Village to send safety grant requests to county

By MARTIN WILBUR

The Mount Kisco Village Board narrowly approved a resolution Monday that allows the municipality to compete for some of the $15 million in Westchester County grants for four pedestrian safety improvement projects.

By a 3-2 vote, Mayor J. Michael Cindrich, joined by trustees Angie Garcia-Guerra and Tom Luzio, supported the action to submit an application by Friday’s deadline to be eligible for funding from the Westchester County Complete Streets Municipal Assistance Program. All grants under the program require 50% matches from the municipality, said Elaine Du, senior technical director, traffic and transportation, for AKRF, the consulting firm the village retained for its Complete Streets study.

Mount Kisco will now compete for money to help pay for the final phase of the streetscape sidewalk improvements on South Moger Avenue between Kirby Plaza and Green Street; Kisco Avenue bicycle and pedestrian upgrades; work to enhance pedestrian safety on Barker Street; and sidewalks and other pedestrian improvements for several streets in the vicinity of Leonard Park, including a High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk for the Main Street and St. Marks Place intersection. A HAWK signal allows pedestrians to press a button that will activate flashing lights signaling for traffic to stop for people to cross the street.

Du said Westchester municipalities who submit an application will be in contention for grants that can range from $100,000 to $6 million each until the funds are exhausted. The grants will likely be announced before the end of the year with implementation of the projects starting in late 2026 and 2027, she said.

“What I hear is they want to spread the wealth a little bit,” Du said. “This is a very exciting program and the first of its kind. It gives local Westchester communities the ability to do some of the projects they’ve been looking at for years.”

Unlike state and federal grants, the money can only be used for projects on village streets, Du added.

Despite Mount Kisco’s applications that request $3,379,449 from the county in total for the four projects, there was disagreement on the Village Board about whether to pursue the grants. The dissenting board members, Trustee Karen Schleimer and Deputy Mayor Theresa Flora, expressed concern about how the village would pay its half of the cost should it obtain the grants. 

Although a supporter of the HAWK signal and some of the other planned work, Flora also questioned whether the improvements would help what she believes is the key challenge, slowing down speeding motorists, particularly on Barker Street.

“I’m just a little bit blindsided by all of this tonight,” Flora said “I didn’t expect it, I’m confused by it and I think other community members are also, and I just don’t understand why we didn’t talk about this tonight with a deadline breathing down our neck.”

The description of the work does not include speed humps, she noted, which have appeared to be effective on locations in Bedford. Flora said she was disappointed that the county grant applications fail to include that improvement, although Du said a federal grant includes speed humps.

While Flora was part of the village’s Complete Streets Committee, Schleimer, who did not serve on the committee, said the scope of the work that was presented was overwhelming for her, considering she was relying on timely and accurate information to be communicated.

“Why weren’t we provided with this kind of detail? “Instead, all we have is a resolution,” Schleimer fretted.

Village Manager Ed Brancati responded that the planned improvements were part of the village’s Complete Streets Study that was adopted earlier this year. The village is also waiting on its more than $7 million federal Safe Streets for All (SS4) application as well as a state funding request through the New York State Consolidated Funding program under the Climate Smart Community Grant application, which also requires a 50-50 match. 

Recipients of the federal grant are expected to be announced by the end of November, and would focus more on the Main Street and West Main Street corridor, he said.

Brancati explained that if Mount Kisco receives the county grants for the Kisco Avenue and Leonard Park neighborhood projects, it could have both halves of the match if it also obtains the state grant. If not, the village could decide to fund the work through borrowing and/or through use of its capital reserves.

“With all due respects, it was a year-long process,” Brancati said. “The committee was involved, we’ve gone through this, we had a draft of a plan, they’ve reviewed the plan. These are not new from the plan.”

Cindrich said if the village were to receive only one of the grants, it also has the option of turning it down if officials are concerned about funding half of the work.

“If the community is in a situation where it’s financially prohibitive, we just don’t do it, and we realign ourselves,” Cindrich said. “But applying for the grant and getting the award, if we have more development and more income coming into the village, it’s going to make the community a better place.”

Brancati also cautioned that there is no guarantee the county grant would be available again, and if it is, there is likely to be increased competition. Mount Kisco has its finished Complete Streets study, which can demonstrate its needs with a professionally researched and prepared plan.

The proposed work on Kisco Avenue, which asks for $788,936, would include narrowing the travel lanes from about 17 feet to 11 feet in each direction, adding bike lines and sidewalks with curb ramps and new pedestrian signals and crosswalks. On Barker Street, which seeks $302,705 from the county, calls for up to seven new crosswalks, sidewalk repairs and new and improved street lighting.

The Leonard Park neighborhood improvements would install sidewalks along St. Marks Place and Spring, Spencer and Boltis streets, new crosswalks with curb ramps and the HAWK signal. Officials are requesting $932,533 from the county.

The village is asking for $1,355,275 as part of that grant application.

Martin Wilbur has more than 30 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including having previously served as editor-in-chief of The Examiner.