A busy summer of projects – some completed, others underway, still others still on the drawing board – filled a majority of the Cicero Town Board’s agenda during its June 10 meeting.
One big effort that marked its “official” completion was the construction of the $11 million garage housing the town’s Highway Department.
Built by MRB Group, the firm has determined the project is “substantially complete”, and the town board approved a certificate noting that completion along with more than $275,000 of payments, mostly to MRB.
Still, some work at the facility remains, specifically property maintenance. To that end, the board approved contracting with Hummer Lawn & Snow for 23 weeks, at a cost of $4,140, to do mowing on the property.
Highway superintendent Chris Woznica said that the contract was necessary because most of his full-time and seasonal employees are busy during the week paving roads.
Upon approval of the rental of a sewer jet from Tracey Road Equipment for $8,500 a month, Woznica said that the town should consider replacing its sewer jet, noting that repairs to the older equipment have increased the last two years.
Two other major projects entered different stages, too, first with the board, by a 4-1 vote, formally approving the issue of $1.5 million in bonds for the rehabilitation of the stream crossing under East Circle Drive, the busy connecting road between Route 11 and South Bay Road parallel to Route 481.
Of that $1.5 million, Cicero is responsible for $135,000 of it, and councilmember Jonathan Karp said that he was confident that the entire sum would get paid back to the town.
Culvert repairs over Darlene’s Brook, also on East Circle Drive, are set, with $1.12 million in federal and state funding set aside. In another 4-1 vote, the board authorized sealed bids for this project, with a deadline of July 16 for those bids.
To the north, a proposed “farm-to-table” restaurant set for property on Route 31 in Bridgeport, not far from Point Place Casino, has run into major resistance from property owners.
At a public hearing for the zone change from agricultural to general commercial property, a letter from 10 property owners on nearby Bull Street presented objections to the project.
The letter addressed the possibility of aggravated drainage patterns, increases in car traffic and atmospheric changes to the neighborhood, and the fact that just two property owners were notified of the zone change.
With all these objections in mind, the board agreed to carry over the public hearing to its June 24 meeting.
Karp said it was important to get as much notification to as many people as possible, and supervisor Bill Meyer said he welcomed any suggestions to help the board communicate better with residents.
LaFleur Constructors was approved to spend $400,000 on the town’s drainage maintenance and Seneca Stone Corporation was awarded the $220,000 contract for equipment.
Jody Rogers was appointed to run the town’s Parks Department on an interim basis until a new parks director is hired. Anthony DeSimone, who has served for more than 40 years as the town’s Bingo Inspector, has now retired from that position.
