October 7, 2016 by The Rye City Review

RyeCity REVIEW THE

October 7, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 41 | www.ryecityreview.com

Talk of raising debt limit takes different direction

BLACK HATS BACK

By JAMES PERO Staff Writer

Gabe Ajram sheds a tackle during Rye Neck’s Oct. 1 game against Haldane. The Panthers topped the Blue Devils 38-21 to earn their first win of the season. For story, see page 15. Photo/Mike Smith

Rye City Council mulls amending water law for crisis management By FRANCO FINO Staff Writer The Rye City Council is considering amending a local water law to give the city manager authority to declare conservation in times of a water emergency, in an effort to provide a more timely response to water-related predicaments. City Manager Marcus Serrano said the amendment will address issues with timing, as drought conditions are often called when a City Council meeting is not scheduled to take place. “The amendment will streamline the

process so the city can react a little bit faster,” he said. Council meetings typically occur twice a month, but only once a month in the summer. The proposed amendment transpired correspondingly to SUEZ water officials asking customers in the city of Rye and the villages of Rye Brook and Port Chester to limit their outdoor watering in response to a drought in Connecticut that is affecting communities in Westchester County. The water company purchases its water from the Connecticut-based Aquarion Water Com-

pany, which supplies a number of municipalities in the Sound Shore that comprises Rate District 2. On Sept. 16, after Connecticut upgraded to a “severe drought,” Aquarion implemented a mandatory ban for customers it serves in four Connecticut communities. The four waterrestricted Connecticut communities use the same water supply SUEZ purchases from for 54,000 residents of Rye, Port Chester and Rye Brook, the only three municipalities in Rate District 2. To date, the Connecticut wa-

ter company’s reservoirs have received 6 inches less rainfall than usual throughout the past six months, according to Aquarion. The City Council currently plans to declare a water emergency in the city of Rye on Oct. 5, after press time, to respond to a letter written by Chris Graziano, vice president and general manager of SUEZ Water, to limit outdoor water usage. According to City Code, the City Council can only place limitations in times of water emergencies and declare a water WATER continued on page 8

After prolonged scrutiny, an alternative proposal for changing the city’s discretionary debt limit may come to a head, according to members of the Rye City Council. Councilman Richard Mecca, a Republican, told the Review that after much deliberation, the council is ready to act on a resolution that would alter the city’s charter to allow the governing body to take on greater amounts of debt. “We have to see what happens at the next public hearing,” he said regarding the Wednesday, Oct. 5 meeting, scheduled for after press time. Mecca added that while the city’s passage of any law pertaining to the discretionary debt limit is contingent on public comments, the council is ready to make a decision. Absent from the current resolution, however, would be a provision eliminating the need for public referendum in order to authorize debt over a certain monetary threshold. According to Mecca, despite an earlier draft of the charter change that would have eliminated the need for public referendum, some council members felt the current system—which stipulates that debt in excess of 10 percent of the city’s gross annual budget must be approved by the public —provided greater checks and balances on city government.

“It’s better to have the pubic looking over our shoulder,” Mecca said. “When you make decisions like this you have to think about future councils.” Instead, the City Council will now mull over alterations to what threshold triggers the city’s permissive referendum provision. Currently, the charter dictates that debt in excess of 5 percent of the gross annual budget, but under 10 percent, must be approved by a super majority vote—five votes or more—from the council and by public referendum. Any debt under 5 percent of the gross annual budget for three preceding years can be passed by the council through a simple majority, or four votes of the seven-member body. Currently, without a permissive referendum, the city may borrow approximately $700,000 by City Council vote; with a referendum, that level climbs to $2.7 million, according to City Manager Marcus Serrano. That is because the city maintains a level of about $11 million in debt. Debt levels peaked in 2007 at $25 million. New discussions would look to raise those numbers and set a higher standard for triggering a referendum and also increase the amount of allowable debt the city is able to take on. This would allow the city easier access—sans referendum—to DEBT continued on page 8