The Sleepy Hollow Tarrytown Chamber of Commerce celebrated local business milestones last night, Thursday, January 18, at its monthly networking event hosted by Maker's Central on Central Avenue in Tarrytown. Local restaurants in Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow provided food and drink:

Beekman Ale, Casaletto Pizza, Crispin Dopamine, Draughtwood Mobile Bar, Healthy Sugar, Hudson Anchor, JP Doyles, Los Andes Bakery, Mint/PikNik BBQ, Santorini, Tappan Hill Mansion, Tarry Tavern

The event celebrated Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow businesses marking milestone years of being in business, with special recognition also from State Assemblymember MaryJane Shimsky

• Allan Block Insurance (65 Years)
• Eclipse Hair Body Nails (25 Years)
• Friends of Music Concerts (70 Years)
• Hudson Anchor (5 Years)
• HudsonPR (10 Years)
• Iron Health Physical Therapy & Wellness/Ardsley (5 Years)
• Los Andes Bakery (30 Years)

• River Towns Media LLC (5 Years)
• Sleepy Hollow Bookshop (1 Year)
• TaSh (10 Years)
• The FIT Inn (5 Years)
• The Friends of the Mozartina Musical Arts Conservatory, Inc (45 Years)
• The Rey Insurance Agency Inc. (45 Years)
• Village of Sleepy Hollow (150 Years)
• Westchester Roofing Group (20 Years)

For information about other events organized by the Sleepy Hollow Tarrytown Chamber of Commerce, visit their website.

Report from the Board of Trustees Meeting on 01.16.2024

ICYMI, you can watch Village Board meetings online.

• County Budget Presentation: County Executive George Latimer and Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins presented highlights from the Westchester County Budget that went into effect on January 1, 2024. In addition to the Operating Budget, the County adopts a Special Districts Budget for the sewer and refuse districts it manages throughout the County, as well as a Capital Budget. This year, the County is maintaining the same property tax levy as 2023, which is the fifth consecutive year without a tax levy increase. The County and Town taxes combined only make up about 13% of property taxes. Village taxes comprise about 25% of property taxes, and School District taxes are about 61% of property taxes for Tarrytown residents.

The County Executive highlighted several budget items including:

• Programs to address food insecurity: $1.3 million
• Support for non profit organizations: $5 million
• Support for affordable housing: $90 million
• Public Safety which includes Emergency Services and Public Safety including County Police, the Police and Fire Academies that serve all municipal agencies, the central dispatch for emergency services among other programs: $265 million
• Project Alliance, the Mobile Crisis Teams that work with police agencies to address incidents involving mental health crises: $5.6 million
• Economic Development: $8million
• Park projects including the Riverwalk Connection and the Tarrytown lighthouse restoration

The complete budget documents for Operating, Capital, and Special Districts can be found here and the press release for the County Budget can be found here.

• Public Hearings on Changes to Tax Code: Two public hearings are scheduled for the next Board meeting on Monday, February 5th at 7pm to consider changes to the tax code:

1. Criteria for tax exemption for Emergency Responders: The Board will consider an amendment to the tax code to adopt new provisions allowed by the State of New York in Real Property Tax Law 466-a for tax exemptions that apply to volunteer Fire Department members and volunteer Ambulance Corps members including a provision that reduces the length of service required from five to two years to qualify for the exemption, and additional provisions which allow in certain circumstances for the benefit to continue for the un-remarried spouse of a volunteer fire fighter or ambulance corps member in the case of death of the volunteer. The local law under consideration can be found at the end of the agenda of the 1/16/24 meeting, and the changes to the law under the amendments adopted by the State can be found on the State Department of Taxation and Finance website.
2. Criteria for Senior Tax Exemption: In 2022, the Board adopted an amendment to the Village code pursuant to changes to Section 267 of the State's Real Property Tax Law, which increased the allowable income level for Senior tax exemptions to a sliding scale ranging from $50,000 - $58,400. This 2022 change increased the number of residents who qualified for the exemption. The Town Assessor requested that the Village consider amending the law to reflect income the same way it is calculated at the federal level - Federally Adjusted Gross Income (FAGI) plus social security benefits. This reduces confusion for both residents and the Assessor's office and means that taxpayers are not bearing the burden of granting exemptions to high earning households receiving IRA distributions.

