Among the many logistical issues surrounding the multi-phase reopening of New York State in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is how villages and towns bring back their usual amount of activity in their municipal buildings.
During the Village of Baldwinsville Board of Trustees meeting on May 21, mayor Richard Clarke said that he and various village officials have begun discussions over how to do this within the village, and a consensus emerged.
“Everyone would like to go slow,” said Clarke.
All kinds of logistical issues remain unsettled depending on the building, with the village court likely to have to handle parking tickets by mail through credit card or checks to the popular card games held at Canton Woods Senior Center. The hope is to resolve those issues as Onondaga County heads from “phase one” to “phase two” of its reopening.
Clarke also said that, in discussions with the New York State Canal Corporation, their hope is that the village’s Lock 24 on the Seneca River will be operational by the July 4 weekend, advancing the previous timetable of a mid-July opening.
In the meantime, work is about to start on two village projects – one on the roads, the other at the Police Department building.
A bid of $232,862 by Northern Asphalt, LLC was approved for the village’s roadway paving project, though village engineer Steven Darcangelo said that he hoped the project would remain within the $220,000 line item previously slotted into the budget.
In a similar vein, a $40,800 contract was awarded to Upstate Spray Foam and Insulation to install insulation within the Police Department building and Village Hall. For now, said Darcangelo, the only immediate work was needed in the police building, which would cost the village $15,300.
Even as businesses start to open their doors in the weeks ahead, the effects of COVID-19 remain widespread, reflected in several items on the board’s agenda.
Chief among them was using $25,000 of the village’s $50,000 reserve fund for pandemic-related expenses. Board trustee Andrew Dryden said he was concerned that all of the contingency funds might get run through, but still joined the board in unanimous approval.
Even though the Canton Woods Senior Center remains closed, the center is still making wellness calls to members of the center and also has attained a supply of fabric masks that it can distribute.
Other department heads reported a slow pickup in activity, whether it was an uptick in work permits for yard projects or requests to use the village’s softball fields, starting in June, while the village’s “Business Shack” program will continue for the foreseeable future.
The Department of Public Works was finally able to hire a trio of seasonal workers and a part-time gardener to go with the full-timers who were already doing parks maintenance, hires that were usually made earlier in the year.
Police chief Michael Lefancheck reported that an arrest was made and second-degree arson charges were filed after a fire was set on East Genesee Street on May 20. And the village approved the declaration of property at 36 East Oneida Street, not far from the entrance to the Baldwinsville Schools campus, as surplus, granting permission for a realtor to sell that property.
In his supervisor’s comments, Clarke reserved particular praise for the village’s Department of Public Works for maintaining the village’s water supply at full capacity without any significant interruption throughout the two-plus months of the pandemic.
