By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

While the Cicero Town Board usually only meets once in August, the board held a special meeting Aug. 14 to approve the appointment of its new police chief and handle other town business.

The town board voted 4-0 to approve the appointment of Saverio “Steve” Rotunno Jr. to the position of police chief effective Sept. 16 with a salary of $98,000. (Councilor Dick Cushman was absent.) Rotunno, who is currently chief of the North Syracuse Police Department, will be officially sworn in at the Sept. 11 town board meeting.

Current Cicero PD Chief Joe Snell announced his retirement last month. His last day is Oct. 1.

“This is a very exciting occasion for us here in Cicero, and we welcome you with open arms,” Supervisor Mark Venesky said to Rotunno.

“And I’m going to miss the hell out of you,” Venesky added to Snell.

Snell thanked the town board for allowing him to participate in the hiring process for his replacement. He said he has known  Rotunno shares his values and philosophy of community policing.

“I looked at several people, and Steve has always been at the top of my list,” Snell said. “Where he comes from in Camillus, the community policing program is second to none — well, almost second to none — we’re first. When it comes to values and integrity, he’s a good family man and I’ve known Steve for almost 30 years.”

Snell said interviewees sometimes tell potential employers what they think they want to hear, but Rotunno “walks the walk.”

Councilor Jon Karp said he, Cushman and Snell interviewed Rotunno in July.

“I was very impressed with his candor, his demeanor, his vision for the town of Cicero and the Town of Cicero Police. His credentials and qualifications are impeccable,” Karp said. “Chief Snell’s shoes are going to be difficult to fill, but I can think of no one better to fill them than Steve Rotunno.”

Also on the agenda

In addition to Rotunno’s appointment, the town board handled the following business at the Aug. 14 meeting:

• JCAP grant: The board authorized the return of $20,850 to the New York State Office of Court Administration and Office of Justice Court Support. The town had received a Justice Court Assistance Program grant to move the court to the former South Bay Fire Department building, but the state requested the funds back after Cicero decided not to move the court after all.

Most of the funds had already been appropriated in this year’s budget, with only $1,179.96 left.

“JCAP has the tightest strings attached to grants that you could possibly imagine,” Karp said. “Even paying for a copy machine here that might be used by someone else makes it questionable. These are exclusively for court use. Buying chairs for someone besides the judges is not permitted, so that’s why there’s money going back when we couldn’t use it.”

• Highway garage: The board approved the following expenditures for the new highway garage: $8,471.72 to Lawman Heating & Cooling Inc.; $54,800.87 to Brosh Mechanical Inc.; $60,087.16 to Knapp Electric Inc.; $145,701.50 to Building Innovation Group; and a change order totaling $3,764.67 to Brosh Mechanical for interior plumbing work.

Venesky said the state-of-the-art, energy-efficient facility will open in late October or early November. The town will host an open house for the public Oct. 26.

“I am so excited about this building,” Venesky said. “This is really a building that will carry the town of Cicero long after probably I’m on the other side of the dirt.”