Converting Gouveia single family home into government office building
makes no sense
The following letter appeared in the Jan. 10th edition of THE GAZETTE:
To the editor: I urge
all Croton residents to do their civic duty this weekend and attend the Home
Show at Pace University.
I assume that our Village Manager and Board of Trustees will be there, and I am so convinced as to the importance of this event that I am willing to pay for the $3 apiece it costs for Ms. King and our trustees to register online. The Home Show is full of exhibitors with a range of specialties including renovation, remodeling, construction, and plumbing. The wisdom of those exhibitors is urgently needed in Croton today.
I assume that our Village Manager and Board of Trustees will be there, and I am so convinced as to the importance of this event that I am willing to pay for the $3 apiece it costs for Ms. King and our trustees to register online. The Home Show is full of exhibitors with a range of specialties including renovation, remodeling, construction, and plumbing. The wisdom of those exhibitors is urgently needed in Croton today.
As citizens, our village has asked us for input. We can only do that if we take time to educate ourselves. So go to the Home Show and ask: “How can I convert my single family house into a government office building?”
You will initially get some strange looks. The so-called experts will tell you that it is impractical to convert a house into an office building and prohibitively expensive. But you can tell them that the Croton Board of Trustees says they are indeed going to convert a single family house into government offices.
Practicality is not a concern of Croton trustees, and money is no object when you can (in the favorite phrase of a former Croton mayor) “Bond It!”
Some of us should talk to the plumbers at the Home Show. As Joel Gingold points out (The Gazette, Jan. 3/9), there have long been questions about the bathroom situation at Gouveia. I assume that Recreation Supervisor Duncan is already negotiating a bathroom occupancy schedule with his union shop steward, but in case Mr. Duncan’s staff balks it might be a good idea to find out our options from a licensed plumber.
There are still people who say Croton should promote Gouveia Park as a wedding venue. I’m not sure that many couples will want to say “I do” as cars whiz by below on Route 9, but one thing I do know is that nothing says “classy” like tuxedo-clad guests waiting to use the Port-a-Potty.
So even if Mr. Duncan persuades his staff to hold it in till their allotted time, we should still think about building a rustic multi-seat outhouse for the Gouveia House-o-Nuptials. Croton could pitch itself as the ultimate “green” wedding venue.
Unfortunately it will probably be difficult for us to get information about compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) at the Home Show because single-family homes normally don’t fall under ADA. But once we get this conversion project started, there is nothing we citizens of Croton can’t accomplish together if we put in enough time and borrow enough money.
Convert a single-family home into an office building? Other communities will mock us. But they underestimate the tenacity of our Croton Board of Trustees. See you at the Show!
--Paul Steinberg, Croton-on-Hudson
Practicality is not a concern of Croton trustees, and money is no object when you can (in the favorite phrase of a former Croton mayor) “Bond It!”
Some of us should talk to the plumbers at the Home Show. As Joel Gingold points out (The Gazette, Jan. 3/9), there have long been questions about the bathroom situation at Gouveia. I assume that Recreation Supervisor Duncan is already negotiating a bathroom occupancy schedule with his union shop steward, but in case Mr. Duncan’s staff balks it might be a good idea to find out our options from a licensed plumber.
There are still people who say Croton should promote Gouveia Park as a wedding venue. I’m not sure that many couples will want to say “I do” as cars whiz by below on Route 9, but one thing I do know is that nothing says “classy” like tuxedo-clad guests waiting to use the Port-a-Potty.
So even if Mr. Duncan persuades his staff to hold it in till their allotted time, we should still think about building a rustic multi-seat outhouse for the Gouveia House-o-Nuptials. Croton could pitch itself as the ultimate “green” wedding venue.
Unfortunately it will probably be difficult for us to get information about compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) at the Home Show because single-family homes normally don’t fall under ADA. But once we get this conversion project started, there is nothing we citizens of Croton can’t accomplish together if we put in enough time and borrow enough money.
Convert a single-family home into an office building? Other communities will mock us. But they underestimate the tenacity of our Croton Board of Trustees. See you at the Show!
--Paul Steinberg, Croton-on-Hudson
RELATED, A DEEPLY FLAWED PROPOSAL, JOEL GINGOLD http://www.crotonunited.org/news-views/2019/1/6/a-deeply-flawed-proposal
I thought we were going to get five thousand a month to rent the house. I thought we were going to get $50K plus a year renting it out for a bed and breakfast or whatever. We lost $40K in tax money annually. What a joke.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's on all the people that voted for them!
ReplyDeleteHere comes another Gallelli lawsuit! Hasn't she cost us enough so far? (Katz = $900K + Exxon Canopy = $50K + Gouveia = $40K + $1M Gouveia gift - Repairs + Comprehensive Plan ????) When will it end?
ReplyDelete