City Council Notes

– By Peter Jovanovich –

Although the April 16 City Council meeting ran for over four hours, and no major decisions were made, it was at times informative, funny and even rowdy.

Flood Update

Assistant City Manager Scott Pickup gave a brief summary of where things stand with the five major flood mitigation projects. The Central Avenue Bridge, Theodore Fremd wall, and Bowman Avenue sluice gate projects are still waiting for approval by multiple agencies of the State and Federal governments.  The Elm Place retaining wall project is furthest along; final approved designs should be ready in May, and Pickup is hoping that the project will go out to bid in June.
“Ultimately,” concluded Pickup, “it’s the upstream solutions for water retention near the airport and SUNY Purchase that are crucial. They carry an expensive price tag, and we need to get these projects into the Federal budget process.”

Can the DEC Be Serious?

Rye received some potentially bad news regarding Harrison’s remediation work around Beaver Swamp Brook. The DEC e-mailed the City on April 8 to say that they were likely to approve the work, disregarding the City’s own engineering reports which show that the project was not done according to plan and increased flooding in Rye.
Further, it appears that “Project Home Run”, the Harrison plan to build new ball fields next to the swamp, may be going ahead. According to Mayor Otis, the DEC is suggesting that all Harrison needs to do is widen the Brook south of Park Avenue in order to proceed with construction. Said Otis, “It’s hard for me to imagine that this will solve the loss of water retention caused by the reclamation project.”
Otis promised to continue pressing the City’s case with the DEC and Harrison. He and Counsel Kevin Plunkett were in conversations with the DEC regional manager April 22. The mayor told the paper, “We have told the DEC that before they issue any approval we want a meeting and the opportunity to sit down with them.”

Construction Noise Amendment Not Adopted

What started as a simple revision to the City Code, to increase the penalties for rock chipping on Saturdays, “morphed” into a new law that would ban all construction on Saturdays. Dozens of contractors, painters and carpenters etc., showed up at the meeting to protest the adoption of the draft law.
Mayor Otis began the hearing by stating: “My view is that the issue of Saturday shouldn’t be part of this law.” Councilman Joe Sack interjected, “We also need to discuss the definition of construction work.” Councilman Andy Ball concurred, noting, “As this law is drafted, an architect couldn’t even go to a client’s house on Saturday.”
A local contractor Andy Bodner read from the definition of construction in the proposed law, which included the phrase: “reviewing plans and other actions taken in preparation of activity.”  He and other contractors questioned how anyone could make a living if they couldn’t even talk to the clients on a Saturday, when both “the Mr. and Mrs. are available.” Regarding the proposed law, Bodner asked: “Who wrote this thing?”
Jonathan Kraut, a local attorney, raised several legal questions about enforcing noise ordinances. “I think your existing statute has constitutional issues.” He noted that it’s questionable whether or not a judge can penalize a contractor by shutting down the worksite. “He can fine or imprison the offender; but the judge can’t issue an injunction.”
Kraut concluded by saying that the draft law might hurt working class people who depend on laboring on Saturdays. Councilman George Pratt objected, saying, “I take offense that you guys think I don’t work for a living just because I wear a suit.” Derisory comments from the audience ensued; Mayor Otis gaveled down the hubbub. He later thanked the contractors for their valuable comments.
The Council agreed to continue the hearing on a new noise ordinance to May 7. After the meeting, Mayor Otis said that he’d like the Council to narrow its focus and return to the real issues of compliance and enforcement.

Golf Commission off Course

Councilman Mack Cunningham explained that the Golf Commission had been asked to revise its bylaws in order to improve transparency its operations. Said Cunningham, “There is the perception that there is no transparency or a real democracy down there to allow a member to be given information that may be pertinent to his or her interests.”
Cunningham said that he was “a little bit troubled” that the Commission’s proposed new bylaws ignore the issues of transparency and democracy. “They want to basically remove a lot of information that a Council would like to see,” said Cunningham. “They don’t even comment that they have to vote on a budget and want to remove the authority of the City Manager to make sure that they abide by their own bylaws.”
Mayor Otis recommended the resolution to approve the new bylaws be tabled and that a delegation from the Council attend a Golf Commission to discuss these issues.