Jay Rigdon, right, town attorney for the Town of Syracuse, swears in Larry Siegel, left, and Paul Stoelting at the start of the Syracuse Town Council’s meeting Tuesday night, Jan. 17. Photo by Lauren Zeugner.

By Lauren Zeugner
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — After swearing in councilmen Larry Siegel and Paul Stoelting, the Syracuse Town Council set about tackling a packed agenda during its regular meeting Tuesday night, Jan. 17. Stoelting was later selected to be the council’s vice president this year.

The council tackled a number of utility matters starting with a resolution regarding bond anticipation notes. The BANs will be used to pay for the Oakwood Park Sewer project and the Lakeside Water Main Loop project. The estimated total cost of both projects is $2.2 million.

Siegel asked which of the BANs would be paid off and where the funds for the payments would come from. Town Manager David Wilkinson noted the Syracuse Community Center bond has been paid off and funds allocated for those payments could now be directed to the BANs.

Other sources of revenue, including a rate adjustment, will be explored. The plan is to pay off both BANs by Dec. 27, 2027. The council approved the resolution for the BANs with the provision the funds only be used for the Oakwood and water loop projects.

After some discussion a proposed ordinance that would avoid the provision of services or extension of services to properties outside of town until those properties have been annexed to the Town of Syracuse died for lack of a second.

Council President Bill Musser expressed surprise as the ordinance had never been discussed and recently three developers have come to the town requesting water and sewer for their projects.

Musser said he didn’t believe “a blanket ‘no’ is a good idea.”

Siegel countered noting a municipal utility needs to break even and there is currently no incentive for developers to annex into town if they can get water and sewer services just by asking.

After further discussion, Musser pointed out annexation must be of property contiguous to the town limits. Stoelting noted in the past the town has entered into “in lieu of annexation” agreements with developers. Siegel noted those agreements are only good for four years.

The council heard a proposal from Kim Blaha, executive director of the Syracuse Public Library. The library would like to build a new one-story facility on the property at Dolan and Main streets.

Blaha explained the current building is 100 years old and “things break constantly.” The new proposed facility would be 12,000 square feet with 25 parking spots for patrons and 14 spots on Pearl Street for employees.

The proposed cost of the project is $7 million and is expected to take three years to complete.

Town Attorney Jay Rigdon was instructed to look into the proper procedures the town needs to take before moving forward in supporting the project.

The council passed an ordinance banning smoking at the new Schrock ball fields. After reviewing a proposed amendment to the dog leash ordinance, the council had more questions than answers and chose not to act until it had more information.

The council approved spending $107,861 for pumps and controls for the Oakwood sewer project.

Police Chief Jim Layne reported the Syracuse Police Department received $14,140.94 from the county’s American Rescue Funds. The funds will be used for programming the department’s radios to the new radio system the county is using.

The Turkey Creek Fire Territory will offer a three-hour CPR class at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 29. Pre-registration is required and can be done by calling either fire station. The class takes about three hours to complete.

In old business, the council signed the interlocal agreement with the Turkey Creek Dam and Dike Conservancy. The town will be contributing $50,000 to the Wawasee Dike project, which is estimated to cost between $700,000 and $900,000.