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ESM: Contractual concessions made to preserve jobs, bridge projected budget gap ... Page 6 eaglebulletin.com Volume 125, No. 10 March 9 to 15, 2011
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MAARTEN JACOBS
Noel Williams, junior at JD, sits with his buddy, Christian, 3, in the Bajo Lempa region of El Salvador. Forty-six area students who recently traveled to the country seek ‘fashion for food’ from local residents. See story on page 3.
Sarah House to hold second annual fundraiser Not-for-profit supports out-of-town guests in times of medical crisis. ...See page 7
CALENDAR ...................2 CLASSIFIEDS .............. 15 EDITORIAL ....................4 OBITUARIES..................9 PUBLIC NOTICES ........ 13 SCHOOL NEWS .............6 SPORTS ..................... 10
Mahoney’s State of the County address covers consolidation, green initiatives and long-term spending reform By Ami Olson editor@theeaglecny.com In delivering her 2011 State of the County address Tuesday March 1, Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney proclaimed, “we are coming out of this recession stronger than we went in.” Mahoney cited a list of consolidation efforts among county, city, village and town governments, including a shared municipal purchasing department that 23 municipalities are interested in joining. From the stage at West Genesee High School in Camillus, Mahoney commended the West Genesee Central School District employees for their cooperation in voluntarily accepting a pay freeze to avoid teacher layoffs.
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Congratulations to all the students who worked so hard to raise funds for Camp Good Days and Special Times. This year’s record-breaking amount of $127,000 surpasses the $1 million mark over a period of 20 years.
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She also pointed to the and Hospital. The countytowns of Geddes, Salina owned nursing facility has and Skaneateles, as well consistently lost millions as the village of Elbridge, of dollars annually and for their efforts to re- has become a drain on the duce government county’s finances. by eliminating reFinding a way dundancies. to provide quality Mahoney credcare for elderly ited the revised residents will besales tax sharing come even more agreement, unanicritical in the next mously adopted by few years, Mathe County Leghoney said. islature in 2010, “Between now Mahoney for pushing muand 2015, we will nicipalities to look have an increase for a modern, streamlined of over 65 percent in the way of functioning with number of county resismaller budgets. dents age 85 and older,” “This is exactly what we Mahoney said. hoped the new sales tax The county executive agreement would accom- also announced Save the plish,” Mahoney said. Rain’s “Project 50,” an Ma h o n e y a l s o a n - initiative to implement nounced the county will 50 distinct public works enter into negotiations projects to harvest rain with SUNY Upstate to See Mahoney, page 8 take over Van Duyn Home
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NEWSPAPERS
Tentative budget holds the line in Fayetteville By John Zych Despite concerns about the economy and an uncertain fiscal future, the village of Fayetteville’s tentative spending plan does not raise property taxes. Mayor Mark Olson released the $5.1 million budget draft at the board of trustees meeting Feb. 28. The proposed tax rate will stay at $6.70 per $1,000 assessed value. The amount to be raised by taxes is $1.8 million, the same as this year. The trustees will now get to fine-tune the budget in workshops, and then will schedule an April public hearing before its adoption. This budget would mark seven consecutive years under Olson’s administration that village residents will not see an increased tax rate, even
though Onondaga County cut nearly $400,000 in sales tax revenue to Fayetteville. Last year, the village received nearly $900,000 in county sales tax revenue and could have been left getting nothing this year. But after a much-publicized lengthy and contentious debate, the County Legislature agreed to establish a Village Improvement Program that will provide $252,000 in addition to the allocated $240,000 sales tax revenue. Olson said the village dipped into its fund balance, or savings account, for $200,000 to add to $195,000 in rollover funds to cut into the deficit. Also, total assessment revenues have increased more than $6 million over the curSee Budget, page 5
DeWitt FD urges residents call 911 in emergencies By Tami S. Zimmerman editor@eaglebulletin.com When the DeWitt Fire District moved into its new fire station on East Genesee Street in June 2008, it discontinued use of its emergency seven-digit telephone number. Residents, however, are still calling in with situations that only the 911 Call Center is equipped to handle. “There isn’t always someone here to answer the phone,” said Fire Chief Jason Green. “And what’s worse, even if someone does answer the phone, they aren’t best trained to take the call if [for example] someone was choking. Whereas if they call 911, [the employees are] trained and they have specific questions that they’re going to ask.” The DeWitt Fire District no longer has a dispatcher on-site for two reasons: the service would be redundant since Onondaga County already provides the 911 central call site, and residences increasingly
continue to install private fire alarms. Additionally, as the fire district experiences a rise in call volume and requests for service, it can not dedicate in-house personnel anymore to receive these phone calls. “It has become customary for many [people] to telephone the fire station for all types of situations, including, at times, serious emergencies,” said Green in a letter addressed to the public on the district’s website, dewittfire.org. “Many people believe that their situation isn’t serious enough to call 911 and often waste valuable time searching for alternate phone numbers.” Green said residents should call 911 regardless of how serious the circumstance is because the call center’s personnel are best trained to prioritize calls. Dispatchers also provide crucial pre-arrival instructions for emergencies, which can save lives and time. “These services are not provided by personnel at the fire station,” Green said.