CICERO — In 2006, the town of Cicero created a comprehensive land use plan, but never adopted it. Fifteen years later, Cicero Town Councilor Judy Boyke is leading the effort to resurrect and revise that plan.
Boyke proposed a resolution at the April 28 meeting of the Cicero Town Board for a request for proposal (RFP) for a firm to assist the town in crafting a new land use plan.
“My mission is to craft a new vision for Cicero,” Boyke said.
The new comprehensive plan would seek to define Cicero’s values and goals for development and address major traffic and transportation issues.
The firm that helped write the 2006 plan is no longer in existence, Supervisor Bill Meyer said in January.
At the April 28 meeting, Meyer said U.S. Census data would be a helpful tool in revising the comprehensive plan.
“I’m hopeful that that will be available soon,” he said.
Boyke said it could take a year to write a new land use plan.
Boyke is putting together an advisory committee to revise the comprehensive plan. The committee will include representatives from the Cicero Town Board, Cicero Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals, Director of Code Enforcement Steve Procopio and a number of Cicero residents.
Residents who are interested in joining the committee can email [email protected].
Board approves park projects
The Cicero Town Board also addressed planned improvements at two different town parks at the April 28 meeting.
• Gateway Park: The board held a public hearing on the proposed 2021 Community Development Block Grant project at Gateway Park in Bridgeport. The town is asking for $50,000 in grant funding, and Cicero’s local share would be $12,500.
The project would include paving the half-mile walking trail, removal of six to eight old ash trees, planting 10 new trees, and drainage improvements.
Gateway Park — one of Cicero’s largest, at 39 acres — also has two playgrounds, basketball courts and ball fields. Several residents submitted comments on the improvement project, which Supervisor Bill Meyer read aloud at the public hearing.
Shirley Pease wrote that she and her husband are in favor of the project, but they want the town to make sure unsupervised adolescents do not cause trouble in the park.
Daniel Hind of the Cicero-North Syracuse Youth Lacrosse Club wrote that the improvements will provide great amenities for the families of lacrosse players who practice at the park and visiting teams. He added that he would like to see additional parking and re-grading of the sports fields.
The town board voted to approve the grant application.
• Skyway Park: The board awarded the bid for the Skyway Park parking lot project to Salt Springs Paving Corp.
The project would add an east parking lot with 101 spaces. Salt Springs Paving Corp. will excavate and grade the site, install drainage infrastructure including Mirafi permeable fabric and stone sub-base, construct the binder course and stripe the parking lot. The town plans to add an asphalt top course in 2022.
Salt Springs Paving Corp. submitted a base bid of $191,100 and an additional bid of $22,000 for improvements to the perimeter parking access road, bringing the total cost to $213,100.
The other bidder, Shawn Malone Excavating, submitted a base bid of $259,790 and perimeter costs of $37,380 for a total of $297,170.
Funding for the project will come from a $125,000 State and Municipal Facilities Program (SAM) grant, $83,100 from the town’s budget, and $5,000 from North Syracuse Little League.
