By David Tyler
If Onondaga County begins its phased reopening May 15, the village of Fayetteville plans to begin its reopening as well. Pending the county’s reopening, the village codes and clerk’s offices would go to normal operations on May 18, although they may encourage the public to make appointments in advance for a couple of days to ensure they can handle operations safely.
The village Department of Public Works has already gone back to normal operations.
“They are working through all the daily routines that we normally deal with,” Mayor Mark Olson said.
Olson reported he had met with all the village’s department heads and each department is prepared to begin a phased reopening.
Emergency call volume down
The village accepted two resignations of members of the and made one hire as a replacement. The other position will be temporarily left vacant.
Because of reduced call volume during the pandemic, there will only be one ambulance and one fire truck in service during the day. Olson reported that on May 11, the day of the meeting, there had been three emergency calls. Typically, prior to the pandemic, there would be eight or nine calls in a typical day.
Parade cancelled
After conferring with the county executive, Olson made the decision to cancel the Fayetteville Memorial Day parade.
“At this time, he doesn’t feel, and I agree with him, that it’s prudent to hold the parade,” Olson said.
The cemetery wreath laying and gun salutes will take place. Social distancing protocols will be employed. The public is not encouraged to attend.
l The village election, which was postponed from the original date in March, has been moved to September 15.
l A village barbecue, in which residents are encouraged to bring their grills to their front yards and enjoy a socially-distant barbecue with neighbors, was originally scheduled for the snowy evening of May 9. That event will now be held on May 16.
l With school out for the remainder of the school year, the village voted to furlough its three crossing guards. This will allow them to apply for unemployment benefits, while maintaining any benefits they have available to them through the village.
“This is not going to affect them in any way, financially, if we furlough them,” Olson said.
l The next meeting of the Fayetteville Board of Trustees was moved to Tuesday, May 26 because it was originally scheduled for Memorial Day.
“I would assume we’re still going to be in that Zoom process,” Olson said, “but that may change.”
