THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR | 2,905,611 VISITORS VISIT 8,324,077 TIMES 3 TIMES EVERY DAY IN ONE YEAR. HIGHEST ACTIVITY IN WPCNR HISTORY.White PlainsCitizeNetReporter lifted its worldwide visits from unique visitors to wpcnr.com to 8,324,077,a 1,306,419 increase in visits in one year from 7,017,658 visits to the site last year which covers White Plains and Westchester County. The 8,324,077 visits were made by 2,005,611 unique visitors who visited wpcnr an average of 3 visits a day. ON JULY 20- -2026 visitors have accessed wpcnr and made 3,072 visits an average of 1.6 visits. In the last week 33,495 individual vistors made 54,458 visits, averaging 1.6 visits. In the last month, 152,940 visitors recorded 229,338 visits (1.5 visits)

BeeLine Bus Basic Fare Rises to $2 this Weekend

Posted on February 27, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR COMMUTATION COMMENTATOR. From Westchester County Department of Communication. February 27, 2008: Effective Sunday, March 2, the basic Bee-Line coin fare will rise from $1.75 to $2. A day earlier — Saturday, March 1 — the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will begin charging new prices for MetroCards which are also accepted on Bee-Line buses. The cost of a single ride MetroCard will remain at $2, however, with the change in the county coin fare from $1.75 to $2, New York City and Westchester bus fares will be identical as of March 2.

“All transfers between local bus routes will become free under the new fare schedule,” said Spano. “Coin-fare passengers on the Bee-Line who currently pay an extra 25 cents for a transfer will see that charge disappear.” Transfer tickets will be good for boarding other Bee-Line local routes and for transfers to New York City local buses.

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            The price for a single-ride MetroCard will remain at $2. However, multiple-ride MetroCards still provide rider discounts. Pay-Per-Ride MetroCards worth $8 will sell for $7 bringing the effective cost of a bus ride down to $1.75. MetroCards provide free transfers to local buses and between buses and New York City subways. Unlimited Ride MetroCards will reduce the single ride cost even more for people who ride frequently.

             “We have been seeing more and more riders using MetroCards as opposed to cash,” said County Transportation Commissioner Lawrence C. Salley. “With the uniform pricing between cash fares and MetroCard single fares, we anticipate even more MetroCard riders on our buses.”

The increase in the coin fare on Westchester buses is designed to offset fuel and labor costs that have increased significantly in the last year, and to help pay for additional service on routes that have experienced ridership increases.

“The new coin fare is expected to raise about half a million dollars a year,” Salley said. “This will help meet some of the increase in operating costs which has been approximately $5 million annually over the last few years.”

Qualified seniors and passengers with qualifying disabilities will be able to ride at half-fare on the county’s and the New York City transit system, under both the coin and MetroCard reduced fare systems. Reduced fare riders will pay $1 in coins and their transfers will also be free. To transfer to subways, riders will need to use MetroCard.

MetroCards are sold at many neighborhood stores in Westchester, Metro-North train stations and New York City subway stations.

To find out more, call the Bee-Line Hotline at (914) 813-7777 or visit www.westchestergov.com/beelinebus.

Benefits of Turning Your School/University Green — Spano Global Warming Panel

Posted on February 27, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. Special to WPCNR from Paula Piekos. February 27, 2008: A CitizeNetReporter attended the County Global Warming Conference Tuesday, and attended the Education K-12 Panel in which advantages of Westchester County Schools switching to green, environmentally friendly practices were discussed. Here is her report:

The Education Panel for Grades K-12 holds forth at Manhattanville College Tuesday: Left to right: Jeff Perlman, Bright Power, Inc.; Dr Steven Frantz Sustainablity Coordinator for Scarsdale Schools (Retired principal);Dr Frances Wills, Superintendent of Briarcliff Schools; Ellen Weininger, Grassroots Environmental Education; Katie Ginsberg, Exec Director, CELF (Moderator of panel)

The Benefits of Green Schools

The session started with Jeff Perlman clarifying that this isn’t the same thing as “Environmental Education” because it also has to do with economic systems and social justice.

