TOWN OF MANLIUS – At a special meeting Monday afternoon, the Manlius Town Board passed a resolution stating that, effective Dec. 31, it would leave the 1984 intermunicipal police agreement between the town and the villages of Minoa, Fayetteville and Manlius – the document that essentially founded the Town of Manlius Police Department.
In the meantime, the town will continue to negotiate with the three villages on a new policing agreement between the municipalities. The board adopted a draft of that agreement on Monday, which has not yet been adopted by the three village boards.
At the request of Brad Hunt, the attorney for village of Manlius, the board added a line to the motion stating that if the town and villages continue to negotiate a new agreement in good faith at the Dec. 31 deadline, the town would operate under the new – possibly unfinished – agreement until those negotiations are completed.
“Our goal is to make it clear, on Jan. 1 the town is ready to put to bed the 1984 agreement and move forward to something better,” said town Supervisor John Deer.
At a meeting of the police committee last week, Councilor Heather Waters, who chairs the committee, said debate over the language in the new agreement would have no effect on the service provided by the department.
“The Town of Manlius Police Department is mandated to serve all residents of the town and villages regardless of how we go back and forth on it,” she said.
The negotiations are complicated by the fact that four municipal boards must all sign off on any changes. If one board wants something in the agreement changed, it must go before the other three for a vote.
The revised agreement maintains the structure of the police committee, which includes two representatives from the town and one representative from each of the three villages, but in the new draft agreement the committee is more of an advisory committee than a decision-making body.
The document lists multiple responsibilities for the police committee and in almost all cases it is tasked with providing input and recommendations to the town board, which will make final determinations on issues related to the department.
The 1984 agreement took centerstage earlier this year when the town accepted the resignation of former Police Chief Mike Crowell, ostensibly under the threat of disciplinary action by the town. The abrupt nature of Crowell’s departure created friction between the town and the three villages and also cast into question the validity of the 39-year-old intermunicipal police agreement, which stated that the police committee – not the town board – was responsible for decisions related to the employment of the police chief.
In August, the town issued the first draft of the new agreement and sent it to the villages for their input and approval. Monday, prior to the meeting, the mayors met with members of the town board and made some minor changes to that draft, in particular to portions of the agreement that deal with the hiring or dismissal of the police chief.
“We still can get this thing done before the end of the year,” said Fayetteville Mayor Mark Olson. “It all can be worked out, we’re moving it forward. But it’s not a final agreement because 15 other people have to say yes.”
Manlius Mayor Paul Whorrall was less optimistic.
“I think the major hangups are that they don’t respect us,” he said following the meeting. “They say they want to work with us, but show me when they have.”
“We’re willing to work for the next two months and see if we can get this done,” he continued. “It’s not anywhere near being done.”