Community Development Block Grant Program


February 12, 2008, Work Session
The Planning Department presented a list of possible projects to be included in an application for funds from the Community Development Block Grant program for 2009-2011. The listing of projects was preliminary as the application does not have to be submitted until May.

1. Senior Center
Based on an estimated $2 million cost for building a new center at an as yet to be determined location, the board is considering making an initial request for $125,000, with $100,000 match coming from the town. In addition to requesting funds from the CDBG program, the town will also seek possible federal funds from Congressman John Hall's office and other state and county programs.

(A report is due in the spring on possible renovations to the YCC building, including the space currently used for seniors. Also, the town is considering conducting an anonymous income survey of seniors as CBDG money is available only to assist low and moderate income seniors.)

2. Mini van for the nutrition program, $15,000 request, with a $15,000 town match.

3. Streetscape (lighting, benches, etc.) along south side of East Main Street, from Lexington to Mohegan Ave. (The north side of the street is not eligible for CDBG funds.) Request for $500,000 with a $250,000 town match.

4. Sidewalks on Veterans Rd, $150,000 request with $150,000 town match.

May 13, 2008, work session
Planning Director John Tegeder and Assistant Planner Lorraine DeSisto had a brief discussion with the board on the applications for the 2009-2011 CDBG program. Two small parks were added to an earlier list: a small triangular piece of land near Yorktown Glass and a small parcel in Mohegan Lake that will be deeded to the town as part of a new commercial development.

Other projects already on the list include sidewalks along Veterans Rd, and the senior center which has the highest priority. Sidewalks from the Firehouse to Kear St will be constructed next year as part of an earlier CDBG grant.

All the proposed projects involve matching town funds, but of different amounts.

A public hearing on the application will be scheduled for May 20th.

The town will not know which projects will be funded until January 2009 after the county Board of Legislators holds a public hearing.

May 20, 2008
A public hearing was held on six proposed projects to be funded, in part, with Community Development Block Grant funds.

Planning Director John Tegeder presented a list the proposed projects that the town will submit for possible funding in the 2009-2011 program cycle. He explained that only projects that were either in low and moderate income census traces OR involved users who fell into those two income categories were eligible for funding. Based on current census data, that would limit funds to Mohegan Lake and Yorktown Heights. He noted that in the past, Shrub Oak and Jefferson Valley had qualified for funds.

Of the six projects that will be submitted, he said the town would likely only get funds for two or three, usually totaling $300-$450,000. However, sometimes, if projects in other communities failed to materialize, Yorktown could get extra money, which is how the sidewalks in Jefferson Valley scheduled to be constructed in September, 2008, received funding. For that reason, he said, it made sense to submit more projects than were likely to get initial funding.

The six projects, in order of priority are:
1. Senior Center: Request for $125,000 with a town match of $100,000. The town is investigating sources for additional outside funding for a project estimated at $2M-$2.5M. The Planning Department is currently doing an income survey to determine eligibility for the project. Mr. Tegeder felt that this project had a good chance of being funded.

2. Sidewalks along Veterans Rd from Commerce St to Downing Drive: Total project cost $3000,000. Request for $150,000 with a $150,000 town match. Projected for 2010.

3. Purchase of a mini van for seniors. Total cost $30,000. Request for $15,000 with a $15,000 town match. Projected for 2009.

4. Mohegan Lake Park planned for a small lakefront piece of property to be donated to the town as part of a new office park development. The park would have trails and benches. Total cost $100,000. Request for $60,000 with a town match of $40,000. Projected for 2010.

5. Underhill Ave. park on a small triangular shaped vacant lot next to Yorktown Glass and adjoining the North County Trail. The plan would clean up the area which is currently prone to litter and could be used by people using the bike trail to park their cars. Total cost $60,000. Request for $45,000 with a $15,000 town match.

6. Mohegan Lake Streetscape. On East Main Street from Lexington Ave to Mohegan Ave. This would include sidewalks and other beautification projects. Total cost $552,334. Request for $368,407 with town match of $183,927. This project has been applied for before and although not funded, Mr. Tegeder felt it was worth “keeping in the docket” in case additional funding became available.

Commenting on the proposed Mohegan Lake Streetscape project, Geri Schwalb reminded the board that once the sidewalks were in, the town would be responsible for repairing and maintaining them. She noted that some of the existing sidewalks put in as part of an earlier improvement project were in need of repair. She suggested that area businesses should be notified about their responsibilities relating to sidewalks. Mr. DiBartolo also talked about the possible need to send registered letters to business owners reminding them about the town's snow plowing requirements. He also pointed out that on state roads, the plows typically push more snow onto the sidewalks.

