Syracuse Town Council Agrees To Purchase Of New Leaf Vac
April 20, 2022 at 8:43 p.m.
By Denise Fedorow-
Public Works Superintendent Mark Aurich explained to the Council that the leaf vacuum truck the town currently has takes two men to operate and while it’s a fairly new piece of equipment, it doesn’t hold a lot so they’re stopping to unload it six to seven times a day.
“It’s excessively time consuming,” he said. “In November we had no street department - we had a leaf removal crew.”
He said the current leaf vac is good for smaller areas like a cemetery or park and the older one the town has is a “maintenance nightmare.”
“As we’re becoming a ‘Tree City’ we’re outstripping our resources,” he said.
Aurich asked the Council to approve the purchase of a new leaf vac at a cost of $201,364 and said there were funds to cover it. Councilman Larry Siegel wanted to know if anyone had designed a machine that wasn’t so sensitive to rocks and other debris being sucked up with the leaves and was told no. Aurich said they’d do community outreach to educate residents. The Council approved the purchase.
Aurich also received approval for street and drainage projects. He said he spoke with Paul Hoffman of the street department and they came up with a plan to improve drainage on Maple Grove and Harkless Streets that entails putting the drainage under the pavement. Aurich said the cost of drainage portion of the project - including town labor and materials and with $2,000 miscellaneous contingency built in - is $13,961 to be taken from the drainage fund.
He said they’d then schedule with Pulver Asphalt to come in two weeks after the drainage work. The cost for 1,730 feet of paving on Maple Grove is $41,737. They’ll also pave 1,400 feet on Harkless Street from East Pickwick to and including the corner of Chicago, which will be sloped to help with drainage.
“Now there’s no drainage on Harkless which is why the road is wrecked,” he said.
He told the Council there was an open purchase order from last year and they’ll need to add $16,704 more to complete that project.
Lastly, to remove and replace the curb and sidewalk at the junction of Chicago and Harkless will cost $5,775. The Council approved all of the above work.
Council President Bill Musser read two proclamations to start the meeting. The first was an Arbor Day proclamation stating the benefits of trees including they provide oxygen, increase property values, provide habitat for wildlife, enhance and beautify the community and provide renewable resources the proclamation urged all residents to support efforts to preserve trees and to plant trees. He proclaimed April 29 as Arbor Day in Syracuse.
Musser mentioned that the town still needs volunteers to help with the tree planting on April 30.
The second proclamation was declaring April Child Abuse Prevention Month in Syracuse. The proclamation stated that there were 231,091 reports of child abuse and neglect statewide in 2021. CASA of Kosciusko County supported 68 volunteers who donated 4,202 hours of their time to serve at-risk children and advocating for 164 abused and neglected children as well as 34 children with safety issues in Kosciusko County last year.
The proclamation urged all citizens to “recognize the month by dedicating ourselves to the task of improving quality of life for all children and families.”
Erin Jones, executive director of CASA of Kosciusko County, was present and at the end of the meeting thanked the Council for the proclamation. She shared that there will be a pinwheel planting at the Kosciusko County Courthouse in Warsaw on Thursday and that the Hacienda in Warsaw would hold a give back day on April 26. To receive a coupon or for more information, visit their website at www.CASAchildren.com.
Attorney Steve Snyder brought a couple of “unique situations” to the council’s attention.
The first was concerning Polywood’s tax abatement for last year. Snyder said they submitted a CF-1 form which needs to be submitted annually to show the company is in compliance with the conditions of the tax abatement. He said Polywood was informed that the form was not signed by the Council so they were not receiving the abatement.
Snyder said there’s a process to correct it: The Council needed to submit a waiver stating the company should receive the abatement. Snyder said the form was filed in a timely manner, it just wasn’t signed. He didn’t know what happened but assumed it just “fell through the cracks” during the time period when the town manager position was changing.
The tax abatement was approved in 2020 for 10 years and this was for the year 2021 payable in 2022. The Council approved the resolution correcting the situation.
