From the supervisor: Stay safe
By Janet L. Aaron
Skaneateles Town Supervisor
For over a week we have been working with department heads to establish their ability to work remotely from home and to create guidelines for our employees. Our board members have been learning how to connect to Zoom Meetings as we do our best to allow access to our public meetings through this virtual meeting program.
Information on how to connect to these meetings can be found on our Town of Skaneateles website at townofskaneateles.com and then go to our calendar and the day of the meeting. It is a whole new way of operating for us and a whole new world for everyone.
On April 6, after many discussions with the Parks Department, it was decided to close the tennis, volleyball and basketball courts at Austin Park due to continued refusal by some to follow the social distancing guidelines.
The Charlie Major Nature Trail over the last two weeks and with glimpses of good weather, has been totally overrun. That trail allows very little opportunity for social distancing with the crowds that were going there.
Overflow parking on our streets caused the potential for obstructing emergency vehicles ability to get through. Therefore, on April 7 this trail was also closed and barricades, fencing and signage put in place. Still people were ignoring these signs and barricades.
Mottville residents decided to take action on their own In addition to our signage that said the trail was closed, was a sign put up by the residents.
The sign said “We are various residents…….WILL call police with license #’s………..YOUR license!!!!!! Don’t be stupid…GO HOME.”
I want to personally thank our Mottville residents for doing your part to keep us safe.
In a perfect world this would be enough for everyone to accept and follow these rules. The problem is when these closures are ignored. When social distancing is ignored.
Right now is a critical time for everyone to do all we can to keep even one more person from getting this virus. It is extremely frightening to me to think how this virus impacts people.
It’s your ability to breathe, to take a breath and for some, getting this virus means they will need to be put on a ventilator in order to breathe and save their life. My husband was on a ventilator and I know first-hand the longer you are on the less likely it is that you will ever come off. This is not the ordinary flu. There is currently no vaccine that will stop this virus. This virus can be transmitted by someone who is asymptomatic with no signs of being sick. This should scare every one of us enough to follow every guideline, to respect these guidelines and new rules that have been established to keep everyone safe.
Your town government is here for you and we will do all we can to support what you need. Our departments are operating and our phones are being answered. Decisions we make now will decide our future. O
ne of our residents stated to me that after this is all over they never want to hear the words “unprecedented time.”
I couldn’t agree more. What will be our new normal is impossible to predict. What I do know is that Skaneateles has never backed away from a crisis, we have never backed away from a neighbor who needs help or from a family in crisis. We will get through this by doing everything we can to support each other and taking care of each other.
