committee, submitted a recommendation to the Town Board for a modified stop work order at the organic yard. The order includes stopping all trucks from bringing material into the site and halting all processing of materials, including the grinding of trees, stumps and other organic waste. The stop order does not include finishing the reconfiguring of the driveway entry to the property from Route 128. Highway department trucks are an exception. They will still be able to enter and leave the facility. Westwood will also be permitted to remove the 3,000 cubic yards of organic material now located on the property. Greene said until the new entrance is open, it doesn't make sense to continue operations.
With a role call vote, all the Board members except Councilman Becky Kittredge approved the committee's recommendation of a modified work order. Kittredge said that an alternative entry route off Bedford Road from the other side of Town Hall was a viable temporary solution to the problem of how to divert truck traffic from the nearby nursery school.
Years ago, the New York State Department of Environmental Protection (NYSDEP) issued a permit for a curb cut to enter the yard from Route 128. The change in the ingress and egress is intended to divert truck traffic from Bedford Road and the nearby Armonk Nursery School.
Westwood's owner, Jamie Scoli, says the facility is 95% complete. What remains is finishing the driveway and office-trailer which will take only three weeks to complete.The contract between Westwood and North Castle clearly states that the town is financially responsible for the finishing the driveway entry. There has been no estimate of the cost to lay asphalt, its supportive understructure and guardrails. But Supervisor Bill Weaver says, "There are funds available from the Highway Department budget if some shuffling is done." And Highway Department work repaving other local roads can be transferred. Scoli says Westwood will donate much of the landscaping to screen the view from Main Street.
The initial contract with Westwood was for a recycling facility to be located at a site off Middle Patent Road. But because of its residential location and the narrow winding road, an alternative location was written into the new contract and the facility was moved to behind Town Hall.
The town owns three areas in North Castle that have long been used for dumping organic materials: the Middle Patent Road site, the old ski tow area in North White Plains, and the highway department yard behind Town Hall. Terry Liebeck, a representative from NYSDEP, recently visited all three town-owned sites. According to Supervisor Weaver, everything was in full compliance with state law, with no violations of any kind reported. Liebeck recommended that when the town uses stockpiled mounds of dirt, the ground be leveled afterward. She also told us that no special permits are required to run an organic waste facility, and suggested that the bags of leaves collected and dumped North White Plains should be broken up to expedite decomposing.
In exchange for excavating the yard, Westwood will provide 500 cubic yards of mulch yearly to beautify the town, and mulch and topsoil will be available to residents at no charge. As part of its contract with the Town, Westwood can charge a fee to landscapers who drop off trees, leaves and other backyard waste. Residents, as well as the Town, will be able to dispose of yard waste at no charge.
A recent noticeable increase of truck traffic in the area includes trucks of the Lewis Tree Company. Over the past several years, the Lewis Tree Company has been working with Con Edison to assist the Town in trimming trees to reduce the power outages caused by fallen trees. In exchange for the Lewis Tree Company's work, North Castle has permitted the company to park its trucks at Middle Patent Road, and more recently, at the Highway Yard behind Town Hall. Were it not for this tree-trimming, we might have been in much worse shape after the most recent storm. But Westchester County has terminated the Con Edison's tree-trimming project because of home owners' complaints of tree removal on private property.
The clean-up from the recent storm is the sole responsibility of the Town and has nothing to do with the Lewis Tree Company. (Now that Con Edison is no longer working on tree-trimming, Lewis' agreement with North Castle should be reviewed.) An alternative area for stockpiling downed trees and other debris from the recent storm has yet to be determined.
Jamie Scoli estimates that Westwood Organic has invested $750,000 in time and labor excavating the yard. The project doesn't have a written plan, and Scoli says a plan was to be submitted as-built. Over the next three to four weeks environmental and safety questions will be addressed. They should have been addressed before the Town entered into its contract, but the Town had not seen a need to submit a plan to itself.
The most important issue brought up by the new review committee is the necessity of a structural engineer to review the safety of new driveway into the yard. Other concerns and questions include grading, retaining walls, storm water retention and drainage, as well as the need for a traffic study. Environmental concerns include potential pesticide runoff from grass clippings, and mitigation and wetland reports. In addition, questions about noise abatement and about the emissions of strong odors from turning compost, so near downtown, will have to be reviewed.
