Councilman Larry Siegel chats with Clerk Treasurer Virginia Cazier prior to the Syracuse Town Council’s July meeting Tuesday night, July 16. In the background are Councilman Paul Stoelting and Town Attorney Jay Rigdon. Photo by Lauren Zeugner.

By Lauren Zeugner
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — During its regular meeting Tuesday night, July 16. the Syracuse Town Council approved a bid for $391,891.23 for the Pearl Street parking lot paving project.

The winning bid was submitted by Beer & Slabaugh. Town Manager David Wilkinson told the council not only did Beer & Slabaugh have no errors in its bid proposal, it was also significantly less than R. Yoder Construction and Niblock Excavating, the other bidders. Work is to start soon with the parking lot being significantly complete sometime in November.

The council approved a contract for trash removal from Waste Connection, which recently acquired Borden Waste Away. The contract is for approximately $277,660.80.

Wilkinson noted Waste Connection was the only bidder for the contract and he and Nate Scherer worked with Eric Ivory, a Waste Connection representative, on dealing with overage fees, fuel surcharges and the discovery the company undercharged the town by approximately $86,000 to come to an acceptable contract.

Councilman Larry Siegel brought up the fact the contract states residents may put out one large item a week for pick up. However he had a call from a resident where a large item was repeatedly left behind.

Siegel related how he got into a heated conversation with a customer service representative regarding large item pick up. She claimed the company would never agree to doing large item pick up once a week. He later called customer service and got another representative who was able to pull up the actual contact and went to work on resolving the issue. Ivory said he was aware of the situation, having spoken with both customer service employees and their supervisor.

Siegel then asked how would the contract be monitored since in the past the company slipped in fees that were overlooked for several months. Ivory explained the town was working with a new company due to an acquisition.

Council President Nate Scherer appointed Kim Ruthenbeck to the Syracuse Board of Zoning Appeals and Mark Madinger to the Syracuse Redevelopment Commission.

Christopher Harrison and Robin Matthews of Commonwealth Engineering, the town’s engineering firm, brought a task order for nine projects worth $710,000, not including engineering fees of $117,000. These projects will be part of the town’s 2025 application for a Community Crossings Grant. The Community Crossings Grant is a statewide grant program where the state pays 75% of the cost of road projects while the town pays 25%.

One of the proposed projects will be Boston Street, which will cost approximately $452,000.

In department reports Councilman Bill Musser asked about ground being broke at Rabbit Ridge. Wilkinson said it will be soon.

In his report Wilkinson told the council he has met with two consultants/contractors about wiring the council chambers so meetings can be broadcast. A new town seal has also been hung in the room as well.

He recommended the town look at the possibility of having a town app. The Town of Bristol has one where residents receive alerts, can pay utility bills and go through the town website. The cost is $3,900 per year, which would be divided among the town departments.

A council approved waiving the tap on fee of $1,879.36 for a local developer working on the old Polar Craft building. Musser noted the council was not setting any kind of precedent. This was an economic development tool the town offered and has used in the past.

The council again discussed a policy change for police officers to take cars home. Police Chief Jim Layne was asked to bring the council a clean copy of what the safety committee approved before council would vote on it.

Mark Aurich, public works superintendent, reported he, the water and street department teams were up most of the night cleaning up downed trees.

He has been unsuccessful in finding a water superintendent to hire. The state has not approved Aurich taking the test either. His request has been sitting on someone’s desk in Indianapolis for six months.

He requested permission to extend the contract for Stouder another six months. The cost of the contract is approximately $35,000. The council approved the contract extension.

The council approved the Turkey Creek Fire Territory purchasing two rapid deploy crafts, one for each station, for a cost of $4,900 each plus shipping. These crafts inflate in approximately 90 seconds and can be deployed where there is no boat launch or in areas a boat may not be able to reach.

Fire Chief Mickey Scott explained the craft may be used for water, ice and thin ice rescues.

Scott also addressed questions as to why the sirens did not sound Monday night into Tuesday morning during the storms. Those sirens are for tornadoes only. The National Weather Service never reported a tornado in the area.

Continuing to discuss the storm that hit the area Monday night into Tuesday morning, Scott noted a number of homes with generators attached to them have been placed close to air conditioning units, setting up a scenario where a home can fill with carbon monoxide. The fire department has dealt with a number of calls related to carbon monixide alarms going off in people’s homes due to exterior home generators running 8-9 hours.

The council is considering changing its meeting time from 7 p.m. the third Tuesday of the month to 10 a.m. to make it easier for department heads who live some distance away.

Siegel did ask about members of the public who may not be able to make a morning meeting to comment or bring issues to the council. Scherer noted government tends to work 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and rarely extends business hours because the public is working.

Another concern was those wishing to run for council, but not able to make a morning meeting. It was pointed out the meeting time is always subject to change.