The terms of current Camillus village officials just got a little longer. More significantly, village expenses — i.e. village taxpayer expenses — just went down.
Both are a product of the village’s Aug. 12 resolution to move the village election from March to November. The idea was suggested to Montero by Helen Kiggins of the Onondaga County Board of Elections.
“We are going to be issued new election machines, and running a village election in March is going to cost us anywhere from $1,200 to $1,500,” Montero said to the board. “By simple resolution, subject to permissive referendum, we can move our village elections to the general election date and that’s going to save us that money — we never have to budget that money again.”
“From a taxpayer’s standpoint, it’s a no-brainer,” he added.
Under the resolution, the terms of all current officials are lengthened by eight months. Future term lengths are not affected by the change.
Montero noted the low turnout of the last March election — “20 percent at best.” He felt that moving the elections to November could help the village improve this number.
“You get more people involved because they’re here anyway,” he said.
The resolution was passed unanimously.
Aviation museum to land in Village Hall
John Luebs, Camillus resident and member of the Aviation Historical Society of CNY, came to village hall to request use of space for the organization’s collection of materials from the Amboy Airport in Camillus, which operated from 1926 to 1949. He brought with him Pete Boyle, curator of the organization’s collection.
“We have accumulated a very substantial amount of material — photographs and documents and so forth — from the airport,” Luebs said. He noted that, as the official Syracuse airport, Amboy drew traffic from many prominent historical figures — Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh among them.
The collection was being stored in a room on the third floor of the Camillus municipal building, but Town Supervisor Mary Ann Coogan had asked the society to move their materials out of the space. Coogan noted to the Observer that the room was not handicap-accessible and was needed by the town for storage.
Luebs saw this as an opportunity to make the materials more available to the public.
“What we’ve never been able to do is have it accessible to people who are interested in history, and those who are interested simply in aviation,” Luebs said.
He hoped that with support from the community, the collection could eventually be turned into a museum. The Aviation Historical Society’s numbers have dwindled since forming in 1972; Luebs hoped to turn that trend around by recruiting some young volunteers.
The board expressed support for Luebs’ goals, with just a few concerns — one being that if materials were on display, village employees might be expected to answer questions about the airport’s history.
Montero said he assumed the materials on display would be accompanied with explanatory literature, and Trustee Sharon Hannon suggested it be a self-guided tour.
Luebs said that with the materials he planned to display, “a guided tour would not be necessary. But if somebody here is involved with the program and wants to elaborate on it, then of course [guests] would get more out of it.”
The museum would run on donations and volunteerism and not require admission or membership, Luebs said.
The board expressed concern over liability in the case of theft, but Luebs said society would retain full liability of the collection.
The board agreed to display the collection in village, and saw benefits to sharing the space with the Aviation Historical Society. Trustee Ben Davis expressed strong support of the idea as an opportunity for increased public interaction.
Luebs expected the museum to attract people to come to the village — Montero expected the same.
Trustee Ben Davis resigns
Trustee Ben Davis has resigned from his post after taking office in April. Davis leaves his position to move to Milwaukee with his wife.
“This will be my last board meeting with you all, I’m sorry to say,” Davis said. “It’s been great serving with you, Mike’s done a great job, and I’m sorry I have to leave you.”
At the close of the meeting, the board wished Davis well.
“Ben, we’re gonna miss you,” Montero said. “We will definitely move one of our board meetings to Wisconsin.”
Meeting notes:
According to Village Codes Officer John Williams, income from building permits is up this summer.
Williams’ report said in terms of community development, the village should seek funding to fix sidewalks on North Street this year.
10 North Street, an apartment complex, has been sold and is expected to go through extensive remodeling.
