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Trustees weigh parks-code revisions; accept $10,000 Greenway grant and a donation for a spring egg hunt
Summary
Trustees were asked to accept a $10,000 state Greenway planning grant and a donation from the police PBA for a free April egg hunt; they also discussed substantive parks-code revisions — including whether to allow leashed dogs outside Harbor Island and carve-outs for lit courts — and agreed changes should be finalized before scheduling a public hearing.
Trustees reviewed several parks and recreation items at the Feb. 24 work session, approving acceptance paperwork requests and debating substantive changes to the parks code.
Daniel Siegel, director of planning, said the village has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to develop concepts for a roughly 0.6-mile Greenway connecting Fenimore through Rockland Avenue to a future bird‑watching area. "Per the New York State Parks requirements, we need an adopted resolution accepting the grant," Siegel said; staff told trustees the paperwork is ready for the regular meeting so the village can receive the funds.
Trustees also were asked to accept a donation from the Village of America Police Department PBA to support a free spring egg hunt at Harbor Island Park on April 5, 2025, organized by the recreation department. Jason Pinto, recreation superintendent, described activities and said residents register online for the free event.
On a separate agenda item, the board reviewed final revisions to the parks code (Chapter 260). Mary (addressed by trustees by first name) summarized changes the Parks & Recreation Commission has drafted, including setting general park hours (dusk to dawn) and retaining Harbor Island as the off‑leash dog area. Trustees debated whether to allow leashed dogs to walk through other parks and whether that substantive policy change should be included in the version scheduled for a public hearing. Several trustees said adding dogs to all parks would be a substantive change requiring broader public notice; others favored carving out playgrounds and athletic fields.
Trustees discussed lit basketball courts (Columbus Park) and agreed staff could include a carve‑out so those courts could remain available later in the evening (a 9–10 p.m. cutoff was discussed). Because proposed dog‑walking language and other edits constitute substantive changes, trustees agreed not to schedule a public hearing immediately and directed staff to draft a final version for public notice in the coming weeks.
Next steps: staff will prepare the resolution to accept the state Greenway grant for the regular meeting, accept the listed donation for the egg hunt, and return a revised parks-code draft for trustees to set a public hearing date once the language is finalized.
