By Kate Hill

Staff Writer

Last spring, the Village of Manlius Board of Trustees began its search for the fire department’s first fulltime, paid fire chief.

On Sept. 10, during the board’s regular monthly meeting, Mayor Paul Whorrall swore in Fire Chief Jansen Casscles and Deputy Fire Chief Greg VanDyke.

The Village of Manlius Fire Department provides fire and emergency medical services to the Village of Manlius, the Town of Manlius and the Town of Pompey. The department’s coverage area includes approximately 27 square miles of residential, commercial and agricultural properties.

As chief, Casscles is responsible for directing both the Village of Manlius Fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Departments.

His full-time duties involve coordinating and directing the overall operations of the fire department, from fire suppression and emergency medical services to fire prevention, public education and administrative and support services.

Casscles is the first non-volunteer fire chief in the department’s 206-year history.

“This was a new process for the village, the board and myself, and I really want to thank everyone who was involved in this,” Whorrall said. “I want to thank the committee that did the interviews . . . it was a long process and, believe me, they asked a lot of questions . . . I think [the new position] will be good. Everybody’s going to just have to give it some time, because it’s something new for all of us.”

According to the mayor, each applicant was asked about 22 questions during the first round of interviews. During the second round, the committee posed 10 questions to each candidate in person and sent another 10 through the mail. The committee brought four applicants back in for additional questioning before conducting final interviews with the top two candidates.

The mayor also thanked the board for participating in the final interviews and approving the committee’s recommendation.

“This is a great day for the village,” Trustee Hank Chapman said. “This is a long time coming, and I think we’ve made a great choice and the village is better off.”

Trustee Scott McGrew, the board’s fire department liaison, said he has already had several meetings with the new fire chief and that things are moving along smoothly.

“He’s got some great ideas,” McGrew said.

Meet Fire Chief Casscles

Casscles is the father of five.

The new chief has 20-plus years of experience in fire and EMS, including both career and volunteer service.

Most recently, he served as a career lieutenant in the Fayetteville Fire Department and volunteer fire chief in the Sherburne Fire Department in rural Chenango County.

According to Casscles, one of the most attractive aspects of the Village of Manlius Fire Department is the combination of its qualified career staff and dedicated volunteers.

“Manlius offers a great opportunity [for me to help] develop and grow an already successful agency,” he said.

Casscles anticipates that his background in both volunteer and career management positions and his simple and straightforward approach to incident management will be assets to the department.

“[My goal is] to build on what already exists,” Casscles said. “We will continue to grow our agency to provide faster, more robust emergency services to the community. I would like to see greater collaboration with our neighboring agencies to provide a fiscally responsible service and more efficient emergency response.”

Fire Station #2 bid acceptance

During the Sept. 10 meeting, the board also adopted a resolution accepting the winning bid for Fire Station #2 on Pompey Center Road.

“The resolution simply goes through each and every step of the process,” said Village Attorney Richard James. “We declared the [station] surplus property quite some time ago. We prepared a brochure that was approved by the board, which among other things, set a minimum price, set a bid opening date and a deadline to submit bids . . . One bid was submitted. The bid met the minimum price requirement. The paperwork submitted along with the bid was consistent with the requirements of the bid package . . . We’ve now completed the SEQR process and the sealed bid process was complied with, but most significantly, and the thing that’s new here, is that you determined that the $350,000 bid constitutes fair and adequate consideration for the property — a fact confirmed by research and appraisal work [completed by the village] prior to the bid process…”

According to the bid package, the closing will take place within 30 to 45 days of the bid acceptance.

Manlius village board meetings are held the second Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. at the Manlius Village Centre, 1 Arkie Albanese Avenue, Manlius.

For more information, visit manliusvillage.org or call the clerk’s office at 315-682-9171.

The Manlius Fire Department is located at 8200 Cazenovia Rd., Manlius. To learn more, visit manliusfire.com.