The village board of trustees accepted the resignation of Village Historian Pat Blackler at its Nov. 8 regular meeting, and appointed Jorge Batlle to succeed her.
Blackler, who has been village historian for the past 18 years, announced her intent to retire on Dec. 31, 2012, in September 2011. She gave 15 months’ notice so she could train her replacement.
“You could not have appointed a more perfect candidate for this position,” Blackler told the board after its vote to appoint Batlle. “He has always been my first choice.”
Batlle’s wife, Beth Batlle, is the Skaneateles town historian.
Also at the meeting, the board:
—Authorized the hiring of Russell Nemeti as a part-time village police officer. Nemeti also currently works as a part-time police officer in Port Byron and Jordan.
—Authorized the publication of a bid notice for the new village hall renovation project. The bid opening will be Nov. 21, with bid openings to be at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12.
—Authorized the annual renewal of a snowplowing agreement with Trason Skaneateles LLC for Parkside Subdivision and with Fingerlakes Landscape & Design for the lot behind the village hall. The Parkside agreement contains no cost for the village; the Fingerlakes Landscape agreement costs the village $9 per snowplowing.
—Authorized a work contract with Barb Spain to update the Lake View Cemetery records as recommended by the cemetery board. Spain will work to migrate cemetery information from the currently-used historic ledger books to an online database. The ledger books will then be placed in the Skaneateles Historical Society for safekeeping. Spain will also assist residents with inquiries regarding cemetery records. She will be paid an amount not to exceed $2,000.
—Authorized the expenditure of $675 to hire a surveyor to survey five properties along Skaneateles Creek to delineate property boundaries. The survey is the first part of an investigation into the possibility of creating a village creek walk along Skaneateles Creek.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Skaneateles Press. He can be reached at [email protected].
