Flint Park Delay Clarified; New Finance Group "Charged"

Also: "Officer of the Year" Award Goes to Timothy J. Brennan

by Judy Silberstein

(June 8, 2006) A clarification of plans for Flint Park, a rolling out of a new Budget and Finance Committee with more members and more responsibilities, and a recognition of Larchmont's Officer of the Year were major items on the June 5 agenda of Larchmont's Village Board.

What's With Flint Park?

At the end of May, Mayor Liz Feld briefly announced that an expansion at Flint Park, long in the works, would be delayed until at least next year, due in part to continuing review by the granting agencies that were helping support the project. This week, Mayor Feld elaborated on reasons for the delay, noting that former Mayor Ken Bialo had not "executed the grants."

Mayor Feld was responding, in part, to remarks made by the former mayor on the Larchmont Republican’s monthly LMC-TV show in which he criticized the delay in a project he had championed for the past ten years. He described issues with the granting agencies’ review and conceded that the project was on hold during the election, but said the construction could still have begun in June as planned.

In a conversation with the Gazette on Tuesday, May 6, Mayor Feld explained further. “The Flint Park expansion project remains a priority for the board,” she said. “The delay is not by choice,” she stressed. “It is due to the fact that the process and the paper work required to get the project started were not completed when this board took over.”

Mayor Feld explained that at the last full meeting of the Flint Park expansion committee in late fall, construction documents had been completed, and a timetable was developed for getting the project’s bid documents out in January so a contractor could be selected in March and there could be “shovels in the ground” by June. The Flint Park day camp and sports organizations had been warned that the back of the park would not be available after June.

A host of hurdles appear to have derailed this schedule, including: a heated and distracting political race; requests for changes and more information from the granting agencies; and a job move in February on the part of the consulting engineer who had been assisting with the project.

“What the board unearthed in early April was that the grant documents had not been executed (i.e., signed and officially agreed to by the Village) and that the bid documents had not been sent out,” said Mayor Feld.

“It’s all well and good to apply for a grant,” she said, “but the devil is in the detail.” Among those devilish details is keeping the granting agencies informed about what’s being planned and when changes are being considered. Another requirement is having a trained administrator on board; Trustee Anne McAndrews will be attending a training program on June 21 so she can fulfill this function.

“The money is still available for the project,” said Mayor Feld. Larchmont was awarded three grants: $120,375 from NY State’s Department of State in 2002; another $150,000 from NY State in 2005; and $25,000 from the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The dollars from those grants, however, are turned over at the end of the project, once construction is complete and Larchmont submits the appropriate documentation to show it has complied with all the requirements.

Mayor Feld learned that the grant period on the federal grant was expiring on May 12, 2006 – which was when the work had originally been anticipated to have been concluded. She said the Village was able to get an extension on that grant until September of 2007 and is working with the NY Department of State to clear up outstanding requirements for the other two grants.

Though the original money is not at risk, she said, “Our delay in following through on these grant applications with New York State has precluded us from applying for any other grants at this time.”

The mayor is also concerned that the delay has led to increased costs for the project, especially for labor and materials. “Our goal is to find alternative sources of funding – to aggressively pursue private contributions and also possible county funding,” she said.

Budget & Finance Committee: Longer Name, More Members, New Charge

As foreshadowed in earlier board meetings, Mayor Feld announced the move from a Village Budget Committee to a Finance and Budget Committee. The group will be led by Paul Silverman (a Democrat and continuing co-chair) and Phil Johanson (a Republican and long-term member), and will operate with the active participation of Village Treasurer Denis Brucciani. Continuing members include John McGarr, Arthur Goldberg, Robert Fligel, Gerhard Storer and Eric Berg. New members are Steve Robling, Fred Lamster, Michael Gottfried and Cynthia McClintock.

What’s the difference between budget and finance?

“I see four specific projects to try to situate next year’s budget in a larger context,” said Trustee Jim Millstein. He would like the new committee to go beyond the annual “line-by-line” review of departmental budget requests. The four projects include:

1. Developing a 5-year operating projection based on current practice. The board would like to know: Where is the budget headed and what do we want to do about that?

2. Developing a long-term capital plan. What large capital assets are likely to be purchased or replaced?

3. Studying ways to get a better handle on employee benefits. Two new members of the committee, Steve Robling and Fred Lamster, were recruited for their expertise in human resources, health care and pensions programs.

4. Looking at comparable communities with an eye towards ferreting out “best practices.” Others may have found “greater efficiencies” or found sources of new revenue other than hiking property taxes.

Trustee Millstein said he hopes to have the group report back by the end of the calendar year, in time for the board to make use of the information as it develops its next budget.

Commenting on the capital plan, Trustee Wiener said, “We are definitely off-schedule on purchasing large vehicles, such as fire trucks,” though he noted that Larchmont does even out the costs of large ticket items with bonding. “We’re probably underleveraged,” said Trustee Millstein, referring to municipalities’ ability to take advantage of low-interest borrowing.

Former Trustee Ned Benton made one additional financial request: new software that would allow the board to study financial outlays in multiple and flexible ways.

Police Officer of the Year: Honored Again

The formal ceremony had already occurred on May 25 in conjunction with the Memorial Day Parade, but Chief Stephen Rubeo briefed the board and the community on this year’s “Police Officer of the Year” and other department commendations.

Police Officer of the Year Timothy J. Brennan receives a $750 bond from Sotheyby's Jim Sleeper

Earning the top honor and a $750 bond from Sotheby’s Jim Whittemore and Cary Sleeper was Police Officer Timothy J. Brennan. According to Chief Rubeo, Officer Brennan was picked for his overall diligence, hard-work and honesty and he is one of only three department members to have earned this honor twice (he was Officer of the Year in 1989 after joining the force in 1988). In awarding the citation, Chief Rubeo said of Officer Brennan, “He demonstrated a sincere desire to assist Larchmont’s citizens in a way that consistently demonstrated compassion and understanding.”

Other officers received commendations for actions that include: apprehending and arresting a sexual offender and preventing a toddler from being struck by a car.

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