A structural engineer will also report on the yard facility. Legal issues were only discussed briefly, because legal fees are $190/hour, according to Town Attorney Roland Baroni. Hopefully litigation can be avoided as the committee works with Westwood to review the facts and discuss concerns in order to arrive at a reasonable solution.
Scoli says Westwood has done more than its fair share in fulfilling its contractual obligations to the community, and that is in full compliance with the agreement to operate the facility. He also says Westwood has invested too much not to finish the refurbishing of the yard, and that the stop order is unfair and illegal. He hopes the excavation and reconfiguration can resume soon.
Notice of Claim page 2
North Castle's Budget and Finance Task Force
North Castle Budget and Finance Advisory Task Force is a group of business professionals and residents chosen by the Town Board. They have spent hundreds of hours analyzing North Castle's finances. On Monday evening, September 27, several members discussed North Castle's financial future for two hours. They reviewed the the town's past budgets and future issues. Task Force Chairman (and North Castle resident since 1996) Bill Potvin is a retired management consultant and former chief executive officer. Potvin says the goal of the Task Force is to provide independent and objective financial advice to the Town Board.
The Task Force spokesman Monday night, Alex Greene, a town resident for 16 years and a member of the Fire Department, is in the corporate finance business as a restructuring expert. He says we must pay heed to the town's liabilities and give a lot of thought to spending money more efficiently in the future, given the severity of the economic climate. Operating Structure
Greene discussed the town's medical and retirement benefits paid to employees and spouses since 2007 with the expected benefits to be paid over time amounting to $87M by 2040. These benefits for the town's 140 active employees and 67 retired employees have accumulated over the years. How will they be funded? Benefits paid to local employees need to be modified in future labor negotiations.
Improvements in Infrastructure
The town's infrastructure is in need of improvement. The roads and the town's buildings are in need of repair. The committee recommends borrowing $15M of money over the next five years for infrastructure improvement. The cost of the financing would be $1.8M paid in principal and interest per year. Capital improvements require money. The Task Force suggests an investment in infrastructure. Over the last several years there really haven't been any improvements because the town has worked to keep the budget as tight as possible. To rebuild roads and buildings, the committee recommends responsible borrowing.
Revenue in the Next Five Years
The town has committed to rebuild its financial reserves in order to satisfy the rating agencies. The reserves had gone down over the past years. An objective to be met over the next five years is to maintain a 15% reserve in the town's budget.
Task Force member Larry Ruisi, a former CEO and CFO, says all of our homes and and commercial businesses have decreased in value recently. Residents and commercial businesses have asked the town for reductions in their assessed value, as have companies. There is no large development anticipated during the next five years, which leads to the assumption of a 1% reduction in assessed value during the next five years.
Ruisi says annual payments in lieu of town taxes come from contactual obligations by three major corporations in our town, IBM, Swiss Re and Car Quest. This accounts for approximately 13% of our revenues in 2010. Sales tax are allocated from collections across Westchester County. Mortgage taxes are anticipated to grow only modestly over the next several years, as is departmental income such as fees from the recreation programs.
Salaries and benefits are 72% of the town's expenditures. Contractual obligations for town services such as trash collection is $1.1 to $1.2 M. The Town Attorney, engineers and third-party consultants are necessary expenses, as are the minimal costs for supplies, utilities, and principal and interest. 2010 budget expenses are now $23M and are predicted rise to $32M over the next 5 years. A revenue increase of $5.5M to $6M is anticipated. A replenishment of the General Fund balance will bring property taxes to $24M. Altogether, there may be a 29% increase in expenses, 20% increase in revenue and a 37% increase in real property taxes.
Efficient Town Services
The Task Force reviewed the Town's initiatives, including job reclassifications, removing managerial heads, department consolidation, restricting labor contracts, early retirement incentives, shared services, selective outsourcing and replenishing reserves. Each town department will be scrutinized to determine what makes the most sense going forward. Outsourcing services will be considered, keeping in mind the complexity of labor contracts. Sharing services, equipment and manpower with other communities may have advantages. Volunteer services may be considered to avoid staffing at peak levels all the time. Peak time should be seasonal, such as plowing in the winter, parks and recreation in the spring, and leaf collecting in the fall.
The point the Task Force members couldn't stress strongly enough is that "if" the town's financial outlook continues on its current path, North Castle will have an unacceptable 44% increase in taxes over the next five years. The 2011 budget process has just begun, and the Task Force is determined to avoid this outcome. "This is what will happen if we do nothing," says Ruisi, "but we have no intention of doing nothing, and it would be "irresponsible to say that town the Town's taxes will increase 44% over the next five years."
