Dear Residents,
We hope that you and your families are well. We thought that it would be an appropriate time for the Board of Trustees to assess accomplishments over the past 2 years and set forth its goals for the Village for this calendar year.
Budget – Over the past 4 budget years, we have carefully scrutinized how the Village spends money (i.e. your tax dollars) and eliminated waste where we found it. The most recent two Village budgets (2019/2020 and 2020/2021) are each, on average, $106,000 lower than the 2017/2018 budget of $1,975,255; our attention to expenses has saved more than ~$213,000 to date for residents and allowed the Board to limit tax increases over the last 3 fiscal years to an average of approximately $19 per home/year almost all of which is driven by increases in fixed costs (such as garbage and insurance costs) and the simultaneous collapse in revenue-sharing by the State and other sources of revenue such as a decrease in permit fees and traffic court fines. As we prepare the 2021/2022 budget, we expect to continue to focus on expenses while simultaneously making strategic investments in long-overdue projects. In addition:
Since 2017/2018, we repaid almost $1,000,000 on the road bond (see next paragraph for more on the bond)
The Board made major investments in overdue critical infrastructure projects – repaving roads -- without borrowing or raising taxes
in July 2020, Moody’s Investors Service awarded the Village a credit rating of Aa2, exceeding slightly the mean rating of Aa3 for U.S. cities
Roads – We believe that a Village as great and beautiful as Munsey Park ought to have roads that were in good and safe condition. Sadly, many did not meet this standard. Prior administrations may have had other priorities or perhaps the need for repair wasn’t as dire, but any fair-minded person would have to agree that our roads needed attention. After much planning, we have undertaken a comprehensive replacement of some of the roads most in need of repair and, to that end, we have completed (or will shortly undertake) the re-surfacing of Eakins Road, Inness Place, Bellows Lane, Stuart Place, Hawthorne Place, portions of Hunt Lane, Whistler Road (from Abbey Road to Sully Drive), Martin Place, Morse Lane, Trumbull Road (from Martin Place to Park Avenue North), Bartlett Drive (from Trumbull Road to Vanderlyn Drive), Burnham Place and the entire length of Park Avenue. In addition, the Village has repaired or is repairing where necessary, the concrete surfaces of Abbey Road, Hunt Lane, Remington Road, Whistler Road, Allston Place, Sargent Place, Homer Place and Durand Place. We have been strategic about sequencing the repairs: we have generally coordinated the repair work to follow utility upgrades under the same roads. This approach has allowed the Village to seek contribution from the utilities toward the resurfacing thereby reducing the Village’s actual out-of-pocket expenses of same. We are not finished. The retirement of the road bond assumed by the Village almost 14 years ago will free up approximately $225,000 each year will allow us to accelerate the repairs of the remaining roads in the Village that require attention.
Parks – building on efforts of prior administrations, we have devoted time and attention to further improve our 2 jewel-like parks. We have planted trees in both parks – including the tree in Copley Pond Park which has become the Village’s de facto Christmas tree and the location of a cherished new village tradition – the tree lighting and Santa’s visit. We have pruned trees for beauty, health and safety. We have added up-lighting on 3 trees in Copley Pond Park that serves 2 purposes: it provides soft ambient light in the park and dramatically illuminates 3 of our oldest Village trees. Our parks are more beautiful than ever and we have been able to do all of this without material cost to the Village. Our efforts are on-going as we expect to plant additional trees in both parks.
Flagpole at MWR and Park Avenue – as described in an earlier email, work at this small, historic park is almost complete. We expect landscaping to be completed as soon as the weather allows and plant materials are available from local nurseries.
Entrance Columns and Walls – we have rebuilt the historic entrance columns and walls on both ends of Park Avenue and on Manhasset Woods Road (at Northern Blvd.) In each case the brickwork work was seriously deteriorated and in danger of collapse. We also added flowers, evergreens and lighting to the entrances. This has had the dual effect of improving the beauty of the entrances while making them safer for pedestrians.
Park Avenue Hill – each Spring for the past 2 years residents and visitors have been treated to the Spring display of thousands of daffodils on the Park Avenue Hill. Most of these flowers were donated to the Village by residents; the Munsey Park Women’s Club also made a significant donation to the Village to offset the costs of these flowers. As perennials, the daffodils will multiply and re-bloom each year. It cost the Village little to plant these blubs but the effect is priceless. We also added Dogwood trees on the south hill with dramatic lighting to help illuminate the dark adjacent sidewalk for residents returning home at the end of the workday.
Trees – we have planted hundreds of trees along Munsey Park’s streets with more to follow later this year. A proverb holds that “the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago; the second best time to plant a tree is now”. We are planting for the future and will continue to do so. Any resident that would like a tree planted in the right-of-way in front of his/her home, should contact Village Hall. In addition, the Village has retained a well-regarded arborist to guide us in planting, pruning and removing trees. We are also soliciting bids to prune Village ROW trees this Spring.
Street Lights/Street signs – the Village has repaired the electrical connections that cause many of our street lights to malfunction; we’ve painted many of the street lights and replaced deteriorated or broken street signs.
Personnel – there are many hands that make the Village operate and we are grateful for the dedicated and efficient staff (paid and volunteer) that serve the Village. During the early days of the COVID pandemic, the Village effortlessly moved to remote environment with employees staffing Village Hall on alternating days. We kept staff and visitors safe by enacting health protocols. Boards continued to meet (albeit remotely), permits were issued, roads and parks maintained and Village business continued unabated. Most importantly, when other government offices shut down entirely, we stayed open and responsive to residents’ needs.
School Crossing Guard – we have initiated efforts with the 6th Precinct to have a school crossing guard permanently assigned to Manhasset Woods Road at Hunt Lane. Preliminary studies of need have been completed and final approvals are being obtained. We expect this effort to be successful.
Traffic Enforcement – we are working with the Sixth Precinct to step up enforcement of traffic regulations, especially speeding throughout the Village. We have added stop signs at select locations throughout the Village to slow/calm down traffic.
It has been our honor to serve the residents of Munsey Park. If you have any questions, comments or concerns about anything we’ve done or failed to do, we would love to hear from you.
Respectfully,
The Board of Trustees of the Village of Munsey Park
Lawrence A. Ceriello, Mayor
Antonio D’Angelo, Trustee
Regina Im, Trustee
Greg LiCalzi, Trustee
Joseph Williams, Trustee