Lewisboro board selects general contractor for bathhouse remodel

SOUTH SALEM, N.Y. - In a unanimous decision, the Lewisboro Town Board hired ADI East of South Salem as the general contractor for the remodeling of the Town Pool’s bathhouse. 

The approved motion, which took place at the Board’s March 24 meeting, set a cap of $750,000 for this part of the project.

Bids opened on January 15 for the work, and the board faced a 90-day deadline to award the contract. ADI’s proposal was the lowest among the companies who bid to become the general contractor, with the work scheduled to begin in September. Assuming there are no delays, the new bathhouse will be ready next June.

The town is still reviewing bids for the bathhouse’s timber framing. The town has $600,000 in bond funding in place for the project, leaving another $672,400 to complete it based on its estimated costs. 

The Town Board engaged in a lively discussion about the merits of using the town’s own funds to pay for the rest, to seek bond funding, or to use a mix of both. The board ultimately decided to wait until it receives the annual report from the town’s auditors. They’re expected to visit on April 21 and issue their report shortly thereafter.

“There’s absolutely no hurry,” said Councilman Rich Sklarin. “The benefit of waiting is having the audit complete …[and] having a recommendation she [Comptroller Annie Burnham] is okay with.”

Councilwoman Andrea Rendo urged the board to be cautious as well and said a hybrid approach would be the likely best choice. The board has raised the possibility of needing new facilities for the Lewisboro Police, among other departments. They’re currently housed at the old Lewisboro Elementary School but have outgrown this space.

Much depends on what the Katonah-Lewisboro School District decides to do with the property. “We're going to have to take into consideration that this town is going to have to an enormous expenditure to relocate our town offices, our police department, and our court,” she said. “That is going to cost the town millions of dollars to build…I don’t want to take huge chunks out of the fund balance when we don't know what's around the corner.”

The bathhouse discussion and vote followed a working session led by Burnham to provide an update on the state of the town’s finances. She began by noting that her assessment was preliminary, pending the auditors’ report, but showed the town to nonetheless be in a good financial position.

The town derived the largest share of revenues from sales tax, with Parks and Recreation fees coming in second. “Overall Town Revenue came in over a million dollars higher than the 2024 budget [forecast],” she said.

On the cost side, Parks and Recreation is also the costliest department to run. 

“But they did come in under budget for their [2024] spending, which is good news,” Burnham noted. Among the next-most-costly departments are police, highway, and maintenance departments, as well as various shared services. 

Burnham presented a breakdown of Highway Department projects for 2024. “As of now they came in $51,000 under budget,” she noted. “It’s a tough budget to manage and considering all the work they did John [Winter, highway superintendent] did a great job.”

Lewisboro Police came in under budget as well, Burnham noted. Several town-wide expenditures came in over budget, the largest being maintenance costs. The town’s good financial position resulted in an improved credit rating from Standard & Poors, to AA+. 

“That is just one notch below the highest rating possible, AAA,” said Janet Morley, senior vice president at Armonk-based Capital Markets Advisors, an SEC-registered firm that advises Lewisboro on financial matters. “The town is very well positioned from a credit perspective. Ratings are very important when you go into the debt markets because they determine your level of market access as well as the interest rate that you’re going to pay on your debt. So having that upgrade last year was very significant.”

The Town Board voted to close its public hearing on five proposed amendments to the town code, which were proposed as part of its Comprehensive Plan. These cover the town’s architecture and community appearance review council, sidewalks, subdivision regulations, wetlands and watercourses, and zoning rules. Those proposals will be the subject of an approval resolution scheduled for a vote at the board’s April 28 meeting. 

More substantive proposed rules on steep-slope protection, accessory dwelling units, and excavation and fill were not included in that mix. The Board also had a lively discussion on whether to allow people to keep roosters in certain districts. The board and town attorneys determined that they require further review, rework, and separate public hearings. 

After limited public comments, the Town Board voted to close its hearing on the proposed change to the building-permit process. It essentially raised the deadline for completion of open permits, from one to three years.

Among its other business, the Board approved resolutions authorizing the town to apply for two state grants for the new pickleball courts at Lewisboro Town Park. These include a $125,000 State and Municipal (SAM) facilities-program grant and a $100,000 Community Resiliency, Economic Sustainability, and Technology Program (CREST) grant.

The Board also approved the following resolutions:

• The appointment of Joseph Bachana as a Town of Lewisboro representative to THRIVE!, the local mental health and substance abuse prevention coalition that also includes the towns of Bedford and Pound Ridge.
• The approval of a proposal from Kellard Sessions Cermele Johannsessen (KSCJ) for the paving of certain segments of roads in proximity to Timber Lake in Goldens Bridge. The cost was set not to exceed $30,000.
• Authorizing Town Supervisor Tony Gonçalves to sign the the town’s MS4 Annual Report/Interim Progress Certification. This report demonstrates a municipality’s compliance with stormwater management regulations.