Over the next few months many pieces of the budget will come together. The Task Force intends to monitor and verify the results and hold everyone accountable. There is no quick fix and the Task Force encourages everyone in the town to work together. We may need new approaches, but as Greene says, "You've got to break eggs to make an omelet."
Click to view the Task Force's 9/27/10 presented slides.
A New Town Government
January 4, 2012 This is the first week of the new term of North Castle's recently elected town officials. Town Justice Robert McGoey administered the oath of office to the officials during a ceremony at Town Hall on January 3. There was a sense of pride among family, friends and residents as each official took an oath "to protect and to defend the constitution of the United States and the State of New York."
With their left hand on a Bible and their right hand in the air, they solemnly swore that they will well and truly discharge the duties of their office for the town of North Castle.
Howard Arden was sworn in as the 53rd supervisor since the incorporation of North Castle in 1736. He thanked his predecessor, Supervisor Bill Weaver, and Town Councilman Becky Kittredge for their accomplishments and dedication to public service over the decades. "Thank you Bill for all your information during a smooth transition. I greatly appreciate it. I'm looking forward to working with the new board as a team, with varied strengths to benefit the town, with many accomplishments during the New Year."
Councilman Michael Schiliro took an oath for a second term. Schiliro said, "Thank you for putting your trust in me. It is a true honor and privilege to put my name before fellow townspeople who have chosen me to make decisions on the behalf of the town. You have put your trust in my judgement to make the right decisions and I take that responsibility seriously. I congratulate Howard and Steve [D'Angelo] for joining the Town Board and look forward to working with them."
Councilman Steve D'Angelo was sworn in for his first term. He said, "Our work is about to begin," he said.
Elyse Lazansky took an oath to serve as Town Judge for a third term.
Town Clerk Anne Curran was sworn in for her first full term as town clerk. In prior years, Curran was appointed to complete a one-year term following her predecessor, Ann Leber. Curran was then elected in 2009 to complete Leber's full-four year term. In her eight years serving in the Town Clerk's office as Town Clerk and Deputy Town Clerk, she has served under four supervisors: John Lombardi 1962-2005, Reese Berman 2006-2009, William Weaver 2010 - 2011 and now Howard Arden in 2012.
Congresswoman Nita Lowey attended and said, "I look forward to dealing with some of the real challenges that our constituents are facing. Many people are doing well and others are suffering. Our focus has to be on how we keep the town functioning and to create new jobs; how we need to work for the private and public sector together to preserve the quality of life; how to make sure our schools are as good as they can be; and that our police, fire fighters and EMT are doing everything to protect our community. I look forward to working together to make sure our community remains a great place to live and work."
Is It Time for a Town Administrator in North Castle? By Alison Simon
Updated Dec. 22, 2011 Will newly elected North Castle Town Supervisor Howard Arden follow through on his foremost campaign pledge to hire a professional town administrator upon taking office in January? In his campaign for supervisor, Arden pledged that “Hiring a professional Town Administrator will be one of my first priorities upon taking office.” The hiring of a town administrator was a dominant issue in this year’s race for supervisor, and a critical issue in town discussions since it was first proposed by the town's Administrator Review Task Force in 2009.
Supervisor-Elect Arden was unavailable to answer questions as to how and when he will hire a town administrator and what criteria he will look for in candidates for the position. Arden was also unable to comment on exactly what role the town administrator would play.
The Town of North Castle Budget and Finance Advisory Task Force (ATF) issued its Recommendations Regarding the Position of Town Administrator on September 30, 2011. Those recommendations held that the role of the town administrator be modeled as a private sector-style chief financial officer, and that the town administrator take on the task of performing “many of the more complex, in-depth financial analyses presently needed to assist the Town Board in its decision making.” The responsibilities of the position would include “projects that overlap departments or are town-wide in nature including, but not limited to, managing the preparation of the annual budget, creating and maintaining a capital budget, finalizing the Department of Public Works project or negotiation of leases such as Verizon's parking lot for additional parking on Kent Place.” The report sees "this position as supplemental and not as a substitute for the responsibilities of the Supervisor and Town Board.”
