The Board of Trustees conducts a meeting with presenters during discussion of funding for new art banners.
The Board of Trustees conducts a meeting with presenters during discussion of funding for new art banners.
Croton’s volunteer first responders are facing dangerous delays at Harmon Yards, prompting the Board of Trustees to demand immediate action from Metro-North Railroad. During a Work Session on November 12, the board voted 4-0 to send a strongly worded letter to the railroad outlining a pattern of safety failures that Mayor Pugh and Trustees Nicholson, Simon, and Slippen say is straining local emergency resources. The letter, addressed to Metro-North's Andrew Buder, reveals that between January and October of this year, the Croton Fire Department responded to 50 calls inside the yards—an average of five per month—while Croton EMS handled 39 calls. While 28% of the fire calls occurred overnight, the most alarming issue is what happens when crews arrive. According to the village, first responders frequently arrive to find no MTA personnel onsite to guide them to the source of the alarm. In many cases, private security guards at the gate are completely unaware an alarm is sounding. "This forces our volunteers to search the property to locate the potential emergency — losing valuable time that could make the difference in a true emergency," the board wrote. The vast majority of the alarms are triggered by train smoke, but the village stressed that each requires a full emergency response. The board offered three specific solutions: requiring MTA personnel to meet crews at the gate, giving private security real-time alarm access, and deploying the MTA fire brigade to screen alarms before calling in outside help. Beyond the Harmon Yards issue, the board received a progress update on the village's shoreline resiliency study, a critical project for waterfront property owners. Officials also discussed the conclusion of the village's Community Choice Aggregation Program and a recent settlement in the Con Edison rate case. Looking at local partnerships, Village Manager Bryan Healy led a discussion on existing shared services and the potential for a new intermunicipal agreement with the Croton-Harmon Union-Free School District. The board also continued its ongoing review of internal governance, looking over drafts of a new social media policy and updated rules of procedure for the Board of Trustees, as well as guidelines for village advisory boards. Trustee Politi was absent from the meeting.
Source documents: