Exemptions, tech and chairpersons on tap

By JEFF MORRIS 

At the Nov. 19 Bedford Town Board meeting, the board approved two veterans tax exemptions, several technology upgrades for the police department, and a revised location for a public art installation, while also appointing new chairs to two town committees.

Veterans tax exemptions

A public hearing was held regarding a proposed local law that would amend Chapter 110 of the town code, concerning alternative veterans tax exemptions. Tax assessor Harold Girdlestone presented the proposal.

Article III of Chapter 110 already granted war veterans who meet the requirements set forth in New York State Real Property Tax Law with a real property tax exemption. 

Girdlestone explained that this amendment would extend eligibility to both Gold Star Parents and military reserve personnel who served in Operation Graphic Hand. He said the Gold Star Parent option would include a Gold Star Parent as a qualifying owner who could receive the alternative veterans exemption on their own primary residence. A Gold Star Parent is defined as a parent of a child who died in the line of duty while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces during a time of war.

Girdlestone said, “Hopefully, this exemption will never have to be granted in the town of Bedford, but it will be in place if this situation ever does occur.” 

He said Westchester County, Bedford Central and Katonah-Lewisboro school districts have adopted the option, and it carries no tax impact at all.

The second option would include as a qualifying veteran any veterans who served in the Reserve component of the U.S. Armed Forces that were deemed on active duty under Executive Order 11519, signed March 23, 1970, later designated by the Department of Defense as Operation Graphic Hand. Girdlestone said he did not know why it was given that name.

According to multiple sources, including town attorney Eric Gordon, Operation Graphic Hand was initiated in response to a wildcat strike against the Post Office that began in New York City in 1970 and spread to some other cities. With mail deliveries coming to a halt, President Richard Nixon declared a national emergency and activated regular Army, National Guard, Army Reserve, Air National Guard and Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps Reserves to deliver mail. A direct result of the strike was the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which transformed the Post Office into the U.S. Postal Service, and gave postal workers collective bargaining rights, which they had previously been denied. 

Girdlestone said while Bedford was the only town he knew of adopting this option, he urged the board to adopt both, and said Clark Petschek of the Veterans Advisory Committee had urged its adoption. He said last year, he unfortunately had to deny such an exemption for a resident. 

He told the resident the board would have to pass an amendment in order for him to qualify. After the resident reached out to the board, Girdlestone said he spoke with town Supervisor Ellen Calves about what other exemptions they might be missing, and that was when they discovered that Gold Star Parents needed to be added. 

No one spoke during the public hearing, and the board quickly approved the proposal.

Public art installation

A proposal for a temporary sculpture installation on the Parkway green in Katonah was considered by the board for the third time. This time, Pam Vieth of the Katonah Village Improvement Society presented the proposal for placement of a steel abstract sculpture called “Punch” by Fitzhugh Karol, on the green for six months.

The proposed location was changed to a spot across from the Methodist Church, on the northern edge of the green at Edgemont Road. Vieth said someone would be checking to make sure the location did not interfere with traffic; Supervisor Ellen Calves said the police and possibly the highway department would supervise the placement. 

Calves proposed that they approve the installation for no more than six months, and that the location not be used again for public art for at least two years after the temporary installation is concluded. Town board member Stephanie McCaine said she hoped this brought them on a path to have this kind of thing brought to them in the future. Calves said she was sure it would inspire conversations, with some people liking it and some not, but “it will be interesting.”

The board approved the proposal.

Police technology purchases

Bedford Police Chief Melvin Padilla Jr. requested approval of two technology purchases, which have funding coming from a technology grant from Gov. Kathy Hochul.

One purchase is a records management and dispatch software program, to replace the current system that is from a company which has been acquired by a larger company and is being discontinued. Padilla said they wanted to move to a Motorola Flex platform that is modular in nature and will be able to meet their needs in the future. He said they were able to negotiate a lower group price because about 25 percent of municipalities in the county are moving to this software. The cost will be $335,319. 

His second request was to purchase the Fotokite tethered UAV for a cost of approximately $45,391. The item is a tethered drone, attached to a fixed point, which does not require a pilot’s license or line of sight to operate. Padilla said it would give the ability to monitor large events from a bird’s-eye view, as well as other capabilities to identify potential threats. The board approved both these requests.

A third police request was to submit an application for a $20,000 Clean Energy Communities Grant to support a police EV purchase; the board quickly approved that as well.

New chairpersons

Calves noted that as part of succession planning, Gentian Falstrom has agreed to become chair of the Wetlands Control Commission, of which she is a member, though current chair Andrew Messinger will stay on in order to train her in that role. As Falstrom is also currently chair of the conservation board, she wishes to step down from that role, and member Marina Kubicek has agreed to become chair.

The board agreed to appoint Kubicek as conservation board chair, while Falstrom will continue to serve as a member.