Syracuse Town Councilman Larry Martindale, left, chats with Council President Larry Siegel prior to the December council meeting. Siegel served as council president and president of the Syracuse Redevelopment Commission during 2021. For 2022, Bill Musser will serve as council president.

Editor’s Note: The Mail-Journal sent several questions to Larry Siegel regarding his tenure as president of the Syracuse Town Council for 2021. Below is his response. Councilman Bill Musser will be the council president for 2022.

By Larry Siegel
Guest Writer

Syracuse — During 2021 the teamwork of the town council, the staff at town hall, our street, park, and police departments, all of our town employees, and volunteers, accomplished much.

To fully appreciate 2021, perhaps remember 12 years ago when our local economy was in a desperate recession with rampant unemployment and countless home foreclosures. The population of Syracuse was decreasing. We saw if we were not growing, we were dying. So, at that time the town set goals to lead redevelopment, creating jobs with a business-friendly environment for our existing and new businesses to thrive.

Forward into 2021, we have seen a large expansion in the Polywood complex. In our tech park we have seen the development of Aluminum Insights, Travel Star and Legacy Wood Products. We have seen the last available development lot go under contract. Conversations and transactions in the tech park ultimately lead to QES purchasing and redeveloping the Shopko building on SR 13. We built a new road in our tech park and expanded Main and Brooklyn streets to accommodate increased traffic.

It is estimated that we have created over 500 local jobs with the developments generating over $70 million dollars in new investment. Oakwood Realty has announced its intention to help us solve our housing shortage by building workforce and senior housing. The old elementary school has been purchased and will be developed into apartments. More housing is needed. Any developers interested in building housing in town are encouraged to contact our town manager’s office.

As you drive down Kern Road it would be hard not to notice the construction of our new athletic complex. Our hope for the athletic complex is for it to be a Syracuse icon creating a spirit of community, youth character, physical fitness, competition, teamwork and lasting friendships for years to come.

Syracuse Town Council is committed to building Syracuse as a place where people want to live, work and play.