Tuckahoe Village Departments

TUCKAHOE TALK
With Mayor John Fitzpatrick

Surfing Tuckahoe

April 5, 2009

The Tuckahoe village website has truly become a serious tool in the Village Board’s ability to communicate with our residents and beyond. This had been a priority of mine since the day I took office, but to make this a reality required the commitment of one of our trustees. The real sentry and manager of content has been Trustee Clare Gorman. An obvious additional requirement is a competent Webmaster and, thankfully, we have one in Aunt Reenee’s Websites. For those unaware of the many advantages of our website, I advise you go to www.Tuckahoe.com and have a look.

Too often communities or businesses don’t update their site and I assure you this is immediately evident to the surfing public seeking information. When sites aren’t updated, not only is an opportunity wasted to quickly answer a resident, but more often an employee at Village Hall is required to answer a phone and provide the correct information the public is seeking. I share the sentiment of those who have little patience or time to endure an automated list of people, followed by “Press four for the Village Clerk”.

Schedules for all meetings are posted and continually updated to inform residents what items have been adjourned or postponed. This allows busy residents to tune in only for information they feel is relevant. Laws, fees, building code requirements, garbage schedules, announcements, agendas, meetings and upcoming events are all available at the site. The public may also view the minutes of the Village Board, as well as the Zoning and Planning Boards. These minutes are available online soon after each respective Board’s approval. Furthermore, village board meetings are available for viewing live online or the next day on demand. This feature doesn’t require any downloading of content to ones computer, and allows you the ability to view and even choose which portion of the meeting you want to view without having to watch the whole thing.

I would like to take the time to inform everyone that they may now finally pay parking tickets online safely and securely right on our web page. I fought for a long time to bring this common convenience to Tuckahoe. This could save residents money because untimely payments of parking tickets can result in costly doubling and even tripling of the initial fine. Also, in the past residents had to take a day off to pay a fine; thankfully that ridiculousness is over. As far as the on going policy of non-acceptance of personal checks to pay a fine, I remain at odds with the court office on this one.

All of the trustees and department heads have contact points and answer all inquiries on our website. I recently spoke to all the department heads and showed them just how many people are viewing their data. Each has been reminded to update their page on a regular basis. Based on public request we are now posting what type of work on your home or property does not require a permit. This information is already called out in the code, but many felt it should be easier to access. This will mean anything not listed does require a permit, but if one is not sure I still recommend a call to the building department. I would rather see them take the time to answer inquiries and save residents a fine.

There is a calendar of events, activities, and other important dates posted on the website. In addition, one may also wish to sign up to receive email notification of event information, announcements, and updates. With this service we are attempting an on the spot notification (similar to the Town of Eastchester’s), that will alert residents to potentially dangerous events that may be ongoing. An example would be the recent police activities in their search for a suspect in the Blockbuster Robbery. Our intention is to be able to post happenings quickly on the main page of the web for those who don’t feel like subscribing.

Finally, all of us connected with your village government welcome the thoughts and suggestions of those who use the website. Not only are your ideas appreciated, but also they are essential for us to continue to expand www.Tuckahoe.com’s relevance and usefulness.