Should New Affordable Housing Projects Continue to Be Considered?

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WPCNR MR. & MRS. & Ms. White Plains Poll. August 21, 2008 UPDATED August 22, 2008: This week, ground was broken on a new 14-unit “affordable housing” project on Minerva Place. Since this and projects like it have been funded with contributions to the affordable housing fund made by developers who have opted to “buy out” of building actual affordable units in their projects, WPCNR wondered how the populace feels about this continued policy of subsidizing projects like this. The last two projects took some $1.1 Million in city money. The Minerva Place project will use another $1 Million. Some of the apartment units themselves  built previously approach $300,000 per unit to build, and generally pay the developer a developer’s fee, and provide the land at reduced cost.


Paul Wood, the Mayor’s Executive Officer, wrote WPCNR saying to make clear no tax payer dollars were used in these two products, that all money came from the Affordable Housing Fund, that is funded by developer contributions in lieu of building affordable units. However, tecnically it is city money to use as the council sees fit within the purposes described by the Affordable Housing Fund. 


The affordable housing is meant for so-called “workforce” housing for police, teachers, city employees, then it is thrown open to every one else.  How do Mr. and Mrs. White Plains feel about this on-going effort?  Choose from the following choices:

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Pilla Reports on the Tax Cap Express

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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2008. August 20, 2008 UPDATED AUGUST 21, 2008: Candidate for the 88th Assembly District,  Anthony Pilla of Battle Hill, rode Representative Greg Ball’s Tax Cap Express Bus to Albany Tuesday morning, and described what the contingent of tax cap supporters experienced.


WPCNR followed with Mr.Pilla, based on the first edition of this story, asking him if he had met with any Assembly members on where the tax cap goes now. He issued this statement in addition to his first report below:


I met with the minority leader and his staff as well as the Assembly candidate support staff.

I did not have the opportunity to chat with other members of the Assembly.

The Tax cap is stalled for now.The Senate will not entertain the circuit breaker bill.

If the heat stays on the Democrats,they will begin to melt as the congress has done with the drilling issue.


Mr. Pilla is second from left, above, as the Tax Cap Express left Yorktown Tuesday morning, and he is shown second from left in the front row on the steps of the Albany Capitol below.



Here is Mr. Pilla’s report:


I rode the “tax cap express” with other candidates and taxpayer groups to the capitol to push for a much needed 4% property tax cap.



On the steps of the capitol I said,  “74% New Yorkers want a property tax cap. The Assembly needs to step up and deliver for the people, or to step down on election day” The time now is for action, not more dysfunction.

Unfortunately that is what the people got. Assembly Democrats buried the tax cap bill from the Governor and Senate and replaced it with the “circuit breaker” bill. This bill would be paid for with 2.7 billion dollars of new taxes!



New York is currently faced with a 26.2 billion 3 year deficit. Common sense tells you that you need to cut spending, just like our families are forced to do. Not drive even more people out of New York with higher taxes.

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Ground Broken for Minerva Place Affordable Housing Units.

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WPCNR THE HOUSING NEWS. From The Mayor’s Office.  (Edited) August 20, 2008. Updated 9:36 P.M. :  Community Housing Innovations (CHI), along with White Plains Mayor Joseph Delfino, hosted the groundbreaking for the city’s latest affordable housing development—14 for-sale units called Minerva Place Condominiums.  The units are being developed, constructed and marketed by Community Housing Innovations, Inc., a White Plains-based nonprofit organization founded in 1991, with the aid of a $1,050,000 subsidy from the City of White Plains Affordable Housing fund, plus a donation of the land.


Melissa Lopez of the Mayor’s Office  clarified this figure Wednesday afternoon, reports that to date the city has given Community Housing Innovations $800,000 and at a Special Meeting of the Common Council Thursday evening, CHI will be asking the Council for $200,000 more.



