Cell Tower. In a 4-0 vote, with one abstention from Councilwoman Siegel, the Board voted to deny wetland, tree, and stormwater permits for the project, and also to deny Homeland’s request to lease the parcel.
Ms. Siegel explained that while she supported the denials, she had some issues with some of the provisions of the resolutions and felt it could be strengthened with some editing. She noted that after receiving the text by email at 3:43 that afternoon, she emailed Board members within the hour pointing out her concerns and asking that absent a deadline, the vote be delayed.
Comprehensive Plan. The Board created a steering committee to review needed updates to the plan, adopted in 2010. The committee will consist of members of the planning and engineering departments, two members of the Planning Board, and John Tegeder who will be retiring later this month as Director of Planning.
Although the current plan is considered to still be relevant, the committee will review which parts may now be irrelevant and can be deleted, as well as updating sections based on current trends.
In response to questions from Councilwoman Siegel, it was explained that the committee’s meetings would be closed to the public but that the group would likely invite appropriate stakeholders to meetings to discuss specific issues. Mindful of the time it took to prepare the current plan, Ms. Siegel suggested that there be a timeframe for the committee to complete its work. Left open was whether the committee would recommend to the Town Board that at some time in the process, the town hire a consultant to provide input to the committee and also to possibly write the report.
Tree Inventory. Keith Shepart of the Tree Conservation Advisory Commission outlined the responses the group has received to conduct an inventory of the town’s street trees. Based on the Commission’s recommendation, the town attorney will draft an agreement with Bartlett Tree Experts to inventory approximately 200 trees in selected locations for $3,920.
The inventory will give each tree an inventory ID, and note such items as its location, species, condition, etc. Funds for the project will come from the Tree Fund which currently has approximately $114,000. (When trees are cut down as part of a development and there’s no room on the site to replace them with new trees, the developer makes a cash contribution to the Tree Fund.)
Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO). The Board voted to refer out a draft of changes in the TCO law suggested by Councilman Esposito. Whereas the current law gives the Town Board the authority to issue TCOs when most but not everything in a new development has been completed, the proposed amendments would give that authority to the building inspector who could issue a TCO for three months, with three additional extensions. If the project wasn’t completed after one year, the applicant would have to apply to the Town Board for additional extensions. The proposed law also includes fees for the initial TCO and larger fees for each subsequent extension.
Mr. Esposito explained that the fees for a TCO would encourage developers to complete their project sooner and would be more efficient and provide greater accountability, Councilwoman Siegel said she preferred leaving the TCO authority with the Town Board where unfinished projects would have greater public scrutiny
Route 118/Underhill Avenue improvements. (See Town Board May 6, 2025) In a 4-1 vote, with Councilwoman Siegel voting no, the Board authorized the supervisor to sign a letter confirming that a pending $140,000 CREST grant from Senator Harkham would be used for milling and paving associated with the improvement.
In response to Ms. Siegel’s questions about what the grant would cover, Supervisor Lachterman said it would only cover the milling and paving options what were included, but not awarded last May, plus some additional sidewalk work. The new work would not include the two pedestrian crosswalks at the intersection that the Board decided last May not to fund. The supervisor also explained that as part of an earlier agreement with Unicorn Contracting that split the cost of the improvements, Unicorn will receive either 50% or up to $75,000 of the CREST gram=nt.
Ms. Siegel also requested that at the next Board meeting, either the supervisor or town engineer provide the full cost of the project and what it would cost the town minus it’s share of the CREST grant. The town engineer said that the prices in last May’s bid submission were still valid today.
One County, One Read Program. As part of the 250 celebration, Library Director Cech explained the program that involves all Westchester libraries encouraging their patrons to read and discuss the same book: Revolutionary Samuel Adams. For more information, click https://yorktownlibrary.org/one-county-one-read/
SRO program. The Board approved a five year contract with the Yorktown School District to continue the SRO program in the district’s five school through December 31, 2031.
For a video of the meeting, click yorktownny.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=2082