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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Town of Yorktown Board Meeting - February 17, 2026

Town Board — Tuesday, February 17, 2026

BodyYorktown, New York

SessionTown Board

DateTuesday, February 17, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:20:03

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

0:10

If we could all uh stand for the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

0:29

If we can remain standing for a moment of silence, uh last week um one of our uh priests at uh Elizabeth Ann Seaton lost his mom, Krista Blanco.

0:40

Uh if you keep uh uh Father Joe and his family in your prayers, and also um today uh we learned of the passing of the Reverend Jesse Jackson uh who you know meant so much for the uh for the fight in against the injustice of uh racism.

0:59

And uh one of one of my favorite quotes of his uh never look down at anybody unless you're uh helping them up.

1:09

Uh so if we could have that moment of silence.

1:21

Thank you.

1:22

Please be seated.

1:27

Okay.

1:31

Introduction starting to my right.

1:33

Good evening, Diana Closet.

1:39

Supervisor Ed Lacterman.

1:41

Susan Siegel, Council Wooding.

1:45

And MIA uh Adam Rodriguez is here, our town attorney.

1:49

Um I'm gonna keep the reports to the town uh short today.

1:55

Um we will see today a presentation.

1:58

Uh I've asked all of our uh all of our department heads about their goals for 2026 to align with uh my goal, which is uh improving uh the uh the the communication between the town and our employee.

2:16

So uh our the town and our uh residents, I'm sorry.

2:21

It's been a long day already.

2:23

Um so we'll we're gonna see a presentation today on Text My Gov and over the next few work sessions, a few programs that we're looking at uh trying to bring in to help improve things, uh, we'll be here.

2:35

Uh I do want to uh wish all of those celebrating a very peaceful and blessed Ramadan.

2:43

Uh may your your fast uh be safe and joyous.

2:48

Uh we're also celebrating today the lunar new year and uh wishing all those celebrating the lunar new year uh joy and good fortune for this year ahead.

2:59

Um and also uh my wife had uh sent me a little thing today, which was today is random act of kindness day.

3:07

And it's something that you should try to do every day, but especially today, try to maybe do something.

3:13

It could uh it could change a person's day, and you never know that could change a person's life.

3:18

So uh uh just to remember on that.

3:22

Thank you.

3:23

I'll make mine quick.

3:24

I just hope everybody had a happy Valentine's Day.

3:27

I was uh had the privilege of going to Windward Oaks and uh Yorktown seniors over here and uh enjoyed uh Valentine's uh lunch with them.

3:37

It was great, you know.

3:38

So uh I really appreciate the privilege on that.

3:42

And uh again, Father Joe Blanco.

3:44

I went to high school with him, you know, and his mother passed away.

3:47

Uh prayers for them and the family.

3:50

So and then please go to the library and check out the website and look what arts and crafts they have, look what movies they have, look what uh programs they have.

4:00

They're just it's a plethora of information.

4:04

So I know Sergio's not here, but he was all over the place.

4:08

He was uh, you know, at the senior the senior lunches with us, and uh, you know, he's at wrestling, cheer, dance, girls' basketball, boys basketball, boys basketball.

4:20

He was the one of the most important things that he was at was uh it was um uh Charlie Strong.

4:28

It's uh Charlie De Janeiro.

4:30

He was um when he was a freshman, he got diagnosed with uh acute uh um diagnosis of uh neuro neurological uh problems, and he's doing a fundraiser for Blighdale uh children's hospital, and this is the fifth year that the high school basketball team has sponsored it and helped them, and it's just a great organization.

4:53

That's that's it.

4:55

All right, Susan, if you don't mind uh just two things I forgot.

5:00

Uh I'm hoping it next month that we'll we should be able to give a uh direction on the master plan and our revisit of that.

5:06

Uh we're waiting on planning to uh bring us a couple of uh a couple of more ideas uh from our planning board and we will be putting that together and also since we're talking about boards.

5:19

Uh please remember we do have uh some openings left.

5:23

Uh we've actually been interviewing quite a few people.

5:25

It's uh been uh uh amazing with the outpouring of people who want to uh help in the community and uh today we had four uh four other interviews and it's been wonderful.

5:36

So please uh you know keep that uh keep that in mind.

5:41

There are still some things, especially if you're into conservation, and I believe we have something on the architectural board of review as well.

