Yorktown Town Board Meeting - September 2, 2025
Yorktown Town Board Meeting - September 2, 2025
The Yorktown Town Board met on September 2, 2025, at 12:45 PM to discuss a range of topics including reports from town officials, proclamations, public comments, and several proposed local laws. Notably, the applicant for the proposed amendment to the Lake Osceola Plan Design District Overlay Zone withdrew their application prior to the meeting, so no action was taken. The meeting also featured presentations on recycling and a proposed site plan amendment for Tanto Irrigation LLC, as well as discussions on the emergency alert system, sensory garden project, steep slopes ordinance, solar power regulations, and recreation fees.
Consent Calendar
- Proclamations were issued for Labor Day, National Read a Book Day (September 6), Blood Cancer Awareness Month (September), World Suicide Prevention Day (September 10), and National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15).
- Personnel appointments approved: Julia Faron (CAD GIS technician), Carl Leduca (maintenance mechanic welder), Colin Houlihan (detective), and Michael Marge (police officer, effective September 19, 2025, salary $69,000 annually).
- Appointment of Kathleen Law to the Library Board of Trustees and Patrick Kaminsky to the Local Waterfront Revitalization Committee.
- Resolutions passed include: purchase of a 2026 Ford F-350 for building maintenance; budget transfers for police overtime ($375,000), Amazon Park Beach District improvements ($6,800.50), Parks and Recreation pool renovations ($738,000 to Ray Palmer Associates), and payment of unused time for a retired officer; release of $100,000 right-of-way escrow to Underhill Soundview LLC; award of tree removal services contract to New England Property Maintenance Inc.; library subscription agreement; change order for community room ceiling system; add-on purchase for body cameras; and a five-year mutual aid plan for the police department.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Howard Gould urged the board to be mindful of language use, specifically avoiding the term “indirect impacts” when residents are directly affected.
- Maura Gregory praised librarians and expressed concern about federal cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services and cancer research funding.
- Andrew Savino requested road paving on North Deerfield, a speed bump on Glenwood, and asked about the firehouse rebuild’s tax impact.
- CJ Divin criticized the process around the withdrawn Navajo Fields (Lake Osceola overlay) application, reading an excerpt from an email authored by a Jefferson Village official that supported the project for its potential to address stormwater and health issues.
- Jay Kobs raised enforcement issues at 385 Kear Street and Popeyes, and requested a deadline for recouping costs from applicants.
- Mark Lieberman expressed frustration over the stalled sensory garden project.
- Dan Leitner thanked the board for declining to expand the overlay district and urged a comprehensive study of the Lake Osceola area.
- Sarah Wilson noted early campaign signs and voiced concerns about the MOAC water supply threat from Granite Point development.
- Randy Pratt warned that any significant modification to the proposed solar law (e.g., grandfathering) would require a new public hearing.
- Marie Staludi highlighted Lake Osceola contamination (reportedly six times the legal limit) and criticized elected officials for inaction.
- Mike San Marco advocated for the Navajo Fields inclusion, arguing it could address housing, sewers, and indoor sports facilities.
- Joe Ariola, attorney for the Hidden Valleys project, explained the withdrawal was due to lack of response to their request for an adjournment to answer advisory board questions.
- Maura Gregory (second time) criticized the recycling bin replacement fee and suggested the collection contractor should cover costs.
Discussion Items
- Emergency Alert System: Councilwoman Susan Siegel reported that the current Nixel service costs $5,000/year, while the county’s Code Red system (which includes voice alerts) would cost $7,000/year. She recommended a board discussion on upgrading.
- Sensory Garden at Granite Knolls: Siegel reported the project is stalled due to disagreements on design and cost. Original $50,000 grant; estimated costs now up to $250,000. Supervisor Ed Lachterman suggested the town board set a framework. Councilman Sergio Esposito noted the project is “inching” forward and hoped for completion by spring 2026.
- Steep Slopes Ordinance: Siegel proposed adopting an ordinance to regulate development on slopes over 15% grade, citing DEC guidelines. The board agreed to put it on a future agenda for discussion.
- Solar Power Law: Town Attorney Adam Rodriguez presented a revised local law that would ban large-scale ground-mounted solar in residential districts but grandfather two pending projects (Jacob Road and Dell Avenue) under specific conditions. Siegel opposed both the ban and grandfathering, citing unclear language. The board voted to refer the law out for comment and public hearing.
- Recreation Fee (Public Sites and Open Space): Rodriguez presented a proposed law to clarify recreation fees for developments, including transitional and CR2 zones. Siegel had not seen the draft and requested more time; the board agreed to revisit next week.