(note: the issue of sidewalk repair and maintenance had overtones beyond those discussed above in light of the scheduled June 3rd public hearing on the removal of sidewalks about Mark Rd.)

The board passed resolutions for all six projects.

Patriot Garden
February 24, 2009 work session
Planning Director John Tegeder explained that some additional stormwater work has to be done on the Patriot Garden site, in part because of changes in site conditions due to the construction of the adjacent skate board park.
He asked the board for authorization to use $17,300 of the $26,000 left over from the Legacy grant for the skate board park to pay for the additional design work, adding that based on the bids that came in for the recent sidewalk construction, he anticipated that the bids for the garden would come in lower than expected leaving money for any additional site work that might be needed. The town has already budgeted $100,000 for the patriot garden.

The board had no problem authorizing this additional expense as long as the money could come from the Legacy grant and the comptroller said that the money was available.

The board will likely authorize the additional work at the March 3rd meeting.

March 3, 2009
The board approved a resolution authorizing the additional expense for the project not to exceed $20,000. In the board's pre-session meeting, Mr. Tegeder explained that if, for any reason, the money was not available from the remaining skate board project, he would reduce the scope of work for the project to free up the $17,300 needed to pay I/Q Landscape Architects and Site Design Consultants for the additional work.

July 28, 2009
This item was not on the agenda and was brought up by Town Clerk Alice Roker.

The bids for the project came in higher than anticipated, with the lowest bid being $220,000. The town has received $78,000 from the NYS Parks Department for the project. The money has to be committed by the end of the year otherwise it will be lost.

Planning Director John Tegeder said he has been looking over the original plans trying to scale back the project. The issue is whether new bids would have to be advertised for the revised project or whether the town could go with the lowest bidder and only pay for those parts of the project that it wanted to proceed with.

The board decided that a completely new bid would have to be prepared. Before that can be done, Mr. Tegeder will have to have the consultant prepare new construction drawings (at an additional expense to the town).

 August 4, 2009
The board voted to re-bid the proposed Patriot Garden project.

During Courtesy of the Floor, Susan Siegel, the person writing this summary, asked for more information about the revised cost of the project and what the town's share of the total cost would be. No information was provided.

September 1, 2009
During Courtesy of the Floor, Susan Siegel (the person writing this summary) asked the board to provide more information about the bid award that was on the agenda for a vote later in the evening. Referring to the lowest bid total bid of $240,377 that listed a series of alternatives, she asked the board to explain exactly how much the project would cost the town over and above the $78,000 grant it had received for the project. She also questioned whether in the current economic climate the board should be spending money on a beautification project and added that sometimes it might be best to give up a grant rather than spend the additional money required for the match.

At a later point in the agenda, the board decided to discuss the status of the project at the September 8th work session before deciding whether to aware the bid.
 September 8, 2009, work session
Planning Director John Tegeder explained that he was recommending that the town approve the lowest bid for the project's base cost which was $168,078 and eliminate the path and some tree planting options that would have increased the cost to $240,000. The scaled back project would cost the town $90,000.

In response to a question from Supervisor Peters as to whether any of the town's $90,000 share could be in-kind services, Mr. Tegeder said no, as that portion of the project would include mostly plantings that had to be done by knowledgeable staff. He added, though, that in the future, town staff could construct the path.

Mr. Tegeder explained that Comptroller Joan Goldberg had said that the town's capital budget had already allocated $150,000 for this project and that the $90,000 that it would actually cost was available. Most of the money would be spent in 2009 although there might be some carry over to 2010. Councilman Nick Bianco said that at $90,000 the project was too small to bond.

In response to questions from the board whether there was any future downside to the town not proceeding with the project, Mr. Tegeder explained that turning back a grant would give the town a black mark when it requested future CDBG funds.

The board unanimously awarded the bid.

October 6, 2009
Public hearing/Wetlands Permit for Patriot Garden
Planning Director John Tegeder explained that the project dates back 5-6 years ago and that the town had gotten a $78,000 grant from the NYS Parks Dept for a portion of the project which will be a semi formal garden where people could sit and have lunch. Councilman Bianco explained that the project is basically changing plants – replacing the invasive species that are there now with a new mix of plantings. The project will also strengthen the wetlands buffer areas and provide additional treatment to stormwater coming from the adjacent parking lot.
Mr. Tegeder had seen the memo from the Conservation Board and said there were no problems.

In response to Vishnu Patel's question as to who would maintain the garden, Councilman Lou Campisi said that the maintenance question was not relevant in a hearing for a wetlands permit

Howard Frank had a question about what he called a “snow fence” on the plan, but Mr. Tegeder explained that this was probably a temporary silt fence that would be removed after construction.

