The Manlius Town Board has set a public hearing on a request for the town to enter into an agreement with the Fayetteville Manlius School District to hire two part-time, retired police officers in the role of special peace officer (SPO) to add safety and security to the district’s campuses.
Police Chief Michael Crowell and F-M Superintendent Craig Tice both spoke about the agreement at the board’s Aug. 14 meeting.
Crowell said, unlike the three school information resource officers (SIROs) currently assigned to the high school and each middle school, the SPOs would only be working in the district, not in other capacities for the police department, and would “provide safety and security and form partnerships and relationships with the students.”
He added that this agreement was drawn up as a result of a request by the district.
“The F-M School District, quite some time ago, formed a safety committee,” Crowell said, adding that this “task force” was comprised of students, teachers, members of the school board and community members.
“They all agreed it was prudent to have additional individuals in the school,” Crowell said. “Other school districts in the county have already … implemented the process. The F-M School Board has reviewed the contract and … unanimously agreed to go forward.”
Tice called the task force’s conversations and research “thoughtful and deliberate.”
“Since my arrival [at F-M] five years ago – I began a conversation with Chief Marlowe at the time – this has been ongoing and nothing [that’s been] rushed into. We have been trying to take into account not only the safety and security of the students, but also the administrative part of it.”
Tice indicated that the SPO’s role of providing safety and security could include everything from guidance on bike and Halloween safety to fire drills, active shooter drills and emergency escape routes. He also pointed to the success of the SIROs in the schools.
“[At the high school,] Officer Golden’s office is always crowded in a good way,” he said. “A lot of people think he is a role model for the students. He genuinely cares, as do the other officers – Officer Philip at Eagle Hill Enders Road campus broached the topic of sidewalks [and it] became a class project, which I think was presented to you [board members.]”
Tice said that the recommendation of the committee was to put two SPO positions in the budget for this year and two in the budget for the upcoming year, with the district putting a freeze on the latter “as we had to tighten our belts.” The current plan is to have one of the SPOs at Mott Road and the other to be a “floater” to support the high school “and also be able to report to both middle school campuses to provide support for those officers as well.”
Town Councilor Katelyn Kriesel applauded the success of the SIROs currently employed at the district, but questioned whether the district needs the additional officers and if enough public input had been received.
Town Councilor Elaine Denton suggested that, although the school district had already conducted a public hearing, it wouldn’t hurt to set up another at the town board’s next meeting in order to get additional input, since the agreement wouldn’t go into effect until Sept. 1.
The board voted to set a public hearing on the agreement for 6:35 p.m. on Aug. 26, with Deputy Supervisor Karen Green voting against the motion.
“I’d like to get it wrapped up tonight,” Green said. “I think it’s of the utmost importance.”
Crowell cautioned the board that delaying a decision could impact the hiring of officers to fill the positions.
“As of today I have two, possibly three retired officers that are interested in the position,” he said. “If we wait two weeks, it’s possible we could lose them. There are probably other opportunities in other districts. Part of the contract is that once it is agreed upon we have to start a process – background checks, interviews, which takes some time. Today we have three, tomorrow we may have zero.”
Route 92 – Enders Road corner zone change public hearing set
The board also set a public hearing for 6:40 on Aug. 26 on John and Stella Penizotto’s request for a zone change on property at the northwest corner of Route 92 and Enders Road.
The Manlius Planning Board, at its July 27 meeting, recommended a zone change on the property to Commercial A. There is no pending project with the zone change application, John Penizotto said previously, but the change would allow them to market the parcel for a greater number of development purposes.
He added that the area has changed dramatically in the past 20 years making the zoning on the parcel out of date.
“We don’t want to be in the real estate business,” Penizotto said. “We just want to get rid of the corner and get whole on our investment.”
Last year, the town board denied a zone change request to Commercial B that would have allowed a Stewart’s Shoppes to be constructed on the corner. In response, the Penizottos sued the town over the zone change decision. Two other corners of the intersection are already zoned Commercial B.
That lawsuit is still pending.
