mountkisconews.com

Although there may not be any local races on the ballot in November, there is a local referendum for Mount Kisco residents to consider.

The Mount Kisco Village Board approved a resolution to allow a referendum for the November elections on a Length of Service Program (LOSAP) for the volunteers of the Mount Kisco Volunteer Ambulance Corps.  The LOSAP will bestow an annual retirement benefit after the age of 65 to qualified members that earn points through responding to calls, training courses and other criteria.

If approved by the voters, the LOSAP will allow each member to accrue a benefit of $20 per month per year of service for a maximum of 40 years.  For example, a twenty-year member will be able to collect $4,800 per year after the age of 65.  The LOSAP will cost approximately $56,000 for the first five years with an annual cost of $34,000 thereafter. 

Mount Kisco should support its volunteers.  While Mount Kisco has many volunteers, volunteers for both the fire department and ambulance corps belong in a special category because of the training requirements that they must meet.  For instance, EMTs are required to traiin over 200 hours in a three-year period.

The Saint Francis AME Zion Church will hold its annual Fellowship Fun Day on Saturday, October 31, 2009 from 8:30 to 5:00 in its parking lots on Kisco and Hillside Avenues. This event was originally scheduled for August 29 but was cancelled due to rain. The event will include gospel music, activities for children and merchants. This event is open to the entire community. Hillside Avenue will be closed between Kisco Avenue and Mountain for this event.

Two recent Fox Lane High School graduates who swam for both Fox Lane High School and the Mount Kisco Memorial Pool swim team are excelling in college.

James Karle, a sophomore at Boston College, swims freestyle for the Boston College swim team. Kim Holden, a freshman at Notre Dame, swims the backstroke and the butterfly.

The success of Mount Kisco swimmers reflects well on Fox Lane High School coach and Mount Kisco Memorial Pool supervisor Carolyn Johnson.

For specific questions on your polling location, please email your name and address to mountkisconews@gmail.com.

As described in the October 17 entry, the Bedford Central School District will be interviewing potential members to fill an unexpired term. Mount Kisco resident Suzanne Grant, who has all the qualifications to be a great Board of Education member, will be one of the candidates.

First, Suzanne has professional experience, working for 18 years in the advertising industry. Her communications background can be a strong asset to the Board of Education that needs to communicate more with school parents and taxpayers.

Second, she has been a tremendous volunteer in the Bedford Central School District, serving as PTO leader for nine years and MKESA Co-Chair for three years. Suzanne was instrumental in organizing the construction of Mount Kisco Elementary School’s playground. She is also on the district’s Budget Advisory Committee.

Third, but not last, she has two children in the Bedford Central Schools, a daughter at Fox Lane Middle School and a son at Mount Kisco Elementary School. I don’t know many people that care more for the Bedford Central Schools.

Hopefully, residents will attend the November 2nd candidate interviews at 7:00 in the Fox Lane Middle School Little Theater or watch the broadcast televised on Channel 18. Following the interviews, the current board will vote to appoint one candidate, based partially on community feedback. The Board of Education will accept written comments by email from November 2 through 8 at boe@bcsdny.org. I am sure that anyone that follows the interview process will to comment favorably on Suzanne’s candidacy.

The Mount Kisco Flag Football League, sponsored by the Mount Kisco Recreation Department, has been a successful program. There are four teams with players ranging from 3rd grade to 5th grade.

Games and practices are on Saturday afternoons. Thanks to Charlie Pieragostini and the coaches for making the league a success. Thank you to Art Nelson, a talented photographer and videographer for these pictures.

With Election Day less than two weeks away and very few local races, it raises the question, why there are so few local races?

One reason is party enrollment. In Mount Kisco, the current enrollment is overwhelmingly in favor of the Democratic Party. If the current trend continues, Democrats will make up over half of the registered voters.

As of the end of July, the voter enrollment in Mount Kisco was as follows:

As a result, the Mount Kisco Democratic Committee, a group of unelected individuals, controls who is elected in Mount Kisco.  With this overwhelming disparity, the other parties have given up.  Unless independent groups of citizens band together there never be any voter choice.  There is only one independent candidate running for judge this year.  Otherwise, the mayor and trustees, the policy makers in this village, will be elected without challenge.

At Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, there is a Halloween event featuring more than 4,000 individually hand-carved pumpkins.  You need a ticket to get in and they are $15 for adults, $10 for children from ages 5 to 17 and free for children under 5.  Go to www.hudsonvalley.org for more information. 

The above pictures were taken by Mike Castro, a talented local filmmaker.

The land which sits near Byram Lake, Mount Kisco’s sole source of drinking water, and was purchased by the Village of Mount Kisco with the town of North Castle and the Westchester Land Trust was renamed Byram Lake Preserve.

The 30 acres was purchased for $475,000, split evenly between Mount Kisco and North Castle with the Westchester Land Trust contributing $15,000.

The previous owner, the Rene Dubos Center for Human Environments, had wanted to sell it for development for over $1 million. A judge, acting on petitions by Mount Kisco and the Attorney General, however, ruled that because the Rene Dubos Center had aquired the land as a gift and for the purposes of environmental protection, it could not therefore sell it for a purpose that conflicted with the intent of the gift.

Hopefully, the Byram Lake Preserve can grow to include other properties and further protect Mount Kisco’s water supply.

No one can accuse the Village Board of not listening to its constituents as the public hearing on the Change of Use Law (110-38) continued for a fourth month. The public hearing on the Change of Use Law started in June and will continue.

The new Change of Use Law that is being proposed is not much more different than the current law. The new law is just clarifying the existing law. There is currently a mistaken belief that commercial buildings in the Village can be re-demised and/or have new tenants with any use so long as it is permitted in the underlying zoning district.

Under the current law, a property owner/applicant must be able to demonstrate that there is no further increase in parking requirements (110-38), that there exists an approved site plan from the Planning Board for the desired use (110-45 and 110-38) and that no change is being proposed in “the nature of the existing use” (110-59).

By making the law clearer, the Planning Board will be able to review changes in use that create additional traffic and congestion and make Mount Kisco less desirable.