During this year’s campaign for supervisor, both candidates supported the ATF’s revised role of town administrator. Incumbent William Weaver had rejected the idea of hiring a town administrator in the manner in which it was originally presented in 2009 and, despite unanimous approval by the advisory board of that recommendation, Weaver did not incorporate a town administrator into the leadership of North Castle. During his campaign, Supervisor-Elect Arden stated that hiring a town administrator to run North Castle's day-to-day affairs is one of his most important issues and suggested taking money from the salaries of the town supervisor and the town board in order to help pay for the position. Arden suggested that the town administrator's position can be revenue-neutral. The 2012 North Castle Budget does not reflect a cut in the supervisor’s salary despite Arden’s campaign pledges to decline over 50% of the supervisor’s salary.
The ATF recommends a salary of $185,000 to $200,000 for the town administrator and suggests that “the position should be hired by the Town Board, report to the Supervisor and have a term of three years” and that the position be reevaluated after that period of time. The cost of the town administrator may be offset, according to the ATF, by a reduction in the salaries of the supervisor and members of the town board. The ATF holds that “the creation of this position will enable the Town to operate in a more effective, timely and efficient manner and significant savings will result” suggesting that a detailed analysis and review of current town contractual obligations “could possibly result in a savings of at least 2%”. Meaning, for $5 million of the town’s outstanding contractual obligations, a 2% savings could amount to $100,000 in savings for the Town of North Castle.
December 1, 2011 Jamie Norris has worked for North Castle's Highway Department for 22 years. Norris is the son-in-law to Jack Lombardi, North Castle’s former Supervisor, who served the town for 44 years. At the November 30, 2011 Town Board meeting, Norris was appointed as General Highway Foreman of North Castle Highway Department, effective December 1, 2011.
Craig Useted, former Highway Department Foreman and town employee for 35 years, retired 10 months ago. Since then, Norris has been running the Highway Department. He was managing the department with Rich Fon, who has also resigned as Superintendent of North Castle's Department of Public Works (DPW).
Supervisor Bill Weaver, who is approaching the end of his two-year term, said the Town Board will soon be reviewing job applications for Fon's replacement. "With winter time here, and no DPW head to coordinate the personnel for snow removal between the highway and recreation departments, I recommend appointing Jamie Norris to the position of General Highway Foreman," said Weaver.
The Town Board's approval of Norris passed with a 3-2 vote. Supervisor Weaver and Councilmen Mike Schiliro and Becky Kittredge voted for the appointment, while Councilmen Diane Roth and John Cronin voted against it. Roth and Cronin had asked for the appointment to be deferred until the beginning of Howard Arden’s term as the newly elected Supervisor in early 2012. Roth said there will be a lot of changes in the titling of town employees from different departments. "Maybe it is a perfect spot for Norris to be, but it should be reviewed. With all the organizational changes we are hoping to make, we need to do some interviews,” added Roth.
Jockeying for Position
Jan. 12, 2011 The difference of opinions stirred strong emotions when North Castle's Town Board talked about volunteers to serve on the Recreation Advisory Board. During an organizational meeting the Town Board held on January 12, Councilman Diane Roth recommended three community members for service on the Recreation Advisory Board.
Roth expressed frustration because she had recommended the applicants at prior board meetings. One of the candidates first sent in her application last March. Roth's motion to present the three names was deferred to the regular meeting portion of the evening. The organizational meeting also authorized over two dozen Town Board policies regarding employee responsibilities.
Town Attorney Roland Baroni said that procedurally, Roth's motion to consider new board members should be made after the organizational meeting, during the regular meeting. But he also said that a Town Board member has the right to bring up matters anytime.
Roth said it is the Town Board's decision to appoint committee members. Even though the specific item of appointing volunteers for the recreation board was not on the agenda, Roth insisted on reading the candidates' biographies and asked the other Town Board members to consider them. But, the Town Board has not yet had the opportunity to speak with the recreation board members whose terms are expiring.
Councilman Michael Schiliro said it would be a common courtesy to speak with board members that have served the town and find out what they think, especially since we're neighbors in a small town. He asked that the issue of volunteers appear on the agenda, with notification and an opportunity to respond to the recreation board members.
The Recreation Advisory Board has seven members, and three of the advisory board members' terms expired on December 31, 2010, including that of Chairwoman Bonnie Tumminelli. Tumminelli is a teacher and parent who has served on the board for 14 years. She asked, out of respect, that she at least she should have received a call that the issue of new volunteers was going to be discussed. Neal Baumann, as the board's vice chairman, expressed concern for the three new potential candidates and said they shouldn't to take the process personally. He questioned Roth about her contact with current board members and pointed out her lack of knowledge of their backgrounds.
