A couple guys who’ve dedicated many hours, days, weeks, years and decades to the service of this mile-wide village are now calling it a day.
At its May 18 meeting, the Liverpool Village Board of Trustees accepted the resignations of Peter Osborne from the Planning Board, and of Officer Todd Creller from his part-time position with the Liverpool Police Department.
‘Parkitect’ Osborne out
Osborne, the owner of Appel Osborne Landscape Architecture in Syracuse, has brought his professional expertise as a “parkitect” to the table as a planner for 21 years, having first been appointed in December 1999. Among the projects which the Planning Board nurtured during Osborne’s tenure were the Meyer Manor Apartment complex, Dunkin’ Donuts, Colonial Laundromat and multiple Basin Block developments.
Osborne informed the trustees that he and his family will soon be moving outside the village. His seat on the board will remain vacant until someone is appointed.
Traffic cop Creller out
LPD Officer Todd Creller has been on the scene here in the village nearly as long as Osborne. Hired here in June 2001, Creller quickly distinguished himself as a superior traffic cop. He often worked the Stop DWI detail, and was named Officer of the Year in 2003 in recognition of his traffic enforcement statistics.
One of Todd Creller’s most spectacular DWI cases sadly involved a fellow police officer.
About 8:25 p.m. on the night of Friday, Dec. 19, 2015, Creller – one of Onondaga County’s top traffic cops – stopped a grey 2014 Chevrolet Silverado pickup at Second and Hickory streets. The vehicle was being driven without its headlights shining.
Its driver – 38-year-old Ty Cogan, an off-duty Syracuse policeman who lives in Liverpool – was “slobbering” drunk, the resultant paperwork would say. Cogan was slurring, swearing and shouting, Creller wrote. His eyes were bloodshot and his attitude was belligerent.
Onondaga Sheriff’s Det. Jeff Passino arrived on the scene. Passino – a former LPD part-time officer – noted that a citizen had called in a warning about a Chevy truck being driven erratically “all over the road” and running a red light. Turns out the detective remembered the suspect as an old high-school chum. He thought maybe he could talk some sense into his former classmate, in spite of the trouble in which he’d landed.
No such luck.
Ignoring the officers’ instructions to remain in his vehicle, Cogan swung open his door, jumped out of the truck and headed in Creller’s direction. At one point, Cogan fell down and needed assistance to get back on his feet. He was literally falling-down drunk, according to the officers, but continued to threaten them and actually grabbed ahold of Creller’s uniform.
“Shoot me, shoot me,” he yelled, according to Creller’s ride-along passenger, Daniel Pirong, who also heard the officers repeatedly tell Cogan to “Stop resisting!”
A memorable night, for sure, but just another day at the office for traffic cop extraordinaire Todd Creller.
Post Offices in jeopardy?
Our congressman is concerned about the future of the nation’s postal service.
U.S. Rep. John Katko (NY-24) recently trumpeted the growing need for relief to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Katko joined with members of New York’s Congressional Delegation to urge Capitol Hill leaders to provide emergency funding for the USPS in future COVID-19 relief packages.
More than ever, Central New Yorkers are depending on the Postal Service to deliver critical goods, such as medications, as well as economic stimulus checks and unemployment benefits, Katko pointed out. But with Postal Management predicting revenue may drop by 50 percent, the USPS may cease to function by the summer without additional support.
So the Syracuse congressman called for $25 billion in emergency appropriations to offset coronavirus-related losses, $25 billion for projects to modernize the Postal Service, and $25 billion in unrestricted borrowing authority from the U.S. Treasury to ensure long-term solvency of the USPS.
