COVID - COVID - COVID - PLEASE READ!

Town of North Castle

Supervisor

Michael J. Schiliro

E-News Update

Dear Neighbors and Friends,

I hope you are all well and safe. As we have been cautioning you all and as the experts have been predicting, the advent of cooler weather would bring with it an accelerated increase in Covid-19 cases throughout the country, including here in North Castle and Westchester, and they were right.

Although this email is not to cause alarm, it is to reinforce how critically important Modeling Good Behavior is! Here’s some info below but our message remains unchanged.

Stay Diligent!

Model Great Behavior! Distance!

Wear a Mask! Wash Your Hands!

BEHAVIOR – HELP A BUSINESS OWNER:

We’re all exhausted mentally and physically from dealing with COVID. Many of us have “COVID – Fatigue”. But the truth is that now is the absolute worst time to throw our hands up and say we’ve had enough. But it is the exact time to double down and not let this virus take any more lives or close any more businesses.

We have one choice: Persevere! Take your frustration and make this personal. Pick someone or something and do it for them. A loved one that is immunocompromised or your favorite business or business owner in Town. DO IT FOR HER OR HIM!! Focus on them, and not the inconvenience of it all. Focus on our school districts, Valhalla and Byram Hills, and appreciate how hard they have worked to keep our children safe and to be prepared for just this very uptick and how to handle it so our children continue to learn. THEY ARE ALL RELYING ON US.

THE NUMBERS

Although our collective Town diligence is very good, our numbers have grown over the last few weeks. We currently have 40 active cases and our aggregate total since COVID began is 295, so our numbers have increased significantly. The silver lining: 1/3^rd of our current cases exist in 5 households, which helps keep it contained but our active number is much higher than it should be. (As always, we can report these numbers, but that is all that we can and will report, thus please understand and appreciate that due to confidentiality laws, emails asking us for further info regarding details will not be responded to.)

COLLEGE KIDS and QUARANTINING:

As we’ve learned in discussions with our schools and heard in different circles, there are Byram Hills and Valhalla grads that have returned home during this semester, some from hot-spot states, and they are not all quarantining, and also sometimes socializing improperly. We also realized that once you no longer have children in the school system (ie: your youngest is now in college), you probably do not receive school district emails, but (hopefully) still receiving our Town emails.

So I’m here to offer some Candid Guidance:

1. College: If your child is visiting from a hot-spot state, advise them that they will have to quarantine and be tested before and after they arrive as per the updated NYS guidelines. (You may notice when you read this link that perhaps the Governor’s “grammar Czar” may have been off on the day this was written).

2. Responsibility: If your child is visiting, you as the parent(s) MUST take this seriously and not think that it’s only one child and it should be ok. It’s not ok. Unfortunately they are contributing to the spread. We know they want to see their friends, but we all must play under the same rules! Period!!

3. Parents: The same applies to you. If you travel to a hot spot state, follow the guidelines. I get that you may not agree with them, but follow them. If you disagree, then refer to my paragraph above titled “HELP A BUSINESS OWNER”.

4. MASK UP: It is NOT ACCEPTABLE to not wear a mask, especially for children home from college visiting. Keep a healthy supply of masks everywhere, and make sure your children, of all ages, understand that this is non-negotiable.

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5.Quarantining: I’m living proof that it’s very manageable, it’s worth doing it and not cutting corners as it helps others, so just do it if the guidelines dictate that you must. Here’s pic of me after I returned from a hot spot state and had to live in our basement for 2 weeks. I tested negative after I returned, but the guidelines at that time required me to quarantine for 14 days. (Disregard the neon – just having some fun with an old college relic while living like Steve McQueen in Papillion with my family providing food at the top of the steps every day).

NYS DOT PAVING

I have provided detailed updates on this but apparently there is still some confusion out there. (By the way, if you have friends that you know are confused on issues that we have reported on, most likely they are not signed up for town emails, thus please strongly encourage them to do so.)

Anyway, NYS is finishing their project from School Street in Armonk to Wrights Mill Rd. No, they are not continuing south through Main Street at this time. Why? Because that’s what they have budgeted for now, and felt was a priority. Yes, Main Street is a priority and we have communicated that many times, and it may seem illogical for them not to continue south, but we are grateful that this project did get done, we are grateful that the other three projects totaling $8.2M will occur over the next 12 months, and we are continuing to lobby NYS for additional state roadwork, including Main St in Armonk and N. Broadway in N. White Plains.

TOWN BUDGET:

We released the budget with a 0.98% tax increase and begin our first budget hearing on Wednesday, November 18^th. If you wish to participate or just watch, follow the instructions on the Town website.

OUR BUILDING DEPARTMENT:

Due mainly to COVID, people are re-allocating their resources into home improvement projects. Great news for many reasons, but I just wanted to help residents understand what the increased workload means for our valued Building Department. They are handling 2-3 times as many applications as in previous years, so although they are doing an excellent job of managing the volume, the turnaround time may be longer than usual. So I am sharing some of this info so you can set your expectation levels properly and please be patient as our staff is doing the best they can for you. Our Building Inspector Rob Melillo will be briefing the Town Board and the Town about the current level of activity at our meeting on Wednesday if you’d like to tune in a watch.

As always, The Town Board, Town Administrator, and I truly thank you for your perseverance throughout this crisis and appreciate your heightened attention to the rise of COVID cases and they extra effort that is needed!!!

Please, please, please stay safe, Be Decent, Mask Up, Stay Patient, and make sure your kids are Masked Up and Modeling Good Behavior. At this point, we have no other choice. Let’s continue to help each other.

Be well,

Mike

Michael Schiliro - Supervisor Town of North Castle

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Michael J. Schiliro | Supervisor | 914-273-3000 | Website