There will be a public work session conducted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at Village Hall in the Board Room beginning at 7:00 p.m. The purpose of this session is to afford the Committee to Save St. Paul’s (CSSP) the opportunity to present its proposed program regarding the preservation of the Historic Main Building at St. Paul’s to the Board of Trustees.
As you may recall, in December of 2008, the Eastern Property Owners Association, along with the Estates Property Owners Association organized and managed a public opinion poll that was well advertised and gathered the opinion of over 5,000 Village Residents.
This poll was conducted based on the following three options and the results were as follows:
Approve Demolition of the Main Building and Ellis Hall at an estimated cost of $5.8 million - 2,272 votes or 45.5%
Approve Mothballing of the Main Building at an estimated cost of $13.9 million - 1,857 votes or 37.1%.
Approve the development agreement between the Village and Avalon Bay for restoration and re -development - 873 votes or 17.4%.
Since December of 2008, the Board of Trustees has been carefully managing a process based on these results and has just appoved the Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS) which is the first step in carrying out the opinion poll.
Please attend this meeting to hear the new CSSP proposal so that as the BOT moves forward you are fully aware of the process.
EPOA Pension Reform and MTA Tax Repeal Initiative
On Monday June 7th during the EPOA annual meeting, EPOA President Walter McKenna read two letters asking residents who agreed with the positions to sign. The letters will be delivered to Senator Kemp Hannon and Assemblyman Tom McKevitt.
One letter asks that changes be made to New York State legislation governing mandated municipal employees' pension contributions. “Pensions should be calculated on base salaries only,” states the EPOA, and should not include “overtime pay and other pension inflators accrued by New York municipal employees.” Click here for a link to the Pension letters so you can sign and send it.
The second letter seeks to repeal the MTA Payroll Tax. The EPOA states that local governments and school districts, private employers, churches and non-profits are required by this tax to “subsidize all MTA salaries under the guise that the MTA needs money for operating costs or they will cut services.” Click here for a link to the MTA letters so you can sign and send it.
The EPOA along with other Property Owners Associations will work together to make this a residential, village wide initiative. We have also been contacted by other villages and parent groups who have expressed interest in this cause. It is our expectation that in numbers we can get the attention of our representatives who must take action on these issues in Albany as residents can no longer afford the rising costs of rich pension programs and taxes which is forcing our Village and School Administration to cut services and programs to support the escalation of these benefits.
If you are interested in supporting this initiative, contact us via this website using the “Contact” link. Also ask your friends and neighbors to do the same in the East and ask those in other sections of the village to contact their respective property owners association.
___________________________________________
Membership
It's never too late to support the EPOA. You can become a member today by clicking on the “Membership” link at the top of this page. The membership fee supports the mission of the EPOA which is made up of fellow residents who volunteer their time to stay in tune with various village issues so that we can inform our residents via this website and our newsletters. Please take the time to consider becoming a member today to further our mission of, “Progress Through Participation”
