VOL Board Considers Paddle Tennis, FiOS & Flooding

Criticisms of Fire Department Rebutted

by Joan R. Simon

(October 3, 2007) The Larchmont Village Board discussed a smorgasbord of topics at their October 1st meeting, ranging from paddle tennis and Flint Park renovations to Verizon’s FiOS TV and the Pinebrook watershed flooding problem - and, yes, the fire department. Opening the meeting was 11-year-old Katherine Grinnell, who served as “Mayor of the Day,” an honor “won” by her family at the Mamaroneck Schools Foundation auction in June.

Flint Park Paddle Tennis?

A small group of paddle tennis players turned out to hear the board ponder the question of whether there was enough usage to justify anticipated expenses to maintain the two paddle tennis courts in Flint Park. Mayor Liz Feld described the courts as a “magnet for vandalism” which costs the village $10,000 to $15,000 a year. After this season, the courts would need substantial refurbishing to keep them in playing condition, she added. With only a handful of permits being issued this year, Trustee Jim Millstein queried: “Is that the highest and best use of the space?”

Brad Reifler, a community member who belongs to a local paddle tennis team, estimated a much higher number of players using the courts - about 50 to 60, which came as a surprise to Mayor Feld. “The only information we have about usage of the courts is by how many permits are sold,” she said. So the problem came down to enforcement: how to ensure that players secure the required permit, and thereby provide more revenue to cover on-going expenses.

Representatives from several groups that regularly use the courts promised to get the word out about permit requirements. Blythe Hamer urged the board “to keep the courts open for people who don’t belong to a country club” so that Larchmont would not become “a country club town.”

Verizon FiOS TV Coming January 1?

Trustee Millstein reported that negotiations were nearing completion between Verizon and the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Tri-municipal Cable Board over a franchise agreement to enable the introduction of FiOS TV. In about 75% to 85% of the community, “FiOS fiber has been strung across the poles,” he said. “If you live in a single-family dwelling it’s probably already been done.”

Verizon is already delivering telephone and high-speed Internet connectivity to local customers over its fiber optic lines, but before offering television service, it must enter into a contract with the municipalities over franchise fees and other terms.

An agreement on Verizon’s payment to LMC-TV as part of the franchise contract is almost settled, indicated Mr. Millstein. If the final contract is agreed to by the end of October, and the three municipal boards approve it by November 15, Verizon plans to “turn the pipes on by January 1,” said Mr. Millstein.

Cablevision, which has long been the sole provider of cable television in Larchmont and Mamaroneck, must also renegotiate its contract

Study Continues on Pine Brook Watershed Flooding

Trustee Richard Ward and Mayor Feld provided a clarification on the costs and scope of the next phase of work by engineering consultants Dvirka and Bartilucci, who in August presented preliminary results and recommendations on flooding along Pine Brook Drive (see:$4M Pipe Proposed to Reduce Pine Brook Flooding.)

The consultants had originally proposed a more intensive study of the primary recommendation, which was to install a new, larger culvert. However, the board has asked, instead, for further observations both upstream and downstream from Pine Brook.

These investigations are ongoing and are within the scope of the original funding approved by the board earlier this year. Additional sums were not required, Mayor Feld explained.

Trustee Ward said he has been working with Pine Brook residents along with representatives from Mamaroneck Town and New Rochelle to draft the “terms of reference” for what they want from the consultants during this next phase. The engineers will take a further look at conditions at Beechmont Lake, the Fifth Avenue ball fields and the Premium River and marsh, among other areas.

“We’re still in the realm of data gathering and concept development,” explained Richard Ward in a follow-up conversation. “We need to get some input and buy-in from the other communities who share this drainage basin,” he said.

Criticisms of Fire Department Rebutted

Bryan Doherty, president of the Larchmont firefighters union, asked to “address the community about some of the rhetoric on the fire department,” referring specifically to comments by former trustees and volunteer firemen Ned Benton and Mike Wiener (see: Former Trustee Warns of Fire Dept Peril; Merger Under Study). Mr. Doherty stressed, “the fire department is not broken,” and he cited as evidence 329 calls to which the department has responded since the board appointed a paid fire chief, Rich Heine, on May 16.

Mr. Doherty also recommended that the board increase staffing by professional firefighters to four per shift (rather than the current three), a request he said has been made for many years by both career firemen and volunteer chiefs. He described the professional firefighters as “the only guaranteed response,” a claim he said was true for every fire department with career staff.

Countering Mr. Wiener’s earlier assertion that Chatsworth School is no longer safe, he explained that the school has been covered for many years with automatic mutual aid from the Town of Mamaroneck’s Fire Department. Recently, Chief Heine has enlisted additional support from New Rochelle. Mr. Doherty invited the community to learn more about the department by attending its open house on October 13 from 3 – 7 pm.

Mr. Doherty also raised the issue of merger. He said in addition to the possibility of joining with Mamaroneck Town’s fire department, there was a funded study underway in New Rochelle to explore combining fire departments south of Larchmont. Trustee Ward asked about differences between the Larchmont and Mamaroneck fire departments, should a merger be anticipated. Mr. Doherty highlighted Larchmont’s larger career staff and its response to all (not just daytime) emergency calls.

Mayor Feld reiterated that “we are exploring options” including both New Rochelle’s Sound Shore merger proposal and joining with Mamaroneck. She noted that Governor Eliot Spitzer had mandated local governments to explore merger possibilities for all of their municipal services. However, she emphasized, “no one on this board is feeling pushed to jump into a merger with the Town of Mamaroneck.”

The mayor expressed frustration that “the perception continues to exist in the community that somehow there aren’t enough volunteers to help support the career staff. And this is simply not the case.” She explained that “none of the services has changed one bit,” adding the only change was that now “the board feels better about the information and flow of communication between the department and the board.”

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