He said that the additional cost to build a green school is about 3% more, but the net financial benefit over time is 15 – 30% more, although whatever the profit, it is just something that we have to do.

He said you pay more for insulation, better windows, and the usage of more natural materials, but it’s better in the long run.

The benefits include:

Enhanced Air Quality

Increased Learning , Productivity and Performance 3%

Increased future earning of students 1.4%

Reduced Asthma 25%

Reduced cold & flu 15%

Reduced teacher turnover 3%

He then added that the exact percentage might not be right, but the important thing is that it’s not zero.

I can personally attest to this because I have had very long-term substitute gigs twice, with the reason for the teacher’s absence being due to illnesses related to air quality.

There was a $ per square foot chart that I didn’t have time to copy, but supposedly all of the information from the sessions offered on Tuesday are available online.

Mr Perlman then spoke about the greening of existing school buildings.

He spoke about benchmarking energy performance through energy star benchmarking tools and other metrics, auditing energy hogs, using lighting retrofits, and updating heating systems and controls. He spoke of the the importance of using low VOC paints, carpets and finishes.

SCHOOL AS LABORATORY

He said it was good for the students to be involved and talked about the “Transparent Boiler Room” where you could see it and the pipes throughout the school were color-coded. The pipes and ductwork were“roof and water management

Dr Wells of Briarcliff Schools reported they have a “No Waste Day.” They come to school and think about how they can make no waste. And she quoted a line from Dr Seuss’ book, The Lorax, “Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing’s going to get better, it’s not!”

Dr Frantz and Ms Weininger had limited time due to the impending break, but Dr Frantz spoke about Scarsdale’s “No idling” policy, and attempt to purchase clean buses. He also spoke about the organic gardens on the grounds of the schools and week-long Sustainability Education courses given by the Scarsdale Teacher’s Institute. They also make a course available to the teachers on water education, given at the middle school, and run by Cornell University’s “Project Wet” group.

Ms Weininger was running out of time, and gave a rushed talk about environmental education.

I would have liked it if someone from the planning committee, WP Board of Ed, or the architects had been there to speak about the plans for the New Post Road School, as I understand that it will be a totally green school. and it would have fit in well with this program.

Further information about this forum can be attained through web sites: www.brightpower.biz, www.masstech.org, and www.cap-e.com or the County’s site about the forum.

Comptroller: IDAs Should Shape Up.

Posted on February 27, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the State Comptroller Press Office. February 27, 2008: State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today proposed measures to make Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs) more accountable and financial reporting more accurate after a report released today found that IDAs continue to report project, job creation and other data that is inconsistent, incomplete and not independently verified.

DiNapoli outlined his recommendations in a report that examines the financial and employment trends of the 116 IDAs in New York State. His measures include:

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today proposed measures to make Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs) more accountable and financial reporting more accurate after a report released today found that IDAs continue to report project, job creation and other data that is inconsistent, incomplete and not independently verified.

DiNapoli outlined his recommendations in a report that examines the financial and employment trends of the 116 IDAs in New York State. His measures include:

Tightening IDA annual reporting requirements. Under current law, an IDA’s authority to offer state tax exemptions is suspended if it fails to report complete or substantially complete annual financial information. Starting with the 2007 reporting year, the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) will be increasing its oversight of IDA reporting and generally accept only those audited annual financial statements that are in compliance. For example, an IDA which omits job information could have their ability to provide financial assistance suspended.
Expanding his office’s oversight of IDAs and Local Government Development Corporations (LDCs) to include access to tax and wage data during audits.
Calling for an increase in Executive programmatic oversight of IDAs through existing statutory oversight powers of the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) and Authority Budget Office (ABO) in the areas of job and wage verification.

“IDAs are supposed to create jobs,” DiNapoli said. “When they report on job creation, taxpayers should know that the numbers are right. Given the way IDAs are currently reporting information, there is no way of knowing that. These measures will make IDAs more accountable to the public they serve and establish clear standards that IDAs must follow, or they risk serious consequences.”

IDAs are independent public authorities that offer real property tax abatements, sales and mortgage recording tax exemptions, and low interest rate bonds to attract, retain and expand businesses. There are currently 116 active IDAs, including 56 IDAs serving counties and 60 IDAs located in cities (26), towns (29) and villages (5).

Each IDA is legally required to submit a financial statement to OSC annually, which includes data related to the number of jobs created or retained and the amount of all tax exemptions authorized. In 2003, OSC undertook efforts to improve the accuracy and quality of the data reported by IDAs, as well as collaborated with the ABO to develop a comprehensive online reporting system called the Public Authorities Reporting Information System (PARIS) that was implemented in November 2007. In addition, OSC continues to offer guidance to IDAs in meeting statutory requirements.

While there have been improvements in data reporting, the report issued today found the complete project costs were not available for 27 percent of all projects. In addition, complete and accurate job data was not reported for 9 percent of all projects.

Other report findings include:

IDA Project Growth: IDA supported projects grew by 16 percent between 2003 and 2006, 41 percent of this growth occurred in service-related projects. Manufacturing-related projects declined by 4 percent during this period. By 2006, IDAs were supporting $41 billion in projects, led by the New York City IDA with $14.7 billion in projects.
Activity Concentrated in Few IDAs: In 2006, six IDAs accounted for 40 percent of all projects. Those IDAs include New York City (539 projects), Monroe County (348 projects), Erie County (305 projects), Amherst (127 projects), Suffolk County (115 projects) and Nassau County (101 projects). The average IDA supported $246 million in projects, excluding New York City. Thirty-nine IDAs reported fewer than 10 projects in 2006, with six IDAs reporting only one project.
Cost Per Job Created: IDAs claimed that cumulative employment grew by more than 228,000 jobs in the projects they supported by 2006. However, OSC found that IDAs did little to verify the accuracy of the information reported by individual employers. The annual cost per job created ranged from $0 to $121,818, with an average cost of $4,195.

DiNapoli will also propose more comprehensive public authority oversight legislation including controls on authority debt, addresses board member terms and limits on the types of activities that authorities provide to those related to their core missions.

To view the report release today, visit http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/pubs/research/idareport08.pdf.

To access annual report information from individual IDAs, visit http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/datanstat/findata/index_choice.htm.

The Engineer’s Engineer: Joseph ‘Bud’ Nicoletti

Posted on February 27, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. February 27, 2008: The Westchester/Putnam Chapter of the New York State Society of Engineers has named White Plains Commissioner of Public Works, Joseph “Bud” Nicoletti as their “Engineer of the Year,” as a professional engineer who over time, “has made significant contributions to the profession.”

The Engineer’s Engineer

2008 Westchester Putnam Engineer of the Year

White Plains Commissioner of Public Works

Joseph “Bud” Nicoletti

Mr. Nicoletti was given the award last Saturday night, February 23 at Mansion Hill in Briarcliff Manor at the Society’s Annual Engineer’s Week Dinner Dance. Mayor Joseph Delfino was on hand for the occasion. The Society’s Albany Headquarters is also considering Mr. Nicoletti for the “statewide” Engineer of the Year Award.

Alfred Freed, an engineer with Westchester County Department of Public Works for 42 years, in announcing the award to Mayor Joseph Delfino, wrote:

“I can unequivocally say that Bud is a quintessential professional. The City’s (White Plains) infrastructure reflects this expertise, as it has kept pace and coped with the burgeoning development without breaking down or being overwhelmed.

I received the same award in 1988. Unlike the challenges Bud now faces, back then Trump was a term in card games, nighttime bowling was a sport on downtown Mamaroneck Avenue, occasional horses roamed along our parkways, the Courthouse didn’t leak and we rarely experienced tornadoes or blizzards.

The challenges of today make his efforts even more impressive. White Plains owes him much.”

This is the second time Mr. Nicoletti has been honored in this fashion by the Society. He was named “Outstanding Engineer in Government” by the chapter in 1996.