SOUTH SALEM, N.Y. - During its Sep. 14 meeting, the Lewisboro Town Board gave the green light to a proposal for the lease of a trailer as a temporary Police Department headquarters while it awaits construction of its new, permanent facility on Spring Street in South Salem.
The new trailer will be located at 11 Main Street, adjacent to the Lewisboro Town House. This area is normally devoted to recycling and Highway Department storage. Highway Superintendent John Winters will relocate that equipment to the town’s salt dome area on Spring Street near the site of the new building.
Under the agreement, the town will lease the trailer for 18 months from Williams Scotsman Inc. of Scottsdale, Arizona. The agreement calls for a monthly leasing cost of $5,830 for the trailer and septic holding tanks. Delivery costs would be an additional $56,000.
The building’s structure encompasses three modular units, each measuring 56 by 12 feet and joined to form a single structure. The town also selected Waltz Electric of North Salem for the building’s electrical hookup, at a cost not to exceed $9,500.
“This is a stopgap between the Police Department moving out of the former [Lewisboro] Elementary School [and] until we have a new police headquarters built,” said Town Supervisor Tony Gonçalves. “Basically, it's an 18-month commitment of $161,000 and our new PD will probably take about that time to be built.”
The tentative arrival date for the three trailer units at the Main Street site is October 8. The work of joining them together and hooking up electrical service is scheduled to take place October 9.
Councilman Rich Sklarin introduced a motion to postpone discussion and consideration of the proposal until the October 26 meeting, which would follow a Katonah-Lewisboro School Board meeting set for October 20. The rationale for Sklarin’s proposal was that the current tenants in the old school building might obtain an extension of their stay, though no such measure has been floated.
“The only thing that we're missing is an official notification from the school district that we need to leave the premises,” said Deputy Supervisor Mary Shah. “We haven't officially been told that we need to vacate – but at the same time, we need to make sure that our police department is in a good place.”
Ultimately, Sklarin’s proposal failed to obtain a second, which was needed for a board vote on the measure. Sklarin later joined his Town Board colleagues in approving the lease proposal for the temporary building.
“I spoke to our architect and engineer [on the new police headquarters building],” noted Police Chief David Alfano. “They said that [18 months] was a good amount of time, which is why I structured it for 18 months.”
In a related measure, the board okayed a vendor’s proposal to drill test wells for a possible geothermal system at the new police headquarters. Geothermal systems use the constant 55-degree Fahrenheit temperature deep in the ground to regulate a building’s heating and cooling. During winter months, fluid circulating through the underground pipes absorbs warmth from the ground, and a heat pump transfers it to the building.
The process reverses in summer, with the system pulling heat from inside the building and sending it underground, while drawing cooler ground temperatures up into the building. “So, you're using the earth's temperature – you’re not burning fossil fuels and you're only using electricity to operate the compressor, the pumps, and the circulators,” said Gonçalves.
Robert Fischman, principal of South Salem-based Sustainable Promise LLC, spoke about the science of geothermal systems and the significance of well drilling to their design. “I have worked with geothermal systems significantly over the last 28 years and had the experience of having one in my own home that long,” said Fischman. “I've [been] a project manager for half a dozen large-scale geo projects across the Northeast.”
Fischman explained that while the upfront cost of a geothermal climate-control system is considerably higher than either a traditional HVAC system (which combines a fuel-fired furnace and a central air-conditioning system) or ground-level heat pumps, geothermal offers considerable savings down the road. There’s no fuel cost, and geothermal systems use considerably less electricity than ground-mounted heat pump systems.
Fischman noted that ground-mounted systems are rated to function down to 13 degrees below zero, but operate less efficiently at those cold temperatures. “They will also be less efficient in air conditioning mode when the temperatures reach 85, 90, 100 degrees or so,” he said, “whereas the geothermal system is always seeing the 55-degree ground temperature. So, it's always much, much more efficient.”
Drilling is a first step in assessing how well the ground will function in a geothermal system, as well as in determining its design. Through this process, engineers study local rock types, underground heat maps and any subterranean water flow before choosing a spot for geothermal wells.
“What you're trying to do is evaluate the thermal conductivity of the ground,” Fischman said. “Having the information up front about the thermal transmissivity of the bedrock is very helpful for the engineers to hone the design.”
During public comments, several residents spoke out against the cellular tower proposed for the Spring Street salt-dome site. “The proposed tower would be approximately 100 yards from our home, making our family one of the residences most directly impacted by the structure,” said South Salem resident Roger Lishnoff. “Had we seen 130-foot tower looming over our backyard before purchasing our home, we almost certainly would have ruled it out. It appears the town is poised to proceed based on limited and outdated information and without meaningful input of many residents who will be directly impacted.
“As someone who works in the public safety sector, I understand that reliable cellular coverage is critical for public safety and it's also essential for residents and businesses,” he added. “But supporting better coverage does not mean accepting any proposed location.”
South Salem resident Mier Alkon also voiced his opposition. “I would like to share the perspective of someone who has in the six years that I've lived here and had the joy of bringing many family and friends into the hamlet of South Salem for the first time,” Alkon said. “The hamlet of South Salem is a unique and special place, and I believe that it is incumbent on all of us as residents of the town of Lewisboro and on the Town Board to protect and preserve that special place and that special viewscape.”
Among other key business, the Lewisboro Town Board approved resolutions authorizing the advertisement for bids for the pickleball courts at Lewisboro Town Park, as well as authorizing the town supervisor to sign a New York State Department of Transportation project-approval document for the Oscaleta Culvert.
The Town Board also okayed the following appointments:
Emanuel LaBarbera as chauffeur for the town’s senior program;
Lisa Seymour as part-time Intermediate Clerk in the Building Department;
Sharon Slocum to the Conservation Advisory Council.
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