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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Pleasantville Village Board of Trustees Regular Meeting – August 12, 2025

Village Board of Trustees & Boards — Tuesday, August 12, 2025

BodyPleasantville, New York

SessionVillage Board of Trustees & Boards

DateTuesday, August 12, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:02:14

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:00

11.

0:00

We began with a work session at seven as we always do.

0:03

Moving into our regular session at eight, as always, you can pick up uh on an uh uh live broadcast via Zoom.

0:12

You can get the link for that at Pleasantville-NY.gov, not only for the village board,

Unassigned speaker

0:16

but uh

Speaker 1

0:17

for other boards and commissions

Unassigned speaker

0:19

that

Speaker 1

0:19

uh have Zoom meetings, and uh in addition to that, within a short period of time, the recording of our work session or regular session will be available also at Pleasantville-NY.gov.

0:31

I think we should probably do a little session at uh the first meeting in November and show people where those videos are.

0:38

Sure, because they're not used to uh where to look for them.

0:42

Sure.

0:43

Um so uh as is uh our regular practice uh today is the second Monday of August.

0:54

The uh next meeting is on Monday, August 25 work session at seven regular

Unassigned speaker

0:58

meeting

Speaker 1

0:59

at eight.

1:00

Um have a bunch of announcements to make, but uh we have a number of things on our agenda, and I know some uh member of the public wanted to speak,

Unassigned speaker

1:08

so

Speaker 1

1:10

anyone with a comment on any subject is welcome.

1:13

Enter and sign in, please.

Speaker 2

1:15

Hello, sign in.

1:16

Um hi, I'm Francesca Haggis and another 24 Grantwood Drive in Pleasantville.

1:22

And uh thank you for understanding that two weeks ago I couldn't be here because I was celebrating an anniversary of my 29th birthday.

1:29

And I was

Speaker 1

1:30

I know the feeling.

Speaker 2

1:31

I was on the boat in the middle of the Hudson where my son works for uh Classic Harbor Line, and so we

Unassigned speaker

1:38

had

Speaker 2

1:38

a really fun time.

1:39

He's also an actor, you see, so that's his give job.

1:43

Anyway, and you can follow him on Tim McHale Comedy.

1:45

Okay.

1:49

We're here

Speaker 1

1:49

all night.

Speaker 2

1:50

Exactly.

1:51

Now, um, thank you also.

1:53

Um, I'd like to uh thank everybody who um participated in helping us get to the required number of signatures to get the petition to get the referendum on the ballot.

2:07

It was a team effort, it was other people in the village that carried petitions.

2:12

I'd like to thank Alyssa for um uh you know burning the midnight oil to go over the signatures.

2:19

I think Eric smiled at her while she was doing that too.

2:23

So I think that she did a great job.

2:26

And um, so it's gonna be uh on the ballot um this November.

2:31

Now

Speaker 1

2:32

just to be clear, you haven't said what it's about.

Speaker 2

2:34

Yeah, I just do that.

2:36

Okay.

2:36

You know, as a teacher, I have a lesson plan right here.

2:39

Okay.

2:40

And um, okay, so um we are uh on the ballot.

2:44

There will be a choice of voting yes or no.

2:48

Should we move village elections from their one day in March that we have usually to uh the general election date in November?

2:58

This year it happens to be November 4th, 2025.

3:03

Um, and so village residents only will have the opportunity to turn their ballot over and vote either yes or no as to whether

Unassigned speaker

3:12

they

Speaker 2

3:12

uh agree that village elections should be moved from one day in March to all the days in November.

3:21

That means early voting, they can vote for it.

3:24

Um, absentee, they can vote well, they can so for it in absentee, but um they could vote for it early or on November 4th.

3:33

And um, so that having been said, you know, um in college I majored in languages, but I minored in linguistics, and one of the courses I had to take was psychology of communication now.

3:44

Bear with

Unassigned speaker

3:45

me.

Speaker 2

3:46

Um, and one of the things we talked about was a psychology of a rumor.