Common Council and Mayor Joseph Delfino Break Ground on 14 “Affordable Units” Tuesday, to be built on 7 Minerva Place. A design of the complex appears below.  Left to right, above:  Alexander Roberts from CHI, Hon. Thomas M. Roach, Hon. Mayor Joseph M. Delfino and Hon. Rita Malmud
Photo, Courtesy, The Mayor’s Office/ 


 




 


“The Minerva Place condominiums appeal to families entering the home buyer market,” said Mayor Delfino. “In these difficult economic times, I am proud to say White Plains has options to elevate families into home ownership.  The $265,000 condos will fill a critical workforce housing need.”


 


Minerva Place Condominiums is praised as the most energy-efficient residence in White Plains, featuring the city’s first GeoExchange system for heating and cooling.  In fact, it is the first low-rise new construction project in Westchester County to meet all of the requirements of the New York Energy $mart Multifamily Performance Program guidelines. During the groundbreaking, drilling will begin on the first of eight wells for the GeoExchange, also known as a ground source heat pump system. Each well is 350 feet deep.


 


“With the Mayor’s support, we set out to show that affordable housing could be built with the option of energy efficiency,” said Alexander Roberts, Executive Director of Community Housing Innovations. “With heating oil approaching $5 a gallon, energy efficiency is no longer an option.” 


 


In addition to geothermal heat pumps that use the constant temperature of the earth to heat and cool the building, Minerva Place Condominiums features energy-efficient construction techniques, insulation, plumbing and lighting upgrades that are projected to save homebuyers about 30% on energy costs, compared to a typical new development.


 


The 14 units consist of 11 two-bedroom and three one-bedroom apartments with hardwood floors, Corian and granite countertops in the kitchen, and cultured stone countertops in the bathrooms. The project architect is Warshauer Mellusi Warshauer Architects, P.C. The modular builder is Deluxe Building Systems, Inc. The lender is TD Bank, N.A.


 


All of the units will be affordable to families with incomes between 80% and 100% of Westchester County’s Area Median Income, which is between $73,000 and $91,000 for a family of three. The one-bedroom units are priced from $225,000, and the two-bedroom units are priced from $265,000.  However, for families who qualify, Community Housing Innovations may provide up to $30,000 in down payment assistance from the New York State Housing Trust Fund.


 


White Plains will contribute donated land and about $75,000 per unit in subsidy from its Affordable Housing Fund.  The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) will provide about $55,000 to subsidize the energy-saving improvements.


 


Unlike most affordable developments, which are limited to families earning under 80% of the Area Median Income, Minerva Place Condominiums will appeal to families with two wage earners. Typically these families are disqualified from affordable housing opportunities. 


 



Frank Zisa, CHI’s Director of Development who is overseeing the project, said “It is a testament to the dedication of the city, our lender and construction professionals that we were able to move forward with a workforce housing project when it is needed most, especially in an environment of escalating construction costs and tighter lending.”


 


The City of White Plains Department of Planning is now accepting applications on a first-come, first-serve basis, and will utilize a preference system for local police, firefighters, teachers and other municipal employees.  However, all are welcome to apply for the condominiums, which will be ready for occupancy by early Spring 2009. For an application, you may call 914-422-1264.

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Child bicycling, 11, struck by Car in Haviland Manor

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. August 19, 2008: Police report an 11-year-old boy was struck while riding a bicycle at the intersection of Baylor Circile and Havilands Lane Tuesday afternoon approximately 4: 15 P.M. Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety Daniel Jackson reports:


11 year old child struck by a vehicle. Minor injuries, parents on scene. Transported to WP hospital for treatment. No summons issued at this time.



Just a quiet intersection — Baylor Circle and Haviland Lane– scene of child’s bicycling accident Tuesday afternoon. I


 


 


Barbara Dille, off Haviland Manor noted to WPCNR this highlights the need for citizens driving in the neighborhoods to slow down, be aware and watch out for children. Dille told WPCNR Mayor Joseph Delfino when told of the accident, was very concerned and will hold a meeting next week with the Traffic Commissioner and the Department of Public Safety to discuss what Dille described as the ongoing problem of speeding in the outer neighborhoods of White Plains, and the need for speed bumps in residential neighborhoods.


