It’s that time of year — time for New Year’s resolutions. And while many of us are committing to getting organized or living a healthier lifestyle, our local municipal leaders are also resolving to provide better services, more efficient government and more value for our tax dollars.
Read on to find out what your town and village leaders have to say about the changes coming in 2013.
Cicero Supervisor Jim Corl
Here are a few of the many goals for Cicero in 2013:
Begin implementation of the Cornell Road Program. With the support of the highway superintendent and town engineers, Cicero will be making much needed changes in our approach to the most visible part or our infrastructure: our roads. Although overall town spending will be down slightly in 2013, our paving budget has increased from $650,000 to $800,000. A new approach of making the dollars go further will certainly be beneficial for the future of our road system.
Work to revise and make our codes and application process for new business coming into town to make the process easier. Although we saw a 54 percent increase in site plans (new businesses or expansions), there is still work to do in this competitive market. In 2012 we conducted an internal audit of our codes department to determine how we could better serve the community including revising processes to make things easier for businesses. I believe working toward implementing the recommendations of this internal audit will be beneficial to Cicero.
We need to continue to look at innovative ways of introducing new technology to make our local government even more efficient. In early 2012 we purchased a new server, and we saw our IT cost cut almost in half. These types of investments are important for the town. Recently, we also agreed to lease computers for the town, which will improve efficiency and most like reduce technical support even further. Implementation of a new complex software system for our codes office will also be an important goal, as it will be easier to track complaint and ensure the appropriate follow-up.
I am always interested to hear additional goals Cicero residents have for our town. Please contact my office at any time at 699-1414 or email at [email protected] and Happy New Year!
North Syracuse Mayor Mark Atkinson
We will focus on cost reduction, Village Center improvements and Centerville Park upgrades.
We will continue our attempt to reduce the costs of the “Cadillac services” that we provide in North Syracuse. We will be exploring ways to reduce energy consumption thus reducing overall costs. For electrical we will look at street lighting and for fossil fuels we will research creative ways to conserve petroleum and natural gas.
The Village Center comprehensive plan is complete and has identified six sectors in the Village Center with different ideas to improve each sector. We will start coordinating with the affected businesses for their input and move forward.
Construction on Centerville Park should be complete in 2013. This cost of this project is approximately $150,000. The vast majority of funding is from two different grants that we received. Community Development and Save the Rain grants are funding this project. The village will provide some in kind services that are within our capability for our portion.
Happy New Year.
Salina Supervisor Mark Nicotra
As we look ahead to 2013 in the Town of Salina, there are many exciting projects to look forward to.
Construction of the new Byrne Dairy in Mattydale will commence in early 2013. The new Byrne Dairy store will replace the current store that is located at Route 11 and Kirsch Drive.
Construction of a 250,000-square foot-expansion of the Southern Wine and Spirits facility on Court Street in Lyncourt will also get under way in 2013. This expansion will double the size of the current facility and create eight new jobs.
The corporate home of Empower Federal Credit Union is taking over the old BG Suzle plant on Needle Lane in North Syracuse. Empower will be consolidating their corporate offices into one facility. Construction is already underway.
The Sisters of St. Francis will open their Franciscan Villa on Buckley Road late in 2013. This facility will be able to house up to 96 aging nuns. The Sisters broke ground in August of 2012.
These are exciting projects that continue to demonstrate that the town of Salina is open for business.
Clay Supervisor Damian Ulatowski was out of the office last week with the flu and did not respond to our request for information. Liverpool Mayor Gary White had not responded to our request at press time.
