The village of Manlius Board of Trustees last week reinstated a codes enforcement officer position for the village after approving a contract with MRB Group Engineering and Architectural Firm to provide the service.
The position was abolished in 2000 for potential cost savings, and duties were transferred to the town of Manlius codes officer through an inter-municipal agreement. Costs were not reduced but were increased, however, so the board voted unanimously to reinstate the position.
Manlius Mayor Paul Whorrall said the cost of hiring a firm to be the code enforcement officer in the village will “even itself out” financially because the village was missing out on code enforcement inspection fees, which were going through the town.
“I think it’s time we bring the code officer position back to the village of Manlius,” Whorrall said. “The current situation is not putting us in the public’s eye in a good way a lot of the time.”
Village Clerk Martha Dygert said the need for a codes enforcement officer was something she saw often at the village hall. The code enforcement officer would be in the village office at least one day a week to handle situations that related to code enforcement in the village.
“This is huge for us at the village office,” Dygert said.
The board approved the contract with MRB Group at the village board meeting Feb. 24 and has given the town a 30-day notice of abolishing the current inter-municipal agreement.
Also at the meeting, the board:
—Heard Whorrall discuss the formulated agenda a traffic committee has made for a future meeting with the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT).
According to Whorrall, there are several traffic concerns within the village that the committee would like to bring in front of the DOT. These include left turn eliminations on Wesley and Mill Streets, establishing a left turn signal at Stickley Drive, a “no right turn on red” sign elimination at Arkie Albanese Avenue and establishment of several crosswalks in the village.
A date for the meeting with the DOT has not been established yet, but will be as soon as possible, said Whorrall.
—Approved the village parks and recreation department to begin work to establish a summer internship at the department. Typically, the parks and recreation department hires a part-time employee between the months of April and August because of increased activities in the department during these months, said Trustee Tom Pilewski, liaison to the department.
Trustees agreed the board would need to find out more about the internship program at SUNY Cortland before making decisions about whether it will be paid or how long the internship would last.
—Approved a raise for five parks and recreation department summer playground program councilors who are group leaders. Pilewski said because of the New York State raise in minimum wage and based on the amount of years the councilors have been in the department, two councilors would have hourly wages raised from $11 to $12 per hour and another three are increased from $10 to $11 per hour.
Hayleigh Gowans is a reporter for the Eagle Bulletin. She can be reached at [email protected].