Prior to the meeting, Supervisor Bill Weaver and Councilman Becky Kittredge had asked Tumminelli to consider remaining on the advisory board. Chairwoman Tumminelli says that with the retirement of the Superintendent of Recreations and Parks, Bruce Barnard, and his assistant Connie Olsen, she is considering staying on the advisory board to get through the transitional period. Barnard and Olsen have worked for the Parks and Recreation Department for almost 30 years. The department is in transition. As chairwoman of the recreation board, Tumminelli would like to see the hiring a new parks department head. She says the advisory board should have a balance of senior community members and parents who can provide information about what's been done, and she believes the board can be helpful during the transition. The other recreation board members whose terms have expired are Bernadette Valcich and Susan Lichten. Tumminelli said the current board has never been political and that their vision is simply to serve the community. The advisory board has completed a summary of the most recent community recreation survey, which will soon to be made public.
Due Diligence Supervisor Bill Weaver asked the Town Board's members to contact the three recreation committee members to discuss whether any of them care to be reappointed. Weaver said that while they are not obligated to reappoint board members, it is common courtesy to ask volunteers, when their term expires, if they have an interest in being reappointed to serve the advisory board.
Councilman John Cronin is the liaison to the Parks and Recreation Department and said he believes the three advisory board members would like to be reappointed.
Roth said that qualifications are the most important criteria to serve on any advisory board. Her three recommendations to the Recreation Advisory Board are: Liz Moss, an event planner with prior experience at Chelsea Piers in NYC; Vito Errico, one of the founders of the premier sports club Equinox; and ex-professional hockey player, John Tonelli. All have professional experience in the sports industry and would bring a breathe of fresh air to the board and the town's recreation programs and facilities.
Perhaps the Town Board should consider enlarging the recreation board, allowing members who wish to remain on the board to do so, while adding new members. Expanding the advisory board was discussed by the recreation board six months ago.
Because there was no notice of the issue of volunteers on the meeting's agenda, Supervisor Weaver choose not to allow public comment from members of the community about the candidates recommended by Roth.
Weaver estimates that somewhere between 40 and 50 residents' applications have been received by the town since last year's request for applications to serve on various volunteer boards. It might make the process easier if there were specific procedures in place to appoint and reappoint advisory board members. A public forum may not be the most appropriate place to consider each candidate's qualifications. It would be more appropriate to discuss this during the Town Board's executive session.
With the three recreation board members' terms expired, the Town Board has decided to speak with every applicant interested in serving the recreation board before making any decisions.
Main Street Armonk
Posted April 24, 2011 Frederick P. Clark Associates prepared a planning and design study of Armonk's Main Street in May 2001.
The study quotes the National Main Street Center of the National Trust for Historic Preservation which has determined that a Main Street provides the following benefits to a community:
"Main Streets are a symbol of a community's economic health, local quality of life, pride and history. Main Streets provide an important civic forum where members of the community can congregate and hold special events and celebrations.
Main Streets are a good incubator for new small businesses, since larger strip shopping centers and malls are often too expensive for new entrepreneurs. Likewise, the traditional commercial district is and ideal location for independent businesses that keep profits in the community, provide needed local services, support locally owned businesses, support local community groups and projects, and provide stable economic foundations.
Vital Main Street areas reduce sprawl by concentrating mixed-use development in a core that takes advantage of existing infrastructure and community resources. Healthy Main Street areas protect property values in surrounding residential neighborhoods."
Frederick P. Clark's study states the "the Town of North Castle recognized the value and importance of Main Street communities and has commissioned this study to develop coordinated strategies to preserve and enhance one of the Town's most unique resources - Main Street in the Armonk Hamlet. Click to read Armonk Main Street Planning & Design Study dated May 2001.
2011 Town Budget Passes 3 - 2
Dec. 21, 2010 The North Castle Town Board passed a budget for 2011 on December 15 with ayes from Bill Weaver, Michael Schiliro and Becky Kittredge, and nays from Diane Roth and John Cronin. On December 1, the Town Board presented a budget with a tax increase of 2.84% over 2010.