• LOSAP RedNMX Records Management Software for Fire Department: The Board approved the purchase of a new software program for the fire department that will reduce the paperwork burden on the volunteers for logging attendance at fire calls, training and other events that count toward the Length of Service Award Program, a retirement benefits program provided by the Village for volunteer members of the Fire Department and the Tarrytown Volunteer Ambulance Corps. The new program is called RedNMX provided by Alpine software and will automate much of the recordkeeping that currently has to be done manually. The Village Administrator will work with Kelly Murphy, the LOSAP Coordinator for the Department, and the fire companies to implement the new program in the coming months.

• Water Meter Rental Fees and Rates: The Board approved water rate adjustments and the addition of a water meter rental fee for bills beginning after January 2024. The 7.8% increase in the rate for water usage was needed to meet the 1.385% and 6.332% increase in rates imposed by New York City for water supply since 2021, the last time the Village water rates were adjusted. The water meter rent fee is a new way to address the cost of water meter replacements. Rather than requiring property owners to purchase the new meters, the Village charges a rental fee which after the cost of the water meter is paid down, will continue to be applied to water system capital projects including future water replacement projects. This should reduce the amount of money that needs to be borrowed for capital projects in the future. The maintenance of the Village water system requires costly infrastructure improvements and replacements, including an upcoming necessary but costly renovation of the pump station. The Village is also exploring a possible consolidation of water systems with Sleepy Hollow and Briarcliff Manor to mitigate the costs of these necessary upgrades.
• The new water rate schedule can be found on page 5 of the agenda from the 1/16/24 meeting. The water meter rent will be approximately $4/month for the average household.

• Food Scrap Collection Grant: The Board approved the use of up to $10,000 for a shared study with six other Rivertown communities to look into what it would take to implement a curbside food scrap collection system locally. Food scarps are collected curbside in other Westchester communities including Scarsdale. Mamaroneck and Yonkers. The study will be funded by a grant through the Hudson Valley Greenway Planning grant program and the seven involved communities will share the required match.

• Parking spaces removed in front of recycling area: The Village has received numerous complaints recently regarding the state of the compost drop off area on Green Street south of the train station. The Public Works Department is working on the issue from several fronts including ordering new toters, and changing the pickup schedule to Fridays to ensure the empty containers can be cleaned. The Board also approved removal of the metered parking spaces in front of the recycling site to ensure that trucks can access the site for pick-up, and residents have an easier time dropping off.

Coming up:

The Board of Trustees will hold its next Work Session on Wednesday, January 31 at 6pm. The agenda for the Work Session will be be found here once it is published on Friday, January 26.

Possible Meeting Date Change: In order to achieve a quorum, the Board is reviewing schedules and may change the February 5th Board Meeting to Tuesday, February 6th at 6pm. We will send out a notice if the date changes, and the change will be reflected on the Village calendar.

Want to learn what's on the docket for the Board of Trustees? You can sign up to receive agendas in your inbox here.

Interested in what is currently before the Land Use Boards? Sign up to receive agendas in your inbox, or find them posted on the website, three days before the scheduled meeting.

Current applications before the Planning and Zoning Boards can be viewed online:

Planning

Zoning Board of Appeals

Celebrate Black History Month in February by Documenting Tarrytown History

Trustee Thomas Mitchell and Tarrytown Historical Society Executive Director and Village Historian Sara Mascia are starting a project where they’d like to interview long term residents to set up a long-term verbal and/or video history about their lives in Tarrytown. This month we will be focusing on black lives in Tarrytown, to commemorate Black History Month. We’ll be working with some residents soon to start this process. If anyone has an interest in participating in this process, please contact the Village Administrator’s Office and we will put you in touch with the team working on this project: administrator@tarrytownny.gov or (914) 631-1785.