Snyder also presented another “confusing situation” to the Council regarding a misunderstanding about permitting. He said the owners of a new restaurant in town - Los Toritos Grill and Restaurant, 717 S. Huntington St. - got building permits for improvements they made - a new deck, sign and roof. They were advised they could build 5 feet from the road so they did, not realizing that put them 6 feet into the town’s right-of-way.
Snyder said they needed an encroachment agreement from the town that states they’re allowed to maintain the improvements they constructed but if the time comes that the town wants to widen the road, they’d need to remove them. The town would have to give 45 days notice. Snyder said once the Council approved, they’d go to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a zero-foot setback.
Siegel said, “It’s really neat what they did, it’s unfortunate it’s a violation.”
The owner was present and apologized, stating everyone involved was new and it was just a misunderstanding, not intentional and she thanked the Council for approving the encroachment agreement.
Town Manager David Wilkerson submitted job descriptions for town employees to the Council for approval and said town attorney Jay Rigdon reviewed them. A motion to approve and a second was made before Siegel brought up his concerns that the descriptions didn’t list enough of the physical expectations of some jobs.
He was concerned that could cause issues for the town later if they didn’t hire someone because they thought they couldn’t physically do the job if it wasn’t listed in the descriptions. Wilkerson and some Council members felt there were mentions of some of the demands but Siegel wanted more time to review them.
Rigdon wasn’t present at the meeting, but former attorney Vern Landis was there but he had not reviewed the job descriptions. Stoelting had to withdraw his motion in order for the matter to be tabled and he did so reluctantly, stating a committee needed to look at it before the next meeting then. Siegel said he would work with Wilkerson and the Council approved tabling the matter.
In other business, the Council approved:
• The ordinance renaming a street in the new industrial park Development Drive.
• An ordinance vacating Line Street and dedicating it back to Oakwood Resort.
• Jamie Beer as a Council appointee to the park board, replacing Shirley Connolly who retired.
• The purchase of a fire rescue boat for the fire department at a cost of $15,075.51.
Public Works Superintendent Mark Aurich explained to the Council that the leaf vacuum truck the town currently has takes two men to operate and while it’s a fairly new piece of equipment, it doesn’t hold a lot so they’re stopping to unload it six to seven times a day.
“It’s excessively time consuming,” he said. “In November we had no street department - we had a leaf removal crew.”
He said the current leaf vac is good for smaller areas like a cemetery or park and the older one the town has is a “maintenance nightmare.”
“As we’re becoming a ‘Tree City’ we’re outstripping our resources,” he said.
Aurich asked the Council to approve the purchase of a new leaf vac at a cost of $201,364 and said there were funds to cover it. Councilman Larry Siegel wanted to know if anyone had designed a machine that wasn’t so sensitive to rocks and other debris being sucked up with the leaves and was told no. Aurich said they’d do community outreach to educate residents. The Council approved the purchase.
Aurich also received approval for street and drainage projects. He said he spoke with Paul Hoffman of the street department and they came up with a plan to improve drainage on Maple Grove and Harkless Streets that entails putting the drainage under the pavement. Aurich said the cost of drainage portion of the project - including town labor and materials and with $2,000 miscellaneous contingency built in - is $13,961 to be taken from the drainage fund.
He said they’d then schedule with Pulver Asphalt to come in two weeks after the drainage work. The cost for 1,730 feet of paving on Maple Grove is $41,737. They’ll also pave 1,400 feet on Harkless Street from East Pickwick to and including the corner of Chicago, which will be sloped to help with drainage.
“Now there’s no drainage on Harkless which is why the road is wrecked,” he said.
He told the Council there was an open purchase order from last year and they’ll need to add $16,704 more to complete that project.
Lastly, to remove and replace the curb and sidewalk at the junction of Chicago and Harkless will cost $5,775. The Council approved all of the above work.
