Last Thursday night’s Jordan village board meeting put Mayor Richard Platten’s philosophy to the test.
“What we are trained to do is get people to behave and obey the law,” Platten said. “We want to make sure that our people are safe and this is a nice place to live.”
Residents voiced their health and safety concerns to the mayor and trustees Cindy Milton, Catherine Ferris and Lee Badman about The Works, a caf located on South Main Street, in regards to noise after 9 p.m.
Local law makes establishments such as The Works subject to special permit. The Works, as special permit organization, is subject contingencies placed on them by the Zoning Board of Appeals. Village codes enforcement officer Robert Hermann said one of those contingencies is noise.
“Therefore, if they aren’t zoning compliant, they can lose their occupancy,” Hermann said. “The village [board] is able to enforce these stipulations that the ZBA put on it.”
“There is an avenue of some kind of control,” he added. “It’s not the greatest, but at least there is one. Nobody wants to control business. Nobody wants to, it’s not fair.”
Village clerk Linda Boehm hopes that a mutual compromise can be reached between the owner and one of the residents.
“Something needs to be done as far as working together,” Boehm said. “We heard one side of the story and now they need to hear the other side. It’s pretty difficult for the board to step in and do something. We don’t want to lose any businesses here.”
Mayor Platten was scheduled to meet with both parties on Friday.
“The village’s “Junk Law” was also a white hot topic of discussion.
Junk law prohibits people from having “junk” – for example, un registered vehicles – present outside their home or business.
As one gentleman at the board meeting put it: the law is like a “bullet proof vest with holes in it.”
“There wasn’t enough bite in it – in other words, penalties for people that violate [the law],” Hermann said. “The judge is kind of helpless when it comes to somebody not showing up for court. I take the time to write up tickets and no one complies. We are having a little trouble with that.”
According to Hermann, verbiage is the key component. The judge doesn’t have the power to have someone arrested with a bench warrant without it being written into local law.
Village pool to open June 25
The village of Jordan is looking forward to the summer concert in the park and the opening of The Jordan Veterans Memorial Pool on Brutus Road tentatively set for June 25.
Onondaga County Community Development grant funds went toward replacing the shell of the pool. After undergoing routine stages – assembly and a paint job – all that stands between the dog days of summer and a refreshing dip in the pool is time to watch the paint dry.
A few years ago, also with Community Development grant funds, a spray park was introduced. Platten has continued his work on a volleyball court while the pavilion plays host to numerous families looking to enjoy the summer months.