During the last three weeks, some minor changes were made in revenue, Supervisor Bill Weaver said, mostly in expense items which enabled further reductions to just a 1.86% increase in the 2011 town budget. The approved budget is for $29,505,263MM, which is approximately 16% of a North Castle resident's tax bill. The remaining 84% is made up of 67% for school taxes and 17% for county taxes.
A 1.86% tax increase is equivalent to an increased tax rate of $2.74/$1,000. of assessed property value. The average assessed value is $23,950, therefore the average increase in year-to-year town taxes will be $65.62.
Supervisor Weavers says, "We will continue to streamline the budget throughout the year while maintaining the community services of the past at a much reduced cost."
Salaries and benefits remain the largest percentage of expenditures in the budget. Town employee benefits are 20.51% and salaries are 40.24% of the budget.
Councilman Cronin says the 1.86% increase, relative to some of the surrounding communities, looks quite good and especially considering budget increases in the past. But he believes the Town Board could have made better progress in restructuring many of the operations of the town. He also says that while he believes the Budget Finance Committee has moved the board in the right direction, he would like to see further reductions in staffing as the Town Board discussed in a private session.
Councilmen Cronin and Roth expressed disappointment in the progress of the town's staffing review. Supervisor Weaver says a labor compensation manual is being compiled to review the retirement, health care, and sick time of town employees." He expects the gathering of data to be complete by the first quarter.
Roth says since the biggest part of the budget is the work force. She believes true savings will come with the consolidation of management, especially in the Department of Public Works. She believes the task force should review job descriptions to better understand the manpower in the sewer, water, highway and parks departments. She also believes a review will insure the most cost effective ways to have true savings.
Councilman Schiliro sees 2011 as a transitional year. He continues to emphasize the importance of maintaining the fund balance policy at 10 - 15% of the general fund. He credits the 15% - 18% staff reduction for the low percentage in tax increases for 2011. Schiliro says if we continue to reduce the size of government and make it more efficient, doing more with less will be obtainable.
Everyone agrees that following the guidance of the Budget Finance Committee and putting aside $260,000 in this budget for the funding of the town's capital improvements, is a major accomplishment compared to past budgets. Earmarking funds in the next decade for maintaining infrastructure is necessary to improve the town's major roads and repair its buildings.
North Castle's Town Business
New Procedures for the New Town Government
Jan. 17, 2012 During his first Town Board meeting as North Castle's new Supervisor, Howard Arden announced, as he had promised in his campaign, some procedural changes to improve the town's business practices. Arden says that the Town Board is soliciting bids, with a Request for Proposals (RFP), for personnel service contracts for a town attorney, a town prosecutor, an engineer and a labor negotiator. For now, all of the personnel service contracts are on a month to month basis until we have a chance to solicit bids from other service providers. Arden wants to review the data to determine the most cost effective way to operate. The process will tell us if we paying below or above the norm. "It doesn't mean that we are making changes." Arden says they will interview job applicants and might be able to get a better deal with a local resident who knows municipal law, or if the town attorney, Roland Baroni, continues at a more competitive level.
Arden says he is still in the process of developing the job specifications for a Town Administrator.
The Town Board was unanimously in favor of holding public work sessions on Fridays from 10:30a.m. to 12:30p.m. This will allow the Town Board and the residents more time to focus on important issues. "It is fantastic that the entire Town Board is interested in pitching in to do the job," says Arden. The first work session will be held on Friday January 20, 2012, beginning at 10:30a.m. On the agenda is the F.P. Clark Associates report, "A Formula Business," which is a planning & zoning study (LINK) and the proposed zoning changes to the Nursery Business Zoning District requested by Mariani Gardens.
Arden also said that public hearings on important issues will be held on alternate Wednesday nights, when the Town Board does not meet. "The session will focus on the issue, with everyone having a chance to participate."
Arden has also lifted the time limit used by his two predecessors during the public's comment period. "I found the flashing red light in my face disconcerting, and frankly, disrespectful. I ask the public to respect our time. A page and a half of text is almost four minutes if you read a letter. We would like to stay within that time frame, if we can."
Reductions in the 2012 Budget Cut the Increase to 1.59%
Dec. 18, 2011 At its December 14, 2011 meeting, the North Castle Town Board adopted Supervisor Bill Weaver's budget for 2012 of $29,011,765 with a tax increase of 1.59%. Weaver says the increase is equivalent to $2.39 per assessed thousand dollars of a North Castle home. The average home is assessed at $21,500 and therefore the average home owner is looking at about a $51 tax increase, says Weaver.
