Achievements of Ardsley Mayor Jay Leon

By Jay Leon

A remarkable number of goals have been achieved during the four years of Ardsley Mayor Jay Leon's administration.

• The new firehouse has finally been completed. The project was jump started with Mayor Leon's negotiations for a temporary firehouse lease.

• With Ardsley's participation in the Ridge Hill Intersections committee, there will finally be improvements made to Route 9A solely for the purpose of traffic mitigation. This is being done in conjunction with discussions with Westchester County over the reconstruction of the Ashford Avenue Bridge. We need to make the intersection a better one - not to merely fix the bridge and put things back the same way they were.

• A signal light was installed by NYSDOT at Lawrence St. and 9A, while the signal light at Ashford and 9A was replaced into one that's more effective in keeping the traffic flowing.

• The tax rate was kept to approximately a 1% increase this year, after two years of 3% and lower. These are among the lowest in Westchester County. The fund balance is still extremely healthy, with a $1.5 million balance at the end of the most recent fiscal year.

• The Village added a full-time community policing officer, Tony Vacca, who has made an important contribution, particularly with his work with our local youth.

• Mayor Leon chaired the organization committees for Ardsley Day, which was a tremendous success in 2009 for the village, its residents and particularly its merchants.

• After several years of lobbying, the village of Dobbs Ferry agreed to offer additional non-resident parking for Ardsley residents at their train station. Dobbs Ferry and Hastings also offered for the first time to Ardsley residents non-resident summer passes to their respective public pools.

• Improvements have been made to Ashford Park, including the renovation of the soccer fields and the installation of underground sprinklers. The parking lot has been re-paved and is now safer and contains more spaces.

• There was much controversy over a proposal to institute a seasonal ban on the use of leaf blowers. Mayor Leon drafted and negotiated a compromise that eliminated the ban and permits year-round use of leaf blowers, but contains provisions to cut down on the amount of pollution they contribute. As with all compromises, not everyone was happy, but most people following the controversy would agree that the result was fair and respectful to people on all sides of the issue.

• Mayor Leon meets monthly to work the Mayors of the other five Greenburgh villages (Dobbs Ferry, Hastings, Elmsford, Tarrytown and Irvington)to find opportunities for shared services and mutual cost cutting. There have been savings in the area of road paving, and more is being sought with ideas such as maintenance contracts and other contracted services. We will continue to look for economies of scale by working together amicably.

• The great relationship between Ardsley and Elmsford is evident with the library contract, in which Ardsley's Public Library provides services for Elmsford's residents (over 2000 Elmsfordites hold cards with our library). The agreement has enabled the library to add an addition to the building, with no cost to the Ardsley taxpayer.

• Complete the construction of sidewalks on Heatherdell Road from Farm Rd to McDowell Park through funds received by our successful application for a "Safe Routes to School" grant.

• Coordinate discussions with the Ridge Hill Intersections Committee (of which Mayor Leon is a member), NYSDOT and Westchester County to improve Route 9A and the 9A/Ashford Intersection.

• Continue to search for additional downtown parking opportunities. Parking is directly related to traffic and economic development in the downtown area - we must continue to search for a solution that will not "break the bank."