Village Perspectives – Tarrytown

Prioritize the importance of current projects either recently completed or ongoing. Choose at least 3 areas where Village government has placed their attention.

1. The Village of Tarrytown Board adopted our Comprehensive Plan on November 19, 2018, after a year-and-a-half-long process. This actually began with the Tarrytown Connected study and report several years ago. We are now ready to proceed to the next steps, which includes implementation of concepts put forth in the plan. This includes some 70 different issues and starts with the draft of the zoning law. This will take several months and will include public hearings, so we encourage residents to stay aware of this as it proceeds through the process. The future of the Tarrytown waterfront remains a priority and will be key in this overall process.
2. The Village is especially pleased that the MTA and Metro-North Railroad were able to work with the Village and other State agencies and have committed to relocating their antenna and cell tower next to Franklin Courts. We are awaiting their final confirmation on the exact location where the MTA Police antenna will be co-located, which means that it will go up on an existing antenna pole, and no cell tower will be erected as part of this process.
3. The Loh Park Flooding Prevention and Drainage Improvement Project is nearing completion, and will be finished after all of the improvements are installed under Route 9, and behind the medical offices at 200 South Broadway, and finally the removal of the sediment build-up behind Tappan Court apartments.
4. The water system improvements in the Paulding and Van Wart neighborhood have been completed, and the last remaining portion of work is the restoration of roads and paving. This paving needs to be done during warm weather. Due to the difficult and rainy and snowy weather we have experienced over the past few weeks, it looks increasingly likely that we will have to wait until Spring to pave.
5. Replacing/rehabilitating the water mains along White Plains Road is the last segment of the Phase 7 of the Tarrytown Water System improvements we need to do. This work will be put out to bid and hopefully will start sometime in 2019. After that, we can move on to other areas and next Phases of the Village water system that require upgrading and modernization.
6. Residents should be aware of some issues of major importance to our region, including the Army Corps of Engineers plan to install flood gates around New York Harbor, and to install berms and other flood prevention measures up and down the Hudson River and other areas of the New York coastline, including Tarrytown. The initial phase of this plan is the concept study and review work for different approaches. This phase could take 5 to 7 years. After that, the next steps will be design work, which could take 2 to 4 years. Finally, once all of the planning and de-sign are completed, construction could start sometime after that. Estimates for the capital costs of this project reach into the upper billions of dollars, al-though no firm dollar figure has been assigned yet.
7. The Patriot’s Park improvement project, funded entirely through a $300,000 grant from New York State, is scheduled to be finished in the next couple of weeks, for a new opening of the playground area in 2019, and other improvements throughout the park. Another nice touch was the Village’s cooperative efforts with the Little Gardens garden club to relocate the Gold Star Mothers Veterans monument and add a Blue Star Mothers Veterans Monument as well, along Broadway.

What are some of the challenges facing your Village in terms of growth, parking, available housing, village basic services, etc.? 

Current applications are presently before the Village for approximately 248 residential units at 200 White Plains Road and approximately 40 units at 29 South Depot Plaza. The Coco Property owners made a public presentation to the Planning Board about their conceptual plan for approximately 200 to 225 units with street level retail at the Mrs. Greens, CVS, and Snap Fitness row of stores in April of 2018, but they have not yet submitted their application. Other projects have been discussed in concept, but much of what will happen depends on the Zoning code. The Hitachi building has been published as being for sale, and what can and will be done with it as either office or residential space depends on who buys it, and what considerations will be al-lowed during the planning and zoning process. Parking in and around the Village remains at a premium, and the Village is al-ways exploring ways to add or enhance parking.  One of the directions that the Village has committed to is the purchase and restoration of the parking next to the former Citibank building as public parking.

Name a problem area or areas where a coordinated effort is needed within your Village. If not a problem area, then an area that requires governmental vigilance.

Two key things fit this category.

A coordinated effort is on-going and will be necessary between Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, and Briarcliff Manor for the tri-village water treatment and distribution plant and pump station. While the operation of the water systems and mine dewatering pumps will remain entirely separate to each Village, the consolidation of the treatment and pumping buildings into one modern facility could save the Villages hundreds of thousands if not more than a million dollars each.

With the anticipated opening of the Shared Use Path over the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, the adjacent and neighboring communities like Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Irvington, and Elmsford will all be impacted by a significant increase in bicyclists and bike-oriented tourism.  We need to work together on matters such as the Route 9 Active Transportation Plan, and will need to plan together to accommodate more bicycle traffic, and parking areas to serve bicyclists.

What projects are on tap or in the planning stages for 2019?

1. The Losee Park ballfield improvements, including an entirely new Field LED lighting system, and a completely overhauled field of play, will be completed and the fields will be open for play in the Spring of 2019.
2. The Losee Park RiverWalk extension project has been delayed, while the Village and our engineers are working to obtain the permits from the NYS DEC, for the Losee Park Shore-bank Stabilization project. The shoreline needs to be stabilized because a large section of old steel bulkhead has rusted and rotted away, and the section of the Losee Park shoreline that had concrete rubble has been subjected to storm damage and erosion. Because of sequencing, we need to get the shore-line improvements done before we can finish the RiverWalk ex-tension work.  The Village has received over a million dollars in grants for this work, with a Village match for between $700,000 to $1 million dollars, or more, depending on the final costs of construction.
3. Eastview Pump Station –the Village is hoping to finalize lease negotiations soon with Duncan’s Abbey, a local micro-brewery, which was selected after an RFP process, to take residence in and restore the old Pump Station building as a brewery and/or brew-pub. The Village’s benefit will be the restoration and preservation of the beautiful old structure, and Duncan’s Abbey will have greatly expanded space with conditions that are well suited to the brewing process.
4. H-Bridge rehabilitation – the Village received a grant from the New York State Bridge Fund through the New York State DOT, to repair and restore bridge infrastructure. This will mean that likely at some time in 2019, the project to perform capital repairs on the H-Bridge over Metro North’s tracks will move ahead, and will require periods of closure and detour over the bridge ramps.
5. Long-range plans for the RiverWalk over Metro North continue to move ahead, with assistance from New York State, and leadership by Scenic Hudson. In the near future, we’ll begin discussions with the involved parties and State agencies to discuss environmental reviews, planning and actual design for this new walkway/bikeway.
6. Tarrytown Lakes – Eco-system management remains a priority for the Village, both from an aesthetic standpoint, as well as an ecological stand-point. We are glad that the harvesting of the milfoil weeds at the upper lake were successful to reduce the algae in the lake, but are mindful that this is a process that must be continuously monitored and maintained. This is especially important since we are seeking to continue to use the lakes for enhanced recreation, including more trails, and the availability of kayaking – for personal use by Tarrytown residents, and by rentals through our kayak franchiser for anyone else who wants to enjoy recreation on the Tarrytown Lakes. If the weather gets cold enough for a prolonged period this winter, we will have skating again at the Tarrytown Lakes.

Lastly, add any basic in-formation of importance for your Village that you would like our readers to know.

As always, the Village will continue to make every effort to operate the Village efficiently and effectively, within our budgeted limits, and within the tax cap implemented by New York State.  It is our priority to provide quality, friendly, professional, and affordable local services to our residents and visitors to Tarrytown.  We will continue to cooperate with our neighboring Villages, the Town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, and New York State to find ways to save money, share services, and be more efficient to keep Tarrytown as one of the best places to live in New York.