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.

Hits: 0

WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the Governor’s Press Office. July 31,2009: The Division of the Budget  released its First Quarter Update to the State Financial Plan yesterday, which includes updated information on revenues, spending, and other financial indicators.

Based on operating results through the first three months of the fiscal year and updated economic projections that indicate continuing weakness in the overall economy, the State must eliminate a current-year deficit of $2.1 billion in 2009-10, which will grow to $4.6 billion in 2010-11.

To address this issue, Governor David A. Paterson today announced that he will work with Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch to develop an Economic and Fiscal Recovery Plan that will eliminate the current-year budget deficit and improve the State’s long-term fiscal health. The Governor’s plan will be released in September.

“New York, like virtually every State in the nation, continues to experience historic economic difficulties, and further action is needed to control spending,” Governor Paterson said. “However, in addressing the State’s immediate fiscal issues, we cannot neglect the critical long-term reforms that are necessary to return New York to economic prosperity and national leadership. Along with the help of Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch, I will continue to push for a broad, bold agenda to help improve the lives of everyday New Yorkers and I urge the Legislature to join me in that effort.”

First Quarter Update to the State Financial Plan
The largest factor driving revisions in the Division of the Budget First Quarter Update to the State Financial Plan is continued weakness in the economy, which has resulted in lower-than-projected year-to-date tax receipts. Highlights include:

• Continued Revenue Declines. Through the first quarter of the 2009-10 fiscal years, overall General Fund revenues were $305 million below initial projections. This figure, however, includes several one-time cash management actions that do not impact the State’s underlying economic and revenue base. During the first quarter, the State recovered $387 million in past overpayments to the City of New York for their local personal income tax collections. It also accelerated $121 million in transfers from special revenue funds to the General Fund, which were expected to take place later within the same fiscal year. Without the impact of these one-time cash-management actions, General Fund revenues would have been $813 million below projections.
  
  
• Personal Income Taxes. Compared to 1Q2008-09, General Fund personal income tax collections declined by $4.2 billion or 35 percent to $7.7 billion in 1Q2009-10. This is $584 million below initial financial plan projections, reflecting persistent difficulties within the broader economy.




• Sales Taxes. Compared to 1Q2008-09, General Fund sales and use tax collections declined by 6 percent or $160 million to $2.6 billion in 1Q2009-10. This is $159 million below initial financial plan projections. DOB estimates that the economic base underlying the sales tax declined by roughly 14 percent during this time period. This decline is unprecedented, exceeding declines following September 11, 2001, and recessions of the 1980s and 1990s.
  
• Wage Declines. State wages are projected to decline 4.8 percent in 2009, the largest decline ever recorded. This historic deterioration, combined with other factors, is projected to have a severe impact on the base of virtually all of the State’s revenue sources over the Division of the Budget’s four-year forecast horizon.
  
• Continued job losses. Since the beginning of the State recession in August 2008, New York has lost 236,000 jobs. Employment declines are expected to continue into 2010, and the State unemployment rate is expected to peak at 9.1 percent in the first quarter of 2010. New York private sector employment is projected to fall 2.7 percent in 2009 (the largest annual decline since 1990), followed by a further decline of 0.5 percent in 2010. Employment in the financial services sector and professional services sector, both of which are particularly important to the downstate economy, are projected to fall by 5.2 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively.

“Although the budget enacted in April took substantial action to close a combined $20.1 billion budget gap, the fact remains that revenues have continued to fall, and this will force us to make further difficult choices,” Governor Paterson said. “Last year reflected a fundamental transformation of our economic base, but we believe the worst deterioration of our economy may be behind us.”

Revised Budget Deficits
The First Quarter Update reflects revised budget deficits of $2.1 billion in 2009-10, $4.6 billion in 2010-11, $13.3 billion in 2011-12, and $18.2 billion in 2012-13 – a cumulative total of $38.2 billion. This represents an increase from the $24.6 billion cumulative deficit projected in May 2009 ($2.2 billion in 2010-11, $8.8 billion in 2011-12, and $13.7 billion in 2012-13), but is still substantially below the $85.2 billion cumulative deficit projected before 2009-10 Enacted Budget savings actions.

