Larchmont to Approve 30% Water Rate Increase

At past board meetings, Larchmont Mayor Josh Mandell announced that the village had an impending water rate increase. That time has come, as the surplus funds have been in dire straits for the last few years (they were brought down by half last year), Mandell said. An increase of approximately 30 percent needs to be approved for the second half of this year, he said, especially after New York City announced a rate increase by approximately 25 percent last week (the village buys its water from NYC).

The village has not increased water rates to cover for New York City's hikes over the last three years, said Trustee Anne McAndrews today. "In order to pay for water, we had to get it out of the money that we had," she said. Those increases have been as high as 11 percent per year, according to Village Treasurer Denis Brucciani.

In addition, the village has ongoing capital improvement needs, which the 30 percent increase will not cover, said Mandell. People can understand a seven percent increase every year, he added, but not a higher increase every three years, so moving forward, the village will have to anticipate higher costs and catch up with regular operating expenses.

The increase will be on the agenda for the next board meeting on July 26. Stay tuned for more information.

To read more about the village's water rates, click here.

Palmer Avenue streetscape

On Tuesday, the board authorized a survey to be made of the extended area of the "Palmer Avenue Streetscape." The project, which intends to improve the sidewalks and add pedestrian lighting on Palmer Avenue, will be funded by a $680,000 grant administered by the NYS Department of Transportation. The funds will cover the area that extends roughly from the Larchmont Metro-North Station to Longford's on Palmer Avenue, which has already been surveyed, according to McAndrews. The village wants to include the stretch along the movie theater and to the end of the business area in the streetscape. The next step will be to get the expenditures for the design work authorized by the DOT.

The board is "strongly leaning" toward having the whole area done at once, which means that they will have to get the extended area "up to the same level of planning that we have the grant area," said McAndrews. The completion deadline is November 2011. McAndrews estimates that construction will begin next spring.

Parking

Village Clerk Eileen Finn and Traffic Committee Co-chair Maria Stanton discussed the possibility of establishing a "universal" parking system for all of the village's parking lots, except the one at the railroad station, to simplify the parking situation. A permit would be issued so that residents could park in those lots day and/or night, depending on which permit/s they buy. Mayor Josh Mandell said that two systems would need to be created, one for residents and one for non-residents.  

A similar system to the one suggested here was implemented on the Palmer Avenue side of the village, which has seven lots, and it worked very well, said Finn. "We spend 20 minutes on the phone with every person that calls about parking," she added. But she receives no complaints about parking on the Palmer Avenue side.

But the board's main concern was what to do with merchants who currently park in the Gilder lot now. "If we don't allow merchants in the Addison Street lot now, why allow them under a rule that's supposed to make things better" asked Trustee Anne McAndrews. "It's difficult to park on Addison now anyway."

The board decided that it was "not the right moment for this discussion" because there were more pressing issues regarding parking in the village. "We need to work on a comprehensive parking system," said Mandell.

The board also discussed the possibility of extending parking hours on Palmer Avenue. "We have to protect our residents and make an environment that's conducive to business," the mayor said.

Finn said she would come to the board with prices for the next round of permits at the next meeting.

New signage

The village is under a federal mandate to replace all street signage by January 2012. This is mainly to ensure that there's visibility and reflectibility at night, said McAndrews. The signs will stay blue, and the preliminary cost estimates range between $7,000 and $8,000. "We expect it to be under $15,000," said McAndrews. "And it's already in the budget for this year."

Larchmont to host WMOA meeting in September

This September 16, it will be the village's turn to host the Westchester Municipal Officials Association meeting at the Larchmont Yacht Club. The board agreed that this would also be an opportunity to honor village employees.

Stay tuned for more information as the date approaches.

Committee on the Arts

Bruce Rose was appointed to the Committee on the Arts on Tuesday. He will be in charge of organizing concerts for the committee.

In a letter to the village, Rose expressed his interest in music (he says he has been playing music since age 8, and he will be performing with the band "Where's Dave" in Flint Park on July 8) and photography (his work has been on view at the Larchmont Public Library).

Currently, Rose is a technology manager at the Bank of Montreal, New York branch, and prior to that he worked in technology at a major financial institution for 20 years, according to his letter. He and his wife Melanie have lived in Larchmont for about 18 years. Melanie is the owner of Beadz on Boston Post Road. His son Dylan is a junior at Mamaroneck High School, and his daugther Chelsea is in 7th grade at Hommocks.