I am shocked that even a study was required to assess that a restaurant is not a viable option for that location. Instead, a study should have been conducted only on exploring other revenue options to foot the bill of the bulkhead repair. "Business and Finance 101" I find it beyond difficult to believe that we needed a study to say N-O to a restaurant in that particular location. The far-reaching damage coverage of Sandy is the sure-fire indicator that any shore-front business is a bad idea. First, we are doing away with the Farmer's Market due to a poorly-designed study that only looked at one day of the week and one time period...and now this?!?!? The Board is making decisions on these studies without looking carefully at 1) their scope, 2) parameters, and 3) objectives? Step #1--create a clear, necessary, well-thought out rationale to determine whether or not to support a valid study with the objective of a well-defined POA. Frightening that this isn't even part of the repetoire of the decision-makers who propose, solicit, and support these studies. View Comment

The substantiation of the day, Wednesday, and the time, 1:30-6:30 demonstrates that perhaps, just perhaps, another day and time should be considered. Perhaps a Saturday again. Where are the numbers from when the market was held at the indoor spot in the shopping plaza up the block and across from the current location? Poor substantiation...at best for sure. Odd that Ossining, can make it happen, but we cannot. What do the numbers look like in Ossining? Has anyone investigated that and that town's dynamic, etc.? View Comment

Congratulations Audra! Wow #5! Your hometown fans of Croton are thrilled for you. Carly (PVC's Annie) and family wish you the best always. View Comment

Seems like Business 101. I'll put forth what I am sure a lot thinking, but perhaps not inclined to relay. These are tough economic times for everyone in every profession. Certain sacrifices have to be made in order to discourage yet another tax increase. I would recommend possibly hiring a "personnel" expert to assess where some corners can be cut while still maintaining the integrity of the PD force. However, at first glance... some ideas seem quite elementary. Keep in mind...that you have to think of the PD as a business and as such, this is what a smart, business-minded, bottom-line oriented CFO would do 1) Sacrifice or compromise on the pay raises. (This is common practice among many industries in these tough times. Today folks are lucky if they get any raises, let alone partially-contributed health benefits.) 2) Retire senior level people at the top of the almost $130,000 pay range quoted. (This is what they do in the education area in particular when Boards are seeking budget relief. Boards will bring in the up and comers and retire the more seasoned teachers.) 3) Consider employing part-time vs. full-time employees. (Big corporate does this all of the time.) 4) If the cars have to be running all of the time to power all of the lights--find more efficient cars with more efficient light systems. (There must be some eco-friendly type of vehicles in place for PD's everywhere. This is worth exploring.) 5) Take a long and hard look at that $312,000 overtime budget and see where this money is being spent. (Do we need all of the supervision at the numerous fairs and town events where people gather peacefully most of the time?) Provide the analysis to see where cutbacks can be made without sacrificing the safety of the Croton community. The automatic response cannot continue to be to dig deeper into the tax-payer's pocket. View Comment

Congratulations Claire. Here's another story about a high schooler right here in Croton who completed her gold award in her Junior Year! Girl Scout Receives Award Upon Completion of ELA Tutorial Amanda Livingston, junior at Croton Harmon High School and member of Girl Scout Troop 1234 in Croton-on-Hudson for 9 years, completed the Girl Scout Gold Award, a complex award that requires the contender to partake in and lead in 65 hours of community service. In addition to running her own newspaper and being a leader in other various aspects of her Girl Scout career and otherwise, she has presented her project to the Girl Scout Council and passed with flying colors. Amanda decided to create her own English Language Arts tutorial service, specifically for younger kids in the 6th grade. Tutoring them for the English Language Arts exam, required by New York State for children in grades 3rd through 8th, she prepared them in all aspects of the exam, including reading, writing, and critical thinking. Advertising all over Pierre Van Cortlandt Middle School in Croton, she met with the 6th grade Teaching team to discuss students who the ELA tutorial program would prove most helpful. Eight students appeared at the tutorial program each week, with their own tutor that Amanda organized at Croton Harmon High School. At the beginning of the tutorial program, she required them to take an ELA test, which would then be graded to see which parts of the exam the student needed most help in. Then, over the next eight weeks, Amanda and her team of tutors provided ample information, advice, and skills needed to do well on the ELA examination. Subjects covered included sentence structure, context clues while reading, and multiple choice elimination, among others. The ELA tutorial program included measuring at periodic intervals each child's strengths, weaknesses, and successes. Overall, Amanda's program proved a success, and will be continued by another high school student in the years to come. Accomplishing the Girl Scout Gold Award is not only a huge achievement, but also something that not many teenagers are able to say they have done. Requiring leadership, organizational skills, creativity, patience, effort, and lots of assistance, the Girl Scout Gold Award is a truly ambitious project that symbolizes the utilization of all morals learned and collected through life experiences. Upon Amanda’s completion of this prestigious award it displays her adequate leadership and organizational skills, and is a triumph. View Comment