MANLIUS — During the June 11 Village of Manlius Board of Trustees meeting, Mayor Paul Whorrall announced that the village recently received a Local Government Achievement Award from the New York State Conference of Mayors (NYCOM).

The Local Government Achievement Awards showcase innovative projects and programs undertaken by NYCOM member cities and villages that have improved quality of life, resulted in cost savings, established cooperative partnerships, created new or unique approaches to issues, and/or streamlined the delivery of services.

The Village of Manlius received an achievement award for its “Revitalize a Village – Engage a Community” initiative.

The day after the meeting, Whorrall explained that the village has been working hard for the past couple of years to receive grants to revitalize its main street and business district.

He noted that when the village started receiving grants and putting the funds toward projects such as parks and beautification, it was also able to give many of its businesses funds for storefront improvements.

“We noticed a trend starting that got more businesses involved with making improvements and [got] residents [more] involved with what was happening on our main streets and in the parks,” he said. “We then realized that our community was becoming engaged in all the activity that was happening in the village, so we decided to take it a little further. [We] went to the art instructor at the high school and met with the arts honor students. At that point, we gave them some ideas of what we would like to see in the village and told them to come back to us with artwork or designs to be placed throughout the village’s main street and parks. With the help of the art instructor, Katie Gabriel, we submitted for an arts grant and were awarded the grant last month. The grant was entitled ‘Manlius Water Works.’ At the first meeting with the students, there were seven or eight in attendance; the next meeting had 85 in attendance. The students have been hard at work, and by the Fourth of July, you should see many new and exciting art projects throughout the village done by our local high school art students. With the increase in businesses hopping on board to make improvements, new developers buying vacant buildings, and our art students and local artists making our village look beautiful, [plus] all the work our public works department has done, it [was] easy to see that if you ‘Revitalize a Village,’ you ‘Engage a Community.’”

The Local Government Achievement Awards were presented at the NYCOM Annual Meeting on May 16.

The award plaque is displayed in the Manlius Village Centre Board Room.

BSA Troop 51 Recruitment Day

At the beginning of the meeting, the board authorized Fayetteville BSA Troop 51 to hold a recruitment day on Saturday, June 22 in the park next to the lower pond at the Manlius Village Centre.

According to Scout Brayden Titus, who presented the troop’s proposal to the village board, the event will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“Our recruitment day will include model campsites, fire starting using portable firepits, some first aid skills, and some search and rescue skills,” Titus said.

Scouts will lead interested youths in the activities, and adult leaders will be available to answer questions about the program.

Troop 51 typically draws members from the Fayetteville-Manlius and East Syracuse Minoa school districts.

After hearing the troop’s request, the village trustees and mayor expressed their support and brainstormed ways to help promote the event.

Deputy Mayor/Trustee Hank Chapman, who runs the village’s social media accounts, offered to post about the recruitment day online. Trustee Janice Abdo-Rott suggested that the troop contact Village Clerk Lisa Baker to have the event announcement featured on the digital welcome sign.

Troop 51 has been active for over 100 years. To learn more about the program, visit the Fayetteville BSA Troop 51 Facebook page.

In other news

The board also adopted a proposed local law to allow the village to override the tax levy limit established in New York General Municipal Law Section 3-c.

“We reduced the tax rate by 10 percent to help offset the effect of assessment increases, but because assessment increases went up an average of 13 percent in the village, that’s what put us over the tax cap,” said Chapman. “I want to make sure that that’s noted for the record.”

No public comments were made during the hearing. After it was closed, the board voted to adopt the local law.

Village board meetings are held at 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month in the Manlius Village Centre Board Room at 1 Arkie Albanese Ave., Manlius.

For more information on the Village of Manlius, visit manliusvillage.org.