Village releases details about creating a village flag

The Chester Village Board laid out its plan to mint a village flag at its February 10 meeting. There will be competition amidst the village of different flag designs to be ultimately voted on by both the community and a special committee.

The plan starts with a committee of five comprised of Chairman Aaron Lefkowitz, village historian; Clifton Patrick, town historian; Deputy Mayor Elizabeth Reilly, village liaison; a to be determined 10th or 11th grader from the local Chester schools; and a to be determined “at large” member of the community. The board is to be created by the end of the month.

From March 1 to April 30 a formal announcement will be made of the competition and the guidelines for submission. Sponsors will be invited to offer gifts to the creator of the winning submission. Public voting on flag designs will take place from May 1 to 31.

On June 1 five finalists will be announced. And on June 14 the committee will select its one winner from the final five.

PDJ Components

In other news, PDJ Components of 35 Brookside Avenue gave a presentation about their vision of a large expansion of its facilities. They had been sent to the village board by the planning board, which is lead agency on SEQRA for the project. PDJ’s rep was met with wrath from the community for its alleged creation of dust pollution that affects neighboring residential communities and for having visible trash on the lot.

The manufacturing business employs 61 people. With the expansion of its facilities from 39,110 square feet to a proposed additional 32,200 square feet, the business says it will be able to employ an additional 25 employees at the site. The rep also said that the entire lot would be paved if the expansion is permitted, thus decreasing dust pollution.

PDJ believes it is eligible to receive a special use permit for the expansion, because it is a non-conforming use, as the village has changed the zoning of its area since it began operation. PDJ said it did not know by how much operations will increase in alignment with the 82% facility expansion.

Mayor Christopher Battiato said the problem as it currently stands is that the facility is an “eyesore” and creates pollution. They “haven’t been a good neighbor.” Will it get worse with an expansion?

A resident commenting on the topic, along with Trustee Anthony LaSpina, said they would like to see the site cleaned up before any expansion takes place. The mayor commented that he was not comfortable with an 82% expansion and would like to see that number come down.

PDJ will have to come before the village board again before it resumes its work with the planning board.

Surveillance cameras

The town adopted a surveillance camera policy proposed by the police department. The policy said it will seek to respect the privacy of citizens while monitoring the village. The police said the surveillance systems may be useful for the following purposes: “To prevent, deter and identify criminal activity; to target identified areas of gang and narcotics complaints or activity; to respond to critical incidents; to assist in identifying, apprehending and prosecuting offenders; to document officer and offender conduct during interactions to safeguard the rights of the public and officers; to augment resources in a cost-effective manner; to monitor pedestrian and vehicle traffic activity; to monitor critical infrastructure.”