Con Edison Updates

Next week:

• Crest Neighborhood: Work will continue at the intersection of Crest and Kerwin Place
• Miller Avenue: Gas main installation has been completed. The next phase will include connecting home service lines to the new gas main.
• Miller Park: Glen St: Work will continue on Glen Street down to Riverview Avenue.
• Main Street: There will be excavation in the area around 55-61 Main Street to repair an electrical issue starting Friday, January 26.
• Main street: Con Ed crews will be down by Sarah Michaels Park and Asbury Terrace to work on the gas equipment there on Tuesday, January 23.

Future Work:

• Miller Park: Future phases of work will proceed and include Park Avenue, Independence Street, Church Street, and MacArthur Lane
• Permits have been issued for Highland Avenue and Meadow Street, but we do not have start dates for this work yet.

When service connection work is taking place, please be advised that there will be intermittent traffic disruption. For individual households, they will be connecting new service to the residence, and will connect directly with the property owner to coordinate.

No work scheduled for Friday, January 12 and Monday, January 15.

Grant Funds Awarded to Study Flooding on in the Sheldon Brook Drainage Improvement District

In the busy end of the year waning hours, we missed announcing that the Village has been awarded a $200,000 technical assistance grant in conjunction with the Town of Greenburgh to study flooding issues in the Sheldon Brook Drainage District, particularly the flooding impacting homes on Sheldon Avenue. Because the causes of flooding can stem from a number of issues throughout a watershed area, the study will include the entire Drainage District which covers a significant area on either side of 287 in Tarrytown and Greenburgh. The New York State Office of Resilient Homes and Communities is managing the grant program, and will provide technical services to conduct the study which will generate an implementation plan to address the problems the study identifies. The first meeting with the State about the project will take place next week.

Tree Planting in Public Spaces

In this wintry season, Village staff are busy planning for the warm weather months. Village tree planting in public spaces in 2023 was limited for a number of reasons, but we are looking for public input for 2024. Do you have a location in mind where you think we could use a new tree in our public spaces? Please send us your suggestions for review by our Village Tree Commission, our Department of Public Works and our Parks Department. Please email afasman@tarrytownny.gov and include the address or GPS coordinate with your recommendation. If you have already sent in a suggestion and do not see a tree in place yet, it may be included in the spring planting schedule.

For more information about how the tree canopy benefits the Village, check out this article from the Nature Conservancy on public health benefits and this study from the Arbor Day Foundation on the economic and quality-of-life benefits of urban forestry in the united states.

RECREATION RUNDOWN

For information about all of the upcoming events and programs organized by the Recreation Department, click here, or sign up to get the news straight to your inbox every other week.

TEAC Vine Squad Cancelled on Saturday, January 20

The next meetup will be February 3rd from 10am-12pm. Interested in signing up and helping remove invasive vines from Tarrytown trails and public spaces? Reach out to Cathy at tarrytownenviro@gmail.com.

Volunteer to Organize Earth Month Activities

TEAC is looking for volunteers for its Earth Month Committee. They are organizing now to coordinate activities and events for April 2024 in an around Tarrytown. Please reach out to Rachel Tieger or Dean Gallea, Co-Chairs of TEAC if interested: tarrytownenviro@gmail.com.

Find the latest TEAC Newsletter here:

Other Volunteer Opportunities

Village Committees are not the only way to give back to your community. There are lots of civic groups in Tarrytown doing important work. Like TEAC, the Friends of the Riverwalk are looking for volunteers to help maintain the plantings on the waterfront. Many more organizations are listed in the Volunteer Directory that has been assembled by the Community Coalition and Kids Club of the Tarrytowns.

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY

WESTCHESTER DELEGATION

Notice of Virtual Public Forum

 2024-2025 State Budget Forum

SUBJECT: Virtual budget forum for local organizations, elected officials, residents, and communities of Westchester County to share their views on the Governor’s Executive Budget for SFY 2024-2025

Thursday, January 25, 2024

10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Via Zoom

NY State Assembly Westchester Delegation

J. Gary Pretlow, Chair, District 89; Amy Paulin, District 88; Nader Sayegh, District 90;

Steve Otis, District 91; Mary Jane Shimsky, District 92; Chris Burdick, District 93;

Matt Slater, District 94; Dana Levenberg, District 95

Testimony welcome at our annual budget forum:

·        Please register in advance to receive a time slot. Zoom link to be sent the day prior to the forum. 