Dille observed White Plains Police have been diligent in speed enforcement with stepped up observing posts on Ridgeway and Bryant Avenue, but said “What can they do? They are trying.”  The accident, she told WPCNR, was a reminder for motorists to be aware that at any time children or pedestrians can dart out in front of your moving vehicle.

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Circuit Breaker Little Relief for White Plains.No STAR Rebate Means More Taxes

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. By John F. Bailey. August 19, 2008: As the two chambers of the state legislature convene today, with the State Senate advocating a 4% Property Tax Cap, and the State Assembly touting a Circuit Breaker plan. The details of the two plans are sketchy. But doing some rough calculations, it shows that unless you are retired on a fixed income, the White Plains taxpayer will lose money because the Circuit Breaker bill is seen, according to its sponsors in the Assembly,  as a replacement for the Middle Class STAR REBATE


If you do away with the Middle Class STAR Rebate — the White Plains upper brackets actually lose money, because in 2008 if you make $120,000 or less, the state will send you back $1,035.71. Make over $120,000 and less than $175,000 and you’ll be paid $778.82; from $175,000 Up to $200,000 you’ll be paid $517.88. A Circuit Breaker would eliminate this relief, while depending on the community where you live and its property taxes, you may or may not get more tax relief under a  circuit breaker.


In White Plains, only if you are retired on a fixed income below $250,000 do you make out better under a Circuit Breaker, and you have to deduct the Middle Class STAR Rebate you will not be getting. Whereas most persons get STAR Rebate regardless of property tax — the Circuit Breaker bases it entirely on property taxes and saves the state a lot of money — at least in White Plains, while costing Mr. and Mrs. And Ms. White Plains more.



If you own a median home in White Plains (a $680,000 to $700,000 house) you lose the Exemption and get virtually no relief under the circuit breaker.



In the Galef-Little circuit breaker bill, (A01575) qualifying homeowners would receive a personal income tax credit of 70% of real property taxes paid in excess of a scaled percentage cap of their household income. Income qualification would be: (1) Downstate suburbs, including Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, Westchester, Putnam, Orange and Dutchess Counties and New York City: less than $120,000 household adjusted gross income tax 6 percent of household income; $120,000 to $175,000 at 7 percent cap; and $175,000 to $250,000 at 8 percent cap; (2) Upstate: less than $90,000 at 6 percent cap; $90,000 to $150,000 at 7 percent cap; and $150,000 to $250,000 at 8 percent cap. Income qualification is as currently defined through the Middle-Income STAR Rebate program.


Circuit Breaker Tax means Very Little to the average White Plains taxpayer. 


How would this effect the typical White Plains homeowner? Since White Plains property taxes are so low proportionately to the rest of the area, not much.


If you own a $700,000 home, (the median house value in White Plains), you pay $12,600 in property taxes. If you earn in adjusted gross income of more than $175,000 but less than $250,000, the amount of property tax you pay before you get Circuit Breaker relief kicks in, according to Assemblyperson Galef’s bill works out thusly:


A median home pays $12,600 in property taxes, the person earning $175,000 to $250,000 gets no relief on the median home because your threshold before the state pays you back anything is $16,000 for you $250,000-earners out there, and $14,000 for you earning $175,001.


If the STAR Rebate is killed and replaced with the Circuit Breaker, and you make a little less than $250,000 you are out $517.88 thanks to Circuit Breaker tax relief.


Million Dollar Home. You get nothing due to WP “low” taxes


If you own a $1 Million home in White Plains, your property tax is give or take, gets you a little back, because you’re paying about $14,000 in city, school and county property taxes; you still do not beat the $14,000 threshold of property tax. Again you lose the $517.88 in the STAR REBATE with this “Circuit Breaker” tax relief. (All assessments of homes are different, it should be kept in mind,  and the assessment dollar amounts used here are average property taxes at those home values, given out by the White Plains Assessor.)


