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SCARSDALE, N.Y. – Scarsdale, like the rest of Westchester, has reasons to be optimistic about the state of the county, according to Deputy County Executive Kevin J. Plunkett.
Plunkett spoke to about 50 members of the community Thursday night at the Scarsdale Forum membership meeting at the Scarsdale Library. Plunkett said he was filling in for his boss, County Executive Robert Astorino, who had a prior commitment.
"He wanted to be here and we will come back," Plunkett assured the audience.
Plunkett made his case for the administration's success at advancing an agenda that is built around holding the line on taxes and said Astorino has managed to pull that off despite rising costs and no meaningful relief from state mandates.
"Nine state mandates eat 80 percent of the county taxes," and the two biggest, Medicaid and pensions, will cost the county $15 million this year.
Plunkett made a point of touching on issues important to Scarsdale, both regionally and locally. Topping the list was the "rusted, crumbling" Tappan Zee Bridge replacement which, he said, has been fast-tracked by Albany and President Barack Obama. "We need a bridge that's practical, affordable and will position not only the county, but the region, and, quite frankly, the country, for the future," he said. "The economic vitality of Westchester County depends on the Tappan Zee Bridge."
He said Astorino believes it is critical to include mass transit on the bridge and that there is no reason why it cannot be done in an environmentally sensitive way when the work begins.
He addressed flooding and said the county has undertaken a program to clean up the Bronx River – the only river owned and controlled by the county – to keep the water flowing. The Hutchinson and Saw Mill rivers, he said, are controlled by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. "The county executive launched in November what he called 'Operation River Rescue,'" Plunkett said. "He came out on a Sunday with a parks crew, with a DPW crews, went to some critical places along the Bronx River, including Scarsdale down near the tennis courts, and started cleaning out the debris, the junk, the garbage, the tires and so forth that have created the dams. And that effort is continuing as we go through this winter and into the spring. We hope to have the whole Bronx River cleaned up by the middle of the summer. If we can start the flow, we think we can address at least some of the flooding issues."
He also talked about the Crane Road bridge repair project.
"Bids were just opened to start work," he said. The county has been working with the village, he said, to assure the least possible disruption to residents.
