By Staff

March 30, 2022:  Below are some highlights from the March 16, 2022 Bronxville Village Trustees meeting.

Iona Campus: The Iona Campus will be pretty quiet for a while.  They are currently doing some interior construction on the library.  There will be no residential students for the foreseeable future.  They have two landscaping companies keeping the campus neat.  They also have on-going security.  Iona very much wants to be part of the Bronxville community.

100th Anniversary of the Pelham Picture House: They are going to bring the programs that they have in Pelham to Bronxville.  There will be events and lectures.  Mayor Mary Marvin urged everyone to join the Bronxville Picture House.

First Annual Report by Bronxville Police Department:  This is the first report and it is posted of the Village of Bronxville website. Here is a link.  Trustee Underhill spoke about the extraordinarily high quality and transparency of the Bronxville Police Department.

Recreation: The Village has two pickleball courts at the tennis facility.  Residents can sign up at village hall.  The tennis courts are also open.  You can get a tennis permit online or at village hall.

NYP-Lawrence Hospital: There is a new head of NYP Lawrence Hospital named Paul Dunphey.  He is extremely experienced.  Here is a brief writeup about Mr. Dunphey.  NewYork-Presbyterian has also given $20 million to support the creation of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences.

Sidewalks:  The village is working with a local group regarding improving the network of sidewalks and possibly adding some bike lanes in the village.

Report by James Nolan, Westchester County Legislator for District 15 Yonkers & Bronxville:  Mr. Nolan's report included the following highlights: Scout Field is being taken over by Westchester County to maintain it.  They are looking at possibly upgrading the clubhouse and possibly naming the park after former Eastchester Town Councilman Glenn Bellitto, who passed away in April, 2020 from Covid-19.  Mr. Nolan has started a "business highlight" in his regular communications where he recognizes local businesses every month.  The pedestrian bridge by Bronxville lake, that was washed away during Hurricane Ida, will be replaced.  This project is in the early stages but, when work begins, the bridge it will be replaced by Westchester County DPW and financed by FEMA.

Proposed Local Law Pertaining to Solar Energy Systems in the Village Zoning Code:  Over the past year or two, it became apparent that the village code with respect of solar energy systems had to be updated.  The primary issue the village was having was that every application was ending up at the zoning board.  The village committee had conversations with the head of "Sustainable Westchester" and looked at other municipalities similar to Bronxville in size.  The Village Board decided that the best approach was loosening some regulations, creating design guidelines, and creating a simpler procedure for design review and planning board approval of applications for a solar installation.  Here is a link to an article that appeared in MyhometownBronxville last week regarding Bronxville's new solar ordinance.

Public Comments on Solar:

-Ellen Edwards, who represented the Bronxville Green Committee, endorsed this new ordinance enthusiastically and read a note from another resident who also supported this ordinance and made a few suggestions.

-Bronxville resident Jack Bierwirth said that this new law "is a big step forward." He said that his family has solar panels on their home in New Hampshire and, among other things, how wonderful it is that some of his energy bills have a "minus" in front of them.

Walkability of Bronxville: The village is looking at improving crosswalks and sidewalk quality to improve the walkability of Bronxville.  It is also looking at what needs to be done to make walking in Bronxville safer for residents particularly in areas throughout the village where there aren't a lot of sidewalks.  The village will be asking a consultant to look closely at this issue and get some advice on what can be done.