A suitable site
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- March
- 13
A trio of Westchester County lawmakers have joined together to ask County Executive Andrew Spano’s administration to consider alternate sites for the county Board of Elections, including a commercial property in White Plains.
Spano has proposed spending over $13 million to buy and renovate a building at 450 Saw Mill River Road in Greenburgh, an item currently before the board. But Minority Leader George Oros, R-Cortlandt, and legislators Tom Abinanti, D-Greenburgh, and Suzanne Swanson, C-Mount Pleasant, said in a letter to the administration that the site is not centrally located, lacks enough public transportation and has a “festering mold problem,” among other concerns.
The county is looking to move the Board of Elections from its current location in downtown White Plains because its staff is expanding to meet new federal election requirements, and because the county is now responsible for storing Westchester’s voting machines, necessitating warehouse space. While the board debate has included a number of alternate sites, the trio of legislators, in their letter, raised a new one: the soon-to-close COMP USA store next to the Westchester County Center.
The vote on the planned building purchase was delayed again at Monday’s board meeting as the county negotiates with local officials in the Ardsley school district over the potential tax loss. Even if those issues are resolved, it remains unclear whether there will be 12 votes on the 17-member Board of Legislators to pass the measure.
UPDATE: The Republican caucus piled on today, releasing a new letter to Spano and board Budget Committee Chairman Michael Kaplowitz, D-Somers, raising environmental concerns about the building and calling for a new committee hearing before the next full board meeting, on March 26. Among the concerns they raise are the aforementioned “varying reports” of possible mold, an underground oil storage tank, a nearby diesel fuel spill last year, and mentions of asbestos and, potentially, lead paint in the building.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, March 13th, 2007 at 2:48 pm by Liz Anderson.
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