By Staff

March 28, 2023:  The Village of Bronxville March Trustees Meeting began with Trustee Underhill talking about the Bronxville police department. 

He noted that in 2020, Governor Cuomo told all communities with police forces that they needed to do complete reviews of their police departments. 

In response, Bronxville formed the Police Community Relations Committee ("PCRC"). One of the key recommendations of the PCRC was for the police department to put together an Annual Report each year. 

2022 Annual Report of Police Department

At the March Trustees Meeting, Chief of Police Satriale presented key items in the 2022 Annual Report, including the following:

-The Department implemented every recommendation of the Police Community Relations Committee except the policy update, which should be completed this year.

-The Annual Report is available on the police website and at Village Hall

-The Police Department has created a new training room in space that was an old gymnasium. Bronxville police officers underwent 3,484 hours of training in 2022, which was 1,000 more than in 2021.

-The PCRC recommended more community involvement and the department has done community events this year including "Coffee with a Cop" and "Pizza with a Cop."  It also participated in "National Night Out" this year which brings communities together with the police department.

-The Police Department now has EMTs.  

-The Department has expanded the emergency response team on each tour of duty.

Speed Limit

As reported last week in MyhometownBronxville, the Bronxville Village Trustees unanimously voted to reduce the speed limit on village streets to 25 mph from 30 mph effective September 1, 2023.  

The Mayor mentioned in the March meeting that the Village petitioned the State Department of Transportation to lower the speed limit on Route 22 to 25-mph from 35-mph, but that request was denied.  One factor in the State's decision was that the current average speed on Route 22 is 31-mph.

It was also noted that Tuckahoe has put in place a 25-mph speed limit.

Village-Wide Survey

The village is working on a village-wide survey.  There will be an opportunity for people to see the survey and provide input on it before it is finalized and sent out.

Flooding

Mayor Marvin mentioned that the State has decided to undertake a complete study of the Bronx River corridor, which is prone to flooding.  The study will likely take 8 - 12 months to complete.

Housing Compact

Mayor Marvin is continuing to work on the Housing Compact issue, which, as she discussed in her recent column in MyhometownBronxville, could have a detrimental impact on the village of Bronxville.  She noted that the village has the complete support of Representatives Paulin and Mayer on this important issue.

Maltby Park

Trustee Behrens mentioned that the Village and a group called the "Friends of Maltby Park" are looking at doing renovations to Maltby Park using a public/private partnership. Maltby Park is the green space next to the village paddle tennis courts. Renovations would likely include playground equipment, picnic tables, landscaping, safety fencing and more.

The Village has committed $150k "subject to" the "Friends of Maltby Park" contributing their share of the total $350k projected cost. The village portion will be funded by debt.

Zoning Law Amendment

The Mayor opened a public hearing on proposed local law 2-2023 to amend section 310 of the Zoning Code.  Village attorney Jim Stout talked about this amendment. There are three parts including (1) more flexibility in processing signs, (2) accelerating the process of having a sign approved in the business district, and (3) adding a member to the Design Review Committee to help process applications.  This local law was approved by the Trustees.

Tax Cap Override

The Mayor opened a public hearing on the Tax Cap override.  The tax cap is 2% this year.  Mayor Marvin thinks it's going to be tough to bring in the budget at a 2% increase given the inflationary environment.  The Trustees approved a Tax Cap override so that the village has the option to override the cap if necessary.  

Other

The village is working on the budget for the coming year.

The Bronxville Chamber is going to have an egg hunt on April 1st.  It starts at 11am at the Verizon phone store.

Jim Palmer mentioned that the village is working on the next stage of outdoor dining in Bronxville.  Palmer mentioned that the results of the Outdoor Dining survey will be placed on the Village's website.

Link to Meeting

Here is a link to a video of the March 13 Trustees Meeting.