In 2009-10, General Fund receipts are now projected to be $1.97 billion or 3.6 percent below Enacted Budget projections. The largest revenue declines are concentrated in personal income taxes ($1.1 billion) and sales taxes ($410 million). The balance of the 2009-10 deficit is the result of $151 million in increased General Fund disbursements, including higher than expected fringe benefit costs ($90 million), a settlement with the federal government related to School Supportive Health Services ($33 million), and others.

The increased deficits projected over the course of the Division of the Budget’s forecast period are primarily related to the current economic downturn and its powerful negative effect on tax receipts. Additionally, however, several revisions to the General Fund spending forecast will also impact the State’s budget gap projections, many of which are also related to persistent weakness in the economy. These include growing public assistance caseloads and child welfare claims; substantial increases in State pension costs due to decreased investment returns that will occur without legislation to enact Tier V reform and amortize the transition to higher rates; additional payments to school districts to reflect both increases in their actual spending and decreases in lottery aid; costs to support preschool special education; and others.

Spending Growth
In May 2009, the Legislature enacted a fiscal rescue plan for the MTA that helped protect commuters by mitigating drastic service reductions and fare increases. This rescue plan included a Mobility Tax, which, although it provides no benefit to the State financial plan, passes through the State budget and is provided in its entirety to the MTA.

Excluding the impact of the Mobility Tax, State Operating Funds spending growth from last year is nearly flat and expected to total $78.8 billion – an increase of 0.9 percent or $680 million compared to 2008-09. When this pass-through funding is included, State Operating Funds spending is expected to total $80.5 billion, an increase of 2.9 percent or $2.3 billion.

Workforce
Consistent with the Enacted Budget, the Financial Plan reflects $460 million in savings over two years from workforce reductions and related initiatives. The plan assumes these savings from a combination of severance payments, vacancy controls, voluntary reduction in work schedule, and other measures.

Additionally, also consistent with the Enacted Budget, the State workforce subject to Executive control is projected to total 128,803 at the close of 2009-10. This figure will be revised in the Mid-year Update to the Financial Plan pending implementation of the above workforce actions.

National Context
New York is not alone in addressing a mid-year budget shortfall. Over the last two-months, since May 16, at least 14 other states and Washington DC have announced mid-year deficits totaling $30 billion.

Additionally, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, at least 48 states have addressed or still face shortfalls in their budgets for fiscal year 2010 totaling $163 billion or 24 percent of state budgets.

For a copy of the 2009-10 First Quarterly Update to the State Financial Plan and supporting materials, please visit www.budget.state.ny.us.

Hits: 0

WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. July 30,2009: Geoffrey Thompson, spokesperson for Cappelli Enterprises gave an update on the condition of developer Louis Cappelli who remains hospitalized as of Thursday, after noon as he continues to recuperate from surgery to treat a brain aneurism 9 nines ago. He suffered the aneurism July 20.

Thompson said Mr. Cappelli “continues to improve and hopes to be discharged soon. He’s doing very well, and prognosis is for full recovery.” No details were disclosed on the nature of the recuperation and the hospital location remains confidential.

Hits: 0

WPCNR BUMPER TO BUMPER.. By John F. Bailey. July 29, 2009: Greg Krisloff, the liaison and spokesperson for the Department of Transportation for the ongoing Exit 8 project that White Plains commuters have been weathering the last three years reports that by next spring the cross-exit/entrance traffic flow pattern should be relieved when the new Exit 7 opens.

New Exit 7 Takes Shape at White Plains Eastern Gateway last week. View is looking east to the North Street Bridge over I-287.

 

Krisloff says  the new Exit 7 will allow traffic westbound on I-287, desiring to exit to North White Plains via the Central Westchester Parkway will be able to shuttle off on their own private ramp connecting to the Central Westchester Parkway northbound.

 

The Exit 7 Connection — making its way under the Main Street Bridge. Ebersole Rink is at right of Picture.

 

This improvement will eliminate the current bottleneck resulting for decades which had traffic exiting to North White Plains  via the Central Westchester Parkway crossing traffic wishing to enter I-287 westbound.

 

 

 

Krisloff remarks that traffic exiting White Plains via the new ramp (shown above) connecting into I-287 westbound will be two lanes, joined by a lane of traffic also entering from Westchester Avenue westbound, that will also have the option of  moving onto the Cross Westchester Expressway. It is not clear exactly how the new Exit 7 will compatibilize with the Westchester Avenue traffic.

