MINOA — The Minoa Village Board has approved the final 2024-2025 village budget.

That budget put in place for the fiscal year running from June 1 to May 31 contains a reduced tax rate, showing a roughly 3% decrease from last year’s figure of $9.23 per thousand to a new rate of $8.95 per thousand.

Mayor Bill Brazill said the tax rate reduction was made without sacrificing any municipal services offered to residents or laying off any village employees.

He said this budgeting cycle also marked the lowest amount the village government has taken out of its fund balance in about six or seven years.

“We had to take out just over $100,000 to balance the budget this time,” he said. “I mean last year it was around $400,000 to balance our budget, and over the years it’s been like $250,000 or $300,000.”

He said the lower amount taken out reflects the fact that the village has caught up with the fallout of adverse circumstances like the heightened local assessments of recent years at the same time the municipality has generated more revenue.

Brazill said he’s proud of those positive budget highlights, adding that the work of his fellow board members, Clerk-Treasurer Lisa DeVona and the village department heads to put together the budget approved April 1 was “outstanding.”

“They all have done a great job, and it’s just incredible the fiscal shape we’re in today in the village of Minoa,” Brazill said.

The budget lists a figure of $5,239,279 for general expenditures and $5,095,341 under total revenue, with the village coming in approximately $188,774 over the tax cap.

The year-round sewer rent will be $330, and starting June 1, sewer rent will be placed on the annual village real property tax bill as its own line item. The anticipated revenue from sewer is $1,255,546.

The budget also factors in a continued intermunicipal agreement with the Village of Fayetteville for code enforcement.

During the April 1 meeting, the members of the Minoa Village Board also heard a presentation from East Syracuse Minoa junior Alec Dimitri Furdui, an exchange student originally from Romania.

Furdui told the board he’s hoping to recruit volunteers to clean up North Main Street in the village from one end to the other in the near future.

Met with approval from the entire board, his community service initiative is an offshoot of the nationwide Adopt-a-Highway program. His local “Adopt-a-Road” undertaking is through Greenheart International, the non-profit association that provided him with a host family here in the United States.

“North Main Street is the most frequently visited street in Minoa by pedestrians and drivers, so it would benefit the village to improve its appearance and have it be seen as a nicer and cleaner space,” said Furdui, who is on a scholarship from the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program. “This is for not only people passing through but more importantly the people who live here.”

After analyzing the current level of trash that accumulates on North Main Street, Furdui expects to need about 25 to 30 volunteers to succeed in cleaning the entire street, he said.

However, he said he seeks to request the help of classmates and ask other people around the community on his own first. Once he has a big enough group, he will look to set up an exact date when the trash pickup will occur.

Furdui said he’s choosing to pursue this garbage collection initiative because it’s a visible effort that results in a noticeable change. The village board came into the equation to get a sense of what Furdui and his recruited volunteers will be doing, to ensure the safety of those who will be part of the project and know whether to stop traffic on the road the day of, and to supply reflective vests, gloves to handle trash, and other equipment.

“I’m going to start this for Minoa, and hopefully it spreads to other neighborhoods,” he said. “Because I’m going to go back home, I really hope that the mayor and the board and this cooperative formed will work even after I leave.”

Furdui, who will be living locally until he goes back to Romania in the later half of June, said the project is spurred on by a desire to make as much of an impact as he can while he’s in town.

In other news
The village board has canceled the meeting that was set for Monday, April 15 because a couple of the board members will be out of town and there will not be a quorum. The next board meeting will be Monday, May 6.

John Champagne has once again been appointed deputy mayor for a one-year term, though his four-year term as trustee ends in April 2026.

DeVona is the records access officer for a two-year term and the property control manager for a one-year term, while Barbara Sturick and Donna Miller are both deputy clerk-treasurers for one year, and Jeanette Zacharias is the acting village justice for one year.

Thomas Petterelli has been reappointed as the superintendent of public works for the next year as well as the village’s environmental officer.

In addition to being the code enforcement officer for Minoa and Fayetteville, Mike Jones is Minoa’s stormwater management officer for a one-year term.

Alex Wisniewski of LJR Engineering is the village engineer going until April 2025, and Courtney Hills has been reappointed as the village attorney for the same length of time.

Fire Chief Don Grevelding is the director of emergency management, while Tim Visser and Trevor Van Auken are the deputy chiefs, Tony Alessandrello and Nick Carulli are fire captains, and Dave Hess, Dominic Erard and Jeremy DiBello are fire lieutenants for the village.

Minoa’s zoning board of appeals will comprise Chris Beers as chairperson, Scott Parish as co-chair, Sturick as secretary, and Adrienne Turbeville, Jeremiah Butchko, and Gary Stoddard as the other members. The planning board will comprise Dan DeLucia as chairman, John Jarmacz as co-chairman, Sturick as secretary, and Dan Engelhardt, Sarah Coleman and Alan Archer as the other members.

Brazill is liaison to court, the chamber of commerce, the clerk’s office and public relations. Champagne is liaison for the department of public works, the critical response committee, code enforcement, security, the employee handbook and National Incident Management System compliance, while Trustee Bobby Schepp is liaison for Minoa Farms, ESM Youth Sports, fire/EMS and the police committee.

Newly reelected Trustee John Abbott is liaison to the wastewater treatment plant, Minoa Library, the Golden Age Group, the business community and the Manlius Historical Society, and fellow newly reelected Trustee Eric Christensen is liaison to the wastewater treatment plant as well, along with celebrations and the Minoa Historical Association.

The village will appoint someone from the DPW to the position of safety officer/coordinator, and an officer from the village fire department will be given the title of infectious control officer, Brazill said. The position of village historian for Minoa is currently vacant.