Anyone ticketed for leaving a car on a village street during last Saturday's surprise snowfall is off the hook. The Croton-on-Hudson Board of Trustees voted 3-0 at its Jan. 21 meeting to waive, on a one-time basis, the snow-parking summonses issued during the Jan. 17 storm, with a potentially heavier storm now forecast for the weekend. The official forecast had called for a half-inch to two inches of snow on Saturday and the National Weather Service initially issued no advisory, Village Manager Bryan Healy told the board. A heavier band of precipitation instead formed over the area: an advisory arrived around noon, the village measured two inches at 1:15 p.m., an alert went out on Facebook, and police began writing tickets after 2 p.m. In recognition of the storm's unexpected intensity, Mayor Brian Pugh said, "I would like to propose that we waive on a one time only basis the snow parking tickets that were issued" Read 37:30▶ — a waiver he clarified would cover both Saturday and Sunday, and one Deputy Mayor Len Simon called "fair and compassionate" Read 38:23▶. The village will keep reminding residents of their responsibilities, Pugh added, because "this is a long standing law and policy, and people need to be diligent" Read 37:50▶. The rules: "The long established village law prohibits parking on roadways when snow reaches two inches of accumulation", Read 27:50▶ Healy said — the threshold at which Department of Public Works crews switch from salting to plowing, and a law that dates to 1995. During snow events residents may park in the Asbury, Merwin Oak, Municipal Building and South Harmon lots, moving their cars within 12 hours after the snow ends so crews can clear the lots; homeowners must clear sidewalks within 12 hours; those without off-street options can apply for seasonal hardship permits. Simon suggested a spring community conversation on possible enhancements to a law Healy noted was put in place 31 years ago. Crews worked from about 5 a.m. Saturday into the evening and returned Sunday, Healy said, and with the next storm due late Saturday night into Monday, they plan to brine roads Friday and run overnight into the weekend. Trustees also held a public hearing and adopted Resolution 4-2026 renewing the village's cable television franchise with Cablevision of Wappingers Falls — now operating as Optimum — for another 10 years. The previous agreement expired on Dec. 3, 2025. The renewal's marquee improvement, Healy said, is that "the village will now be getting what's known as a PEG grant" Read 9:05▶ — 50 cents per subscriber per quarter, paid by the company and dedicated to upgrading the equipment used to broadcast meetings and the technology at Village Hall. Negotiations with special counsel began in 2024, and the Cohen Law Group audited the franchise fees paid to the village along the way, finding them in order. Simon, who worked on the original 1980s cable legislation, complimented the multi-year effort and the 5 percent franchise fee municipalities retain under such agreements. Resident Ed Riely of Ed Riely asked during the hearing "what fees and taxes apply to the Internet portion of the business?" Read 12:55▶ and about the company's responsibilities for wires and poles, noting the steep decline in cable subscribers. Healy said the decline is real and already built into the village's revenue budget. "The agreement only covers cable. There is no franchise requirement for Internet services." Read 14:15▶ The agreement doesn't cover poles either, but Healy said village law gives utilities a set timeframe to remove old double poles, and his office follows up with laggards. Trustee Stacey Nachtaler reminded viewers that New York requires cable companies to reimburse subscribers for outages of four or more hours; the credit has to be requested — "it's not an automatic credit", Read 16:35▶ Healy said. Pugh added that the village continues to press Verizon to bring Fios television service to Croton: "We're not there yet. We continue to advocate for that." Read 19:25▶ Earlier, the board presented the Key to the Village to Christine Wagner, who recently stepped down after 14 years on the Zoning Board of Appeals, which she chaired. "Christine has presided over that board with skill and grace, and we are so grateful for everything that she's done for our village", Read 3:10▶ Pugh said. Wagner received a Distinguished Citizen Planner award from the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation last April along with awards from county and state officials, and "tomorrow will be Christine Wagner Day in Westchester County", Read 6:30▶ Pugh announced. Simon, who served on the zoning board under Wagner after his 2019 appointment, said he learned there that "we are guided by the letter of the law, but that every case is different" Read 4:00▶ — and recalled a site visit where the applicant complimented him on