Mount Pleasant Board to Okay Cost Cutting Contracts
The Mount Pleasant Town Board is scheduled to vote on two measures designed to save thousands of dollars and on a residential zoning moratorium when it meets this week (Aug. 11).
At the Aug. 4 work session Supervisor Carl Fulgenzi said the board is expected to approve a contract with Evergreen Organic Recycling. to make mulch.
Currently, town employees take such items as tree branches and stumps to the Westchester County recycling facility in Chappaqua, where it is turned in to mulch. The county charges the town $250 a month to use its facility, Fulgenzi said.
The board is also slated to okay a new garbage collection contract with CRP. The contract can last up to 10 years, Fulgenzi noted. The contract is expected to save town taxpayers “over $200,000 a year,” he said.
The town board will need to look for ways to hold down spending, especially in light of the recent announcement from the state that the property tax cap for next year will be 0.73 percent and the cost of health insurance expected to rise, Fulgenzi said. “It’s going to be a tough year,” he said.
Zoning moratorium
Also during the Aug. 11 meeting the board is slated to approve a six-month moratorium on having the town decide certain residential zoning issues until town code is revised in several areas, following a public hearing next week.
The moratorium could ultimately be less than months if needed revisions are made to the codes, he said.
The town could provide wavers during the moratorium. Fulgenzi said.
The moratorium would have no impact on commercial development, Fulgenzi said.
Fulgenzi said town code is not clear on several issues regarding residential properties, such as were a fence could be placed The town receives complaints from residents about their neighbor’s home, but it is difficult for the building department or other areas of town government to provide a definitive ruling in many case because the code is not clear, he said.
Fulgenzi said he has been working with Councilman Mark Rubeo, Town Engineer David Smyth, Building and Fire Inspector Sal Pennelle and others in the town for several months on revisions to the residential zoning codes.
The idea is to make the residential codes “user friendly,” Fulgenzi said.
The meeting is slated to begin at 8 p.m. at town hall.
