Mamaroneck REVIEW
March 25, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 13 | www.mamaroneckreview.com
Happy Easter March 25 & April 1, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 6 | www.cityreviewnr.com
School district to unveil bond choice March 29 By SARAH VARNEY Education Reporter
And they’re off! Children rush to gather up as many Easter eggs as they can during last Saturday’s Eggstravaganza at The Hugh Doyle Center. For coverage, see page 8. Photo/Bobby Begun
Eggs!
Mayor Bramson: New Rochelle is open for business By SIBYLLA CHIPAZIWA Editorial Assistant New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson spoke with optimism and confidence on the city’s future during his State of the City address earlier this month, with focus on the downtown development plan and pledging to focus on the city as a whole. “The state of our city is strong,” said Bramson, a Demo-
crat, after telling the full house of officials, business owners, community leaders, developers and residents some positive statistics of New Rochelle, including the city having the lowest crime rate in 16 years and its best bond rating “since FDR was in the White House.” Bramson, who gave his speech on March 3 at Beckwith Pointe, a private club on Davenport Avenue, immediately turned
his focus to the city’s downtown development plan that was unanimously approved by the City Council last December, calling it “the most ambitious downtown development plan in the entire Hudson Valley.” The plan has the potential to construct up to 1 million square feet of space that will be of mixed use in an effort to revitalize the city, with the selection of one prime development company, RDRXR, to
oversee the vision. “New Rochelle is open for business,” the mayor said of the message the plan will send out to the world. The framework of the development plan is the newly constructed “most flexible, new zoning code in Westchester” called a form-based code, which allows “just about any use on every bramson continued on page 5
Over the next week, administrators for the City School District of New Rochelle will hunker down with newly enlisted school-level health and safety committee members to pick the best bond option. There are four bond options ranging from about $35 million to approximately $100 million. The money will be used for repairs and renovations to the city’s eight main school buildings. A $49.5 million version of the bond was narrowly voted down on Dec. 17, 2015. Currently, all the district’s school buildings are in unsatisfactory condition, according to standards established by the New York State Education Department. Nearly all of the school buildings have health and safety issues. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Osborne attributes the degree of dilapidation at the schools largely to the economic collapse starting in 2007. “For a dozen years, the school spent $250,000 per year on maintenance. In the last year and a half, we’ve spent $25 million,” Osborne said. The 10 district schools serve nearly 10,700 students. The superintendent added that the lack of functioning health and safety committees at each school probably didn’t help. Members dropped out as their
children progressed through the school district, and in other cases, meetings were sporadic or weren’t held at all, Osborne explained. “Yes, I do think it was a factor,” Osborne said. “They weren’t reporting back to the district on a regular basis.” Administrators are currently focused on making sure that community members understand how debt financing on the bonds will work. “We need to explain to people that debt service is paid through the operating budget,” the superintendent said. “Right now, we pay about $8.5 million in debt service annually. Of that amount, $3.5 million is [returned to the district via state aid].” According to Board of Education President Lianne Merchant, early anecdotal feedback continues to lean toward the most expensive of the four options, which require $108 million in repairs and renovations. “So far, people are indicating that they want us to really look at going for it,” she said. As for the 2016-2017 budget, it will be released in stages. A line by line listing of costs projected for the upcoming school year was distributed at the March 15 meeting. “When the budget is presented in early May, it will be tax [cap] compliant and will likely include a tax levy increase of approximately bond continued on page 13