$1.5 Million — Relief.


If you own a $1.5 Million home in White Plains — and earn less than $250,000, you get relief, because you’re paying $23,000 a year in city, country, and property taxes. So the person, say living in retirement (where they are not making $250,000 a year) in a White Plains home assessed at the $1.5 Million level would get 70% back from the state on $9,000 of property taxes or $6,300 — but not quite, the Circuit Breaker caps your refund at $5,000 — and you have to deduct the $517.88 in the STAR Exemption — your actual relief is not $5,000, but $4,482.  But, in reality, how many persons earn less than $250,000 a year and own $1.5 Million homes?


If by any chance you own a $2 Million home in White Plains and have income below $250,000 you are still capped at $5,000, and lose $517.88.


Lower Taxed Homes= Less Relief


In the lower taxed homes in White Plains there is little relief under Circuit Breaker, unless you‘re on fixed income, but I will get to that in a moment. It, too, works out less than the Middle Class STAR Rebate, let’s see how it works out in White Plains.


A $500,000 home pays about $9,000 in property taxes. If you make $175,999, 7% of that is your maximum property tax, you have to run up $12,250 in property taxes in White Plains before you get relief.  So you get nothing under Circuit Breaker.


On the lower run of this tier at $120,000 a year you have to runup $8,500 in property taxes before the state pays you back at the 70% rate, you’d get a $350 refund — less than the typical Middle Class STAR Rebate.


But these are White Plains rates, mind you. For this $350 refund, you lose a $776.82 Middle Class Star Rebate — you lose money under the Circuit Breaker plan as presently constituted if you live in White Plains.


I cannot emphasize enough the need for legislators across the county, (and across the state) to analyze this effect.


Lowest Valued Homes= No Relief Under Certain Conditions


A $400,000 home (about the lowest price you can get a home for in WP), pays about $5,000 in property taxes, so if you’re making $120,000 with a maximum property tax cap of 7% (you have to pay $8,400 in property taxes before you can get Circuit Breaker relief, so you get no relief under the Circuit Breaker plan.


If the Middle Class STAR Rebate is killed, you are getting no relief, if you make $120,000 on the 7% minimum property tax, and you’re losing $776.82. Is that tax relief? Only in very high property tax communities does the mathematics work. Does anyone know where those are?


Low Income Levels Short-changed.


If you are making $119,999 or less the state Circuit Breaker bill as presently constituted grants you a 6% property tax run up before the Circuit Breaker 70% rebate kicks in on the excess over 6% of your income. At this level you get some relief on a $400,000 or $500,000 home, the lower your income is below $119,999 the more the relief you get.


If you make $119,999 and own a $400,000 home there is no relief ($7200 required before property tax relief, and taxes are $5,000).


 If you own a $500,000 home you get $1,200 back from the state ( 70% of $1,800 the difference between $7200 and $9000, your White Plains property taxes.


However, this year you will get a $1,035.71 Middle Class STAR Rebate. If Circuit Breaker kicks in next year, your real property tax relief is $165! The state is saving money in White Plains with this Circuit Breaker.


Say you make $100,000, you get less relief, believe it or not. You must pay your first $6,000 in property taxes, so on a $400,000 home ($5,000 in taxes), there is no relief available.


On the $500,000 White Plains home, property taxing at $9,000, you get 70% of $3,000 back or $2,100. If the state takes away the Middle Class STAR Exemption, deduct $1.035.71 from that and your real Circuit Breaker Relief is about $1,064.


Median Income Owner pays more Property Tax.


The kicker is that if you are making a median income of $80,000 you get even less “relief” on the $400,000 home or the $500,000 home under Circuit Breaker.


You have to be paying $4,800 in property taxes to get any relief. The average taxes on the $400,000 home are  $5,000, so you get 70% of $200 that works out to $140 of property tax relief, and if the state has its way with this bill and kills the STAR Rebate, you pay $896 more in taxes. ($1,035.71 minus $140).