Larry Ruisi, a member of the Financial Task Force who has worked closely with the Town Board on the 2012 budget, says the town has taken a hard look at all its expenses. He says the budget increase is below $300,000. Further changes were made to the budget that cut the proposed 1.86% tax increase presented two weeks ago at the November 30 Town Board meeting.
There are several significant numbers in the budget. A reduction in salary expenses from having fewer town employees was offset by about a $500,000 cost that comes from a state mandated pension contribution and a nearly 4% health increase in health care costs.
Weaver says there was an increase in sales tax revenue, as well as an increase of $25,000 in the mortgage tax revenue. The two projected increases of sales and mortgage tax revenues allowed an increase of $50,000 to be added to the contingency fund balance, making $275,000 in reserves. This is below the desired 10% of the budget which has been said to be the minimum needed to maintain the Town's bond rating.
The bonds for the $2.5 million that were borrowed to fund the town's infrastructure and road improvements came in at a lower rate of 2.2069%. There will be $47,000 in interest expenses in 2012 instead of the original $97,000 that had been projected with an interest rate of approximately 4%.
The Town has changed insurance carriers, reducing its 2012 insurance premium by $61,000. The new carrier is New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal (NYMIR) which specializes in providing liability insurance to municipalities as a group throughout New York State. Resident John Diaconis, who is an attorney in the insurance industry, says NYMIR is a good company but cautions the Town Board to keep a close eye on future premiums because they can be based upon losses experienced by other municipalities that unfortunately affect all the members of the group.
Another reduction in the budget was in the small claims against the town, which fell by .6%.
Click to view North Castle's 2012 proposed budget: Part 1 & Part 2.
Nov. 1, 2011 Supervisor Bill Weaver presented the Supervisor's tentative 2012 budget with an increase of 1.89% over the 2011 budget of $29,505,263. Over the next two months, the Town Board will review the budget in attempt to streamline it as they have in the past. The initial tentative budget increase last year was 2.84%. During the review period changes were made to bring the approved budget increase down to 1.86%.
Of the taxes that residents of the Byram Hills School District pay, approximately 16.5% goes to the town, 17.5% goes to the county and 66% goes to the school district.
The 2009 Town's expenditure details show that the largest percentage of the 2009 Town's budget was 33.34% for benefits and contractual obligations.
North Castle Ended 2010 in Good Financial Condition
Posted April 20, 2011 The auditing firm of O'Connor Davies Munns & Dobbins offered its unqualified approval of North Castle's financial position as of December 31, 2010.
2010 revenues were $17.426 million and expenditures were $15.984 million. The town underspent its budget by $1,091,000.
A few town budget items were in excess of the 2010 budget. More than $400,000 was collected in delinquent interest and penalties for late tax payments, and $230,000 was collected in excess of budgeted sales taxes.
Uncollected real property taxes of $600,000 were the largest negative variance in 2010. This money will be borrowed from the fund balance. In addition, the amount collected for licenses and permits was $153,000 less than had been budgeted, because there were fewer building permits than anticipated. State aid (which is mainly the mortgage tax) was also $184,000 less than expected.
Underspending in 2010 included $500,000 in general government support, with the largest item being the $200,000 of the contingency budget that went unspent last year. Police department spending also came in $243,000 under budget.
The auditors' annual financial report found the town's finances in good condition and in conformity with generally accepted practices, particularly because of the reserves in the fund balance. The opening fund balance in 2010 was $1.219 million, with a net increase during the year of $1.118 million, leading to a fund balance at the end of the year of $2.338 million.
In 2009 the Town Board adopted a policy to maintain the undesignated fund balance of between 10 and 20 percent of the operating budget. They achieved a level of 13 percent in 2010.
In 2011, 12 percent of the budget has been appropriated toward the fund balance. Bond rating agencies prefer 5 to 20 percent of an operating budget to be set aside in reserves.
North Castle is years ahead of a probable future state requirement that all municipalities establish a fund balance.
In the general fund, real property tax receipts were $11 million out of a total of $17.5 million in revenues.
The largest liability, and a major concern for future budgets, was the $843,000 expenditure that went toward the 77 retired employees' benefits.
Health benefits for the current 122 town employees are costing the town approximately $10,000 per person per year, for an approximate total of $ 2.1 - 2.2 million dollars. In addition, the total expense the town paid to its employee pension plan was $740,000.
