Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester
Say good-bye to @Town.New-Castle.NY.US – and say hello @MyNewCastle.org!
In an attempt to make our email addresses more user friendly – and be consistent with our town’s web site – we have converted our current email addresses from town.new-castle.ny.us to mynewcastle.org. Feel free to use either email address. All you need to know is the recipients first name initial & last name (i.e. RGreenstein@MyNewCastle.org)
The Conservation Board of New Castle will present “Coexisting with Coyotes In New Castle: An Educational and Practical Workshop” on Wednesday, April 2, from 7-8:30 p.m. at Town Hall in the Assembly Room.
Guest speaker Dr. Daniel Bogan–a coyote behavior expert–will review the best practices regarding suburban coyotes.
Dr. Bogan is a NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s Bureau of Wildlife and Lecturer in Environmental Studies at Sienna College. He holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources and Wildlife Sciences and has conducted extensive studies of the Eastern Coyote in Westchester County.
Goals of the workshop:
• Create a better understanding of the role that coyotes now play in our suburban environment
• Support our community by educating our residents with realistic recommendations to reduce and prevent problems with coyotes in our changing suburban landscape
• Provide an overview of coyote behavior
• Give residents an experiential/hands-on opportunity to “practice” hazing techniques
• Lots of time for Q&A
By Eileen Gallagher
For the first time since 2011, the question of garbage collections in New Castle came up at the town board meeting.
The town’s contract with SaniPro ends on January 1, 2015, and the board is preparing an RFP (request for proposal) for refuse collectors. To that end, the board is requesting costs for both once and twice weekly pickups.
Board member Elise Mottel reiterated her opinion from her days on the board that made the decision to cut the collection days. Increased recycling has resulted in less garbage, she feels. In reaching the decision at the time, both the town and sustainability advisory boards believed that the 33 percent reduction in trucks on the road would save about 9,500 gallons of diesel fuel, as well as save the town $200 thousand in costs. Mottel also pointed out that the “green” award ($194 thousand) received by New Castle for reducing the pickups is only one year into its three year term.
Fellow board member Adam Brodsky has spoken with several residents who bemoan the fact that, despite “the significant amount of money [paid] in taxes,” a quality of life service such as garbage collection was cut in half.
Supervisor Rob Greenstein reminded the board, “If we are going to rule out two day a week pickup, it does not help our negotiating position. We want to get the best possible price for the service.” He pointed out the town was midway through its contract with SaniPro when the change in collection terms was originally made.
Moratorium, or not
Have you been asking yourself what a moratorium is, and how it would affect the town? According to Merriam-Webster, it is “a legally authorized period of delay, or a waiting period set by an authority.” For New Castle, issuing a zoning moratorium would halt all development, and could potentially be struck down. According to Greenstein, the courts have struck down moratoriums that are used solely as a means of putting the brakes on controversial projects.
Also, Greenstein observed that the loudest call for a zoning moratorium seems to be coming from residents opposed to the spa at New Castle project. He went on, “ We must remain open for business and keep moving ahead.” Continuing, Greenstein added, “Some residents prefer hamlets to not grow or change. This is not economically sustainable.” Greenstein believes that our property taxes make our community unaffordable to both empty nesters and young families just starting out, and will ultimately drive down our property values.
Addressing the matter of development at Chappaqua Crossing, Greenstein stated, “if we get this right, the town has a tremendous opportunity to not only help with the Chappaqua Crossing campus and its productive use, but to rejuvenate our existing business hamlets at the same time.”
Legislator’s update
In his address to the town board, Chairman of the Westchester Board of Legislators Mike Kaplowitz touched on the proposed affordable housing at 54 Hunts Place, stressing that the county is committed to the creation of 750 units of affordable housing, but acknowledged that the legislators “do not have the expertise on health and safety matters.” For that, they are relying on the expert opinion of the New York State Board of Variances, who are due to issue their findings as to the eight variances petitioned by Conifer in their April 8 hearing. Kaplowitz assured the town board they are monitoring the situation very closely. “We don’t want to put anyone in potential peril.”
Vision statement
Responding to the supervisor’s request for the board members’ vision and priorities, Jason Chapin relayed his thoughts on the positive aspects of New Castle, concluding, “we must be doing something right if the Clintons, Gov. Cuomo and many others have chosen to live here.” Acknowledging the “daunting challenges” the town is facing, such as high taxes and struggling businesses, Chapin expressed his willingness to pursue limited retail at Chappaqua Crossing and some development at the site of the proposed spa. Chapin went on, “I’m open to exploring the feasibility of moving Town Hall to Chappaqua Crossing if it does not negatively impact our hamlets, if it makes financial sense and if there is public support to do so.”
Observing the current town board, Chapin pointed out that “all five members are dedicated to serving the town to the best of our abilities, but there are significant philosophical, managerial, and financial differences of opinion. That has led to some vigorous debates and is part of the democratic process.” He concluded by encouraging resident involvement as the town’s master plan update continues.
A Westchester-based, free referral service – gamechanger – is running its first annual book drive, collecting new and gently used books, on behalf of the Ossining Children’s Center. The book drive began on March 1 and continues through April 15. gamechanger helps parents find highly qualified tutors, teachers, and coaches.
