Speaking French: Mayor’s Update – Bridge, Broker, Bond, Bike & More
Here is the next edition of Speaking French, the Mayor's Update.
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City Council Updates from Mayor Douglas French
Rye’s Financial Future
The City continues its work as it has the last few years to stay under the tax cap, restore its balance sheet, re-organize City departments, hold the line on costs, and implement capital priorities; the next step is to look toward Rye’s future. The economy continues to be a drag on Rye residents and businesses, but Rye’s obligations, as with all municipalities, are still rising at an accelerated rate. I have asked our Finance Committee to assist the City in building out a 4-year plan to project out revenue and costs based on trend lines and conservative assumptions. The purpose of the plan will be to help educate the public on the leading cost and revenue drivers and to use it to begin a frank discussion on decisions that will impact Rye’s future.
Central Avenue Bridge Reconstruction to Begin
The City was pleased to award the bid to begin reconstruction of the Central Avenue Bridge. Depending on the winter weather, the project could take up 9 to 12 months to complete. I have asked City staff to make sure the neighbors are fully informed of the schedule and the impacts to the neighborhood. Despite years of regulatory and compliance delays with the New York State Department of Transportation who is funding the bulk of the project, the City is pleased to finally have approval to move this project forward — thanks to the perseverance of City staff and many dedicated officials.
A New Respect Manual for the Rye Community
In a cross-community endeavor by several parents, merchants, police officers and teens, an updated version of the Respect Manual for Rye was recently issued focusing on Understanding the Rights and Responsibilities of Our Youth. Last published in 2005, the guide seeks to strengthen our shared values and increase understanding within our community. Thank you to all of those that participated in such an important initiative.
1037 Boston Post Road – Broker Authorized
The Council has authorized the City Manager to hire a commercial real estate broker to market and represent the City for the sale or a long-term lease of the property. In the meantime, the City will look to extend a short-term lease with the current tenant. The site was appraised at $4.5M prior to the City's purchase in 2006. The City purchased the building for the public purpose of building a Police Station/Courthouse but that option has been ruled out.
November 2012 Infrastructure Bond Referendum
The Council voted to bring a number of key City infrastructure needs forward to the public for a bond referendum on Election Day of this year. The total for the bond is $1.856M to include repairs to Smith Street and the Smith/Elm/Purchase Street intersections, repairs to a section of the wall on Boston Post Road, a sewer pump by Locust Avenue, sidewalk repairs consistent with safe routes to schools initiatives, and fire sprinklers and flood doors for the Library. It was decided not to include upgrades to the police station courthouse at this time due to the pending status of the 1037 BPR property.
Forest Avenue Sharrows
On a grant from the national YMCA, pedestrian and bike sharrows were painted as part of a pilot program along Forest Avenue. In a 2007 safe routes committee report, Forest Avenue was cited as a high-traffic corridor that connected many recreational venues and schools. The cost to build sidewalks or widen the road is prohibitive, but the purpose of the painted sharrows is to define shy-space areas along the road and remind drivers and pedestrians and bikers of the shared roadway. While the NYS Department of Transportation regulations dictate the number and spacing of the sharrows that for some may be too frequent, the overall feedback has been very positive and in particular from the youth. In addition, the Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Commission has incorporated visual improvements at the intersection of Forest and Manursing Way.
Fire Lieutenant Position Created
The City continues to work closely with the Board of Fire Wardens on the future organization of the Rye Fire Department — first by aligning the volunteer and paid personnel in conjunction with the office of the City Manager, and now with the creation of a combination fire inspector/lieutenant position. The Rye City Code was amended last week to reflect the administration of this new position whose supervisory duties, among other things, shall include the responsibility for fire inspections within the City.
There is something brewing here people…
THE DOG THAT DIDN’T BARK
Detective Gregory: “Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?”
Sherlock Holmes: “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”
Detective Gregory: “The dog did nothing in the night-time.”
Sherlock Holmes: “That was the curious incident.”
