BY JASON KLAIBER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
At its Feb. 8 meeting, Fayetteville’s board of trustees discussed a drafted plan pertaining to declared health emergencies.
The public employer health emergency plan, said to act in the interest of the safety of Fayetteville’s employees and contractors, has been designed to allow for the continuity of village operations amidst a public health predicament.
This plan will cover procedures to be followed in the event of emergencies involving any communicable diseases, not just the coronavirus. It specifically lays out information regarding “the identification of essential positions, facilitation of remote work for non-essential positions, provision of personal protective equipment, and protocols for supporting contact tracing.”
Local unions will be able to review the draft and make recommendations concerning its contents.
Once finalized, the plan would still be a living document that could be adjusted as needed, Clerk-Treasurer Lorie Corsette said.
During this week’s meeting, Trustee Pamela Ashby and Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Karen Shepardson provided an update on the village’s communications committee, which had met three times by that point.
An idea to get a web-based communication platform between village officials and residents up and running was one point of discussion. On top of sending out notifications about upcoming events or alerts about such occurrences as water shutoffs or rescheduled garbage days, this monitored texting platform, called TextMyGov, would conjure up default and customizable responses to unique or recurring questions submitted by residents.
Ashby additionally said that the village’s primary website, www.fayettevilleny.gov, could benefit from the inclusion of a search bar, a greater amount of posts about the village’s history and a gathering of answers to frequently asked questions. Beyond that, she mentioned that a survey could be passed around to determine how well residents are able to procure necessary or desired information.
“The more people we can get information to, the more people we can get involved, the more people we can get to go to the events [and] the more people that can be educated on what’s really happening, the better it’s going to be for everybody,” Mayor Mark Olson said.
The committee also looks to potentially organize quarterly photo contests relating to the change of seasons, a “local hero” or other topics of interest.
In other news
The board approved a project proposed by a Fayetteville-Manlius student to expand the community gardens at the Fayetteville Senior Center. Mayor Olson said the village would attempt to add in as many gardens as possible without “taking anything away” from the character of the property.
An item previously listed on the Feb. 8 agenda that dealt with the Waterside Commons proposal was removed earlier that day at the request of the developer’s attorney to allow for more information to be put together for the board of trustees.
