VILLAGE OF FAYETTEVILLE – The Fayetteville Village Board adopted a resolution at its July 19 meeting stipulating that the village’s elections be conducted by the Onondaga County Board of Elections starting in 2022.
According to Mayor Mark Olson, the call to alter the process stemmed from a desire to improve upon the level of efficiency witnessed on prior village election days. Additionally, he said the national “buzz” surrounding election integrity and issues like voter suppression contributed to the switch.
“I wanted people to trust the village is holding a fair election,” Olson said. “I wanted them to know it’s being done properly.”
With the county’s board becoming the new entity in charge, the mayor said a higher level of transparency will be ensured—a conclusion he came to more firmly after he and the village trustees spoke with seven area communities that go through the county at election time.
The resolution, subject to a permissive referendum, would lead to a takeover of aspects including the counting of votes, the handling of petitions, and the answering of any and all questions.
“That way, no one can say anything about anything,” Olson said. “It’s being done just like every other local election.”
However, the village will still be responsible for setting the dates and times for future elections.
To utilize the county service, it will cost the village $1,600, a figure Olson said fits within Fayetteville’s budget scope.
The upcoming election for village officers is scheduled to take place in March as per usual, but this time cannabis legislation will most likely be on the ballot.
The village has also readied a one-page grant proposal in the wake of Onondaga County’s decision to pull $2 million from the $89 million packaged in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and put it aside for towns and villages.
The board hopes to use any received funding to dredge Beard Pond, straighten out the road on Mill Street, take down a selection of Feeder Street houses, put up a stone facade in the Carriage Hill neighborhood and possibly build housing units on the side land of the senior center campus.
The draining of Beard Pond after the Fayetteville Fall Festival would allow the village to scrape away leaves and encase the electrical lines for the fountain pumps in plastic in order to keep people from catching their fishing hooks on the wires.
In other news:
The village board closed the public hearing on an amendment to the local law regarding outdoor storage containers and the storage of garbage-containing waste materials. The board also indicated that there would be no adverse environmental impacts as a result of the amendment, which can be read via the link attached to the July 19 agenda posted on fayettevilleny.gov.
The landscape architecture firm Environmental Design & Research (EDR) has been hired to revise the village’s comprehensive plan. A nine-person steering committee will be in charge of managing the plan.
The village also accepted two State and Municipal (SAM) Facilities Grants, one from Senator John Mannion for $165,000 and one from Assemblyman Al Stirpe for $125,000. These grants will be used for the development of Do Good Dog Park, the village hall roof project, as well as both salt shed and Bishop Brook rehabilitation.
