Joint Committee Meeting of Budget & Appropriations, Infrastructure & Housing, and Public Safety & Veterans - April 27, 2026
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Joint Committee Meeting of Budget & Appropriations, Infrastructure & Housing, and Public Safety & Veterans - April 27, 2026
The meeting was held on April 27, 2026, starting at 10:09 AM and adjourning at 11:30 AM. The joint committees convened to discuss and vote on several capital budget amendments, bond acts, grant agreements, lease approvals, and year-end budget transfers. All items were approved unanimously and referred to the Board of Legislators.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes approval for the meetings of April 6, 2026, and April 13, 2026, were approved by voice vote.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were recorded.
Discussion Items
1. Easement for Propel New York Transmission Lines (Item 2026-187)
- The committee considered an act authorizing the County to grant permanent and temporary easements to New York Transco and NYPA for underground transmission lines on the Bronx River Reservation. The temporary easement covers approximately 44,000 square feet (about one acre) for construction and storage, and the permanent easement for ongoing service. The county will receive $950,000 in total consideration ($94,000 for the temporary easement, $855,000 for the permanent). The appraised fair market value was negotiated. Legislators questioned whether the revenue was anticipated in the 2026 budget and how local municipalities would be informed of construction disruptions. The parks department confirmed that municipalities are being consulted. The item was approved unanimously.
2. Correctional Facility Chiller Replacement (Items 2026-195 & 2026-196)
- The committee reviewed a capital budget amendment and bond act totaling $3,540,000 to replace chiller CH3 at the County Correctional Facility. The chiller, one of three, failed unexpectedly during startup. The new chiller will be more energy-efficient with a variable frequency drive. Design is mostly complete, and construction will take about eight months. A temporary rental chiller will be installed during the summer cooling season at a cost of approximately $750,000 (including installation and demobilization). The other two chillers are slated for replacement in future capital projects. The item was approved unanimously.
3. Justice Assistance Grant (Item 2026-188)
- The committee authorized acceptance of a federal Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (FY24) totaling $75,545, with the county's share at $30,506.25. Funds will be used for a workstation for drone first responder and drone detection in the real-time crime center. The grant also includes an intermunicipal agreement with the cities of Yonkers and Mount Vernon. The item was approved unanimously.
4. Citigroup Hangar Lease (Items 2026-191 & 2026-192)
- The committee approved a 25-year lease (15-year base period plus two 5-year options) for Citigroup at the Westchester County Airport. The lease rate is $40 per square foot, yielding an estimated $22 million in revenue over the initial 15 years. The county will not share in capital improvements. The tenant is responsible for maintenance and has already begun roof replacements. The lease includes terms for access to county radio equipment. The item was approved unanimously.
5. Water District #3 East View Pumping Station (Items 2026-182, 190, 179, 180, 181, 178, 183)
- The committee considered an additional $40 million for construction of a new drinking water pumping station and transmission main for County Water District #3. The project provides a backup water supply for the Gate of Heaven pumping station, serving the hospital and jail. Design is 90% complete. The original estimate was $30 million; the increase is due to scope changes including horizontal directional drilling to avoid wetlands. Legislators expressed concern about the 40% cost increase and the process for managing scope changes. The item was approved unanimously.
6. Year-End Budget Transfers (Items 2026-184, 185, 186)
- The committee approved three resolutions for inter-departmental transfers ($41.9 million) and intra-departmental transfers ($21.8 million) to close out the 2025 fiscal year. Major transfers included $15.6 million for Medicaid DSH payments (offset by revenue), $11.6 million for health insurance claims, and additional funding for self-insurance funds (6N and 6J). Parks and recreation hourly wages exceeded budget by $3.6 million due to unplanned operation of Playland. The budget director explained that overall the county expects to break even for 2025. The items were approved unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- All items (2026-187, 195, 196, 188, 191, 192, the package of seven water district items, and 184, 185, 186) were approved by the respective committees and referred to the full Board of Legislators.
- Votes were unanimous in all cases, with Legislator Tubiolo excused from the Public Safety & Veterans committee.
- The meeting adjourned at 11:30 AM.
Meeting Transcript
This meeting is being recorded and summarized. All right, take two. Good morning, everyone. Legislative Woodson Samuels here, and this is the budget and appropriations committee. It's April 27th. And I'll start us off with the roll fall vote. I am present. Majority Leader Holski. Present. Definitely the Nambiar. Here, let's say the Pierce, Dimity Vice Chair Tubiolo, Majority Williams. Presence. Legislator Williams Johnson. Chairman Gosh. All right. We are open at 1009 a.m. And we're going to take an item out of order. I'm going to start out with the last item, which is actually item 187. 2026-187. Join us at the table. And just for the record. And uh you want us to move it around. That's why I'm going to just for the record. This is uh items 226-187, an act authorizing County of Leicester to grant permanent and temporary easements in YPA and Transville LLC. Gentlemen, thank you for joining us this morning. Please introduce yourselves to the record and let's dive into the item. Sure. Good morning, everybody. Happy Monday. Peter Truxagraf for a company commissioner County Parks. Good morning, David Vital, Deputy County Attorney. Good morning, Rob Bokane, Director of Park Planning, Parks Recreational Conservation. Thank you for being here. Okay, I'll start and then you can continue. Um actually Parks has really a part of this. This is uh this is Transmission Lines through New York Transco and New York Power Authority. Um very you know long distance energy lines that they are uh they are putting in known better as different programming sorry. Uh Propel New York, yeah, Propel New York. And basically um they're a forward thinking group. I'm sure you've heard about that before. We were doing some other things that are traversing some of the park parkland um about putting a clean high energy um transmission lines as well as substitutions and so forth underground, a lot of things go under the ground, some of them actually go into the water. This particular one um is on municipal property. There's a small section uh that's on the Bronx River reservation. It's about 44,000 square feet or approximately one acre, and it's in the uh sort of Bronxville, Tuckahoe area down Tuckahoe Road where they will need to go underground uh to to place some of these lines. So it's really a two-part, uh, it's a temporary easement, uh, which you know is for storage of vehicles, equipment, materials, and actually performing the work, and then of course the permanent easement for being able to service those lines throughout. Uh it will be minimal disruption to us as county parks. Um, you know, we are we have much much much larger of our own projects um that you know you know cause some closures. This is probably not gonna cause closures, it might be you know some detouring, but it's a very small area if you know Tuckahoe Road area where it's splits and goes it's it's in that area. So the parks department um you have to come to the parks department uh for these types of easements, and we are obviously very much in favor of it. We're also working on you know something larger and similar on Caprole Point part, which you've seen, and this is to really help us all in the future um to have cleaner energy and a lot of what we're trying to do in all our infrastructure is look at the different types of energy sources and what we can change them to when we do have our own capital projects.
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