bringing his daughter along. "That's when I decided I needed a new mirror." Read 5:00▶ He said later that he regards "her resignation from the zoning board, not a departure from public service on behalf of the village, but a sabbatical" Read 53:35▶. Trustees congratulated Jim Tuman, whose first meeting as the new ZBA chair came the evening before, and welcomed new member Ethan Lewis. Two public hearings are set for Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. in the Georgianna Grant Meeting Room. One concerns Local Law Introductory No. 1 of 2026, which would authorize the village — if necessary — to override the state's property tax cap. The cap limits levy growth to 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less, and the state Comptroller has set this year's inflation figure at 2.63 percent for municipalities on a June-through-May fiscal year. No decision to exceed the cap has been made. The other hearing covers Local Law Introductory No. 2 of 2026, which would create the office of Village Auditor to take over the board's claim-auditing duties under state Village Law. Trustees also transferred $6,600 from contingency to cover contractually required police uniform payments and $4,410 to buy an automatic external defibrillator for Black Rock Park at the Recreation Advisory Committee's recommendation, and approved $168,855.36 in voucher payments. A proposed monument honoring Revolutionary War soldier John "Rifle Jack" Peterson — the subject of recommendations from the American Legion, village historian Marc Cheshire and the Recreation Advisory Committee — got both a push and a patience check. Riely urged support for the Legion's proposal for the property opposite the Veterans Memorial, recounting how Pierre Van Cortlandt ran what remained of the state's government as lieutenant governor while his son Philip held Valley Forge and covered the rear guard on the march to Yorktown. Nachtaler said that with research, approvals, design and fabrication all ahead, the village needs deadlines if the memorial is to be ready by summer, adding that "Croton is a destination with incredibly rich history with the revolution" Read 41:30▶. Stacey Nachtaler noted one piece is already moving: the Pomeroy Foundation has donated a historical sign honoring two Revolutionary War soldiers buried in Bethel Cemetery, and it has just gone into casting. "It said sixteen to twenty weeks for delivery", Read 42:10▶ he said — landing it near Memorial Day for installation on the Cleveland Drive side of the cemetery, with a ceremony planned. The broader memorial question is headed to a work session. Trustees also authorized Police Chief John Nikitopoulos to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Yorktown and Briarcliff Manor police departments to seek a state Local Government Efficiency Grant for a shared Motorola computer-aided dispatch system already used by six other departments in Westchester and Putnam counties. The MOU commits no village funds. Simon called it "an innovative approach" Read 45:45▶ — three communities looking to share the service, with the grant potentially covering the cost. In non-agenda public comment, Riely criticized waste in the state budget, promoted a March for Life bus leaving Briarcliff Manor on Friday for Washington, D.C., and urged a continuing boycott of CVS over its dispensing of abortion drugs. In reports, Nachtaler praised the DPW — "our roads were among the cleanest that I've seen all throughout the county" Read 52:45▶ — and Simon echoed the credit to the crew and Superintendent Frank Balbi. Simon's roundup included New York Conference of Mayors legislative director Brian Coffin's preview of the Albany session at a meeting of the Westchester Municipal Officials Association; Bicycle-Pedestrian Committee plans to expand the Project Mover bike-share after its winter hibernation and discussed possible red-light camera locations; and Sustainability Committee work on train-station EV chargers, the solar canopy and renewable diesel across the village's DPW fleet. He also noted Fire Inspector Jim Ferguson's fire-safety presentation to the senior club, a Friday Winnie-the-Pooh reading at By the Dam Books marking the book's 100th anniversary — staged by a resident who was for years one of the books' principal artists — and the Jan. 10 passing of longtime resident Jeanette Gingold, an editor for many years at Reader's Digest and a talented quilting and knitting artist. The board appointed Shiloh Shea to the Conservation Advisory Council, Dana Nicholson to the Bicycle-Pedestrian Committee, Seyed Hosseini as the Planning Board's alternate member and Adriana Zavala to the IDEA Committee, all by a single 3-0 vote. What's next: both hearings begin at 7 p.m. on Feb. 4 — and with snow in the weekend forecast, the village's standing advice applies: when two inches falls, move the car off the street.