You lose money if the Middle Class STAR rebate is killed that currently pays you $1,035.71.


 On the $5,000 home, $9,000 is the average tax. Here the median income person gets a break.


 Deducting the $4,800 deductible, they have $4,200 in tax relief eligible to be multiplied by 70%, resulting in a property tax relief of $2,940. This is nice, but if you take away the Middle Class STAR Rebate of $1,035.71, the real relief is cut to $1,904.


The Retiree Benefits Most.


As you go up the  income ladder, the person who is retired living in an older home, does get relief if their income is low.


For example if you’re making say $110,000, you get relief after $7,000 is paid in property taxes. On the median home, you get a nice refund. ($12,600 — the property tax on a $700,000 White Plains home — minus $7,000 gives you $5,600 over your minimum property tax. You get 70% of that back –$3,920 very nice!)


But, if the STAR Rebate goes — this gets cut to $2,884. Still nice — if the school district doesn’t eat that up with a hefty 2009-2010 tax increase!


If you’re making $80,000 a year and living in a median home paid for — you get more of a tax back. Your minimum property tax is 4,800, then the state will give you back 70% of the remaining $7800 in property tax or $5,000. But don’t forget the loss of the STAR Rebate cuts the relief to $3,964.


For the White Plains family earning over $175,000 in homes at the median or above, there appears to be no advantage to the Circuit Breaker. The persons living on retirement incomes in older homes where property taxes have gone up appear to be the chief beneficiaries in White Plains.




The issue of how the rebates are treated if the Circuit Breaker is passed as a part of any Albany Tax Relief means a lot. Because if treated as regular income to be added to your income in 2010, could make a difference on rebates of $5,000.


For White Plains at least, the Circuit Breaker based on rough math do little for the employed White Plains property owner who is paying a mortgage and paying present county , city and school property taxes which are substantially below the rates paid across the state. Our taxes as WPCNR has just shown are below the 6, 7 and 8% minimum property tax cap is Assemblywoman Galef and State Senator Elizabeth Little’s bill.


The main advantage is to the retired person in an older house, as we have shown, who is on a fixed income. They can qualify for the bigger benefits where as the higher paid individuals do not. At best the top relief any White Plains taxpayer will receive is $5,000. (There was a $2,500 property tax increase along across the city, county and schools alone this year in White Plains.)


The relief of the Circuit Breaker is more directed across the state. A 4% property tax cap, the financial model for White Plains of which has not been worked out yet.


When one works out the math, you can see why no “official” grids showing examples of the Circuit Breaker in effect have been issued to the media.


Legislators should do the math for their districts across the state on this one to see how it affects their constiuents.

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District,Teachers No Action. No Attrition. Budget Holding Pending Albany Action

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS ROUNDUP. By John F. Bailey. August 18, 2008: Superintendent of Schools, Timothy Connors told WPCNR tonight there has been no movement on negotiation a new contract with the White Plains teachers since talks broke off June 30 for the summer. He said he expected to resume negotiations with Kerry Broderick, head of the White Plains Teachers Association in September. He said Ms. Broderick had not approached him, but he is always open he said.



 


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The school district hired two custodial workers, one Office Assistant in Food Services; approved tenure for four Teaching Assistants, hired five teachers on Probationary appointments, and five Regular Substitute appointments. Asked if the district had allowed any vacant positions not be filled as a way of trimming the budget through attrition since June 30, the Superintendent said the district had not, because that could affect class sizes.


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The Board of Education approved a 2.75% salary increase across the board for 19 Managerial & Confidential employees.


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The Superintendent was asked if the School District was going to work on trimming the school budget earlier this year.


Mr. Connors said the district was waiting to see what the state legislature would do regarding property tax issues. The legislature reconvenes Tuesday with both State Senate and State Assembly at odds over Governor David Patterson’s property tax cap proposal, passed by the Senate last week. Last year the state did not make known its intentions towards school aid until after the school budget was formulated by the district.