 

Reverse Angle of new Bloomingdale Road -Westchester Ave ramp feeding in  to existing Westchester Avenue traffic.

 

Krisloff was asked how three lanes of traffic entering I-287 westbound, essentially merging into one lane would improve the situation. Krisloff said that with all three lanes merging into one, without cars  crossing  entering  traffic to exit to the Central Westchester Parkway would considerably eliminate the bottleneck.

 

The three lanes-into-one-merge lane will continue to remain for rush hour outbound traffic on Westchester Avenue and Bloomingdale Road after the Exit 7 is completed. Krisloff said it was very important that signage for the new Exit 7 be explicit for traffic wishing to exit to the Central Westchester Parkway. 

 

 It may be that with the stage 2 of the Exit-8-7-North Street interchange, that the traffic exiting White Plains, merging onto I-287 westbound will be cut to two lanes, with  downtown White Plains bound traffic  “flown” into White Plains over a new ramp entered before the North Street overpass in center of conceptual  North Street interchange, see below.

 

 

It would appear that the Martian countryside look of the eastern gateway into White Plains will continue for years considering the leisurely pace of construction on the Exit 8-7 interchange which was originally targeted to be completed the end of this  year, with landscaping plans due in September.

 

The Krisloff Report on the New Exit 7, from Greg Krisloff of the DOT::

 

 

New Exit 7

 

While the deceleration lane will begin immediately east of the Westchester Ave. over I-287 Bridge, the new exit will actually be located just west of Westchester Avenue.  This relocated interchange takes exiting WB I-287 traffic off the mainline roadway (under the Westchester Avenue over I-287 Bridge) en route to Central Westchester Parkway, while merging with two lanes of westbound traffic emanating from Bloomingdale Road and the Westchester Mall, and with the on-ramp at Underhill Avenue. 

 

The merge results in a three-lane frontage road (Ramp I) which carries westbound traffic to Central Westchester Parkway and facilitates traffic entering the WB I-287 roadway, as well as those wishing to access local roads, such as Beech Street, near the pre-existing Exit 7 ramp.

 

This new frontage road will serve to eliminate much of the weaving and merging problems currently experienced by motorists between the entrance ramp past Westchester Avenue and the existing Exit 7 ramp.

 

Additional information about this and other aspects of this Project may be found on the Project’s website @

I287.Info

 

Hits: 0

WPCNR MR. AND MRS. AND MS. WHITE PLAINS SURVEY. July 27,2009: Republican candidates for Common Council must be bombarding Mayor Joseph Delfino with phone calls, asking buddy can you spare $20 Grand, because Mayor Delfino is sitting on a heap of cash in his Friends of Joseph Delfino fund– over $100,000– with no place to spend it. What is more the New York State Board of Elections Law, says Board of Elections Press Officer, Bob Brehm, forbids Mr. Delfino from spending the leftover funds for his own personal expenses. Brehm told WPCNR last Thursday the Mayor Delfino may only spend the money on political activities, save it for a future run for office, or make donations to charity, or he can refund the money to the contributors. There is no statute that allows Delfino to convert the funds to personal use. And another thing, as long as the Mayor’s campaign fund is active he or his treasurer have to make reports on the expenditures every six months. So unless the Mayor plans to run for state assembly next year replacing Adam Bradley (at a considerable pay cut), or run for State Senator, replacing Suzi Oppenheimer, or run for Nita Lowey’s congressional seat — or plans a lot of political discussion committees — he stands in a position to use his campaign contributions for good. What do Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains think the Mayor should do with the money? Check some of the suggestions at the right.

Hits: 0

 

 

WPCNR Common Council-Chronicle Examiner. By John F. Bailey. July 23, 2009: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation  has informed  the City of White Plains it has to close, remediate  and “cap” 35 to 40 acres  of the 80-acre city dump off Gedney Way at an estimated  cost to the city of $10 Million.

 

 

 

 

The Commissioner of Public Works  Joseph Nicoletti estimated to WPCNR, that  the cost of  capping the dump with an impervious covering  (DEC-recommended)  and remediating the lingering TCE (TriChloroEthylene) contaminent the dump contains, would cost the city $8 Million to $10 Million. Added to that, he told WPCNR would be the cost of a storm water rentention system.

 

 

 

An Aerial View of the Dump in mid-2006 showing the composting operations ongoing at the time when the DEC and the city agreed the city would close the dump and clean up their composting operation and when the DEC wrote the city and noted the TCE contamination was leaking into the Mamamaroneck River. Photo by Carl Albanese.

 

 

A 2006 View of the Drain pipe leading from beneath the City Dump, believed to be the source from which the TCE contaminant is leadking into the Mamaroneck River, the body of water in the picture. Photo by Carl Albanese.

 

Nicoletti  said it was too early  to estimate the price of  the  construction of the complex storm water retention system needed to carry off and  mitigate the resulting storm water runoff off a 40 acre surface,  would cost in addition to the $10 Million cleanup.

The decision relayed to the Common Council tonight by Commissioner Nicoletti  comes after a three year analysis of the site conducted by the city with DEC oversight  at a cost of $1.2 Million. (This, WPCNR believes, is in addition to a $1 Million to upgrade the Dump Composting operation two years ago).

 

Nicoletti requested $250,000 more funding from  the council this evening to pay for creation of a Conceptual Closing Plan and a Final Closing Plan to determine how the cleanup will be executed.

 

 

 

Commissioner Nicoletti told the Common Council after the city Conceptual Closing Plan is approved by the DEC and the Final Plan submitted (anticipated by the first of the year) work would begin to close the dump in 2010. The type of surface to be installed has yet to be determined, Nicoletti told the council, but would be decided in consultation with the DEC as the Conceptual Closing Plan is developed.

 

Nicoletti said the the TCE (Tri Cloral Ethanol) pollution existing on the site dates back to prior the 1970s and lies beneath a layer of ash 15 feet below the surface, measuring about 50 feet square. He explained that the TCEs have been leaking into the Mamaroneck River and the soil of the dump for decades.

 

Speaking privately to WPCNR after the meeting, Nicoletti explained that the low levels of TCE on the site were apparently not considered a threat to public health by the DEC because the DEC at that time did not push the city to clean up the site. The issue surfaced again in the second term of the Delfino administration and came to a head three years ago when the DEC demanded the city proceed with a plan to close the dump.

 

Working  together the city and the DEC agreed on a series of new monitoring wells to measure the flow of the TCE’s into the Mamaroneck River and surrounding soils. That testing has now been completed.  The point, Mr. Nicoletti  said to WPCNR, “it’s a very low level. The DEC does not consider it a threat. It (the TCE), is not a threat. That’s why I pushed for these tests that show removal was not needed .”

 

Nicoletti said the standard applied to water was the water in the Mamroneck River had to be “drinking water standard” when it came to the levels of the pollutants and that was what was causing the problem. The levels are not drinking water standard.

 

Nicoletti told WPCNR removing the TCE is very expensive, involving digging an enormous hole and shipping the soil out to be cleaned.  (Such a process was recently conducted in Jamaica Queens ridding an industrial site  of a similar cleaning fluid toxins that were seeping into the city water supply. That  remediating was estimated at a cost of $4 Million.)

 

 

Nicoletti said the city might receive a $2 Million grant to defray some of the costs of the clean-up but that would be about it. He said municipalities are expected to pay their cost of a contaminated site clean-up.

 

Asked by Councilperson Thomas Roach how the TCE would be mitigated, Nicoletti said he preferred the use of placing iron bars into the middle of the TCE subterranean deposit,  because the TCE interacts with the iron and its toxic properties neutralize, he said. However, Nicoletti said the DEC would have to agree on that.

 

The unexpected City Dump “iceberg” on the sea of red ink the city  is now sailing is an additional burden  to be bonded for joining  the $14 Million new water tank at the reservoir (expected to be paid for by the Water fund).

 

Back Story

 

The final solution to the dump comes 7 months after the DEC had told the city it was going to have to take care of those TCE’s:

A press spokesperson from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation told WPCNR December 17, 2008, that the DEC had received completed test results of wells testing executed in spring 2008, and that the DEC team of technicians had determined that the TCE-contaminates found in the City Dump were still leaking leachate into the Mamaroneck River in a quantity that requires remediation.