5:48

So I'd just like to get an update on an update on something that I was updated on about 20 minutes ago.

6:01

Um as of last week, if you remember we had a discussion about consolidating uh the eleven peak skill sewer districts, and I was expecting to see draft legislation on the agenda tonight, and when I asked the supervisor why not, apparently it now seems that the town feels that they need a consultant to review it's it's more complicated than they thought it was, so it sounds like now they're gonna have to do an RFQ, a request for qualifications or proposals to get a consultant to study how to proceed with the consolidation.

6:32

So it's gonna take more time than originally thought.

6:36

Um also on the um on the comp plan.

6:40

Um I asked the planning board uh planning director the other uh last week um I said exactly what are you looking at because I was a little I was I didn't know what was happening, and he's what he told me was they are looking at the existing plan to see what needs to be updated.

6:57

They're not coming in with specific suggestions, but only what's out of date in the plan.

7:03

So that's what I think we might expect and look forward to to seeing that.

7:07

And then we would proceed with what what needs to be done.

7:11

Um also the tree uh in terms of terms of volunteer boards, the tree advisory um committee is also looking for volunteers.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████████████████████████37%

Technology and Innovation██████████████████████22%

Procedural█████████9%

Community Engagement████████8%

Public Engagement████████8%

Miscellaneous██████6%

Parks and Recreation████4%

Environmental Protection███3%

Pending Litigation███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Town of Yorktown Board Meeting - February 17, 2026

The Town Board of Yorktown convened on February 17, 2026, at 7:00 PM in the Town Hall. The meeting included a presentation on a text-messaging communication platform, public comments on small-cell infrastructure and community food drives, public hearings for three land-use applications, and several resolutions. The board discussed the need for broader communication tools and approved permits for residential projects with conditions.

Public Comments & Testimony

Karen Erickson (resident) urged the board to seek independent research on small-cell alternatives to the proposed macro tower, stating that the applicant (Homeland Towers) should not be the source for information on competing technologies. She also thanked the advisory committees for improving the posting of meeting agendas, noting that the Abaca, Conservation Board, and other committees now post agendas regularly.
Sarah Wilson (Yorktown Heights resident) promoted American Heart Month blood drives at Grace Lutheran Church and a cereal collection for local food pantries organized by the Yorktown Lions Club. She highlighted that the two pantries serve about 200 families each week and asked the board to continue addressing affordability issues.
Michael Beek (short-time resident) commented on the Text My Gov presentation, noting that the town's website already has a robust search function and suggested exploring whether extended website features could provide text-based capabilities instead of a separate service.

Discussion Items

Text My Gov Presentation – Jaden Eastman presented a text-messaging platform for town communications, including one-way alerts, two-way FAQ responses, issue reporting, and surveys. Cost: $15,000 in year one and $12,000 annually thereafter. Council member Susan Siegel expressed interest in broadening the search to include competing products such as Code Red, which offers text, email, and voice options for emergency and non-emergency alerts. Supervisor Ed Lacterman agreed to evaluate Code Red and other options, while noting that some features may overlap with existing systems like Nixel and the town website.
Small-Cell Infrastructure – Council members discussed the need for specific, location-based information about whether small-cell technology could serve the neighborhood currently seeking a macro tower. Siegel stated that generic reports are insufficient and that she wants to know exactly which streets have poor coverage and how many utility poles would be needed. Lacterman said he is awaiting additional reports from the applicant and has consulted a resident who works in the field.
Public Hearings – Three applications were considered: Pan Bar Realty (Hollywood Street), Joseph D'Alonzo (Stony Street), and Robert Cohen (adjacent lot). All were for new single-family homes and associated permits.