The White Plains School district is on target to hit the $200 Million mark in 2009-2010. The current budget is $184.4 Million.


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The Board of Education held off discussion of the 2nd and 3rd grade WINGS programs in the elementary levels until September 8 because a report of recommendations was not completed yet. Asked how changes might affect that program, Mr. Connors said “there’s always room for improvement.” Connors told the Board of Education the 4th and 5th Grade WINGS programs were not going to change.


**********


The Superintendent said enrollment for the 2008-2009 school year beginning September 4 was as expected and not increased from 2007-2008 when it was approximately 7,100 students.


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Charles Norris, member of the Board of Education,told WPCNR, unsolicited, that he was not a candidate for Mayor of White Plains at this time, contrary to rumors that he has heard to that effect. He said he would not run as a Republican, but strongly denied he was a candidate at this time.


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Board Members Peter Bassano and Charles Norris, asked if they had seen a design of the new $104,000  jumbotron-equiped scoreboard ordered last month for Loucks Field, the new artificial turf field in White Plains, said they had not.


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Superintendent of SchoolsTimothy Connors noted that the 2008 high school football schedule begins Saturday, September 6 against Roosevelt at 1:30 P.M. at Loucks Field, followed by a night game at 7 P.M. against Scarsdale, September 12.  The Schedule:


September 6: Roosevelt, 1:30 P.M.


September 12: Scarsdale, 7 P.M.


September 20 — at Mamaroneck, 7 P.M.


September 27: Mount Vernon, 2:30 P.M.


October 4: at New Rochelle, 3:30 P.M.


October 10: Gorton, 7 P.M.


October 18: at Lincoln, 1:30 P.M.


November 27 (Thanksgiving): Stepinac, 10:30 A.M.


(Presumed to be Loucks Field venue due to higher seating capacity. Parker Stadium last year was filled to well past capacity and spectators had to be turned away by officials.)

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White Plains Ron Velez Hired as WP Manager of Information Systems

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. August 18, 2008: Ron Velez of White Plains was approved Monday night by the Board of Education as the new Director of Management Information Systems for the White Plains City School District. Velez comes to the White Plains district, having been the Manager of Information Systems for the East Ramapo School District in Rockland County (Spring Valley).



Velez has been, according to Dr. Lenora Boehlert, Assistant Suprintendent for Human Resources, has been in his present position for eight years, and in information systems for 10 years before that. He has sixteen years of experience.


She said Mr. Velez is familiar with the Infinite Campus data management program recently purchased for the White Plains district at a cost of $300,000, because the East Ramapo District was in the process of adopting the same program. She said the East Ramapo district has not implemented it fully yet and is in the process of doing that. Dr. Boehlert reports that Mr. Velez has been engaged in implementing the Infinite Campus program in the East Ramapo district.


The new Infinite Campus system has been touted as the district answer to providing longitudinal information tracking that BOCES, its previous provided had been unable to provide. The BOCES system was contracted for previously because the current White Plains data management team of Lucy Roman and Larry Killian and been unsuccessful in implementing  longitudinal studies due to the limitations of White Plains data systems implemented in the late 1990s. Infinite Campus is expected to take three years before the staff and departments and faculty can fully make use of its capabilities.


Mr. Velez is expected to begin his new assignment with White Plains September 8, at a salary of $150,000 a year.


The East Ramapo School District proposed a school budget of $193.4 Million for 2008-2009, which was defeated by the voters. The district, in response, adopted an austerity budget that was actually more than the proposed budget due to the legislative actions in increasing school aid last spring, while the state secretly decreased the STAR exemption to pay for the increased aid. The District has 8,244 students as of the end of 2007, and is 59% Black, 22% Hispanic, and 11% white in demographic make-up.

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Cable TV Access Center Age, Chronic Fragility, Indicates Time for Overhaul

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WPCNR MEDIA AGE. By John F. Bailey. August 18, 2008: The White Plains Cable Commission will take up the matter of a overhauling the control room of the White Plains Public Access system at its September 30 meeting, WPCNR has learned. Executive director Jim Kenney said the system had become “too fragile due to the increased number of connections over the years.”


The latest such disruption in Channel 76 cable casting occurred Friday evening when there was no audio for any of the shows cablecast that evening. White Plains Week the timely news roundup show will be specially cablecast on Channel 76 today at 4 P.M. and in its regular slot at 7 P.M. It can also be seen at 11:30 P.M. this evening. And  you can wake up with White Plains Week at 7:30 A.M. Tuesday morning. Other possible make goods for other shows without audio have not been scheduled as yet.


 



There has been disagreement among the members of the commission as to whether the aging system, installed in 1992, augmented and built up over the years as the station has expanded. Two Commission members, Mary Ann Keenan and Milagros Lecuona have recently called for a consultant to come in and analyze what needs to be done to eliminate the periodic disruptions in cable telecast quality in the Government Access Channel 75 and Channel 76 that have resulted in audio loss, poor picture quality on a sporadic basis not only the public access outlet 76, but also affecting the live telecasts of Common Council meetings. One council meeting was not televised at all this past spring due to a breakdown.


Jim Kenney, the Executive Director of the “White Plains Network,” Channel 75, Channel 76 (“The Spirit of 76”) and the education channel 77, attributed the periodic interruptions to the age of the system that has made it more susceptible to glitches over the years. “The whole Verizon conversion has made it more complicated, but the problems first surfaced with the Cablevision modulater problem (in 2007).”


Kenney said, “The system needs a complete overhaul.” He said, in order to execute a redesign of the system, “rebuilding from the ground up,“ the cable operation would have to shut down for a week or more. He also noted that he hoped to have an estimate of the cost of upgrading the system by the September 30 meeting.


He attributed Friday’s audio outage to “something coming loose, and we have no idea what it was.”

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Calling All Carps! Calling All Carps! Proceed to Silver Lake Ecological Disaster

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WPCNR LAKE STREET STORY. By John F. Bailey August 17, 2008 UPDATED 10:30 P.M. EDT: After three weeks of reluctance on the part of the City of White Plains to report to WPCNR the status of when an elite squad of algae and weed-eating carp fish  “specialists” would be approved or banned from cleaning up the stagnant algae and weed-choked Liberty Park Silver Lake, the Town of Harrison Supervisor Joan Walsh announced Friday that the long-awaited “Carp Squad” would be introduced to the lake in September.


                                                                            “GUMS”



Move along, buddy! A Grass Carp — soon to be introduced to Silver Lake to control the bottom weeds. The Carp grows rapidly, can eat up to three times its body weight in a day, and can grow to a length of 4 feet as an adult and weigh 70 to 90 pounds. Carp juveniles (8 inches)  can grow to 18 inches in one year. Walsh told media 256 carp would be put into the lake.


The carp will hopefully find the bottom weeds tasty and will clean up the lake whose unsavory appearance every summer has  turned Liberty Park, built at the cost of $500,000 in real tax dollars by the City of White Plains in 2004, into a park no one wants to go to or be in. The lake has been unusable for boating for three years due to the unexplained weed growth in the lake. It is so deserted there is evidence of campfires along the trail.   


The “carp solution” was suggested by White Plains Commissioner of Public Works, Joseph Nicoletti. one year ago as preferrable to the alternative of dredging the lake for hundreds of thousands of dollars and has finally been give the “Go” signal by the Department of Environmental Conservation.



Liberty Park & Silver Lake, August 5: The Park that no one wants to use. A “Carp Squad” is on the way to clean up the lake, Harrison Town Supervisor John Walsh announced Friday. This is how Silver Lake looked August 5, two weeks ago, and how it has looked all summer long the last three years. It has cleared up a little since then (See Sunday, August 17 shot below), due to cooler nights killing the algae, and it sinking to the bottom.



Silver Lake, August 17: Cool nights last week killed the algae scum which sunk to the bottom, so the lake looks better, but note the slime dockside.


