Retirement Speech
Retirement Speech – January 22, 2008.
There comes a time when one has to announce his or her retirement. For me that time is
now and I am officially making public my plans to retire effective March 28, 2008. In
giving thought to this public announcement I have looked back on my 28 year career as
Village Manager of Croton-on-Hudson and I am hopeful that I have made a positive
contribution in my years of public service.
I was hired by the Village in late 1980 after nine years as the Deputy Village Manager of
the Village of Scarsdale. The Village Board that appointed me at the time was headed by
Mayor Bob Price along with Trustees Roland Bogardus, Paul Hoffman, Chuck Trendell
and Jan Buessem.
At that time much of the Village was undeveloped particularly the northern part of the
Village. Today the Village is almost fully developed and property values have increased
substantially.
My first major issue evolved around the ultimate closing of the Croton landfill.
Recognizing that the landfill could not be closed as Westchester County had planned in
1981, Mayor Price and I were able to work out an agreement with the County which kept
the landfill open until the Resource Recovery Facility at Charles Point in Peekskill was
completed in exchange for millions of dollars. This provided the Village with its first
capital improvements budget and we were able to undertake many capital improvement
projects that upgraded the Village in ways that we could not otherwise have afforded..
Some of these included:
• Many very needed road improve ment projects
• The improvements to the Community Room which has served as the primary
meeting place for the Croton Seniors Club and many other groups.
• The first construction of Fireman’s Field and Manes Field
• The construction of the dam at Black Rock Park and the overall improvements to
the Black Rock property
During the mid 1980’s many developers had plans for high density projects throughout
the Village totaling a proposed 1400 additional housing units. Many residents began
questioning the proposed increase in density and the many likely changes in the overall
quality and character of Croton which had always maintained a small town, semi rural
atmosphere.
The prospect of such major development heightened the need for environmental
legislation to ensure responsible development. After a number of building moratoriums
some of the environmental laws approved included laws regulating:
• Steep slopes
• Wetlands, Water Bodies and Water Courses
• Aquifer Protection
• Environmental Compliance
• Excavation, Filling and Topsoil Removal
• Erosion and Sediment Control
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