Municipal leaders share their New Year’s resolutions

By Sarah Hall

Editor

While you might be hoping to eat healthier, get more organized or exercise more in the New Year, your local leaders have their own resolutions for 2017. Read on to find out what your mayors and town supervisors hope to accomplish in the next 12 months.

Cicero Town Supervisor Mark Venesky

First, I want to wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2017.

My resolution quite simply is to “stay the course.”

We have had a very productive year on so many levels.

We will remain focused on controlling our costs and continuing to build on our promise of responsible growth while bringing jobs to the town of Cicero.

We will continue improving our roads and infrastructure while preserving and improving our quality of life.

I further resolve to continue working hard to keep Cicero moving forward and to continue serving you with a level of service that is second to none.

Clay Town Supervisor Damian Ulatowski

To piggyback on the end-of-the-year successes of 2016, the town of Clay will once again stay under the tax cap in 2017. Once again, town residents should see a tax relief check from Albany because of Clay’s fiscal diligence.

By looking into employee benefit alternatives, without offering any buyouts or letting any employees go, the town was able to cut almost a quarter of a million dollars from the 2017 budget. This savings will provide the town with the funds to upgrade the town website and install much-needed hardware and software to better serve the needs of town residents.

2017 will also bring additional concerts in the park to town residents, as the town in 2017 has plans to bring live music with four concerts to the Car Cruzin Wednesday night gatherings at an ever-improving and heavily-utilized Three Rivers Park. Project Green, an environmentally responsible park off Black Creek Road, will also see physical improvements to the landscape. For the past five years, the 67-acre park in the northern part of Clay has brought hands-on farming and educational programs to those residents who want to feel the earth between their fingers. Clay Park Central will also receive a facelift, as it is our intention to install handicapped-accessible playground equipment to that part to better serve our residents.

Due to the cost savings and success of the town’s solar operation at the Town Hall campus, the board has plans to further expand our solar footprint with a much larger project to be built in the northern part of town. We hope the project, now in the planning stages, will offer residents a tax savings offset by the power generated.

Owing to a couple of shared service contracts with our neighbors that proved positive in 2016, the town is now looking into additional strategic partnerships that are currently in the planning stages for 2017.

All in all, Clay is well-positioned for 2017 and has plans to continue to make our town a great place to live, work and raise a family.

North Syracuse Village Mayor Gary Butterfield

The village of North Syracuse is looking forward to the New Year. We just received news that we will receive funding for updates to our Community Center. That facility is in use almost every day. We will be finishing some “re-greening” efforts along Route 11 in the spring. An ongoing goal of mine is to increase awareness of the crosswalks in the village. We are facing some retirements in our DPW department, and finding employees who will maintain the excellent service they provide is also a goal for this coming year. Finally, it is my hope that our residents recognize the attributes that we have in our village and take advantage of them.

Salina Town Supervisor Mark Nicotra

For 2017, my hope is that the community can come together on the Interstate 81 project. It is the largest project that this region has ever seen and we need to get it right, because the effects of this project will be felt for decades.

Gary White, mayor of the village of Liverpool, did not respond to emails from the Star-Review requesting comment.