A Water Main From 1908 Breaks as Croton Opens Budget Season; Board Clears $414,301 Police Body-Camera Deal

Hours before the Croton-on-Hudson Board of Trustees opened its first budget work session of the season, the village got a blunt reminder of why those numbers matter: a cast-iron water main installed around 1908 split open on Olcott Avenue, leaving a block of residents without water on the afternoon of March 26. Superintendent of Public Works Frank Balbi said calls about loss of water came in from around the village beginning about 1:45 p.m., after a DPW employee driving on Olcott had already spotted it. "We found a leak on Olcott between Radnor and Van Cortlandt" Read 0:30▶ Balbi said. Valves at both intersections held, letting crews isolate the break within 30 to 45 minutes and restore pressure elsewhere. Excavation began around 3:30 p.m. and uncovered a section where about half the pipe had blown apart near two service lines. The repair — a new ductile-iron segment and two copper service lines — was expected to be done within hours; some crew members were still on the site as the board met. The infrastructure in that area dates to 1908, Balbi said. Deputy Mayor Len Simon, who asked about the pipe's age, noted the village usually discusses "100 year old infrastructure" Read 3:13▶ — and this main was older. Balbi said crews have "plowed and fixed the water main break in the same night" Read 51:47▶ and that the philosophy for an aging system is simple: "as long as you have the resources, you need to fix it when it happens." Read 51:47▶

Budget session

The break set the tone for a line-by-line review of the proposed 2026-27 Department of Public Works budget. The water distribution line would rise by $102,757, driven by overtime after a string of recent breaks, a new leak-location "correlator" system that pinpoints failures between two points on a main, and replacement water meters. Balbi said most of the village's meters were installed around the same time and are now failing together, producing "no reads" during billing cycles. Village Manager Bryan Healy said that "during this fiscal year, we've already had to do two contingency transfers from the from the water fund contingency to buy more meters" Read 47:21▶ adding that the increase is meant to cover next year without repeat transfers. Street maintenance, where all DPW salaries are budgeted before being distributed through the year, would rise $64,691 — roughly $60,000 of it salary increases. Snow removal would rise $20,000, which former Deputy Mayor Ann Gallelli said seemed low after the winter just ended. Healy responded that the overtime line had not changed from its $60,000 base since 2017, and that actual spending has swung wildly: $39,000 in 2020, $121,000 in 2021, $33,000 in 2023 — and $286,000 this winter. The village "can't budget for extremes" Read 21:50▶ Healy said, noting the village submitted its blizzard cost spreadsheet to FEMA that day in hopes of a disaster declaration. Healy also explained why crews are budgeted centrally rather than across 16 separate lines: "we don't know if we're gonna have six water main breaks or no water main breaks or if we're gonna have a storm that brings down 50 trees" Read 16:37▶ the manager said. Gallelli questioned holding the village-wide fuel and diesel line flat given recent price swings. Healy pointed to contingency funding that is slated to increase — "We could potentially have to supplement what's budgeted with some of the funds from contingency" Read 7:03▶ the manager said — and noted the line could still be raised before the board adopts the budget on April 22 if prices do not settle.

Rising county costs

Refuse collection and disposal would rise $12,000. Gallelli noted county tipping fees — what the village pays to dump at the county plant in Peekskill — rose a little under 30% from the prior year. Healy acknowledged the village "should have budgeted more last year," Read 35:35▶ but said officials had not known the county increase's full impact. About $100,000 of the roughly $160,000 line is offset by billing businesses for twice-weekly pickup, Healy said. On recycling, Healy pointed to the municipal recycling report card on the village website and said that of "the aggregate of everything we collect, 50% of it is recyclable." Read 33:23▶ Bryan Healy urged an education campaign or mailer, noting that heavy cardboard in the trash bin rather than the recycling bin carries a real cost for taxpayers.