For two years though the lake has been closed to boating due to voracious weed growth and algae scum that was never present before Liberty Park with its attendent fertilizers and chemical runoff opened. The fertilizer runoff from the White Plains side was cited by a biologist to WPCNR as a possible cause of the growth three years ago. The city has never explained why the lake never had as much weed growth before Liberty Park opened. It has been attributed to storm water runoff.



Southend of Silver Lake by entrance of park, August 5.



Southend of Silver Lake Sunday, August 17 — Algae kill has cleared surface.


The lake was further compromised last year when overflowing Harrison sanitary sewer drains in late July  overflowed due to a drenching thunderstorm event, and introduced raw sewage into the lake. The result fouled the Silver Lake  area with stench and introduced effluent into the Mamaroneck River. The cause of the stench was not announced to the public  by both towns for three weeks and an official announcement of the closing of the lake was not made.



Liberty Park as a result of the appearance of the lake has had its trails around the lake become possibly new campouts for the city’s homeless. Remnants of campfires were found by WPCNR two weeks ago.


Walsh announced the carp would go into the lake in September. The carp eat the weeds and have been a resource to clean up a number of lakes in the area.  The carp, Commissioner Nicoletti said when advancing the “carp solution” last fall would be sterile to avoid over population.


 



Looking North from the southend of Silver Lake — scum and slime threequarters down the length of the lake  looking North– as of August 5.


 



The same spot above, shot from opposite White Plains shore, today, August 17. The murk of the cool night algae kill remains



Looking South to White Plains from the Harrison side, August 5.  The discoloration on the surface is slime and film.



Swans distastefully moving past the slime, August 5



 


Silver Lake August 5



Another campfire site along the trail lakeside on White Plains half of the lake, discovered August 5.



Silver Lake, August 17 looking to Harrison side.


 

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State Senate Majority Leader Skelos Statement on the Property Tax Cap as Nov. 19

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. Statement to the Press August 17, 2008 from New York State Senate Majority Leader, Dean Skelos: Next week, the Legislature will be returning to Albany to address the fiscal challenges facing New York as a result of the national economic slowdown.  I spoke with the Governor a number of times today and once again commended him for his leadership in focusing the Legislature and others on this important issue.  He is right to call for spending reductions that allow us to begin our work on next year’s Budget.

Just last week, we partnered with the Governor to pass a property tax cap that would begin to provide real relief for overburdened taxpayers. There is no more critical issue facing the Legislature than the property tax crisis facing Upstate and suburban homeowners.  Hard-working taxpayers need and deserve real property tax relief, and we urge the Assembly to pass the Governor’s property tax cap bill, along with our legislation that provides mandate relief for schools, when they are in Albany for the August 19th special session.



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The Senate Majority has been clear from the outset that this Budget will not be balanced through mid-year education cuts, State workforce layoffs or cuts that would force local governments to raise their taxes to make up for a shortfall from Albany.  Cuts of this nature, midway through the current fiscal year, would be counterproductive and would unnecessarily create hardship.

The Senate Majority is also opposed to any cuts that deprive New Yorkers of vital health services and quality health care.  I believe we can identify savings that will not impact our hospitals and other health care providers, as well as other spending reductions within a $121 billion State Budget, that if distributed fairly and equitably, would allow the Governor to achieve the spending reductions he has proposed.

In the meantime, we must redouble our efforts to root out the waste, fraud and abuse that exist in the Medicaid system so Albany is more accountable to taxpayers.

We also urge the Governor to endorse our constitutional spending cap and call on the Assembly to pass the measure.  A spending cap would limit annual increases in State spending to no more than 4 percent and help reduce next year’s projected deficit.  If this amendment was already in effect, taxpayers would have saved $2.8 billion this year alone.

As we look ahead to the 2008-09 Budget, it’s imperative that we reduce State spending and work cooperatively to overcome the State’s ongoing fiscal challenges, while protecting services that are vital to all of New York’s families.

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