The Skaneateles Village Board discussed its plans for the village hall parking lot and the future of two vacant spaces on the property at its Dec. 30 meeting.
Connie Brace, of QPK Design, gave a brief presentation on the updated plans for the parking lot reconstruction. Brace had presented the plans before, but noted that the latest draft is updated to reflect the two one-way entrances to the lot from an adjoining property.
As per an agreement reached with apartment building owner Rondald Patulski, the adjacent lot will have two one-way entrances on to the village lot for motorists exiting the apartment building lot or the post office lot to safely exit to Fennell Street. The entrances required a dumpster and some fencing to be removed and an easement to be granted to the village. In exchange, the village agreed to not take action over the encroachment that occurred when Patulski paved his parking lot onto village property years ago.
The plan also calls for the lot to be set up in a loop with one-way entrances and exits. It will add pedestrian paths to both Fennell Street and the Tops parking lot and new landscaping.
In keeping with the environmentally friendly design of the building, the parking lot will include new drainage and treatment areas for storm-water, a rain garden next to the front entrance (which is already in place), increased accessibility for pedestrians, bike racks and electric car charging stations.
The final cost of the project is yet to be determined, though the project could be paid for by the budgeted $266,400 for transportation infrastructure improvements from Onondaga County, Mayor Marty Hubbard said.
The money comes through a program the county instituted to give support to villages, who no longer receive any sales tax revenue from the county as of 2013.
The price could be reduced if the village is able to have some of the paving and curbing work done by village or county employees rather than a private contractor, Hubbard said.
Once the village has finalized a plan and proposal it will put out a bid for contractors and have the work done this spring or summer.
Possible space for lease in village hall
The village also discussed its plans for the vacant part of the building, the former fire hall apparatus bay, and the former police department building to the rear of village hall. The village’s tentative plan for the apparatus bay would be lease it to a local business, potentially converting it to an office space in the process.
Trustee Marc Angelillo said he had heard from someone interested in purchasing the space. Selling part of the building and property would be a problematic process due to the need for easements giving the new owner access to the road and protecting village infrastructure in the building, Village Attorney Michael Byrne said.
The village plans to use the former police department building as a storage facility for both the village clerk’s office and the police department. Once those two offices determine that the building will satisfy their storage needs, the board can declare the apparatus bay as a surplus facility and move forward with a sale or lease, Hubbard said.
Trustees said that they were reassured that the building was structurally sound and worth keeping when architects Bob Eggleston and David Lee drew up plans to have the fire siren mounted on top of it.
In other business:
–The board gave approval to Director of Municipal Operation Bob Lotkowictz to have Bartlett Tree Experts take down two dying trees on village property.
They are: an Austrian pine in Shotwell Park and a sugar maple at the corner of West Lake Street and West Genesee Street. A replacement for the pine has already been planted next to the old tree and a replacement for the maple will be planted after it is taken down.
Both removals were already approved by the village tree committee and will village approval they will come down within two weeks, Lotkowictz said.
–The board noted the resignation of Code Enforcement Officer Adam D’Amico, who accepted a full-time job elsewhere, Hubbard said. The board also moved to appoint John Cromp as the new code enforcement officer. Cromp has already started the certification work for the position and has experience on the village zoning board of appeals, making him a fitting candidate.
With his new appointment, Cromp will have to resign his position on the ZBA, which will create a vacancy, Hubbard said. The board decided to contact ZBA chair Craig Phinney to get his recommendation for filling the vacancy. The village still has applications on file because it filled a ZBA vacancy less than a month ago.
–The board moved to pledge $10,000 to Lakeshore Baseball and Softball for its planned construction of dugouts in Austin Park. The village money will come from the Duke Schneider fund, an endowment intended to be used to for recreational and park facilities in the town.
The board made the motion under the conditions that Lakeshore raises $20,000 from a brick selling campaign and secures other funding for the project, as it indicated in a letter outlining the project.
–The board moved to appoint Doug Sutherland to the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee. Sutherland is a current member of the village planning board and helped draft the changes to the plan that were adopted in 1996.
–The board noted the resignation of Trustee Mary Sennett, who was sitting on her last village board meeting before taking over as town supervisor on Jan. 1.
“I’d like to thank Mary. She’s been a fantastic trustee, added another level of professionalism to our board and she’s been a pleasure to work with. I’m looking forward to continue to work with you,” Angelillo said.
Joe Genco is the editor of the Skaneateles Press. He can be reached at [email protected].
