No. Castle Hires Architect to Conduct Study for New Highway Garage
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
The North Castle Town Board retained a Westchester architectural firm last week to conduct a feasibility study that would explore site and facility planning for a new town highway garage.
Arconics Architecture of Rye Brook will be brought on board to provide the town with direction on how best to provide a long-sought after upgraded facility.
“I think everyone would agree that we definitely have to do something,” said Supervisor Joseph Rende. “There’s no facility. The town has kicked this can down the road for a number of years, right. This year we had claims brought against us for the fact that buildings are not safe. We’re at a point where are we waiting for an accident to happen?”
Options would likely include looking for alternate sites to house the next highway garage. Rende said that the matter has been discussed in executive session; however, since the issue could possibly include purchase of land, Rende declined to identify any of the possible sites.
Town officials and some residents have repeatedly raised the inadequate condition of the current highway garage, located near Town Hall, during the past decade as trucks are required to be stored outside, likely reducing their lifespan. The current highway yard also lacks space for the crew to service vehicles inside, a problem in inclement weather.
Although none of the board members dispute the need for a better facility, Councilwoman Barbara DiGiacinto said the board should be gaining input from Highway Foreman Jamie Norris and the department before they retain and pay for professionals. In his July 16 letter to the town, Arconics Architecture’s Principal Gary Gianfrancesco stated that the firm would be utilizing the Highway Department’s Stage One Collaborative, a study conducted in 2007 to evaluate all of the facilities for the town’s department.
DGiacinto said the town shouldn’t be providing 17-year-old information and argued that it should do as much work beforehand to see what the Highway Department’s needs are. That should include how much square footage a facility should be, the building’s height and the number of bays needed for the mechanics to work on the trucks.
She noted that one of the firm’s principals would cost $225 an hour, it would be $190 an hour for a senior associate’s time and an hourly fee of $165 for a designer’s time. Use of its office staff would cost $70 an hour.
“We have taxpayer dollars that we’re dealing with,” DiGiacinto said. “If I were a taxpayer, I would say I would like you to be perhaps a little better prepared with information that they can sit down with Jamie.”
Councilman Matt Milim countered that DiGiacinto has of looking to delay projects that she doesn’t agree with.
“If one wanted to delay a project like this you could say we need perfect information before you have anyone look at it, but I don’t think that’s the right way to do it,” Milim responded. “I do think it’s a good idea to bring Jamie up and get his feedback and his needs, but I don’t agree with anything else that you said.”
But DiGiacinto refuted the notice she is trying to delay. She pointed to her first year on the board in 2014 that she urged her colleagues to address the issue. The town could also save money if officials do more work beforehand.
She said with two weeks between Town Board meetings, that would be ample time to obtain more information from the Highway Department.
“I just want to be better prepared before we hire an architect,” she said.
She also said the town shouldn’t dismiss a new facility on the current site depending on what the architect recommends.
Rende mentioned that he would like to have the town be more forward-thinking by also considering a facility that includes the Water & Sewer Department and possibly recreation.
However, the town might benefit if the current highway yard site located near the heart of downtown Armonk is redeveloped.
“I felt the site that’s currently occupied by the highway yard has a greater value as an alternative gateway development site rather than seeing it be used as a highway yard,” Rende said.
Town Administrator Kevin Hay said getting the input of the Highway Department must be part of the process, but that feedback can come later.
The board approved hiring Arconics Architecture by a 4-1 vote, with DiGiacinto dissenting.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
