Mary C. Marvin, Mayor, Village of Bronxville

Sep. 20, 2017:  In terms of productivity--and resulting disruption--this was a summer like no other in Bronxville.

We are in the final stages of completion of the two biggest projects undertaken in the village in recent memory:  the FEMA-funded flood mitigation project and the construction of Villa BXV.

Flood Mitigation

Over eight years in the making due to the involvement of seven-plus agencies on the federal, state, and county levels, we now have an infrastructure of large pipes, storage tanks, and force mains; though unseen and costly, they are vital for flood protection of our school and nearby residential homes. 

Thanks to a model of cooperation between successive school boards and village boards, given the long regulatory process, none of us--parents, students, residents, and faculty--will have to take a collective breath every time heavy rains come our direction. I am enormously grateful to my colleagues on both boards for their cooperation, vision, and tenacity as we navigated the regulatory process together.

Villa BXV

After thirty-plus years of attempting to develop this site--long attractive to many developers until they learned it was a former power plant and gas station--the village now has a well-built, architecturally consistent structure that befits the beauty of Christ Church and the homes on Kensington Road.

A building engineer from a nearby municipality shared with me that after visiting the project, he felt it was one of the most well-built structures he had seen of late.

Expected to go from a zero-sum tax benefit to upwards of $600,000 annually, even more important, it transformed one of the most blighted areas in the village into a beautiful home for current residents and new neighbors. The parking garage will net precious new spaces for the village as well as providing a sheltered home for cars previously parked in the less-than-ideal spaces in the former Kensington lot.

All a great positive for the village, we owe a great debt of thanks to the nearby neighbors who handled the enormous multiyear disruption with understanding and patience.

The village also embarked on projects that would have been major in most years but were dwarfed in magnitude by the two above.

Lighting Upgrades

For those of you who get off the train in the evenings and head to our west side walking paths and traffic circle, increased illumination was warranted. New poles/structures are on order and you will see vast improvement in illumination in the coming weeks.

Bronxville Giving Garden

A brainchild of our very active Green Committee, the garden has produced and shared over 150 pounds of fresh vegetables with our neighbors in Mount Vernon and Tuckahoe. The garden has been a catalyst for volunteering and learning as well as a productive bridge of friendship between the village and our neighbors.

Library

Our library had a summer as busy as village government as the staff provided quality programming for every constituency in the village. Over 250 children participated in the summer reading game, and summer concerts, science shows, and petting zoos drew crowds of 150-plus.

Road Resurfacing

The trustees committed over $500,000 to the resurfacing and adjacent curb restoration on roads stretching to every corner of the village. Repairs were made to the Pondfield Road artery and Midland Avenue intersection. Using recycled bricks, our DPW staff also repaired the brick road on Prescott Avenue without outside contractor assistance.

Tennis/Paddle Court Refurbishment

Our backboard area, including the steps and retaining walls, was completely rebuilt again with the in-house masonry skills of our DPW staff.

Two of the paddle courts were repainted and lighting improvements are currently under way.

Sewer Relining

Enormously important but incredibly unnoticed, we threaded a cured-in-place sanitary sewer liner from Route 22 all the way to Midland Avenue. Next steps include the pipes under Midland Gardens and The Bronxville School. The liner was the final phase after televising, cleaning, and in some cases fully repairing collapsed pipes that necessitated all the street openings this summer. The state-of-the-art liner will add 75 years to the life of the system.

Our village to-do list, though well crossed out, has many more projects to accomplish. The following is just a sampling:

Clean-up/Safety Check of Sagamore Park

The park’s use is so intense, high volume, and year-round that maintenance of fences, surfaces, and equipment has to be an ongoing concern.

Bacon Woods

This village open space at the intersections of Kensington Road, Beechtree Lane and Sagamore Road is in need of renewed attention and care. An arborist is scheduled to give recommendations and we are seeking materials to properly address the condition of the walkways and steps.

Metro-North Underpass

We continue to work with Metro-North to parse out our respective responsibilities to create an attractive welcoming link between our two business districts.

Downtown Revitalization

Our Retail Mix Committee has added a much-needed jolt of energy and focus on our empty stores and business vitality in general and several stores are coming very soon, with leases out to other prospective tenants.