SYRACUSE - A public hearing was held during the Syracuse Town Council meeting Tuesday evening, but there was no comment from the public or from the council.
The council voted to waive the public reading of the budget, but copies were available for the public. No action was taken, and the budget is slated to be adopted Oct. 15.
The proposed total budget is $6,611,047, which is $495,971 more than the 2024 budget of $6,115,076. Increases include $83,464 in the clerk’s budget, $8,400 in the town manager’s budget and $84,910 in the police department budget for a total increase in the general budget of $176,774.
The motor vehicle/streets budget will increase $61,200 and the park board increase is $43,000. The certified net assessed value for 2025 is $366,886,910 and the estimated tax impact from circuit breaker is $22,000. The estimated tax rate per $100 assessed value is $0.756 and for 2024 the estimated tax rate was $0.813 - a decrease of 6.9811%.
Turkey Creek Township
Excess Levy Appeal
Joe Cazier, township trustee, came to the council asking for their approval for a levy appeal. He said the township board and fire board are in favor. He said they do qualify because the values went up more than the state average and fire equipment budget is always very tight. They’ll be asking for $12,563.
The council approved authorizing Turkey Creek Fire to apply for an appeal.
Shore Capital Ventures
Tax Abatement
Attorney Stephen Snyder was present representing Shore Capital Venture LLC, who are rehabilitating the former Polar Kraft or Sea Nymph facility on Chicago Street. He said they anticipate having to invest $4 million in improvements. Snyder commented he thought the “buildings went up after WWII and not a lot has been done since then.”
He said the developer’s goal is to lease property to multiple tenants for industrial use of the 225,000-square-foot facility. He said the assessed value is a little over $1 million and he believes that is mainly because of the 18-acre property, adjacent to the railroad.
He said listing new employees is a little hard because they’ll be dealing with future tenants, but the 30 employees currently at the location will be retained and they think once they development is complete, they could have up to 200 employees.
The council approved the preliminary resolution, declaring the property is in an economic revitalization area and approved the SB-1 form. The confirming resolution for the 10-year tax abatement will be brought up at the Oct. 15 meeting.
MOU For South Shore Village
The matter of approving a memorandum of understanding with South Shore Village had the council tied, causing the clerk-treasurer to be the tie-breaking vote - something town attorney Jay Rigdon said after the meeting he’s only seen once in 41 years.
Council President Nathan Scherer is co-owner of South Shore, along with Jeff Dyson, so he left the room while the council discussed the matter, turning the meeting over to Councilman Paul Stoelting.
Stoelting said he didn’t think the MOU was binding on the town, but Councilman Larry Siegel disagreed. He pointed out three items that stated the town would provide municipal water. Rigdon said that it is not a final binding agreement. He said the purpose of a MOU is for both parties who want to continue moving forward in the same direction, even if they can’t agree on terms.
Siegel said they have been having discussions and said, “We’re not even close.” He said he didn’t see anyway how rates could be high enough to pay for extending the water lines out to South Shore.
Stoelting said he and Siegel must’ve heard two different things from the meetings they attended. “I thought we were listening to experts who said it’s not going to hurt the town of Syracuse — we were told this could be a positive thing and it was possible.”
Councilman Bill Musser said he was “on the fence.” He said from South Shore’s viewpoint, if the town gives them indication that they’d probably help and they invest a lot of time and money and then turn around and say they’re not going to do it, that’s not good.
At one point, Dyson tried to speak but Siegel shut him down. Councilwoman Cindy Kaiser said Siegel had been against it from the start and she wanted to hear what Dyson had to say.
Dyson said they were not asking for a decision on whether to run water lines out there. “We all need to figure out if it’s doable,” he said.
He said the MOU was step one of a number of steps to discern due diligence. Dyson said Siegel’s concerns were valid and said if the town votes that they don’t want to talk about it anymore, they’ll figure something else out.
“But if there’s any opportunity to work with the town, we want to make it happen,” he said.
Siegel argued they’ve been talking but Dyson said not officially. “We’ve been talking for three years - we want to move forward and according to ordinance 783 the town needs to do due diligence - we’re willing to move forward to do due diligence, are you?”
Dyson said it didn’t matter to them whether they were annexed or not. Siegel kept interjecting that he checked into things and Dyson said maybe he had, but they wanted to give the rest of the council the same opportunity to “do additional due diligence about possibly running water out to the property.”
Stoelting said he was under the impression that having South Shore do a feasibility study should be the next step, and the town is not in the position to financially help with that.
Kaiser made the motion to accept the MOU as written, Stoelting seconded the motion, Musser abstained and Siegel opposed, forcing Clerk-Treasurer Virginia Cazier to cast a vote and she voted yes, so the MOU was accepted.
Town Manager Report
Town Manager David Wilkinson brought a couple of items to the council. A resident asked for a three-way stop sign and the council approved the three-way stop at Oakwood Circle and Lake Drive.
Wilkinson also brought up changing Pearl Street from a one-way to a two-way, especially now that they have a new parking lot. Siegel has properties on Pearl Street and said with other one-way streets nearby it would be confusing.
Scherer said, “We spent a lot of money on a parking lot people can’t get into - we need to make every effort to make the parking lot more accessible.”
Wilkinson said they’d study it more for the best solution. He also gave the council more information on Designated Outdoor Recreation Areas (DORA) and the new house bill on carry out but no action was taken.
Business Owner Concerned About Food Trucks
Aaron Allen, of Mootown Snack Shack, came to the council asking for some limits on food trucks in town because he claims it’s been affecting his business. He said over the past three years food trucks have increased and it’s caused some local businesses to close. He said he’d like them to limit the number of food trucks and when they can come and the locations.
He said on Memorial Day there were 10 food trucks in town, and he figured he lost one-fourth of his business that day.
Siegel said about 10 years ago they worked with the chamber on that because it “looked like a carnival every weekend.”
Musser told Allen, “I’m on your side - I’m not a big fan of food trucks” and said the investment local businesses have made should be supported.
Rigdon told the council if they increase permit fees and enforce it, that might take care of the problem.
Old Business
Another matter that almost had the clerk voting again was moving council meetings to mornings. Musser brought it up again, calling for the meeting change to 10 a.m. on the third Tuesday starting in January. He said since the meeting will have to be telecast, it’s a good time.
Wilkinson said the law states the meetings have to be recorded and posted, not necessarily telecast, but they are working on that. Stoelting said he’d be in favor of the morning meetings with the idea if a topic would garner a lot of public interest, they could change it that month.
Scherer abstained, Siegel opposed, and Kaiser nearly abstained but then voted in favor of changing it with the idea they could always change the meeting time back to evening.
In other business:
• Rigdon swore in new police officer Jacob Bolen.
• The council approved $164,643 for a new fire training facility at 8138 McClintic Road.
• The council tabled ordinance 2024-06 regarding a pollinator garden.
• The council heard trick-or-treat hours are Oct. 31 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Park Superintendent Chad Jonsson shared upcoming events with the council Tuesday, including:
• A homecoming parade will be Sept. 27 at 4 p.m. starting at former Polar Kraft building and going out to the high school.
• Harvest Fest is Oct. 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with vendors, food trucks, petting zoo, etc.
•The Indoor Garage Sale is Oct. 12 and there are a few booths left.
• Trick or Treat Trail is on Oct. 26 from 1 to 2 p.m. at Lakeside Park. Community. Groups, organizations and businesses can hand out candy - similar to a trunk or treat.
• The second annual Haunted Trail will be Oct. 26 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation.