WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. From the City Clerk.(Edited) March 30,2011:

The city announced a Common Council Special Meeting  with the Budget and Management Advisory Committee for  6:30, Monday, April 11 to present an overview of the 2011-12 city budget to the public that will feature a Major Revenue Review. The public will hear from  The Finance Department,Department of Public Works; Building Department.

Other Dates of Interest that will feature key department budget considerations will take place:

April 14:  Expenditures of Department of Public Works. Up for discussion will be possibly capping costs of the city dump, previously estimated by the Commissioner to approach $10 Million; funding the installation of new water tanks at the reservoir, a previously estimated $10-$14 Million expenditure, as well as services.

April 20: Expenditures Overview & Expenditures of Department of Parking; Traffic Department; Department of Public Safety.

April 25: Expenditures of the Library, Department of Recreation and Parks; Youth Bureau,.

May 2: Public Hearing at the Common Council Meeting on the 2011-12 Budget,7:30 P.M.

May 9: Discussion of the 2011-12 Tax Budget

May 17: Decision Night

May 26: Adoption of the 2011-12 Tax Budget

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WPCNR FOR THE RECORD. MARCH 23, 2011:

City Hall today, at request of WPCNR released its letters to Our Lady of Sorrows pastor, Reverend Phillip Quealy, assuring Quealy the field was safe.

Here, for the record, are the copies of those letters which Revered Quealy is sending to Our Lady of Sorrows parents:

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WPCNR THE DUMP NEWS. By John F. Bailey. March 22, 2011. UPDATED MARCH 24, 2011 9:20 P.M.:

John Callahan, City Chief of Staff confirmed to WPCNR, that as reported to WPCNR by the New York Department of  Environmental Conservation, Friday, three White Plains homes are being checked for air quality and possible air contamination from the Gedney landfill.

Wednesday, Mr. Callahan and Commissioner of Public Works Joseph Nicoletti said the number of homes checked for contamination was actually five and they were on Railside Avenue and Commerce Streets. Mr. Nicoletti told WPCNR that the testing results showed negative.

The DEC in a separate communication to WPCNR from Wendy Rosenbach, Regional Citizen Participation Specialist for the DEC, wrote, “The supplemental investigation is ongoing. Indoor air samples were taken from 5 houses along Commerce Street and Railside Avenue in early March 2011; groundwater sampling from additional wells will be done in early April, 2011. A report with the results of this testing is expected in early summer.”

Callahan said two homes were occupied and one had not been sold. Callahan was checking on the location. Callahan said Commissioner of  Public Works Joseph Nicoletti did not believe at this time there was a serious air quality problem. Callahan said testing was still going on, but did not know whether the homes would be tested in warmer weather.

The Chief of Staff also confirmed the city was still “in discussions” with Our Lady of Sorrows on remediating the softball field. Callahan said that field would be fixed this summer. It is currently not supposed to be used by the school. The DEC, last June, reached an agreement with the city to remove contaminated landfill from the field according to an official letter dated June 29. The field was supposed to be fixed this spring, but costs were being negotiated with the school. Callahan on Wednesday told WPCNR the city was not negotiating price because the city was going to pay for the entire DEC-required fix of the field. Commissioner Nicoletti told WPCNR the ash was not a threat, and what was required was to bring the depth of soil above the ash-laden soil to a depth of two feet all about the field. Asked Wednesday,if the school had been told the field was safe by the city, Nicoletti did not answer the question.

Thursday afternoon the Pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows told WPCNR the city had sent him a letter assuring him the baseball field was safe and free of contanimation, and a letter from the city consultant AKRF detailing test results of the field. The DEC has been asked to comment on why the DEC requires the field to be processed at the expense of the city, if the ash is “safe.” Mr. Nicoletti told WPCNR he does not have an estimate of the cost yet.

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. By John F. Bailey. March  21, 2011 UPDATED MARCH 23, 2011:

 He also said the Nuclear Energy Institute, the trade organization representing operators of nuclear plants, would be studying nuclear plant earthquake resistance abilities nationally.

In a related development first reported on Westchester County’s  leading public affairs program, WHITE PLAINS WEEK Friday evening, which can be seen at www.whiteplainsweek.com Jerry Nappi, spokesperson for Entergy told WPCNR that the trade association of operators of nuclear plants, the Nuclear Energy Institute would be undertaking a review of current operating plant construction and their structural integrity of their designs  and ability to withstand earthquakes in the range of the one that struck Japan ten days ago causing catastrophic damage to nuclear facilities.

Regarding the position of spent fuel rod pools, the most affected parts of the stricken Japanese nuclear plant on the area of the Japan earthquake ten (now 12 )days ago, Nappi told WPCNR that spent fuel rods at Indian Point were stored underground, encased in concrete lined with a 1/4 inch steel barrier.

Asked how long it would take to close Indian Point, and remove radioactive spent fuel (called for by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo last week), Nappi said he did not have that answer.

Asked if the Indian Point relicensing processes, (one plant expires in 2013, the other 2015), would incorporate its structural ability to resist adequately a 9.0 earthquake, Nappi again could not answer, but the Nuclear Energy Institute study would address that.

Queried on how much it would cost the government, county or federal, to purchase Indian Point, for the purpose of shutting it down,  Nappi did not have a figure. “I don’t see that happening,” he said.

In a news release Monday, The Westchester County Board of Legislators Committees on Environment & Energy and Public Safety announced it would host a series of informational meetings discussing disaster preparedness plans at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, in light of the horrific events in Japan.

  Committee Chairmen Legislator Michael B. Kaplowitz  and Legislator Martin Rogowsky have invited officials from Entergy Corporation, the owners of the Indian Point Nuclear Plant, and all interested parties to come before the committee, so that accurate, factual data can be put on the record and made available to the public as soon as possible. 

 Yesterday, Entergy Corp released a statement saying that they will conduct a safety review of its ability to respond to catastrophic events at a New York nuclear power plant. This statement comes following a report that the plant was the most susceptible in the United States to a potential earthquake.

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WPCNR MR. AND MRS. AND MS. WHITE PLAINS POLL. MARCH 10, 2011:

The Superintendent of Schools this week proposed a $184.8 Million School Budget for 2011-12.  Further cuts could be made. Presently, 48 positions are scheduled to be eliminated, including 17 full-time teachers and 6 teaching assistants, with the  balance being cut from civil service positions, according to Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Jessica O’Donovan last Monday evening. The budget pending further tweaking means a 2.81% tax increas, (about $200 on a typical $650,000 home which would pay $8,600 in property taxes.

In the cuts, Universal Pre-K would be provided by Westchester Family Services, Adult Education provided by BOCES; Summer School limited to Grades 8 to 12, reading intervention programs curtailedand the TSAP program moved to the high school. The personnel cuts have trimmed the number of district employees 15% in three years from 1,197 Full Time Employees to 1,013 Full Time Employees.

Should the district cut the budget more?