By Mary C. Marvin

Jul. 29, 2015:  As is my custom, this will be my last column until post-Labor Day. Given the time frame, I think it apropos to highlight village projects and improvement activities that will be taking place in the coming weeks--or in essence what to expect to see in the village upon your summer return.

Village government goes into overdrive during what are the most leisurely months for residents as we seek to complete the most disruptive projects while the village is at its quietest and least crowded. Our logic is that the associated noise, traffic detours, and parking inconveniences should affect the least number of people possible.

Street Repaving:  Clearly, the most obviously disruptive project will be street repaving and curb replacement, which have already begun on Paxton Avenue.

Other streets slated to be repaved in the coming weeks include Kraft Avenue, Garden Avenue, Milburn and Stone Place, and Studio Lane.

The decision as to which streets are repaved is made by our public works department based on the age of the road surface, the amount of traffic, the state of disrepair, and the location in the village. We also try to coordinate our projects with Con Edison so recently paved streets do not end up subsequently being torn up for utility work. Even if your street does not make this year's list for complete resurfacing, all of the potholes will be repaired. Continue to call village hall if you believe your street should be on the list going forward, as we catalog all requests and inspect accordingly.

Before repaving, all of the above streets will be "roughed," or milled with layers of deteriorated asphalt removed. Without doing this, the roadbeds would grow too high, detrimentally changing water flow and drainage routes.

FEMA Drainage Project:  In the theme of drainage, our FEMA project was approved in 2011 dollars for a total grant of $5,167,430 from the federal government based on a total project cost of $6,889,905. The 2015 estimate of the cost of the project is now $11,211,844, representing a shortfall of $4,321,939.

Though the project primarily benefits our school district, by law, local government and not the board of education must be the lead agency in securing funding. We are collaborating with our school officials to seek whatever grant monies there may be available to close the gap. Since the school's losses due to flooding were so great, even the upwardly revised mitigation costs more than meet FEMA's and our engineering professionals' cost/benefit analysis equations. 

Unfortunately, due to the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy and other recent catastrophic events, FEMA's reserves for our region are completely tapped out. We are in the process of reaching out to every elected official that represents us at the federal, state, and county levels to seek new funding sources.

Parkway Road Bridge:  In positive funding news, the Parkway Road bridge repairs are under way and set to be completed by September. This is thanks to contributions from the City of Yonkers and the Town of Eastchester, as well as state aid secured by our Assemblywoman Amy Paulin.

We know the repairs clearly took longer than anyone anticipated, but in the long view, the joint funding and attendant responsibilities provided the most prudent path to proceed to protect everyone's interests going forward.

Home Alarm Registration:  On other fronts, our police department asks that you confirm the registration of your home alarm system and stop by village hall to receive the new permit stickers. They are larger, more official looking, and easily noticed from the street. Check the village website for the alarm permit distribution hours.

Kensington Road Project:  The rock hammering and removal is winding down on the Kensington Road project. The two large drillers that were operating for the past several months were even removed last Friday. Concrete work for the garage foundation will now begin.

New Parking Payment Options:  In late August or early September, our Bronxville parking patrons will notice an innovation: they will have a new payment option. Bronxville is partnering with Pango, a mobile parking payment vendor, to provide services here in the village. Our meters will remain, so anyone who prefers to pay for parking the old-fashioned way may still do so. Those who are tired of scouring their cars for coins may easily create an account with Pango and pay for their parking fees via debit or credit. Once an account is created, a repeat parker simply logs in, enters his vehicle and Bronxville location, and begins a parking session. There is a convenience fee associated with this service, but we have selected a vendor with one of the lowest fees available.

When paying with Pango, a customer may pay for the amount of parking he needs up to the limit displayed on the meter. If he wants more time, he will have to move his car to a new parking location and initiate another parking session. If a parker has not paid for the entire limit of parking, he may add time by using the Pango app. For example, if a parker is in a space on Kraft Avenue--all two-hour parking spaces--and has paid for two hours of parking via Pango, he may not add more time to his parking session. He must move his car to another space and initiate another parking session. If he has paid for an hour, he may add up to another hour via the Pango app because of the two-hour parking limit.

In conjunction with this parking pay-by-phone app, the village has revised the code to prohibit meter feeding village-wide. This is not something we instituted lightly, but had we not done so, there would have been no way to deter parkers from parking in a village space and adding meter fees via the Pango app all day long--from a non-village location! Clearly, our businesses would suffer if we did not institute this prohibition.

We will have representatives from Pango in the village during rollout of the mobile app to help parkers open accounts and answer questions. We are excited about this innovation and expect it will prove to be a great convenience to village parkers.

Leaf Blowers:  Now is also the time to put the gas-powered leaf blowers away until fall. Fines for summer use have increased from $25 to $250 for a first violation and escalate to $1,000 for a third offense. The village board learned by experience that the $25 fine was no deterrent to use but was merely being absorbed by area landscapers as a cost of doing business. To give everyone fair notice of the new fine structure, violators will be issued a warning on their first offense.

Property Assessments:  In other news, the New York State Office of Taxation and Finance just notified the village that our tax equalization rate was computed and affirmed at 100%. As per the state, "The village is assessing property at 100% of value and the continued reassessment numbers roughly equate to market value."

If you are fortunate enough to enjoy the village during the quiet of August, shopping and dining are particular pleasures. The village in August is a special, slow-paced, and relaxed time to be savored in Bronxville.