3:51

And um rumors have to be somewhat upsetting, but yet believable.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Public Safety██████████████████████████████30%

Community Engagement███████████████15%

Procedural████████████12%

Public Engagement███████████11%

Technology and Innovation███████████11%

Personnel Matters███████7%

Homelessness█████5%

Public Works█████5%

Active Transportation████4%

Summary of Proceedings

Pleasantville Village Board of Trustees Regular Meeting – August 12, 2025

The Pleasantville Village Board of Trustees held its regular meeting on August 12, 2025, beginning with a work session at 7:00 PM and the regular meeting at 8:00 PM. The meeting featured a quarterly update from Police Chief Eric Grutzner, public comment on a referendum to move village elections to November, and unanimous approval of all resolutions on the agenda, including a new cable franchise agreement with Verizon, a mutual aid plan, and holiday lighting bids.

Public Comments & Testimony

Francesca Haggis (resident of 24 Grantwood Drive) spoke in support of the referendum that will appear on the November 4, 2025 ballot, asking voters whether to move village elections from a single day in March to the general election date in November. She argued that more residents would participate and that candidates can still run as independents, dispelling rumors that a November election would force partisan lines. She encouraged the board to support the change. Mayor (unidentified) responded that this is now a political matter for voters and declined to debate it from the dais, but noted that moving to November has both advantages and disadvantages, citing Sleepy Hollow’s experience where a decade of nonpartisan elections gave way to Democratic party lines. Trustee Peter? further discussed potential involvement of Mount Pleasant Democratic or Republican committees, but Ms. Haggis maintained that independent candidates remain viable.

Discussion Items

Police Department Quarterly Update (Chief Eric Grutzner) – Chief Grutzner presented the 2025 Q2 (April–June) report:
- Calls for service increased seasonally compared to Q1.
- Traffic enforcement focused on Memorial Plaza and Wheeler Avenue, addressing double parking and illegal parking; residents can request targeted enforcement.
- Community policing included visits to Pleasantville Children’s Center, a tour for Select Human Services clients, and participation in Pleasantville Day and other special events.
- Overtime rose due to three drivers: tour coverage (backfilling retirements of Sgt. Sam Takemy and Officer Peter Burns in April), special events, and firearms training. Two new officers (Jeronza and Balducci) completed field training and are now operational, which should reduce tour coverage overtime.
- The department is at near-full staffing; one detective vacancy remains to be filled.
- Training highlights: officer wellness seminar in Carmel, mutual aid drill at Briarcliff High School (walkaway scenario), leadership conference in Tarrytown (speaker included former NYPD Commissioner Bratton), and firearms qualification.
- Records Management System migration: partnering with Westchester County and 12 other municipalities for a cloud-based system, saving significant costs. Go-live target moved from March 2025 to November 2025; the current system remains functional.
- Mutual Aid Plan: the county-wide plan (resolution 274) provides tiered response – first wave from agencies with countywide jurisdiction, second wave zone-based (40–50 officers), third wave full county (up to 200 officers).
- Community Resource Program: umbrella initiative including Special Needs Liaison (Sgt. Dave Casal), “Bridges” Spanish-speaking officer outreach, elder abuse training, and continued partnership with Westchester mobile crisis team for unhoused individuals. Coffee with a Cop planned for October 1 at Starbucks.
- License Plate Readers (LPRs): two cameras purchased via NYS grant, operated securely by Westchester County Real Time Crime Center; data not shared with third parties or used for commercial purposes. One camera was removed after resident concerns about a dead-end street; a new location will be found. LPRs only capture publicly visible license plates and vehicle characteristics; alerts are sent for wanted plates. The chief emphasized the department declined to join a state crime analysis center to maintain data control.
- E-bike and scooter regulations: NYS law requires riders to be 16 years old; helmets required until age 16; all motorized vehicles must stay on roadways. The chief noted enforcement will focus on safety, especially with school starting.
Mayor’s Announcements – The mayor highlighted:
- Hurricane preparedness: encouraged residents to visit ready.gov.
- Road paving underway, expected to complete by end of the week.
- NYS budget concerns: potential $3 billion federal funding loss; village will monitor.
- New pool: due to mechanical issues causing seven days of closure, the pool will extend operations on four extra days (Sept 6–7 and Sept 13–14) instead of closing Labor Day; no additional discounts beyond the 10% given for delayed opening.
- Con Edison rate case: village is part of a consortium challenging rate increases, focusing on storm hardening costs.
- New stop signs at Ashland and Manhagan near the country club will be installed next week, approved by NYSDOT.
- Westchester Power (CCA) in-person info session: August 18 at Mount Pleasant Library, 6:15 PM.
- Saturday concert series continues August 23 at the civic space.