The question is how best to plan for long term pension and health care benefits. The union contracts will be reviewed, and Supervisor Bill Weaver says a system of different tiers of employee contributions towards their benefits should be required. Weaver says the town is reducing staff levels as its employees retire, and is trying to determine the optimal number of employees needed to the run the town.
2009 Expenditure Detail. Courtesy of Town of North Castle, Finance Department.
Supervisor: William Weaver Town Councilmen: Becky Kittredge, Michael Schiliro, Diane Roth and John Cronin.
Departure of Six Town Employees
January 2011 The Town of North Castle's hiring freeze has been an issue at the town clerk's office as Amelia Defeo is retiring after 22 years of working there. DeFeo, Senior Office Assistant, has worked full-time in the clerk's office. She agreed to delay her retirement and has worked part-time since April to train a new part-time worker. Town Clerk Anne Curran reports that her staff works a total of 180 hours per week, split among three full-time and two part-time employees. With Defeo retiring, Curran has asked the Town Board to change part-timer Rita Ross into a full-time employee.
The majority of the Town Board voted for this change, but Councilmen Roth and Cronin opposed it, citing the hiring freeze and the need to review employment at all the town's departments before hiring any more full-time staff. Armonk resident Mario Ruggiero also asked the board to follow the rules set forth in the hiring freeze.
Several other departments have experienced personnel changes too. Town Comptroller Dawn Donovan has submitted her resignation after six years with the town. Next week she will begin a new job in the finance department of the Town of Eastchester.
The Supervisor of North Castle's the Recreation and Parks Department, Bruce Barnard, also resigned as of the end of December after working for the town 35 years. Connie Olsen, Senior Office Assistant in the Recreation and Parks Department, will also resign at the end of the year after working for the town 21 years.
Another two long-time employees of the highway department, Tony Sanchez and Doug Ross, have also resigned after accepting retirement incentive plans.
One wonders if the pressure stemming from the recent reviews by the Financial Task Force and the debacle of the recreation department survey contributed to the two department heads' resignations. When asked about the perception of a possible mutiny of town employees, Supervisor Bill Weaver said the resignations are more likely pending changes in benefits.
Click to enlarge Fund Balance Sheet
Click to enlarge North Castle Mortgage Tax Information
North Castle Residents' County Taxes Reduced 0.18%
Posted Feb. 6, 2011 On December 23, 2010, for the first time in 36 years, the Westchester County Executive and the Board of Legislators reduced taxes as it passed a county budget with a 2.2 % decrease in levies, although in North Castle the tax reduction will be much smaller. While is not a perfect budget, Legislator John Nonna, D-Pleasantville, says he voted for it because it struck a balance between cutting taxes and maintaining services.
Approximately 17% of North Castle residents' taxes goes to the county. The county tax rate for residents in the Third Legislative District, Nonna says, varies from town to town as a result of an equalization rate applied by the New York State Office of Real Property Tax Services. Mount Pleasant, Greenburgh and North Castle will have tax decreases, while Harrison will have a county tax increase.
According to the ASSOCIATION OF TOWNS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK TOWN LAW MANUAL
For Town Supervisors and Town Boards § 3-7. Authority. A. Board acts as a body. The town board, as the executive body of the town, acts as a unit and must function as a body (Town Law §§ 60 and 63). An individual board member may not unilaterally act on behalf of the town board. Thus, each town board member has no more or no less authority than any other board member. Therefore, no board member can legally act independently of the others or outside of the board. This means that no single member of the town board can act for or commit the board as a body to any particular program or policy. Source: http://www.cicerodemocrats.org/downloads/lawmanual.pdf
TOWN OF NORTH CASTLE Town Hall • 15 Bedford Road Armonk, New York 10504
Town Board Meeting Cable TV Schedule. Taped Town Board meetings air as follows: Armonk and Banksville - CTV 20: Tuesdays and Fridays at 12:00 noon and Thursdays and Sundays at 8:30 p.m. North White Plains - Channel 78: Fridays at 12:00 noon and Sundays at 9:00 p.m. Quarry Heights - Channel 75: Fridays at 12:00 noon.
Cable customers who have analog cable service only
and are not receiving public, educational and government ("PEG") access
channels can call Cablevision, 1.516.803.2148, option 3, to receive one
free digital converter box. Service will provide one TV access to PEG
channels. Source:Northcastleny.com.
