Parks & Environment
BOL Meeting Minutes -
Published Draft
800 Michaelian Office Bldg.
148 Martine Avenue, 8th Floor
White Plains, NY 10601
Committee Chair: Erika Pierce
WestchesterLegislatorsNY.gov
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
2:00 PM
Committee Room
CALL TO ORDER
Please note: Meetings of the Board of Legislators and its committees are held at the
Michaelian Office Building, 148 Martine Avenue, 8th Floor, White Plains, New York, 10601,
and livestreamed via the WebEx video conferencing system. Legislators may participate in
person or via Webex. Members of the public may attend meetings in person at any of its
locations, or view the meeting and its video recording online on the Westchester County
the links to documents to be discussed at a given meeting.
MINUTES APPROVAL
I.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
OTHER BUSINESS
II.
Discussion on Playland and Merestead.
Guests: Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Conservation: Acting Commissioner Peter Tartaglia and
Director of Park Planning Rob Lopane
Mr. Tartaglia said that the legislators had previously taken a tour to see the improvements
made by the County at Playland. He noted that the County has restored most of the original
historic structures.
Chair Pierce asked about the status of the rides. Mr. Tartaglia said that 100% of Kiddyland is
operational, and about 70 to 75 % of the major rides are operational, and that number will be
much higher by the end of this month.
Chair Pierce asked about the current food options at Playland. Mr. Tartaglia said that there are
a combination of food stands and food trailers, which are much bigger than food trucks. The
County now has a five-year contract for food service, and all of those food areas will be filled
by next season.
Mr. Tartaglia said they are working on the farmhouse at Merestead in a two-phase project. He
explained that phase one, which involves roofing, siding, infrastructure, foundations, and some
minor interior work, is about 30 % complete on the work they wanted to accomplish. He noted
that as often happens with older buildings, once they started the work, they uncovered
unforeseen conditions which require further work. He said that when they come back to phase
two involving the design of the interior building, they will probably ask for additional funding to
finish some of the elements they could not complete in phase one. He added that the design