Key Outcomes

All resolutions were approved unanimously:

Res. 2025-265: Approved minutes of July 14 and July 28, 2025.
Res. 2025-266: Waived 30-day notice for liquor license application of La Riviera at 113 Tompkins Avenue.
Res. 2025-267: Authorized Village Administrator to sign food service permit renewal for Clinton Street Center (Westchester County).
Res. 2025-268: Approved FY2025 claims abstract totaling $614.99.
Res. 2025-269: Approved FY2026 claims abstract totaling $698,185.63 (General $461,515.77; Water $206,881.30; Capital $11,890.00; Refuse $17,898.56).
Res. 2025-270: Scheduled a public hearing on September 8, 2025, at 8:00 PM for the Verizon cable franchise renewal agreement.
Res. 2025-271: Accepted resignation of Sharon Sutherland, Recreation Leader (Panther Club), effective June 30, 2025.
Res. 2025-272: Hired four new Recreation Leaders (Cara Andreassi, Gabriel Birkenmeyer, Sol Ibarra, Vivian Lopez) at $22.00/hour, effective August 21, 2025.
Res. 2025-273: Authorized Lts. Jesse Wollman and Kevin Gilmartin to attend IACP Conference in Denver, CO, Oct 18–21, 2025.
Res. 2025-274: Authorized Village Administrator to sign Westchester County Mutual Aid & Rapid Response Plan for Police Departments, effective July 31, 2025 through July 30, 2030.
Res. 2025-275: Authorized advertising bids for 2025 Holiday Downtown Lighting.

The board then moved into executive session on matters of litigation and real estate.

Meeting Transcript

11. We began with a work session at seven as we always do. Moving into our regular session at eight, as always, you can pick up uh on an uh uh live broadcast via Zoom. You can get the link for that at Pleasantville-NY.gov, not only for the village board, but uh for other boards and commissions that uh have Zoom meetings, and uh in addition to that, within a short period of time, the recording of our work session or regular session will be available also at Pleasantville-NY.gov. I think we should probably do a little session at uh the first meeting in November and show people where those videos are. Sure, because they're not used to uh where to look for them. Sure. Um so uh as is uh our regular practice uh today is the second Monday of August. The uh next meeting is on Monday, August 25 work session at seven regular meeting at eight. Um have a bunch of announcements to make, but uh we have a number of things on our agenda, and I know some uh member of the public wanted to speak, so anyone with a comment on any subject is welcome. Enter and sign in, please. Hello, sign in. Um hi, I'm Francesca Haggis and another 24 Grantwood Drive in Pleasantville. And uh thank you for understanding that two weeks ago I couldn't be here because I was celebrating an anniversary of my 29th birthday. And I was I know the feeling. I was on the boat in the middle of the Hudson where my son works for uh Classic Harbor Line, and so we had a really fun time. He's also an actor, you see, so that's his give job. Anyway, and you can follow him on Tim McHale Comedy. Okay. We're here all night. Exactly. Now, um, thank you also. Um, I'd like to uh thank everybody who um participated in helping us get to the required number of signatures to get the petition to get the referendum on the ballot. It was a team effort, it was other people in the village that carried petitions. I'd like to thank Alyssa for um uh you know burning the midnight oil to go over the signatures. I think Eric smiled at her while she was doing that too. So I think that she did a great job. And um, so it's gonna be uh on the ballot um this November. Now just to be clear, you haven't said what it's about. Yeah, I just do that. Okay. You know, as a teacher, I have a lesson plan right here. Okay. And um, okay, so um we are uh on the ballot. There will be a choice of voting yes or no. Should we move village elections from their one day in March that we have usually to uh the general election date in November? This year it happens to be November 4th, 2025.

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