The long-term water picture

Gallelli also pressed on whether the village is investing enough in replacing aging water lines. Balbi described the cement-lining program for older mains, in place more than 15 years, with design work underway for Lounsbury — and noted that the section that failed this week had already been lined. Healy said the county health department is overwhelmed and approvals take months, but Lounsbury could go out to bid in the coming fiscal year; the village has asked its two U.S. senators for federal grant money to reline Harrison Street, and projects near the Washington Engine firehouse would follow. Most of Harmon, where water-quality concerns were once highest, was relined 10 to 15 years ago, Healy said. Healy also urged residents who received the village's lead service line inventory form to return it: "If you haven't filled that out yet, please send it in." Read 54:52▶ Elsewhere: water administration rises $13,859 — a reassignment rather than a raise, moving a deputy treasurer's salary into the water fund; the well-field supply line rises $30,285 on chlorine and corrosion-control chemicals; and the sewer fund drops just over $1,000 because pump-station cleaning and odor-control costs are now under control — a line Simon said required a second read to recognize as good news. Seasonal hiring rises $12,400 after Balbi promoted summer DPW jobs at a high school "Tiger Tuesday" event. The parks budget falls $420 overall, with year-round portable restrooms added at Vassallo and Gouveia parks, plus money for fencing, lighting and signs sought by the recreation advisory committee. Celebrations rise $4,346; Healy said the village is largely covered for its 250th-anniversary plans. Healy also fielded written questions from a trustee, on the parks lines and repaving after upcoming drainage work.

Body cameras approved

In a late-breaking addition, the board authorized Healy to accept a $414,301.36 proposal from Axon Enterprise for a police body-worn camera program, on equipment available through New York State contract #PM69698. The first year is funded through a state Law Enforcement Technology Grant. Police Chief John Nikitopoulos said officers tested cameras from Axon and Motorola Solutions for months before settling on Axon, and that the grant will cover nearly all of the program's first two years, with only a few thousand dollars uncovered. Signing before the June 15 deadline means "we're saving 75,000" Read 61:07▶ the chief said, and because "it's a non appropriations contract" Read 61:07▶ the village can withdraw without penalty if the board later declines to fund it. Healy apologized for the short notice, saying "there was miscommunication between myself and the chief as to when this needed to be sent back to Axon." Read 62:45▶ Nachtaler, the board's liaison to the Police Advisory Committee, said PAC member Carolyn Whiting was alerted that the vote was coming and will gather any feedback before the deadline. "I do really feel strongly that I want the community to be able to, comment on this if they want to at a public meeting" Read 63:55▶ Nachtaler said. Healy confirmed the exit terms are spelled out in the contract and said resolutions adopted at work sessions are listed on the next regular agenda so residents can weigh in. Gallelli, who had voiced a similar concern, supported the purchase but had not had time to read the proposal while working through budget documents. Nikitopoulos described how the system works: cameras keep a rolling buffer, so "if I hit the button now, it'll go back thirty seconds and show you the video for that thirty seconds before I put the camera on" Read 66:34▶ the chief said. Cameras also activate automatically when a taser is drawn or a weapon leaves its holster, and dash cameras roll when emergency lights go on. Footage will mostly serve court discovery and complaint reviews, the chief said, and will add to the department's discovery workload. Officers themselves? "I think they're split, to be honest with you" Read 68:30▶ Nikitopoulos said — perhaps 75 to 25, with most indifferent. "I think they're gonna help protect us more than hurt us." Read 70:00▶ Croton, the chief said, is one of the few departments in the county still without them. Nachtaler planned to discuss the program with the PBA the next day. The resolution, moved by Simon and seconded by Trustee Maria Slippen, passed by voice vote; Mayor Brian Pugh thanked the chief and manager for catching the deadline. The DPW returns in a few weeks for the capital program — the largest piece of the village's capital spending — with budget adoption due April 22 and the first cameras hoped to be in officers' hands by October or November.