New Rochelle City Council met least night for a Regular Legislative Meeting.
The Council voted to continue its membership in ICLEI, a United Nations partner organization responsible for the implementation of the UN’s Agenda 21 at the local level. The vote was 6-1 in favor of continuing as a member of ICLEI.
A request for a vote was made by a group calling itself “Taxpayers Against ICLEI Membership”. They issued a statement after the vote:
“We believe membership in ICLEI will have a serious impact on New Rochelleans, not only making it much more costly to live the suburban lifestyle, but it will change the “way” in which we live. Citizens should be outraged and we wonder if council members are actually representing their constituents on this issue. We urge citizens to educate themselves concerning ICLEI and this elaborate plan of social engineering called UN Agenda 21 so that they can understand the consequences of being members of ICLEI.”
The City Council discussed a conditions assessment of the Church-Division garage prepared by O&S Associates. The report stated that to repair the current garage would cost between $1.75 million and $4 million dollars and that a new one could be built for $7 million.
Council Member Ivar Hyden expressed concern that the cost of repairing or replacing the Church-Division garage was only being presented to City Council after the DPW Yard vote. The Council had voted to approve borrowing up to $25 million to relocate the City Yard to Beechwood Avenue. City Manager Chuck Strome said that he thought the City Council had received the report prior to the vote and apologized if that was not the case.
The City Council voted unanimously to abolish the City’s Traffic Safety Committee.