Wendy Rosenbach, spokesperson of the DEC office in New Paltz, told WPCNR a final report is awaited from the city, but regardless of what that reports says, the DEC will require some form of cleanup of the contaminants, the extent of the remediation has yet to be determined. No other information was immediately available, according to Ms. Rosenbach, except that remediation will be required of the city.

 

Letter above from May 2006 — Telling city to close the City dump. Photos by Carl Albanese

WPCNR originally informed the public about the DEC negotiations with the city over the Dump in June 2006, and you can read about the history of the polluted dump that they said was not polluted at http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/article4714.html

The original story WPCNR filed covered the public display of photos of the dump by White Plains Carl Albanese, and was based on documents acquired from the Department of Environmental Conservation in New Paltz, by the former editor of White Plains Online, Don Hughes, also a White Plains City resident.

 

A $10 MILLION MIGRAINE THE CITY DOES NOT NEED

 

The city is also facing  a potential for a 3% to 4% binding arbitration settlement for its fire fighters union by January.  (Approval of the union counsel by the Common Council could not be passed tonight because of the absence of Councilperson Milagros Lecouna.)  The union settlement will set the precedent for the three other unions: police, teamsters, the Civil Service Employees Union.  Additionally the Red Sea is getting rougher as certiorari refunds continue to lower the city assessment role.

 

In other action, Thursday night…

 

$225,000 to WPHA for HUD “Green Tech” Grant.

 

The council indicated willingness to spend the $225,000 of the last $266,729 remaining in the developer-to put up a 25% “match” for the White Plains Housing Authority apply for a HUD grant of $1,780,000 to be used, if HUD approves the WPHA application, for installation of green technologies and money-saving improvements to Schuyler-DeKalb, and Lake Street WPHA buildings in the city. Mack Carter, the WPHA Executive Director, said the $225,000 would only be used if the grant was received. It apparently gives the city 94 points on its application of 110 points in the scoring of their grant application. The grant most likely would not be forthcoming until 2010. The second reading of the $225,000 transfer will be at the Common Council meeting of August 3, since Ms. Lecouna was not present, it could not be passed (requiring a majority at first reading).

 

Shinn-Yo-En to Expand Temple off North Street.

 

 

The temple Shinn-Yo-En, with visiting executives from San Francisco and Japan present, presented a plan to expand their building on North Street with a 980 sq. foot extension (shown at bottom left being added to the present temple, pic above left. The perspective from overhead is shown in the overhead view on the right. The Council does not have to approve the expansion, it being a religious organization. The addition will be used for a social area only with not classroom conversion options.

 

Rental Rates down in the downtown — Condos, Rentals outside downtown considered to develop affordable housing inventory.

 

Commissioner of Planning Susan Habel presented a survey showing how rental rates for studios, one bedroom and two bedroom had declined to basically be within reach of 100% of median income affordable housing clients.

 

Habel noted that developer Louis Cappelli had failed to provide the 13 affordable housing units in the downtown, based on the last agreement where Cappelli could meet his obligation if he made rental arrangements with other buildings in the downtown. It was pointed out that Bank Street Commons, One City Place,the Gramercy and AvalonBay had all refused to make units available to the Cappelli organization to fill the 13-unit gap in affordable housing units Cappelli owes the city.

 

Habel said the city needed to develop other buildings (including condominiums)  willing to lease out rentals for use by affordable housing clients, if they had units that were not filled. At the suggestion of Rita Malmud and Councilman Benjamin Boykin, Ms. Habel agreed that the city, given the decline in rentals in the downtown should concentrate on seeking units for clients earning 50% of median income ($80,000)

 

Hotel Tax Draft Issued

 

Corporation Counsel Edward Dunphy handed out drafts of the new City Hotel Tax legislation for Council comment. The city is attempting to get the 3% hotel occupancy tax (which the city will collect, Dunphy said) passed by the second quarter of the year (beginning October 1). A hearing is going to be scheduled for the September Council meeting.  Dunphy and the city financial departments are racing to decide the city departmental procedures on how the tax will be collected and to define the tax for the city hoteliers.

 

Cert Session

 

The Council wrapped up the evening with the obligatory Executive Session to approve a serious of certiorari settlements (refunds to property owners for past years over taxation).