Chamber of Commerce Hosts Q & A Session with Village Officials

by Kathy Savolt -

On September 24, 2025, the Mamaroneck Chamber of Commerce invited Village officials to answer questions from the approximately 30 Chamber members who attended.

After a brief board agenda, Chamber President Michael Murphy turned the meeting over to Joe Mileto who emceed a Q & A session with Mayor Sharon Torres and Village Manager Kathleen Gill.

Mileto began by welcoming the open communication between the Chamber and the Village and asked about beautification efforts to “properly welcome our visitors.”

Mayor Sharon Torres responded that there are several different levels of projects to accomplish that goal.  The entrances to the Village, especially from the highway (95) and Boston Post Road need attention but so does signage, event signage, landscaping, and the downtown.  Torres explained that all of this will cost money. 

Torres also reported that the Ad-hoc Beautification Committee has been established with seven members and Trustee Ellen Silver as liaison.  (Trustee Silver had been scheduled to attend this meeting but was absent due to illness.)

Village Manager Kathleen Gill added that signage was needed in the downtown area to “push people to park in the lots behind the stores.”  Gill also said that the State initiative NY Forward has $4.5 million in grant money available for downtown revitalization over the next few years.

Referencing “this area” (the meeting took place on Fenimore Road in the Industrial District), Mileto asked that efforts not forget other areas of the Village, including the review of  parking needs.

The discussion turned to garbage and rats and Gill reported that the Board of Trustees was in the process of changing the Village Code regarding garbage. See HERE. Gill urged the audience to exert peer pressure with fellow business owners who are violating the code.

An improved Village website for business owners was requested and Torres reported that the Village will be completely redesigning the website. See HERE. Mileto pointed out the difficulty businesses have with Village approvals, especially for signs describing the process as “onerous.”

Flood mitigation efforts was the final topic of the evening with Torres and Gill detailing the work being done by all the agencies involved (Federal, State, County and Village) with Torres mentioning the time and efforts everything takes.

Reciting the litany of all the projects from the Tompkins Avenue bridge to the confluence of the rivers in Columbus Park, Torres said she expected 10-15 years of “constant construction.” Gill mentioned the storm water drainage study recently completed of the area that included the Industrial Area which was expected to lead to a project to help with low volume rainstorms.  She also reported that the Village submitted a grant application for new river gauges.

After a question about communities upstream sending “their water” down to Mamaroneck, Torres reported that the Village was working with other communities to revive the Long Island Sound Watershed Intermunicipal Council (LISWIC) which was active in the early 2000s but subsequently faded away.  A recent meeting, hosted by County Legislator Catherine Parker, was held at Pace University.  Pace’s Land Use Leadership Alliance Training Program (LULA) is also involved.  Torres was hopeful that this group could be resurrected but mentioned the inland watershed communities (part of White Plains drains to the Long Island Sound) were not engaged at this time.

The Q & A ended with a promise to meet again soon.