Mike LaFlair – 2nd Ward Councilor

The railroad crossing at Hinsdale Road and Milton Avenue will be under construction from October 23-27. Traffic will be restricted, but access to the businesses adjacent to the intersection will be available. The restrictions will begin at 9:00 am on Friday, October 23 and will continue until 9:00 pm, Tuesday, October 27.

A paving restoration project on about 3 miles of Route 174 in Camillus will begin Thursday, according to the state Department of Transportation.

The road work will take place on Route 174 from the Martisco railroad underpass to West Genesee Street in the village of Camillus, and west along Route 174 to the entrance ramp for the Camillus Bypass, Route 5.

Work will continue until Oct. 20.

The project includes milling then overlaying the asphalt to restore good riding quality. Traffic will be maintained using flaggers through the work areas on Route 174 between Forward Road and the railroad underpass, and on West Genesee Street.

The road will be closed daily while milling and paving operation are performed between Forward Road and West Genesee Street in Camillus. Homeowners in the village, along Elm Street will be able to access their homes, but will not be permitted to use Route 174 to drive south, towards Marcellus.

Route 174 traffic will be detoured around the closed portion, using Route 174 to Route 5, Route 5 to Route 321, Route 321 to Forward Road, then back to Route 174.

Work zones and closures/detours will only be in effect from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays. At other times, all travel lanes will be open to traffic.

PUBLIC HEARING

1. Linda McPherron TM#: 052.-03-02.0
217 Gulf Road
Camillus, NY 13031
Area Variance: to install a 10’ x 16’ attached carport with reducing 7’ minimum, by 2.25’ down to 4.75’.

2. Douglas Baule TM#: 012-01-33.0
6171 Airport Road
Syracuse, New York 13209
Special Use Permit: for allowance of a light industrial use that produces printing and signage, including large signs of vinyl, using laminating and plotting equipment; which is applicant’s main business known as IDS Custom Graphics

3. Roberta A. Krichbaum TM#: 016-03-11.1
3790 Warners Road
Syracuse, NY 13209
Area Variance: to install a 12’ x 18’ enclosed porch.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Jan Raczka TM#: 016.-01-06.0
East of 3717 Warners Road
Syracuse, NY 13209
Area Variance: owner would like to reduce the required front yard 70’ setback down to 35’.

Work has started on a major overhaul of a retail plaza on West Genesee Street.

The plaza, across from the Fairmount Target, was once home to businesses including Joy Carpet and a nail salon.

The nail salon and Joy buildings have already been demolished. A nearby strip building will be renovated as part of the project.

Three new buildings will also be constructed. Tenants include Chipotle, Aspen Dental and Panda Express, a fast-casual Chinese chain.

Several businesses that were in the plaza previously relocated to new locations nearby. Existing tenants still in place include H&R Block and Domino’s.

Construction on the new Movie Tavern location coming to Township 5 is underway.

Township 5’s developers announced plans for the venue earlier this year. Movie Tavern will open in Camillus in May.

The 48,000-square-foot location will have 11 screens and offer in-theater dining and bar service. Every theater will have stadium seating, recliners and call-button service.

Seats must be reserved in advance. Movie Tavern offers weekly breakfast movies aimed at families and a retro series, as well as first-run films.

The location will employ 150 people when it opens. Movie Tavern has 21 locations in nine states.

Work is underway on Township 5’s apartment complex, which will be managed by Morgan Management of Rochester.

The development’s first office building is under construction too. It’ll be occupied by a medical tenant, Pediatric Associates.

In some ways, Natalia Meyer says, it might have been easier to start over with a totally new restaurant. Rebuilding the Green Gate Inn after a devastating fire has proved challenging.

“You reach for something because you think you know where it is, but it’s not there anymore,” said Meyer, who owns the Green Gate with her husband, Phillippe. “If we started from scratch somewhere, we’d learn more easily, I think. But it’s coming along.”

The Civil War-era Green Gate building, in the heart of the village at 2 Genesee St., suffered heavy fire damage — and had extensive smoke and water damage — on Jan. 16.

It officially reopened with its new menu and rebuilt surroundings Friday, following several weeks of “soft” operations during August and early September.

Most of the staff is new, as is the kitchen, which suffered the brunt of the fire damage. Natalia Meyer, the chef, took advantage of the opportunity to redo it with a more open, modern format.

The dining rooms, which had mostly smoke and water damage, have been restored. The bar, the Green Gate Pub, had the least amount of damage, but still has new sheetrock and some new windows. (Most of the windows throughout had to be replaced).

Upstairs will see more changes. The Meyers had operated a boutique guest house with eight rooms, but will now convert the upper space to banquet and meeting rooms.

