Now that the dust — well, snow — of 2014 has settled, the Messenger caught up with local elected officials to find out their New Year’s resolutions for 2015. Here’s what they hope to accomplish in their municipalities.
Village of Baldwinsville
Mayor Dick Clarke
“I’m not a big resolution guy for myself because it’s so easy to break them — with no penalty,” Clarke said.
Personal development aside, Clarke shared his 2015 goals for the village of B’ville:
✓ to continue to return calls to everyone who calls Village Hall looking for an answer from me
✓ to continue to make Baldwinsville the best place to live in Central New York
✓ to continue to get the best bang for our tax dollars
✓ to continue to make our village a great place for seniors to call home.
Town of Lysander
Supervisor John Salisbury
“My new year’s resolution is to continue in the positive direction that our administration has set,” said Salisbury, citing 2014 developments such as updating the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP), improving the financial stability of Lysander’s water and sewer districts and the impending sale of the Lysander Radisson Community Arena.
“We will be moving ahead with road repair and maintenance, the CLUP, including necessary changes to our planning and zoning laws, and helping to bring the ice arena up to a level that reflects our wonderful community,” Salisbury said.
“We hope to work closely and cooperatively with our neighboring municipalities, the village of Baldwinsville and the town of Van Buren, to share services in a way that benefits all the residents of the Greater Baldwinsville area,” Salisbury added.
Town of Van Buren
Supervisor Claude Sykes
Entering his eighth year as Van Buren supervisor, Sykes said residents can expect “pretty much the same as previous years” in terms of town services and a stable tax rate.
Van Buren’s main budgetary concerns are road improvements, drainage improvements, highway facilities and equipment needs.
“The town is exploring ways to reduce or stabilize cost[s] through cooperative efforts with neighboring municipalities, but these items will not bring about the sustained savings that will be necessary long term,” Sykes said. “While the town has in past years implemented many cost saving measures we will continue searching for new and different ways to delivery services. Additional scrutiny of cost versus benefit will have to come into play more heavily.”
As part of New York state’s Property Tax Freeze Credit law, Van Buren must submit a Government Efficiency Plan that shows the state that the town is making long-term efforts to relieve the tax burden on its residents.
“Some examples that will demonstrate this for Van Buren are: contracted dog control services with the town of Camillus; joint electric and natural gas purchasing with other municipalities from across the state through a municipal energy program developed by the Association of Towns; sharing our comptroller with the town of Salina; merging of the tax receiver position with the town clerk; utilizing an on-staff engineer and many others,” Sykes explained. “Residents can rest assured we will do everything in our power to maintain a stable tax rate while continuing to deliver the services they have come to expect.”
