Since last Thanksgiving many great things have happened that will improve the quality of life for our residents. Here are just 25 of them:
1) A tax rate reduction and a tax levy freeze in the 2020 town budget.
2) Westchester County announcing a tax rate reduction for county taxes in 2020.
3) Metro North announcing plans to build elevators at Hartsdale train station- work to start in 2020.
4) Greenburgh opening up Westchester County's first cricket field at Richard Presser Park in Hartsdale.
5) New sidewalks completed at Columbia Ave, Fair Street, Lawton. Construction of new sidewalk to begin shortly on Central Ave between Marion and West Hartsdale Ave. NYS followed up on a request we made to build a sidewalk on Lawrence and 9A (which was recently completed).
6) Maintaining Aaa bond rating by Moody's and Standard & Poor's --bond rating increased 3 times during my tenure- highest rating possible
7) The abandoned WESTHELP homeless shelter is now being renovated for affordable senior housing. It's exciting to see the WESTHELP parking lot fill of cars--contractors doing the renovations.
8) A smooth transition of Police Chiefs--Brian Ryan is our new Chief, replacing Chris McNerney who now is Chief Investigator for the DA
9) Agreement: Son's of American Revolution to turn over the historic Odell house to the town. Town to restore house on Ridge Road (which played a major role in the Revolutionary War) and will eventually turn the building into a learning museum.
10)We had two auctions of foreclosed properties--the last auction generated 2.7 million dollars.
11) A shooting at an Ardsley Motel resulted in no fatalities of innocent bystanders or police. Our SWAT team responded quickly, a Greenburgh police officer who was shot at was wearing a bullet proof vest and is OK. Highlights the importance of being trained and prepared.
12) We have saved over 12 million dollars so when we sell the current court house/police we won't have to borrow as much --enabling us to address infrastructure and to continue to keep taxes BELOW the tax cap.
13) NY State agreed to repave Saw Mill RIver Road, Ardsley and Hillside in Greenburgh--both are state roads.
14) We increased recycling of paper and plastics from every other week to every week.
15) We enhanced crosswalk at Edgemont and Ardsley Road--light fixtures hopefully will be installed in about a week.
16) We added a crossing guard to Ardsley Road/Fort Hill Road--making it safer for children to cross during school hours.
17) The Chelsea Assisted LIving Facility is offering discounts to Greenburgh residents--they hope to open in 2020 on Dobbs Ferry Road. They also have some affordable units for those who meet income guidelines.
18) We started the 911 Living History stories--video interviews of those impacted by the 9-11 tragedy. The interviews air on public access TV and can be accessed on the web.
19) We awarded the bid for a traffic light at Ardsley Road/Sprain Road. We expect installation to be completed in the spring of 2020. This location will be much safer.
20) We selected a consultant to review the proposal to revitalize the 4 corners in Hartsdale--look forward to their recommendations how to address stormwater, traffic issues.
21) We created land use advisory committees around town involving residents impacted by proposed developments in the land use review early on. These land use committees also help us select the traffic and environmental consultants we hire to review the application. We want the community to be involved in partnering with the town government.
22) A Tarrytown man won the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Gregg Semenza attended Sleepy Hollow HS, one of the schools serving the Greenburgh community. Hastings HS has also been responsible for Nobel Prize winners.
23) First time Early Voting was tried in Greenburgh during the town elections. Voter turnout was higher than usual in an off off year election.
24) Progress being made - implementation of a work order system in the Department of Public Works. Will enable the town to better track complaints and work requests. We will continue to use technology to make government more efficient/transparent.
25) A new Kiwanis Club was formed in Greenburgh
Special thanks to members of the Town Board and all our department heads and employees for their hard work. We also are thankful to the residents and volunteers who work hard trying to make Greenburgh a better place. Government works best when there is a partnership.
PAUL FEINER
