UPDATE: Short Retort from Mayor Wray

Before Tarrytown sent out a press release announcing their possible appeal of the GM lawsuit dismissal Tuesday, they sent a letter to Sleepy Hollow on Monday. 

The letter, signed by Mayor Drew Fixell and dated Oct. 1, pleads with the neighboring village's Trustees to clarify their traffic mitigation plans for Tarrytown.

Dear Members of the Sleepy Hollow Board of Trustees:

On behalf of the Village of Tarrytown Board of Trustees, I am writing to you in the hope that we can reach a resolution of the differences between the Villages regarding the traffic impacts on the Village of Tarrytown resulting from the proposed development of the forrner General Motors Site in Sleepy Hollow. 

While our reading of the decisions and findings issued by Sleepy Hollow led the Tarrytown Village Board to conclude that Sleepy Hollow made no provision to adequately address the impacts in Tarrytown resulting from the GM project, as you know, the State Supreme Court recently issued a decision which concluded in part that: “While Petitioner argues that there is no corresponding obligation in the Findings Statement that requires the use by Sleepy Hollow of any part of the $11.5 million for any traffic mitigation measure, the argument has no merit. The same mitigation measures proposed in 2007 are contained Within the Findings Statement as adopted in 20E l. Shifting the obligation from General Motors to Sleepy Hollow does not eliminate the obligation.” 

Since, Tarrytown interpreted that the $11.5 million was earmarked for traffic mitigation in Sleepy Hollow, the Board of Trustees is hoping that you can clarify Sleepy Hollow's position with regard to the use of those funds for traffic mitigation in the Village of Tarrytown and the expected timetable for implementation of such mitigation measures. 

Drew Fixell, Mayor 
C: Board of Trustees 
Village Administrator

In response to this, a letter got hand-delivered to Tarrytown Village Hall Wednesday afternoon moments before the office closed. Writes Mayor Ken Wray:

Dear Mayor Fixell and Members of the Tarrytown Board of Trustees:

We are in receipt of your correspondence dated October 1, 2012. To say that we are puzzled by your statement that you are hoping “to reach a resolution of the differences between our two Villages” would be an understatement.

As far as Sleepy Hollow is concerned, Judge Hubert’s decision has resolved the issues regarding the General Motors development and one need look no further than the Findings Statement for clarity.

Sincerely,

Ken Wray, Mayor

Sleepy Hollow attorney Janet Gandolfo said the Village was in the process of filing Freedom of Information requests from Tarrytown regarding the total costs of these litigation proceedings from 2010 and 2011.

Stay tuned for these figures in my next update.

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