By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
Should the town of Lysander be allowed to bond for as much as $400,000 for the construction of a spray park within Lysander Park?
That’s the question voters will answer in a referendum scheduled for noon to 9 p.m. Friday, May 4, Town Clerk Dina Falcone said. Falcone said she has not yet determined if there will be absentee voting.
A group of residents led by Fred Burtch carried a petition to force a vote on the bond resolution, which the town board approved in January. Burtch delivered the petition to the town clerk’s office Feb. 20 and told the Messenger he and his fellow carriers had collected 650 signatures.
Falcone said the petitions included 628 signatures, 551 which are valid and 77 of which are not valid.
“At this point, there’s a few signatures that were a little bit questionable,” Falcone said. “I had heard that one of … the sheets might have been left at a place of business, so [we’re] not really sure exactly sure if those signatures are valid and if the person who signed the sheet actually saw somebody signing the petition.”
Falcone said even if those signatures were disqualified, the number of signatures still exceeded the threshold of 377 signatures required to bring the spray park resolution to a referendum.
At the March 1 meeting of the Lysander Town Board, Falcone erroneously announced that the referendum would be Monday, May 7. According to New York state town law, the town has to hold the referendum between 60 and 75 days after the petition was received. May 7 is 76 days after Feb. 20.
Falcone told the Messenger she had not included Good Friday within her calculation for the referendum date because it is a holiday. However, the petition deadline was set based on calendar days, not business days, so the town’s 75-day deadline would be Sunday, May 6.
As for why the referendum date was set so late in the 60- to 75-day window, Falcone said she had to choose a date that would not conflict with town board, zoning board of appeals and planning board meetings as well as court nights. Falcone also said she and Deputy Town Clerk Janet Falconer still have their regular duties to fulfill.
“It’s going to take a while to coordinate everything,” she said. “I want to make sure I have enough time to make everything perfect.”
Supervisor Joe Saraceni asked Falcone to prepare an estimate for the cost of the referendum by the March 15 board meeting. Saraceni previously told the Messenger that he expected the cost to be between $4,000 and $5,000.
Saraceni asked Falcone if the Onondaga County Board of Elections would be involved in the referendum.
“They are going to be there for any questions that we may have and for some guidance, but basically it’s really up to me to put this whole vote together,” Falcone said.
Democratic Commissioner of the Onondaga County Board of Elections Dustin Czarny told the Messenger that the board of elections has no jurisdiction over permissive referendums.
“Unlike village elections and regular elections where towns can designate us to run them, on these we can’t,” he said. “We would and can help wherever we can on anything.”
