The first board meeting of 2025 addressed many of the major topics the Village has been grappling with, and new Village Manager Kathleen Gill has wasted no time in moving on many fronts.
Staffing
Gill reported that she has hired a new Assistant Village Manager, Building Inspector and Assistant Building Inspector with start dates in early February. She proposed and the Board of Trustees (BOT) approved a new position for a second Assistant Village Manager whose portfolio will handle all aspects of flooding and transportation. The position will primarily deal with flood issues such as developing a comprehensive flood plan, project management, grant applications, enhancing maintenance and improved communications. This proposal received applause from the audience many of whom had been asking for a “flood czar.” Gill indicated she has found a qualified person for the job and will offer them the job now the BOT has approved the new position.
With the backup of applications sitting in the Building Department and resident frustration mounting, Gill hired Frank Tavolacci as the interim Building Inspector to help clean out the backlog. She stated Tavolacci will stay on with the Village temporarily when the new Building Inspector starts work to provide continuity.
One recent victim of the slowdown in the issuance of permits was Sportime. Their principal, Claude Okin, addressed the BOT and asked for additional time as they hadn’t yet received their permit to do work mandated in their license agreement with the Village. The BOT agreed and asked Village Attorney Bob Spolzino to work with Sportime on the contract amendment.
Parking and Pedestrian Safety
Chief Sandra DiRuzza outlined a strategy to expand the residential parking program to additional streets within a half mile radius of the train station. DiRuzza explained that in order to discourage commuter parking in residential areas, parking is allowed without a permit for up to two hours. A list of additional streets – all in the Washingtonville neighborhood – will be added. Mayor Sharon Torres stressed the need for communication to residents, so they understand the rules.
The BOT also considered banning lefthand turns from Speedway on Mamaroneck Avenue. Lines will also be painted at 933 Mamaroneck Avenue to prevent parking. A downtown Mamaroneck Avenue traffic calming measure (from the 100 – 400 blocks) will be adding striping to make the roadway appear narrower and discourage double parking. Additionally, the traffic signal and Grand Street and Old White Plains Road will be reprogrammed to include an all-pedestrian phase.
Flooding
Village Engineer Gino Frabasile updated current projects underway; river maintenance, the Florence Street project, an appeal for grant funding for the Tompkins Avenue Bridge that had been originally denied and DEC modeling for the Westchester Joint Water Works dam safety study.
Affordable Housing at Hunter Tier Lot
Listed on the Work Session Agenda was an item to discuss the Hunter Tier parking lot. This agenda item was added to the Executive Session/Advice of Counsel portion of the meeting held behind closed doors.
A recent article in the Larchmont Loop by former trustee Lou Young speculated that the BOT was going to rescind and discontinue the Hunter Tier affordable housing project at the meeting. Young reports he caught a glimpse of an agenda meeting notice that was posted and then quickly removed from the Village’s website. His article may have led to the appearance of Richard Nightingale, who represented that he is the President of both Westhab and the Washingtonville Housing Alliance (WHA), describing the two entities as having “merged.” Prior to this evening’s meeting the relationship between the two non-profits was always represented as a “strategic partnership.”
Both Nightingale and Andrew Germansky, a Westhab Vice President, blasted the BOT for what they seem to imply was a termination of the project. Editor’s Note: There is no evidence that the BOT has taken any recent action to discontinue the project.
After extolling the excellence of their proposal, Nightingale described “a witch hunt against us” and that the non-profits were “dragged through the mud.” During his remarks, Nightingale was heckled by members of the audience who clearly did not agree with his statements. Torres asked the audience to be respectful when others are speaking.
Germansky also praised the “excellent proposal” made by Westhab for the site and accused the Village of “cherry-picking emails” that were publicly released. See previous articles HERE and HERE.
Jennifer Jacobs Guzman, Board Chair of WHA, also lamented that the project wasn’t moving forward and read a statement from the Mamaroneck Coalition for Affordable Housing (MCAH) that called on the Village to work with MCAH and find a path forward. She said it would be “a great way to show the Village is honest when you say you support affordable housing.” Guzman also resigned from the Village’s Affordable Housing Task Force.