The hearing was closed and the board approved the wetlands permit.
Jefferson Valley Sidewalks Project
January 27, 2009, Town Board work session
Although not on the published agenda, there was a brief discussion about the need for an additional $11,000 for the previously approved Jefferson Valley Sidewalk project. The board will vote to authorize the additional funds at its Feb 3rd meeting. (Although not explained so that those in the audience could clearly hear, it seemed that the need for the additional funds was because the bids for the job came in higher than anticipated.)

February 3, 2009
Jefferson Valley Sidewalks
The board approved a resolution authorizing an additional $11,704 in town funds for a total town contribution of $129,304 for the cost of installing sidewalks along East Main St in the Jefferson Valley hamlet. The town's contribution covers 32.7% of the project cost; the remaining funds are coming from the CDBG program.

The board also awarded a bid for the construction of the sidewalks.

Sidewalk construction on E. Main St in Jefferson Valley
July 7, 2009
During Courtesy of the Floor, Greg Bernard and Linda Clemenza both asked the board to look into problems associated with the sidewalk construction on East Main Street in Jefferson Valley. They noted that signage did not provide adequate warning notice for drivers. They also questionee the placement of unlit barrels in the road that could be dangerous for drivers at night not familiar with the road.

The owner of Osceola Beach who hosted the board's meeting, also talked about problems associated with the construction.

In response, Highway Superintendent Eric DiBartolo said that both he and Planning Director John Tegeder had spoken to the private construction company doing the work and that they will try to improve conditions.

In response to a question from Gil Kaufman about the cost of the sidewalks, it was explained that 70% of the money was coming from Community Development Block Grant money and 30% from the town. The board approved an additional $16,962 for the project with the funds coming from the town.
July 21, 2009
Additional payment for Jefferson Valley Streetscape project
The board approved a resolution authorizing an additional $9,497 for the Jefferson Valley Streetscape Project.

 Jefferson Valley Sidewalks/Valley Market
July 14, 2009, work session
Planning Director John Tegeder reviewed preliminary plans to realign the parking area in front of Valley Market on East Main St. as part of the area's sidewalk program. Six of the 14 accidents in the general area have involved the market because there is no clear ingress or egress and cars back out onto East Main St. A portion of the parking lot is actually in the town's right of way. The proposed plan calls for angle parking with an ingress and egress. The owner objects to the plan which he says will “kill” his business.

Councilman Matt Metz said he doubted the “doom and gloom” scenario and Highway Superintendent Eric Di Bartolo said the new plan made sense. He suggested that as an experiment, the town might install temporary barriers to simulate the proposed changes to see how the plan might work.

Attorney Al Capellini, representing the owner of the market, said that his client had hired his own engineer to come up with an alternative plan and he asked the board not to proceed with the town's plan until the engineer submitted his ideas. Mr. Tegeder said that the town could wait about two weeks before proceeding so the issue will likely be discussed again at the board's August 28th work session. Councilman Metz suggested that Mr. Capellini try to get the engineer's report to the county before August 28th so that it could complete its review prior to the meeting.


July 28, 2009, work session
The board resumed the discussion of the traffic control plans in front of the Jefferson Valley Market. Planning Director John Tegeder showed a revised plan that would channelize and control traffic into and out of the site but the owner of the market and his engineer continued to object to the plan on the grounds that it would hurt his business, particularly from truck drivers. Highway Superintendent Eric DiBartolo also objected to the proposed island and angle parking which he said could cause a stacking up of cars on East Main Street.

All agreed that the first priority should be safety, followed by upgrading the aesthetics of the area.

Various alternative solutions were discussed including the possibility of reducing the height of the island to replacing the island with a “concrete apron” that would look like a sidewalk and be level with the road, to painting a pedestrian walkway across the road.

In the end, the board advised the planning department to meet with the owner and the county engineer working on the project to arrive at a compromise plan.

 October 13, 2009, work session
Jefferson Valley sidewalks/Wood St & East Main St. intersection
Planning Director John Tegeder asked the board for approval for an additional $44,740 to re-grade and pave the intersection of Wood St and East Main Street in order to make the intersection safer. He said that both the highway superintendent and the town engineer supported the new design over the original plan. He suggested that the money come from the funds that the county gave Yorktown when the town took over East Main St as part of the legacy ballfields project. No one was quite sure how much money was remaining in that fund as Mr. Tegeder's figure pre-dated the recent paving work that had been done.

The board passed the resolution approving the use of the funds. If the county road fund does not have the money, Mr. Tegeder said he would need to come back to the board.
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