Cicero — The town of Cicero is making strides in its efforts to create new homes for the police and highway departments.
The town board voted Jan. 13 to have the MRB Group conduct engineering site evaluation services at 6658 Route 31 (the site of the future highway garage) and complete a Phase I environmental audit at 8819 Cicero Center Road (the former South Bay Fire Department building, which will become the new police station and home of the courts). The cost of the site evaluation services is not to exceed $4,500.
Pappas Vasilios, current owner of the Route 31 site, will demolish a house on the property. Town attorney Robert Germain said Vasilios has satisfied certain contingencies of the town’s purchase agreement, and the site evaluation will check for asbestos and underground tanks.
The board also voted to approve proposals from William Taylor Architects regarding the future police station and justice center. The town will pay William Taylor $5,500 for a structural analysis and $5,000 for a schematic design plan.
In related news, the justice department will now be referred to as “courts” to better reflect its role as an independent branch of government, Councilor Jonathan Karp explained. Karp said “justice department” implied that the courts were part of and subordinate to the executive branch of Cicero’s government.
Lighting district hearing continues Jan. 27
While the town is moving forward with its facilities projects, a public hearing regarding the consolidation of Cicero’s 19 lighting districts into five districts must wait until Jan. 27. Supervisor Mark Venesky opened the public hearing and adjourned it to the next meeting because National Grid representative David Hess could not attend the Jan. 13 meeting.
Resident Judy Boyke, who was Venesky’s opponent in the November 2015 election, had several comments about the consolidation, although Venesky asked her to hold her questions until Hess and Town Comptroller Shirlie Stuart could answer them Jan. 27.
continued — “I don’t understand how you can have a public hearing when nobody knows what this is about,” Boyke said.
The town board voted Dec. 23, 2015, to set the public hearing for Jan. 13. In a report summarizing her term, former supervisor Jessica Zambrano said the town was working with National Grid to consolidate the lighting districts.
“We have many, many people who are paying different rates and they may be living next door to each other. We have people who are paying too much money. We have people who are not paying enough, and this scheme relegates everyone to the appropriate lighting district; you can consider it like a reassessment of lighting, if you like,” Zambrano said at the Dec. 23 meeting.
A breakdown of each proposed district, location and cost can be found at ciceronewyork.net under “Public Notices.”
‘Forever My Little Girl’ dance to be held Feb. 6
Fathers and daughters — or grandfathers and granddaughters — can enjoy a magical night out courtesy of CMC Dance Company and the Town of Cicero Youth Bureau, Parks and Recreation department.
The “Forever My Little Girl” Valentine’s Day-themed dance will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6, at CMC Dance Company, which is located at 6092 Route 31 in Cicero. Daddy-daughter pairs can treat themselves to dessert and dancing before snapping a photo together as a memento of the dance.
Admission is $25 for each pair if they are residents of Cicero. Non-resident pairs must pay $30. Admission for each additional child is $5. Children must be between kindergarten and eighth grade. Purchase your tickets by Jan. 26 at cicero.recdesk.com.
