There is always something interesting at New Rochelle city council meetings and the March 16th meeting was no exception. I watched it on channel 27 (Fios). It may even be available online nowadays.
Richard St. Paul brought up three proposals that generated a rousing discussion: term limits for council people; selecting IDA members based on district, rather than at large; and increasing the city emergency reserves from its current $300K amount.
Almost immediately Councilman Fertel actively challenged the ideas. The mayor didn’t like any of the ideas. Others chimed in on either side.
They will discuss these points again next week. What are your inclinations on term limits or the IDA appointments? New blood brings new ideas. It was refreshing for me to watch St. Paul speak. I know it must have been difficult for him, but I applaud his efforts to shake up the status quo. I think more members of the community should be included in the decisions made.
Other items brought up were that the apartments on Lawn Avenue have basement apartments that are only zoned for senior citizens. The owners want that restriction lifted. I thought no basement apartments were allowed in New Rochelle at all.
Downtown parking changes were discussed briefly. Why not disallow overnight parking in city lots? I don’t think they are meant for residential use, are they?
Also, military star exemptions were discussed.
Great Job Richard St. Paul
Thank you Richard for suggesting real solutions!