Key Outcomes

Pan Bar Realty Permit – Approved (3-1, with Council Member Siegel dissenting). The resolution was conditioned on compliance with memoranda from the Planning Board and Conservation Board, including tree mitigation and confirmation that wetlands are not present on the site. The address was corrected from 3370 to 3307 Hollywood Street, and the tax identification number was used for legal descriptions.
Joseph D'Alonzo Permit – Approved (3-1, Siegel dissenting). The resolution included conditions to satisfy outstanding comments from the Planning Board, Conservation Board, Abaca, and Tree Advisory Commission.
Robert Cohen Permit – Approved (3-1, Siegel dissenting). Same conditions as D'Alonzo, with additional concerns about steep slopes expressed by Siegel.
Special Prosecutor Services – Authorized the Supervisor to execute an agreement with Murtaw, Caso, Venditti, & Castroblanco LLP at $285 per hour for matters before local justice courts.
Meeting Relocation – Authorized the Town Clerk to move the March 3, 2026 Town Board meeting to the Albert A. Cappellini Community & Cultural Center if the boardroom is expected to be over capacity.
Parks & Recreation Bus Awards – Awarded bus contracts: First Student Inc. for school buses and Hudson Valley Charter Services for coach buses, subject to wait-list evaluation for a potential second coach bus.
Heritage Preservation Committee Amendment – Amended the February 10, 2026 resolution to correct the allocation description, with no change in dollar amounts.
Tax Refunds – Authorized refunds for duplicate school taxes as listed.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:35 PM.

Meeting Transcript

If we could all uh stand for the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. If we can remain standing for a moment of silence, uh last week um one of our uh priests at uh Elizabeth Ann Seaton lost his mom, Krista Blanco. Uh if you keep uh uh Father Joe and his family in your prayers, and also um today uh we learned of the passing of the Reverend Jesse Jackson uh who you know meant so much for the uh for the fight in against the injustice of uh racism. And uh one of one of my favorite quotes of his uh never look down at anybody unless you're uh helping them up. Uh so if we could have that moment of silence. Thank you. Please be seated. Okay. Introduction starting to my right. Good evening, Diana Closet. Supervisor Ed Lacterman. Susan Siegel, Council Wooding. And MIA uh Adam Rodriguez is here, our town attorney. Um I'm gonna keep the reports to the town uh short today. Um we will see today a presentation. Uh I've asked all of our uh all of our department heads about their goals for 2026 to align with uh my goal, which is uh improving uh the uh the the communication between the town and our employee. So uh our the town and our uh residents, I'm sorry. It's been a long day already. Um so we'll we're gonna see a presentation today on Text My Gov and over the next few work sessions, a few programs that we're looking at uh trying to bring in to help improve things, uh, we'll be here. Uh I do want to uh wish all of those celebrating a very peaceful and blessed Ramadan. Uh may your your fast uh be safe and joyous. Uh we're also celebrating today the lunar new year and uh wishing all those celebrating the lunar new year uh joy and good fortune for this year ahead. Um and also uh my wife had uh sent me a little thing today, which was today is random act of kindness day. And it's something that you should try to do every day, but especially today, try to maybe do something. It could uh it could change a person's day, and you never know that could change a person's life. So uh uh just to remember on that. Thank you. I'll make mine quick. I just hope everybody had a happy Valentine's Day. I was uh had the privilege of going to Windward Oaks and uh Yorktown seniors over here and uh enjoyed uh Valentine's uh lunch with them. It was great, you know. So uh I really appreciate the privilege on that. And uh again, Father Joe Blanco. I went to high school with him, you know, and his mother passed away. Uh prayers for them and the family. So and then please go to the library and check out the website and look what arts and crafts they have, look what movies they have, look what uh programs they have. They're just it's a plethora of information. So I know Sergio's not here, but he was all over the place. He was uh, you know, at the senior the senior lunches with us, and uh, you know, he's at wrestling, cheer, dance, girls' basketball, boys basketball, boys basketball. He was the one of the most important things that he was at was uh it was um uh Charlie Strong. It's uh Charlie De Janeiro. He was um when he was a freshman, he got diagnosed with uh acute uh um diagnosis of uh neuro neurological uh problems, and he's doing a fundraiser for Blighdale uh children's hospital, and this is the fifth year that the high school basketball team has sponsored it and helped them, and it's just a great organization. That's that's it. All right, Susan, if you don't mind uh just two things I forgot. Uh I'm hoping it next month that we'll we should be able to give a uh direction on the master plan and our revisit of that. Uh we're waiting on planning to uh bring us a couple of uh a couple of more ideas uh from our planning board and we will be putting that together and also since we're talking about boards. Uh please remember we do have uh some openings left. Uh we've actually been interviewing quite a few people. It's uh been uh uh amazing with the outpouring of people who want to uh help in the community and uh today we had four uh four other interviews and it's been wonderful. So please uh you know keep that uh keep that in mind.

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