Port Chester Hearings Look at Village Budget Plans, Dog Park Proposal

The Port Chester village Board of Trustees tonight is set to hear from the public on two hot topics: Plans for a new dog park and the village's spending plan for 2013-2014.

The hearings are part of a lengthy agenda for the board's 7 p.m. session at the Village Court, 350 N. Main St.

The public hearing on the dog park plan is set to take comments on a proposal that would use the upper section of Abendroth Park on the village's west side for a facility at which dog owners could let their pets run off-leash in fenced-in areas. Members of the Port Chester Dog Park Group have asked the Board of Trustees to designate the park site so the group could launch an effort to raise funds so the dog park could be built without any cost to the village.

The group, which has the backing of the Port Chester Park Commission, contends it would seek grants for the project and wage a fundraising campaign to support the facility. The basic proposal for the dog park would create fenced-in areas where dogs could run - a general area for "friendly dogs," an area for "small dogs," and third areas for "dogs in training."

For more on the dog park plan, view the Port Chester Dog Park Group's presentation to the village by clicking here.

Budget hearing

The Board of Trustees is also expecting to hear from village residents on the propsoed 2013-2014 Port Chester spending plan. This proposal includes just spending by the village, and does not include the Port Chester school district - which has its own budget which residents of the district vote on.

The tentative budget proposal developed by Port Chester Village Manage Christopher Steers includes a 4.26 percent increase in the village's tax levy. The tentative plan calls for raising $22.8 million through taxes and $13 million through other revenue sources.

The proposal calls for hiring two new officers for the Port Chester Police Department, a 2.5 percent raise village management staff - not including the village manager. Also, the plan calls for hiring two full-time and one part-time "caretaker" positions. These would be funded by consolidating contracted cleaning services and cleaning stipends - with the new positions allowing increased flexibility for the village DPW.

To view Steers' tentative budget plan, click here.

Also on tonight's agenda, the Board of Trustees has a hearing scheduled on a proposal by the Carver Center to renovate the rear of its 400 Westchester Ave. site to create a new handicap-accesible entrance and rebuild its playground.