Editor's note: This article previews a scheduled meeting based on the published agenda packet. After the meeting is held and video is released, coverage will be updated with the actual discussion and any votes taken. Battery energy storage, a package of three local laws heading for public hearings, and a police-department briefing on surveillance technology highlight the Village Board of Trustees' August 19 work session and regular meeting. *Battery storage solicitation update* Lindsay Audin, chair of the village Sustainability Committee, will update the board on the Request for Information issued in July for a Battery Energy Storage System, or BESS, on village-owned property. The RFI asked qualified developers whether they would install, own, and operate a 1-to-5-megawatt system under a long-term lease — similar to the 3.5 MW unit already operating atop the Croton-Harmon train station parking lot — with the village receiving rent and incurring no costs. Responses were due August 17, so the board will learn how many firms expressed interest and whether the village can move forward to a formal Request for Proposals. *Police camera technology discussion* The board will also discuss the use of cameras by the Croton-on-Hudson Police Department. The only document attached to the item is a 27-slide presentation from the department, License Plate Reader Case Studies (January 2026), setting out roughly two dozen investigations from 2022 through early 2026 — a missing juvenile located in Ossining, repeated criminal mischief at the Gouveia Property, two fatal hit-and-runs on Route 9 reconstructed from debris left at the scene, burglaries, counterfeit-currency arrests, recovered jet skis, and an elder scam whose suspect was later tied to crimes in several states. Two slides record cases the readers did not solve. The deck also documents the reach of the surrounding network: searches run across all of Westchester County, the county's Real Time Crime Center running queries on Croton's behalf and relaying a hit to surrounding agencies, and assistance to investigators in Minnesota, Delaware and New Jersey. Several slides describe uses beyond reading plates — an overview camera on the reader at Municipal Place used twice to follow a man on foot, covert cameras installed during one investigation, and a set of narcotics investigations in which the system was used to surveil suspects. What the packet does not contain is a policy: no retention period for plate reads, no statement of which outside agencies may query Croton's data, and no audit or access-logging rule. That gap sits against a question already before a federal court. This newsroom reported on August 4 that a class action against Westchester County alleges ICE and 54 other agencies can search the county plate-reader network — which counts village-bought cameras among its 536 — without a warrant. The county's answer is due August 31. Our fuller look at the presentation and the questions it leaves open is here. *Three local laws set for September 2 public hearings* The bulk of the regular meeting involves scheduling public hearings for three new local laws, all targeted for September 2. Local Law Intro 10 of 2026 is the most substantial — a rewrite of the village's zoning rules for keeping animals. After months of discussion dating back to a May work session, the draft would define domestic animals and farm animals separately and set detailed rules for each. Chickens and ducks would be permitted in residential districts based on lot size, with enclosure and setback requirements; larger farm animals — goats, horses, cattle, swine — would be allowed only on lots of two acres or more, with minimum-acreage ratios and fencing mandates. A separate clause would prohibit the keeping of roosters and pigeons in all residence districts, ending a use the Zoning Board of Appeals found permissible under the current code in June. The copy attached to this agenda carries no phase-in period, no grandfathering for birds already kept and no variance path — it would take effect on filing with the Secretary of State. An earlier version of the same law, the one the Waterfront Advisory Committee reviewed in July, set a January 1, 2027 compliance date for pigeons and also named geese and swans. All three referral bodies have reported back: the county Planning Board called the matter one for local determination, the Waterfront Advisory Committee found the law consistent with the waterfront program, and the village Planning Board raised only a setback inconsistency. None of the three commented on the prohibition itself. Our fuller account is here. Local Law Intro 11 of 2026 would update the income limits for two property-tax exemption programs: the Senior Citizen Rental Income Exemption (SCRIE) and the Disabled Persons Rental Income Exemption (DRIE), bringing them in line with new thresholds set by New York State Homes and Community Renewal. Local Law Intro 12 of 2026 would amend Chapter 197 of the village code to update the list of sidewalks that are exempt from the duty of property owners to clear snow and ice. *Two additional local laws referred for review* The board will also take up two more introductory local laws that are being sent out for environmental and committee review rather than directly to a public hearing. Local Law Intro 13 of 2026 would amend Chapter 230 to clarify the review process for site development plans. Local Law Intro 14 of 2026 would amend Chapter 223 to clarify the review of land-use applications for consistency with the Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan. Both will be referred to the Westchester County Planning Board, the Village Planning Board, and the Waterfront Advisory Committee, with the village declaring itself lead agency under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. *Contracts, agreements, and budget items* On the operational side, the consent agenda includes resolutions to affirm an agreement with the state Department of Transportation for a rectangular rapid-flashing beacon on Maple Street at Wells Avenue, authorize an entry permit with Metro-North for tree removal at the train station parking lot, and renew the police department's access to RICI, the county's criminal-records system, which holds arrest and booking data including Social Security numbers, fingerprints and photographs and is readable by other participating law enforcement agencies — Resolution 187-2026 authorizes a five-year renewal running to October 31, 2031 while the agreement attached to it terminates July 31, 2029. A second amendment to the county solid-waste disposal agreement is also up for approval. The treasurer is requesting year-end budget transfers in the general and water funds, the closeout of several capital-project accounts, and four smaller budget amendments: a $355.30 reimbursement for a damaged police ladder, a $2,619 transfer for a Sparky the Fire Dog costume for the Fire Fair, and a $13,130 transfer for emergency repairs to the Arrowcrest sewer pump station. Separately, the board will consider awarding Bid No. 22-2025 for trade plumbing labor to Joe Lombardo Plumbing of Suffern ($42,558), Bid No. 7-2026 for a Chevrolet Tahoe police vehicle to Emergency Vehicle Specialist of Poughkeepsie ($51,900), and Bid No. 10-2026 for a snow blower to FDR Hitches of Roselle Park, New Jersey ($62,599). Two professional-services proposals are also on the agenda: $9,500 to Nelson Pope for traffic-signal replacement design at South Riverside Avenue and Croton Point Avenue, and $32,230 to Tectonic Engineering for additional state-required work on the Half Moon Bay Bridge rehabilitation project. Correspondence filed for the record includes the village's 2025 Energy Benchmarking Report, a request from the county for Senior Citizens Hall of Fame nominations, and notification that Croton has earned a AAA Gold Award in the 2026 Community Traffic Safety Awards Program. The board will also refer an MTA request for Local Waterfront Revitalization Program consistency review of its Hudson Line signal-upgrade project to the Waterfront Advisory Committee.
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