By Carol P. Bartold

Sep. 16, 2015: Infrastructure projects and concerns dominated the discussion as the Bronxville Board of Trustees returned to a regular monthly meeting schedule on Monday, September 14.

Parkway Road Bridge:  The board adopted a resolution to increase the village's debt service related to the restoration of the Parkway Road bridge from the $50,000 originally earmarked to $115,000. Village Administrator Jim Palmer explained that, during the course of removing the bridge's steel beams that needed replacement, the contractor discovered other beams that had also suffered deterioration that exceeded New York State Department of Transportation's safety thresholds.

Additional work on the beams involved the fabrication of new steel components as well as painting and sanding.

The trustees awarded the $348,970 contract to the Arben Group in May. Under an intermunicipal agreement among the village, the Town of Eastchester, and the City of Yonkers, each contributed $30,000 toward the cost of bridge repairs.

Assemblywoman Amy Paulin assisted the village in securing funding to help cover the restoration.

"The four of us worked together financially and cooperatively to get this bridge done," said Mayor Mary Marvin. "I owe all of them thanks for the great teamwork that got this done for us."

Sagamore Road Park:  Resident Elizabeth Calderon, who regularly takes her three-year-old grandson to the Sagamore Park playground, appeared before the board to point out several issues at the park she feels the village needs to address. Calderon noted that adults as well as children regularly use a stand of bushes and trees as a public restroom. She asked that the village consider installing a portable restroom at the park that would be appropriate for children to use.

"I don't know what whoever put the fences in was thinking," Calderon said. She pointed out that because a few of the fences do not abut, gaps exist that are just big enough for a toddler to slip through and too small for an adult to pass through. She stated that critical gaps exist near the park entrance and at the playground's upper level.

While Calderon described the park as beautiful, she stated that flowers planted as part of the landscaping "attract hundreds and hundreds of bees." Parents and grandparents, she said, cannot sit on the park's benches and must remain vigilant in keeping children away from the bees. "I don't know that any children have been badly hurt," she told the trustees, "but I do know that they get stung."

Calderon also suggested that the village look at the sliding boards, which, she said, end almost three feet off the ground, too high for small children to use without an adult stationed at the bottom to catch them.

Mayor Mary Marvin and Village Administrator Jim Palmer indicated that the village would look into the concerns about Sagamore Park that Calderon raised.

The Bronxville Board of Trustees will meet on Tuesday, October 13, at 8:00 pm in the trustees room at Bronxville Village Hall.

Pictured here:  The park on Sagamore Road. 

Photo by N. Bower