Stepping into her new role as City Clerk, Dawn Nodarse submitted her first Rye city council minutes from the March 19th meeting. It was baptism by fire for Nodarse who penned and eleven page report during a busy council meeting that included a focus on traffic safety in the wake of a recent accident when a student was stuck by a car while walking to school.
To the highlights:
- A number of parents spoke about traffic safety and their concerns including Kate and Lloyd Emanuel, the parents of Jamie Emanuel, the student who sustained a broken leg after being stuck by a car on March 10th and Jim Amico, whose son Jarrid died in April 2006 after being stuck by a car on Midland Avenue.
- The mayor and the council discussed a variety of initiatives around traffic safety including the Rye YMCA’s Activate America program, studies looking at improvements to school campuses, the Temporary Trails and Traffic Safety Committee an the Safe Routes the School program.
- A resolution passed by council resolved: "that the projects submitted for funding will enable our community to move forward in achieving the goals of providing safe roadways for school children, promoting a healthier environment through decreased traffic, and to encourage walking and biking as alternatives to driving."
- Former Councilwoman Carolyn Cunningham came to council to report Rye is the location of not one, but two IBAs — important bird areas — Edith Read Wildlife Sanctuary and the Marshlands Conservancy. A group of presenters including Jeff Main, former Curator at the Edith Read Wildlife Sanctuary and currently Senior Curator in the Conservation Division of the Westchester County Department of Parks and Recreation, Jason Klein, current Curator of the Edith Read Wildlife Sanctuary, Jillian Liner, Director of Bird Conservation of Audubon New York, Allison Beale, of the Marshlands Conservancy and Beth Herr, of Ward Pound Ridge Reservation reported a Long Island Sound Stewardship Working Group is working with RTV on a program that will introduce their plan for conservation programs by identifying priorities, threats and recommendations for the two areas.
