By Ashley M. Casey
Associate Editor
With its three major fundraisers canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the CanTeen in Cicero is feeling the financial squeeze.
The CanTeen, which provides safe enrichment and socialization opportunities for students of North Syracuse Junior High School and Cicero-North Syracuse High School, had to cancel its annual Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament, which normally takes place in August at C-NS. Also off the agenda this spring were a Bowl-A-Thon fundraiser at Flamingo Bowl and the CanTeen’s annual spaghetti dinner.
In response to this financial crisis, the North Syracuse Village Board of Trustees voted June 11 to double its funding of the afterschool center for the 2020-21 fiscal year.
“The very survival of the organization is at stake,” Mayor Gary Butterfield said at the meeting.
Normally, North Syracuse allots $6,000 to the CanTeen’s annual budget. The village board voted to provide $12,000 to the CanTeen this year.
“Maybe this will challenge the other municipalities to do the same,” Butterfield said.
Teresa Roth, director of parks and recreation for the village, said more than 60 teenagers who live in North Syracuse regularly visit the CanTeen. According to the CanTeen’s 2019 stakeholders report, 676 teens made 10,446 visits to the center last year. She said the CanTeen provides crucial mental health support to teens in the North Syracuse Central School District.
Engine 6 repairs continue
Also at the June 11 meeting, the North Syracuse Fire Department’s newly elected chief, Pat Brennan, briefed the board on the ongoing repair saga of Engine 6.
The 2009 vehicle has had issues since 2017, Mayor Butterfield said, but the warranty ran out in 2019.
According to Brennan, rust has gathered in the compartments under Engine 6’s water tank, leading to cracked wells and a sagging tank.
“There’s been a lot of neglect that’s occurred back there,” Brennan said.
The NSFD has already committed about $107,000 to repairs, but additional work has been estimated to cost $35,660.83.
Brennan said the vehicle is salvageable — he expects to get about 10 more years out of it — but it will take 60 days to finish repairing Engine 6.
“If we say, ‘No, we do not want to do this,’ we will have to pay for them to reassemble [Engine 6] … so we can at least tow it out of there,” Brennan said.
A new fire engine would cost between $500,000 and $700,000, Brennan said.
“We already have a vehicle apart down there [at the shop],” Butterfield said. “To get a new engine here is going to take a year.”
Brennan said he wanted to see if the village has any recourse with the manufacturer, Seagrave Fire Apparatus, but he stressed the need to get Engine 6 back on the road.
“I’m not comfortable relying on a 25-year-old piece of apparatus to protect the village. We’re living on borrowed time,” he said.
Also on the agenda
The village board also addressed the following issues at its June 11 meeting:
• Church-Chestnut Street: After much delay, work has begun on repaving the Church and Chestnut street corridor in the village of North Syracuse. Crews from Costello Blacktop Paving of Canastota began revamping the sidewalks on Church Street last week.
• Parks and rec: Roth offered several updates on the parks and rec front. If the reopening of New York State continues as planned, the pool at Kennedy Park could open July 1. Also, the village will be able to accommodate 70 summer campers — half of its usual capacity.
Roth said the dog park at Heritage Park is almost complete. Playground equipment for dogs is being installed and the parking lot is being striped. Butterfield said he would like to celebrate the grand opening of the dog park in July with a pet costume contest and parade.