- Tanto Irrigation LLC Site Plan: Joe, representing Tanto, proposed amending the approved site plan on Front Street (previously rezoned as transitional) to replace a two-building plan with a single building for an irrigation company. The board referred the application to the planning board.
- Refuse and Recycling Fee Increase: Phil Marino requested increases: leaf bag case from $20 to $52, individual bag from $0.40 to $1.05, recycling bin from $6 to $8 (or $4 for exchange), special bulk pickup from $60 to $90. The board will consider as part of budget resolutions.
- Recycling Presentation: Kristen reviewed curbside recycling rules, including dual-stream separation, accepted items, and special programs (e-waste, paint, textile, tire drop-off on September 5 from 7:30 AM to 2:30 PM; next paint drop-off December 12).
Key Outcomes
- The board acknowledged the withdrawal of the Lake Osceola overlay amendment; no vote was taken.
- Personnel appointments and proclamations were approved unanimously.
- The solar law was referred out for comment and public hearing. The board will vote later after receiving feedback.
- The recreation fee law discussion was postponed to the next meeting on September 9, 2025.
- The Tanto Irrigation site plan was referred to the planning board.
- Resolution to pay Transpo Group invoices ($6,000) for the Hidden Valleys traffic study was approved, with the town to seek reimbursement from the applicant.
- A request to advertise an RFP for Downing Drive and Veterans Road streetscape improvements was deferred until the draft RFP is provided to the board by the end of the week.
- The meeting was adjourned after approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening and welcome to the town board meeting for September 2nd, 2025. If we could all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. And Mr. Bertram in the back there, can you uh lead us out? To the flag of the United States of America. For which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible, liberty, and justice. For all. And if we could remain standing for a moment of silence, I'd like to uh make sure that we uh do this in honor in honor and memory of uh uh Richard Ricky Lee, who is a uh White Plains detective and a Yorktown resident who recently passed, uh Sheriff Kevin McGonical and uh from Putnam Valley, and also for the victims of the uh Annunciation Catholic Catholic School shooting uh last week. Thank you. Start with introductions to my right. Good evening, Diana Quas, Town Clerk. Good evening, Lieutenant Howe, Councilwoman. Supervisor Red Lacterman. Sir Joe Esposito, Deputy Supervisor. Patrick Murphy, Councilman, Susan Siegel, Councilwoman, Adam Rodriguez, Town Attorney. Okay. Um Adam, before reports to the town, did you want to uh talk about uh sure? Excuse me, one second to pull it up. So there was uh an item on the agenda, a decision on the proposed local law to amend the Lake Osciola Plan Design District Overlay Zone and a draft resolution. Uh but on Sunday, I believe it was the applicant withdrew uh its application, so there's nothing for the board to act upon this evening. So it's a non-agenda item at this point. Thank you. All right. Um so for uh my report to the town. I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. Um was really not a lot going on in town, which was actually kind of nice for a change. But uh we are going to be coming up with a lot of uh a lot of things in the next couple of weeks. Uh we will start off on um the 5th, 6th, and 7th with the Grange Fair, uh, the Yorktown Grange Fair, I think 101 years now. So that's uh outstanding. Um please uh tell your friends, let's get them out there. It's a it's a lot of fun. There's some great entertainment uh and a really really uh fantastic time for all. Uh we are going to have uh, of course, our 9-11 ceremony, uh, which will be 4 p.m. at the 9-11 memorial over by the John C. Hart Memorial Library on uh East Main Street. We will have and we'll probably hear a little bit more about this uh on Friday uh September 5th. We're gonna be having e-waste paint textile and tire drop off. Uh and this is going to be in the front parking lot of the Yorktown police station from 7 30 a.m. to 2 45 p.m. So those of you that have to get to work, hopefully you can make it uh out there early and get your stuff dropped off. Uh it's really uh a fantastic way to get get rid of the stuff that's been building up. And with the nice thing with the paint is they take the can as is as long as it has a label on it and it's sealed, and uh you do not have to put sand in and do all of the other stuff. They just take the the paint and it goes through the recycling. Uh we're also going to have uh two shed the med events on uh Tuesday, the 16th of September from 11 to 1 at Yorktown Police Department and the at the senior fair that's going to be held by uh uh by Matt Slater, our local uh assemblyman. Uh that'll be on Friday, September 26th, from 10 to 12, and that's at the Jefferson uh uh village JOC. Uh shed the meds for those of you who don't know. You can take all of your prescription medications that are old, expired, no longer needed. You put them into a plastic ziploc bag, uh only pills. They cannot take liquids, needles, injectables, but you could bring those in and they will be properly disposed of by the police department, uh, which they end up going to a uh a burn, a uh a med burn, and they dispose of all of those.
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