Week in Review: Playland, Rye School Budget, Librarian's Job Saved

Rye Patch started the week with coverage of PlaylandWatch, a group that said it recently submitted the  The group has created a 60-second video, which you can find on its website, outlining the simple ways in which it would reinvent the park. Some of its suggestions include reducing Playland's fireworks show, promoting live performances and music at the park, renting unneeded parking spaces to Rye Town Park and making Playland more eligible for government and private grants by aligning it more closely with education and career training activities. The deadline for submitting proposals to the county is March 10. After the county receives the proposals, it could take several months or more for it to decide which one is the best fit for the future of Playland.

Speaking of Playland, the city's Playland Strategic Planning Committee presented its  Charles Dorn, chair of the committee, said that is was difficult to build consensus around one idea to reinvent the park, but he said there were certain principles on which many Rye residents could agree, including maintaining Playland as a public resource and ensuring that the county takes into account environmental considerations and the issue of sustainability. The City Council will continue to discuss the recommendations and likely incorporate them into a resolution in March.

On Tuesday, Rye Superintendent Edward Shine unveiled The budget, which totals $71. 5 million, includes a nearly 2-percent tax levy increase and a 2.6-percent increase in the tax rate. Increasing benefit costs continue to hurt the school district. Its personnel costs continue to increase, totaling more than 70 percent of its budget. Rye residents will vote on the budget in May, but the Board of Education and superintendent will continue to discuss it throughout March and April.

We also had somewhat bittersweet news this week, as . Because of the library's ongoing budget woes, Surabian was informed in January that she would likely lose her job on Feb. 5. But thanks to public awareness about her plight and a petition drive by some library patrons, Surabian will continue her tenure at the library. Unfortunately, that means two of her colleagues will not continue to be employed there. One of them resigned, while another was let go. Surabian said she is grateful for all the community support, but is sorry her colleagues lost their jobs.

The library continues to deal with its difficult financial situation after a $75,000 cut in city funding. In addition to its staff reductions, it has already o. On Wednesday, Debra Julian, the president of the library's board, told the City Council it might consider, which would allow it to gain a specific level of funding from the city if voters approve it on the ballot. Both the library and the City Council seem to prefer an inter-municipal agreement, but that may not be feasible if they can't come to an agreement on a funding number. The library's board is scheduled to meet next week to continue discussions about the possibility of a 414.

Our other stories this week including a Moms Talk discussion about a column about why the and a profile today about in honor of Valentine's Day. The Lanes have been married for almost 53 years and their love of each other and volunteering are probably their secret to a long lasting marriage.

We've covered lots more this weekend, so feel free to search the site for other engaging stories from the past week. Rye Patch will be your source for everything that is happening in the Rye area, from local government and school board meetings to sports and arts and entertainment.

We'll be doing a "Week in Review" every Sunday, so if you missed anything during the week, we've got you covered. And if you have story ideas, questions or comments, feel free to email me at satta@patch.com to share your thoughts.