·        Please submit written testimony to Lisa Urban at urbanl@nyassembly.gov, by 5:00 pm Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024.

·        Oral testimony limited to 3 minutes.

·        If you cannot testify on January 25^th written testimony is welcome.

·        Event will be live streamed on Facebook here.

The Westchester Delegation will accommodate as many participants as possible. Any questions please call Assemblyman Otis’s office at 914-939-7028.

Home Energy Assistance

Are you having trouble paying your home heating bills? Affording staying cool in summer? Paying for needed repairs or to improve your home's heating and cooling efficiency to reduce costs? There are programs that can help.

More information on the various programs can be found on the Westchester County Department of Social Services website.

Turner School of Construction Management to Launch in Westchester County in 2024

Join the Westchester County Office of Economic Development, Turner Construction Company and SUNY Westchester Yonkers Community College for the 2024 Turner School of Construction Management.

Attending this program provides an opportunity to: learn how to do business with General Contractors & Developers, meet other Small Businesses with similar experiences, learn how to Bid projects, insurance & bonding information, enhance your managerial, technical, and administrative expertise, and more!

The Turner School of Construction Management (TSCM) meets twice a week, from 4 PM-6 PM for 6-8 weeks. The sessions will be held at SUNY Westchester Yonkers, 843 Kimball Ave, Yonkers, NY 10704. Sessions will begin on March 5, 2024.

Please apply by February 8 and participation and session logistics will be confirmed by February 15. Participation is limited to those business owners in the construction industry and/or related fields (eg. architecture, engineering).

Click on the flyers below to apply in English or Spanish. 

Minimum Wage to Increase in Westchester

Effective January 1, 2024

Effective on Monday, Jan. 1, the minimum wage in Westchester County, Long Island, and New York City will increase to $16 per hour, and $15 per hour in the rest of the state.



The state's Department of Labor is now beginning a public awareness campaign to make sure workers know about the wage increase. Any minimum wage earners who do not see the increase reflected on their paychecks can file a wage complaint on the department's website or by calling 833-910-4378.    

Relieve the stress of finding child care

Free assistance for working parents

The Child Care Council of Westchester’s specialists are available to help working parents at all income levels find safe, reliable child care so they can work without worry or distraction. There is no charge for these services, and the Child Care Council’s assistance often reduces a tremendous burden of stress. 

The Child Care Council can provide:  

• Information about financial resources, including scholarships, subsidies, tax credits, and dependent care assistance plans (DCAP’s) that may be available 
• Lists of regulated child care providers, after school programs, summer camps, and a complete “Nanny Guide” 
• Tips and checklists to help parents recognize safe, quality care and check a child care provider’s compliance/violation history 
• Names of child care providers who meet certain criteria, like those approved to administer medication or who may have experience with special needs children 

For employers, the Child Care Council has professional material prepared that you can distribute to your employees or display at your place of business. They can accommodate your employees who live and work in other locations, connecting them with sister agencies throughout the region. 

Get help for your employees or your family today by calling: (914) 761-3456 x140.  

For more information about the Council, visit www.childcarewestchester.org.  

Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI)

More than $500 million in federal funding is now available to support the resurgence of small businesses across New York State through the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), a program through the American Rescue Plan Act. Managed by the U.S. Department of Treasury, SSBCI provides funds to support programs for small businesses to recover from the economic effects of COVID-19 and allow them opportunity to succeed in the post-pandemic economy.

Visit esd.ny.gov/ssbci for information on resources available

Did you know?

Local businesses can find resources, classes and other opportunities on the Westchester Catalyst website:

https://westchestercatalyst.com/events/

Tuition Reimbursement Program for EMS AND Fire Volunteers

Citizen volunteers are often called on to respond to emergency situations in Westchester County. Due to a variety of factors, local volunteer fire departments and volunteer Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies are currently experiencing a critical need to recruit and retain members.

As an incentive for local residents to serve at volunteer fire departments and EMS agencies the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services (DES), has developed a program of recruitment and retention incentives for volunteer emergency services agencies. The program is designed to provide tuition or student loan reimbursement to volunteers for their service in the County.

For more info: https://emergencyservices.westchestergov.com/contact-us/h-e-r-r-o