As the nation prepared Tuesday to celebrate the founders’ bold declaration of our independence, Bedford formally marked the service—past, continuing and about to begin—of some town residents.
In a series of separate actions, the town board remembered one of its former members, , who died last week; reappointed Peter Michaelis as chairman of the town communications committee; thanked Paul S. Bird for his work on the zoning board of appeals; and welcomed his successor, Meredith Black.
A land-use lawyer, Black volunteered to serve in 2010, shortly after she and her husband, Jason, moved to Katonah from Port Chester. She is an attorney with the White Plains firm Zarin & Steinmetz and a former member of the Port Chester ZBA.
Supervisor Lee V.A. Roberts said, “With her credentials . . . the board came to a consensus that she would be an outstanding candidate [for the zoning board].”
Black succeeds Paul Bird, who stepped down after four years. In reading Bird’s resignation letter, Councilman David Gabrielson observed, “We were very fortunate to have Paul . . . on the zoning board of appeals.”
Peter Michaelis, a longtime civic activist, also serves on the zoning board as well as the town's conservation and tree advisory boards. He helped found the Bedford/Armonk Rotary, is a former president and trustee of the Bedford Historical Society and a trustee of the Friends of John Jay Homsetead. With his wife, Victoria, and their two sons, Michaelis has been a Bedford resident for more than two decades. Calling Michaelis “a great chairman,” Roberts said, “We’re happy to reappoint Peter.”
The personnel moves were among a number of actions the board took in moving through a fast-paced, pre-holiday agenda. The board also:
ORDERED from Acocella Contracting some 900 feet of additional work to refurbish sidewalk on Greenville Road, between North Street and Edgemont Road.
APPROVED the Eighth Annual for Nov. 24, challenging runners with a 3.1 mile course, starting at Bedford Village Elementary School and finishing at Bedford Village Memorial Park.
AUTHORIZED Sept. 22 for the Hudson Valley chapter of the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation to stage its 9th annual fund-raising Walk for PKD in Bedford Hills.
SCHEDULED a public hearing marathon for July 17, starting at 7 p.m. with back-to-back five-minute hearings on cell-tower changes on Green Lane and Harris Road; fireworks restrictions (7:10); fire and building code changes (7:20); defining the building inspector’s authority (7:30); and two open-space hearings, starting at 7:40, including one that would lower the surcharge to taxpayers from 3 percent of the general fund and highway budget to 1 percent.
