MANLIUS — During the Nov. 12 Village of Manlius Board of Trustees meeting, Mayor Paul Whorrall announced that he recently applied to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for a 2025 license authorizing the possession of the village’s two male and two female adult mute swans.

The village’s current DEC license, issued in February 2024, allows Manlius to keep its mute swans for education/exhibition but prohibits them from reproducing.

The agency gave the village until the end of the year to decide between sterilizing all four swans or keeping only two same-sex swans to prevent propagation.

During its Sept. 10 meeting, the village board voted to continue its longstanding breeding program and fight against the DEC’s efforts to halt it.

On Oct. 31, Whorrall formalized the board’s stance by applying to renew the village’s current license with key modifications.

The main modification proposed would allow the village to maintain one pair of breeding swans on an ongoing basis.

“This has been the practice in the village for over 100 years,” Village Attorney Bradley Hunt wrote in a letter submitted with the application. “DEC allowed this practice until the most recent permit issued in February 2024. . . . As you likely know, mute swans are the symbol of our village. The swans in the village swan pond are a cherished part of life in our community, and it is extremely important to many village residents that the village’s practice of maintaining one pair of breeding swans be permitted to continue.”

Hunt continued by explaining that although the village understands the DEC’s desire to prevent the spread of invasive species, the community has more than a century’s worth of evidence demonstrating that its swan program does not cause the unauthorized spread of mute swans.

“To the contrary, the village’s swans are confined to the village swan pond and, apart from the one breeding pair that the village has always maintained, other swans are removed from the state prior to breeding in accordance with DEC-approved procedures,” he wrote. “This is a program with a proven record of success, and we are aware of no evidence that would support a decision to prohibit the continuation of the program.”

Hunt’s letter states that the village has proposed modifying condition 12 of its current license, “Live Animal Mute Swans – Propagation Prohibited.”

Whorrall’s Oct. 31 license application replaces condition 12 with a condition stating that the four offspring of swans Faye and Manny will remain property of the village and on the swan pond. If breeding occurs, the village will keep one pair of breeding swans and remove the other swans. Going forward, any future cygnet production will be handled the same way.

“If DEC so requires, any further offspring would be surgically sterilized prior to transport out of state with proof of sterilization from a qualified biologist,” the proposed condition states. “Each year, the permittee must inform the DEC Region 7 Natural Resources Supervisor in writing or via email by June 30 of the number of cygnets being held, and any changes to that number, when the transfer from Manlius to the holding facility occurs and when the cygnets are transported from the holding facility to their final destination.”

The second proposed modification to the village’s current license is a new condition requiring the village to maintain an educational, training, and exhibit area illustrating the swan pond habitat and associated wildlife.

Hunt’s letter notes that the village has already installed an educational display at the swan pond at the DEC’s request.

During the Nov. 12 meeting, Whorrall thanked Hunt for his help in submitting all the paperwork required for the village’s 2025 swan permit application.

“We will see what happens,” Whorrall said. “They got about a hundred letters [supporting the village] and all the information about what we plan to do. We wanted to get it [submitted] in plenty of time before the deadline date. We will see how they respond back.”

In other news

Codes/Zoning Official Mike Decker provided a progress update on the Taco Bell Cantina project at the former fire station property at 2-4 Stickley Dr.

According to Decker, the general demolition is near completion.

“We are working on the general building permit application with Central Pillar [Group],” Decker said. “They are over here off Fairgrounds Drive; they won the main contract to do the Taco Bell buildout. Taco Bell also has to go back to the planning board for final sign plan approvals, because some of their signage is against our code, not in a major way, but there are a few things.”

The Village of Manlius Tree Lighting Ceremony & Parade of Lights is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 1, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Village Centre.

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.