From “Silver Blaze”, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, 1892.
I always liked this story because Doyle, like my father, was professionally trained as an eye surgeon, and he incorporated a cataract knife into the story plot in an unexpected way. What makes the story memorable to a wider audience is that it is silence – rather than noise – that ultimately reveals the malefactor in the tale. This lack of an alarm warning concerning a clear and present danger was Doyle’s kicker and it becomes the fulcrum upon which the mystery is solved.
Thus today in Rye, as we await LausDeo10580’s latest update on the expanding troubling revelations about Rye Golf Club financial and managerial affairs, I think it’s important to recall that warnings about the possibility of something like this have been talked about for years. But despite that talk there is a natural default assumption on the part of most that Rye is operated lawfully and its government exists solely for the benefit of its citizenry. In this assumption, elected officials play the role of high level decision makers and fiscal watchdogs, their interests unquestionably and transparently aligned with every stakeholder resident taxpayer of the city. And those who might question this truism are dismissed as cranks, gadflies, self seeking low life’s – with no life’s – you can fill in several more descriptors.
The problem this is, we’re not. And our elected watchdogs remain silent.
Our own Rye edition of stories now regrettably include: The Mayor’s Illegal Abode, The Mayor’s STAR Tax Fraud, The Mayor’s Un-Assessed Two Family Rental House, The Ethics Board Whitewashers, The Dapolite Affair, The Non-Mystery of Schubert’s Vanishing Pond, The Curious Case of Amico’s Stop Sign – and others, along with Rye Golf, now emerging.
In “Silver Blaze,” the evil doer dies from a reflexive racehorse kick to the head, inflicted as he sought to secretly hobble the animal with a knife in the nighttime. Perhaps the coming story of Rye Golf will provide a similar but non-fatal impetus to our long suffering swindled citizenry that immediate change at the top essential. Many, including me, believe that Mr. French and Mr. Jovanovich (his protector) need to resign as the first meaningful step.
let me make a few precise trenchant comments on your ruined dead dream of a suburban location now adrift in the 21th blasphemous treacherous danderous mindless godless idolatrous outrageous atrocious century: firstly rye is a city without walls now think think i am giving u a old test. analogy to highlite your plight! by the way i luv that dumb dog analogy it comes from isa. ch. 56 verse 10 so blow the dust off your bibles and read that verse incidently here is where the d.d. degree comes from the dumb dog degree conferred by the ivy league whorehouse in n.h. conn. so here is your defenseless town with nothing to stabilize your atrocious outlandish blasphemous ridiculous futureless financial property tax explosions while i am on this depressing econ.subj. why not call suzi creamcheese oppenheimer and let this witch explain how she has helped your foredoomed fiscal catatrophes!??! what could be in store for your once imperial mystical exclusive transendental city with no walls to keep the predators out exit 19 on the most blood bespattered backed up tramatized inefficient dangerous blasphemous criminally neglected highway in america!??rye would have no bridge so 10 million motorists go off to a living hell and u get the ballfield the beanbag and the chilly boudoir!this is not a perjorative but the stupid generation lets its infrastructure go to rack and ruin the stupid follows the spiritual slut sr. prejean rememberthe stupid movie and then r surprised when the murder rate goes off the graph!!well now 40 plus yrs. later after u killed the goosse that laid the golden egg listen had the magnificent bridge been constructed in 1971 your property tax rate would be negligible get it maybe a dime or at moist 2 bits!look this is econ. 101 but i fear that even basic sophomoric understanding of fiscal and municipal finance has been surplanted by sodomite rights and a jesus who would not swat a mosquitto as the spiritual slut proclaims!the filthy hollwood crowd knows that one sure insidious way to trash any society is simply recycle the murderers and rapists back upon the street corners of every medium sized city in this benighted foredoomed bloodbespattered land.the rye oyster bay bridge would have effectively abolished any property tax intrusions for ever!!now u must pay thru the nose to live in your dead dream!