Achievements of Ardsley Mayor Jay Leon

By Jay Leon

A remarkable number of goals have been achieved during the first term of Ardsley Mayor Jay Leon.

• The new firehouse is nearing completion and is coming in on-budget. The project was jump started with Mayor Leon's negotiations for a temporary firehouse lease.

• At Mayor Leon's initiative, a traffic consultant was hired in 2006 and reported their findings in early 2007. Using the study to lobby the NY State Dept. of Transportation, the State will be implementing what are certainly the first road improvements made to Route 9A made solely for the purpose of traffic mitigation (as opposed to safety reasons alone). It will include a new signal on Route 9A/Ashford Avenue and restriping of Ashford Avenue at the intersection.

• Mayor Leon also convinced State DOT that improvements need to be made at Lawrence St. and Route 9A in anticipation of construction in 2009 for the Ashford Ave. bridge.

• The Board of Trustees eliminated a left-turn from 9A northbound into the Starbucks parking lot to move traffic along in that direction, at the suggestion of the traffic consultants. This may be the first pro-active move ever made by the board to alleviate traffic on the road.

• A new rest room was added to McDowell Park, in part due to a grant obtained by Mayor Leon from the Tribune-McCormick Foundation. Improvements are also about to be made to the soccer fields at Ashford Park, and Bicentennial Park has been relandscaped and improved.

• Mayor Leon chaired the organization committees for the first two Ardsley Days, both of which were tremendous successes for the village, its residents and its merchants.

• Ardsley's 3% tax increase was one of the lowest of any village in Westchester County this year, while its fund balance is at its strongest level in the history of the Ardsley.

• With Mayor Leon leading the negotiations, Ardsley was the first municipality in Westchester to sign a franchise agreement with Verizon and renegotiate its expired agreement with Cablevision, bringing cable choice to its residents for the first time.

• Mayor Leon supervised a complete redesign of the village web site, upgrading its look, usability and utility. He personally accumulated the contact information, working with the Village Clerk, of every merchant in the village. The information is now posted on its own page on the village web site.

• Mayor Leon, along with Village Trustee Peter Porcino, was pro-active in having Ardsley participate in litigation against the giant Ridge Hill development project in Yonkers, and successfully participated in the negotiation of a settlement that set up traffic mitigation strategies for the project.

• The Board of Trustees under Mayor Leon worked to clean up the village of Ardsley. They passed legislation that brought local development fees and violation fines in line with other municipalities. The village passed its first dumpster enclosure law and restricted the use of unsightly paper signs in the downtown area. A part-time code enforcement officer was hired to supplement the Building Inspector's efforts to enforce the rules.

• At the Mayor's insistance, the downtown area included plantings in tree beds and pocket parks that were not there in previous years.

• Increasing the visibility and duties of the police department's community policing officer.

• Follow through on Mayor Leon's initiative to have the four Rivertowns sponsor inter-village youth social events.

• Several weeks ago, Mayor Leon directed the village staff to investigate grants that will help us outfit the village municipal buildings with energy saving solar panels.

• Mayor Leon has applied for several grants to support the village in improving the walkability of Heatherdell Road, by fixing sidewalks and installing curbing and crosswalks. The ultimate goal is to make the thoroughfare safer for children to walk to school.

• A new library renovation/addition is planned, financed mostly with grants and funds that our library earned through their agreement with the village of Elmsford.