The Marcellus Village Board during its regular Monday Nov. 23 meeting tabled the decision to lease the village’s water system to OCWA, a move that was expected to become effective Jan. 1. Mayor Michael Plochocki and the board of trustees refrained from discussing the decision in detail, but Plochocki did assure residents that OCWA water would replace the Rockwell Springs water beginning Dec. 1, ending the 101-year era of locally derived and supplied water. The 40-year lease would have transferred the responsibility of maintaining the water system from the village to OCWA, along with all associated costs of repairs or replacement. The timing coincided nicely with the village’s work on Reed Street, where the roadway will be replaced completely by next summer. Trustee Mary Jo Paul said the water pipes, though nearing the end of their life, could have lasted a few more years but the village decided to replace or repair the pipes during the road construction. Lease negotiations between the village and OCWA hit a bump over who would pay for the new pipes, for which OCWA agreed to pay only 50 percent. The proposed lease was also amended to require the village make upgrades this spring or agree to pay at least 50 percent when upgrades were made in the future. Negotiations are expected to wrap up next week and Jan. 1 is still the target date for the lease to become effective. MPD welcomes new officer
The village and police department welcomed a new officer to the ranks Monday, when Matthew Hayes was sworn in as a new part-time officer. Hayes has more than 20 years of experience with the Syracuse Police Department and Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department. As a sheriff’s deputy, Hayes has worked with the drug and gang task forces, Wicks said. Wicks said Hayes’ experience and would help the department address one of the village board’s biggest concerns: drug activity in the village. “The village is really getting a quality officer,” Wicks said.
The village also re-hired officer John Drapikowski, who recently retired from the sheriff’s department and was required by the state to resign from the village department to meet retirement regulations.