Council President Bill Musser read two proclamations to start the meeting. The first was an Arbor Day proclamation stating the benefits of trees including they provide oxygen, increase property values, provide habitat for wildlife, enhance and beautify the community and provide renewable resources the proclamation urged all residents to support efforts to preserve trees and to plant trees. He proclaimed April 29 as Arbor Day in Syracuse.
Musser mentioned that the town still needs volunteers to help with the tree planting on April 30.
The second proclamation was declaring April Child Abuse Prevention Month in Syracuse. The proclamation stated that there were 231,091 reports of child abuse and neglect statewide in 2021. CASA of Kosciusko County supported 68 volunteers who donated 4,202 hours of their time to serve at-risk children and advocating for 164 abused and neglected children as well as 34 children with safety issues in Kosciusko County last year.
The proclamation urged all citizens to “recognize the month by dedicating ourselves to the task of improving quality of life for all children and families.”
Erin Jones, executive director of CASA of Kosciusko County, was present and at the end of the meeting thanked the Council for the proclamation. She shared that there will be a pinwheel planting at the Kosciusko County Courthouse in Warsaw on Thursday and that the Hacienda in Warsaw would hold a give back day on April 26. To receive a coupon or for more information, visit their website at www.CASAchildren.com.
Attorney Steve Snyder brought a couple of “unique situations” to the council’s attention.
The first was concerning Polywood’s tax abatement for last year. Snyder said they submitted a CF-1 form which needs to be submitted annually to show the company is in compliance with the conditions of the tax abatement. He said Polywood was informed that the form was not signed by the Council so they were not receiving the abatement.
Snyder said there’s a process to correct it: The Council needed to submit a waiver stating the company should receive the abatement. Snyder said the form was filed in a timely manner, it just wasn’t signed. He didn’t know what happened but assumed it just “fell through the cracks” during the time period when the town manager position was changing.
The tax abatement was approved in 2020 for 10 years and this was for the year 2021 payable in 2022. The Council approved the resolution correcting the situation.
Snyder also presented another “confusing situation” to the Council regarding a misunderstanding about permitting. He said the owners of a new restaurant in town - Los Toritos Grill and Restaurant, 717 S. Huntington St. - got building permits for improvements they made - a new deck, sign and roof. They were advised they could build 5 feet from the road so they did, not realizing that put them 6 feet into the town’s right-of-way.
Snyder said they needed an encroachment agreement from the town that states they’re allowed to maintain the improvements they constructed but if the time comes that the town wants to widen the road, they’d need to remove them. The town would have to give 45 days notice. Snyder said once the Council approved, they’d go to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a zero-foot setback.
Siegel said, “It’s really neat what they did, it’s unfortunate it’s a violation.”
The owner was present and apologized, stating everyone involved was new and it was just a misunderstanding, not intentional and she thanked the Council for approving the encroachment agreement.
Town Manager David Wilkerson submitted job descriptions for town employees to the Council for approval and said town attorney Jay Rigdon reviewed them. A motion to approve and a second was made before Siegel brought up his concerns that the descriptions didn’t list enough of the physical expectations of some jobs.
He was concerned that could cause issues for the town later if they didn’t hire someone because they thought they couldn’t physically do the job if it wasn’t listed in the descriptions. Wilkerson and some Council members felt there were mentions of some of the demands but Siegel wanted more time to review them.
Rigdon wasn’t present at the meeting, but former attorney Vern Landis was there but he had not reviewed the job descriptions. Stoelting had to withdraw his motion in order for the matter to be tabled and he did so reluctantly, stating a committee needed to look at it before the next meeting then. Siegel said he would work with Wilkerson and the Council approved tabling the matter.
In other business, the Council approved:
• The ordinance renaming a street in the new industrial park Development Drive.
• An ordinance vacating Line Street and dedicating it back to Oakwood Resort.
• Jamie Beer as a Council appointee to the park board, replacing Shirley Connolly who retired.
• The purchase of a fire rescue boat for the fire department at a cost of $15,075.51.
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