“In our continuing pursuit to help children feel successful, we are sponsoring a book drive. The importance of reading is repeatedly stressed, but we realize that not every child has easy access to books,” states gamechanger co-founder, Marilyn Rifkin. Reading enhances concentration, world awareness, and brain activity, all of which help to make children more successful as students. Ultimately, this is gamechanger’s objective–to help create a well-rounded, confident and successful child.
Thus far, gamechanger has collected nearly 300 books for the children at the Ossining Children’s Center, and is hoping to collect at least 500 books by the end of the book drive. “With the support of the Westchester community, we know we will achieve this goal,” notes co-founder Deborah Notis.
For a list of up to date drop off locations, visit www.gamechangernow.com
by Eileen Gallagher
Tuesday, March 18, in Chappaqua had all the energy of the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Manhattan the day before–with a great deal of information conveyed to anyone attending or watching online.
For starters, during the annual “Conversation with the Supervisor” hosted by the League of Women Voters at the Chappaqua Library, about 35 audience members listened as Town Supervisor Rob Greenstein touched on various topics including the Master Plan process and proposed Chappaqua Station restaurant.
Via Vanti Discussion
Throughout the week, Carla Gambescia’s name has been highly visible in social and local media outlets. Her idea for the Chappaqua Train Station, which she first proposed to the town board in February of 2013, would have been a smaller version of Via Vanti in Mount Kisco. Controversy seemed to rest on the bathrooms and their availability to the public.
Greenstein was asked about this matter by an audience member on Tuesday, prefaced by his explanation that there had been a disagreement over the terms of the lease with Gambescia, and that a deal was never reached. He went on to explain that when incoming and outgoing board members met, they all agreed the bathrooms must remain open to the public, a term that was not negotiable. According to Greenstein, this was clear from the beginning, and even more important than the rent.
“Why wasn’t [the bathroom availability] brought back to Via Vanti to say, hey, it’s mandatory?” continued the questioner.
“It was made crystal clear about the bathrooms, there was a breakdown in negotiations and no communication for three or four weeks,” responded Greenstein. “It is all documented in emails.”
During the previous year’s “Conversation” event, then-supervisor Susan Carpenter made the following statemen which also incorporated this stipulation:
“We’re hoping, or at least the town board is at least considering leasing the train station for some public use, with the condition, of course, that the coffee service will be maintained for the commuters in the morning and that the bathrooms will remain open to the public so that people using the train can always go in and use the bathrooms if they need to.”
After former Town Administrator Penny Paderewski stated in her Administrator’s report on October 22 that “the Chappaqua Train Station floor renovation is completed, and we are days from signing a lease with Via Vanti,” nothing further was noted in board minutes for the remainder of the year.
Master Plan
The current New Castle Master plan was written in 1984, and has not been updated since 1989, offered Greenstein. Work groups formed are brainstorming issues and questions for public outreach, he explained. The process is being guided for the next 12 weeks by Tiffany Zezula and John Nolon of the Pace Land Use Law Center, and is expected to last about 18 months.
Nolon praised the town board for having an open, public approach to the process. “You are legallly obliged to have one public hearing before turning it over to the town board, then the town board has one public hearing before you adopt the plan. [Including the public throughout the process] is something you are doing in your wisdom.” He went on to say that “there is a tremendous amount of wisdom handed to the town board from the community.”
Meetings will be held in different parts of town to best reach all members of the community, and will include small group discussions facilitated by Pace to discern the concerns, values and “pie in the sky” visions of each resident. As Zezula put it, the town should “strongly value that ‘pie in the sky’ because that means something to people.”
A Ladle of Chappaqua Love?
The same day, Leslie Lampert introduced her proposal for a “hybrid” of Ladle of Love and Cafe of Love for the Chappaqua Train Station.
Lampert arrived with her “posse” and shopping bags brimming with three kinds of soup and bread for sampling. Her presentation included a slideshow playing in the background as she described her 24 years as a resident of Chappaqua and railroad commuter, sitting around the dinner table every evening asking her children “what’s Chappening?” Understanding the hectic lives faced by many families, Lampert’s theme for the restaurant would be “we’ve got you coming and going.”
Community and relationships were the key words Lampert and her team used as they spoke of nourishing and participating in many community efforts. Jennifer Mendes, manager of Ladle of Love in Mount Kisco, referred to their many regular customers as friends. Kitchen manager Mike Donnelly, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute, spoke of their “good, honest food,” all locally provided. Mendes went on to say of Lampert, “Leslie being great to her employees has enabled them to be great to their customers.”
Lampert envisions a “gathering for the community in a casual way” where people could get food quickly, or just sit and linger. Soups and everything available at Ladle of Love, as well as some menu items from Cafe of Love (also in Mount Kisco), would be available in Chappaqua or, as she proposed, “Love at 10514.” Flowers, wine, and vegetables from farms such as Hilltop Hanover would be available to buy as a “quick grab getting off the train,” as well as seasonal ice cream and hot chocolate. The restaurant would open at 5 a.m. and remain open throughout the day until at least 8 p.m. According to Lampert, other than minor adjustments, the train station is perfect the way it is, and she would keep it that way.
