Higher Taxes to Pay for Snow Removal at Night in South Greeley Lot
Merchants in parking district will pay $25,000 extra so DPW personnel can get overtime to clear the lot during the night.
In order to guarantee that snow will be cleared from the South Greeley Avenue parking lot during the night, businesses in its parking district will be paying $25,000 more in taxes under the 2012 budget.
The proposal, which will be part of the budget that is to be voted on tonight by the New Castle Town Board, is an alternative for Chappaqua merchants who feel that the town's current approach of clearing snow during the day has hindered their business activity.
The town's Department of Public Works, which has become increasingly stretched and is down to a crew of nine due to personnel cuts, would get additional overtime as a result. Historically, the DPW would clear snow during the night, but the town shifted to daytime removal as a way to cut costs.
“They want it cleared, that’s the bottom line," said Town Administrator Penny Paderewski.
The decision follows the efforts of Erik Nicolaysen, owner of Nicolaysen Agency, in exploring the possibility of hiring a private contractor to take over the work, and to look at support for doing so from other businesses in the parking district. While Nicolaysen says that two thirds of them are in favor, it can't be done because of it's too late before the budget (it must be send to the state by Dec. 20). Another factor in keeping the proposal from moving forward is that some of what Nicolaysen wanted to do with private labor is not permited under the current Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) union contract with the town. That agreement covers DPW employees.
"The critical question is removing the snow and removing it promptly," Nicolaysen said about what is wanted. He also said that he doesn't have a problem with the quality of the job done by the town.
Whether this system will be in place beyond this winter is unclear. Keeping it could depend on whether or not there is satisfaction with it, according to Nicolaysen. Moving to a contractor system could be possible if the next CSEA contract allows for what was being requested, Nicolaysen explained.
