Lewisboro board approves amnesty program for building permits

SOUTH SALEM, N.Y. - At its Feb. 24 meeting, the Lewisboro Town Board approved a rate increase for Building Department fees – including a clause that extends the amnesty period for open permits back 10 years to the beginning of 2015. 

“It's coming to light that a number of homeowners thought they had certificates of occupancy – but didn't, and the permits are still open, but expired,” noted Councilwoman Andrea Rendo. “If we go backwards a certain amount of time, it gives them the opportunity to … get their C of Os without any exorbitant fees or penalties.”

This provision just extends the new renewal fee back a decade, noted Town Supervisor Tony Gonçalves. “People who want to renew whose permits have expired can do so at the new renewal fee.”

This provision will apply only to permits that were opened from January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2024. The board okayed both the amnesty provision and the schedule of building department fees. Permit holders will receive a specified timeframe to obtain either a certificate of occupancy or certificate of compliance. 

For more details, go to www.lewisborony.gov/building/page/fee-schedule-building-and-zoning-department. A complete schedule of fees appears in the menu on the left side of the page.

During the public comments, South Salem resident Carol Cernak criticized the way the decade-long grace period was designed and rolled out. She suggested that a homeowner might have followed the rules and paid large fees for a building permit – and nonetheless might incur a big fine because of an email snafu.

“Under this new structure do we get a refund?” Cernak said. “You seem to be rewarding the offenders and not the building permit owners who are following the laws and the fees…[and] when your numbers drop on the Building Department fees based on this new structure, where's your income going to be coming from?”

Goncalves responded that the new fee structure doesn’t change the initial application fee: The change just applies to people who need to renew their permits. 

“If you had an issue with fines, that's another topic,” he said, “which I can't address here and especially without the details.”

Among other significant actions, the board voted to re-bid the contract to surface the town’s new pickleball courts. The reissued request for bids would specify the job to include re-milling the asphalt surface of the existing tennis courts at the site. The Board also approved expending $5,000 more for engineering drawings.

This technique would provide much of – but not all – of the subsurface material. Joseph Cermele, a principal at Armonk-based Kellard Sessions Cermele Johannessen (KSCJ), pointed out that this method is expected to save money.

 “There's obviously an expense to not only tear it up but to dispose of it off site at an approved facility,” Cermele noted. “To avoid that added cost we would look at the ability to mill it on site – to basically reclaim it.”

Cermele said KSCJ also aims to look at reducing the thickness of the concrete surface. The courts would nonetheless have a long, useful life: approximately 30 years, with minimal maintenance.

The next hurdle will be financing the project, Goncalves said. The town has a preliminary commitment for a grant of $225,000 under the state’s Community Resiliency, Economic Sustainability, and Technology (CREST) program. It also received a donation of $50,000 from a Lewisboro family for the courts project. 

In addition to the design and construction costs, the project involves a host of what engineers and construction people dub “soft costs.” These include services such as surveys, site planning, and stormwater pollution prevention planning. The current price tag for this category of costs is $108,000. Goncalves said it would be likely that the town would require some additional bond funding for the courts.

The Town Board engaged in a lengthy discussion  - but took no action – on construction project for the town pool’s new bathhouse. The project has been separated into two elements, and in a stroke of good news, the bids were lower than anticipated for the timber framing. 

Project Engineer Darren Mercer praised Mid-Atlantic Timber Frames, whose $428,000 bid for timber framing was the lower of those two. “They're an exceptionally good company, and they do very good work, so I'm glad that they're the low bidder,” Mercer said. 

The separate bid for the general contractor for the project is expected to total approximately $750,000. The town has $600,000 in bond funding in place for the project, leaving another $672,400 to complete the project. Assuming bids get approved and additional funding is secured, construction would begin in September.

The Ayes Have It

In addition, the board postponed any action on the proposed revisions to the town’s zoning code, which have dominated recent board meetings and have been the topic of several working group sessions among board members. 

In a show of unity the Lewisboro Town Board approved all the aforementioned resolutions unanimously. Board members also cast unanimous votes in favor of these town-business resolutions:

• The Board authorized a sewage-rate increase for the Meadows at Cross River Sewer District, based on the recommendation of the complex’s management firm. It also authorized a one-year contract with Suburban Carting to pick up food-scrap compost from Onatru, Fox Valley Park, and the Lewisboro Town House.
• It approved a request for tethered hot-air balloon rides at the town’s Fine Day Fair, set for May 31-June 1 at Onatru Farm. Liberty Balloon, the rides’ provider, will provide a certificate of insurance and all riders will have to sign a waiver before getting aboard.

• The Board authorized the Parks and Recreation Department to purchase a Nissan Leaf electric car to transport seniors to appointments, at a cost not to exceed $20,836. At the same time, it authorized the department to auction off its current 2015 Chevy Impala.

  The Lewisboro Town Board also approved the following committee appointments:

• Elizabeth DeAngelis, to the Conservation Advisory Committee. She will serve for the remaining term of John Wolff, which expires at the end of this year.
• Timi Parsons, to the Landmarks Advisory Committee, through December 31, 2026.
• Gwen Faust, to the Town Pool Advisory Committee, and Cara Barrett, to Advisory Committee for the Disabled. Their terms expire December 31, 2027.
• Nancy Bachana, to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee, through December 31, 2028.