“It will give people in the community a nice place to have gatherings and meetings,” Natalia Meyer said.

The exterior of the upstairs has also been modified, giving the historic building a slightly new profile.

The Green Gate Inn was built during the Civil War by David A. Munro as part of the family farm. It has housed an inn since 1939 under Green Gate and other names.

The Meyers took it over in 2007 and spent years remodeling and restoring it. They had planned to repaint it this year.

Not long after the fire, Natalia Meyer sent syracuse.com an email about her feelings watching it burn: “The building is part of our family. As I watched the flames engulf the kitchen I felt as if my best friend was dying. I felt helpless to do anything to save her from the flames.”

She gave credit to the Camillus Fire Department and other firefighters for their work during the blaze. She also thanked two local companies, Zeck Builders and Martin Construction, for their efforts in rebuilding the inn.

With reconstruction (mostly) behind her, Meyer has been able to turn her attention to the menu. It features lots of global-influenced classics, from Jaeger Schnitzel and Pork Osso Bucco to Maple-Gazed BBQ Salmon and Flat Iron Steak Chimchurri. Entrees range from $16.50 to $23.

There are also pub plates, sandwiches, burgers, pizzas (12-inch, thin crust) and savory crepes (like stroganoff, eggplant parm and meatball). Many of these items are $12 or under.

The inn also features nightly specials, with themes: Mexican Tuesdays, Ukrainian Wednesdays, Sauerbraten Thursdays, Seafood Fridays and tapas Saturdays.

The Green Gate Inn is open 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday to Saturday (the kitchen opens at 4:30 p.m.). It also hosts live music in the pub. Call (315) 320-4376.

Public meetings will be held across Central New York over the next several weeks to collect input on ways to improve and enhance use of recreational and natural resources.
The CNY Regional Planning and Development Board, in partnership with Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego County planning offices, is developing a Regional Recreation and Heritage Plan to guide future improvements of existing regional recreational and natural resources. The board and offices are seeking public input to collect and assess local inventories of the resources listed below, and gather ideas that will enhance use and connectivity of those resources:
•bike routes, scenic routes, public boating and swimming access
•museums, historic sites and adaptive reuse opportunities (buildings, park and brownfields)
•working landscapes, agricultural tourism, festivals, events and happenings
•natural areas, outdoor recreation, hiking, scenic areas, overlooks and waterfalls

The public meetings will be held at the following locations:

Oct. 1 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Havana Room at the Phoenix Building, 2 South St., Auburn
Oct. 6 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Baldwinsville Public Library, 33 E Genesee St., Baldwinsville
Oct. 8 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Marathon Town Hall, 40 W. Main St.., Marathon
Oct. 15 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Madison County Office Building #4, N. Court St., Wampsville
Oct. 21 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Phoenix Public Library, 34 Elm St., Phoenix

The project is supported through funding from Environmental Protection Fund Local Waterfront Revitalization Program administered by the New York Department of State.

Nine schools in Central New York have been recognized as among the best in the state because they placed among the top in English and math test scores two years in a row, according to the state Education Department. The schools, called reward schools by the state, are eligible to apply for a $100,000 grant. The schools had to place in the top 20 percent of the schools in the state in their English Language Arts and math tests to be designated high performing reward schools. Schools also had to make adequate progress for two years in areas identified by the state as needing improvement. In addition, the schools couldn’t have any large gaps in academic performance among subgroups such as low-income students in those targeted areas.

The schools

•Fremont Elementary School, East Syracuse-Minoa

•Fayetteville-Manlius Senior High School, Fayetteville-Manlius

•Marcellus High School, Marcellus

•New Hartford Senior High School, New Hartford

•Skaneateles Senior High School, Skaneateles

•Skaneateles Middle School, Skaneateles

•State Street Intermediate School, Skaneateles

•West Genesee Senior High School, West Genesee

•Westhill High School, Westhill

Township 5’s newest restaurant tenant opens next month. Red Robin, known for its variety of hamburgers, will open on Oct. 5 at 11 a.m. The chain was once planned for one of the multi-tenant buildings at Township 5, but moved to its own stand-alone structure when Olive Garden dropped plans for the development. Red Robin has 500 locations across the country, including one at the Towne Center at Fayetteville. Township 5 is a $58-million mixed-used project. It’ll have 500,000 square feet of space when finished, including retail, offices and a 96-unit apartment complex. The development is located just off the Hinsdale Road exit of Route 5. Its main anchor is Costco, which opened last year. Since then, numerous other tenants have opened, including restaurants, retailers and a fitness studio. A local restaurant, The Brasserie, opened in July. Another, Mitsuba Japanese Steakhouse, will open this fall. Work is also underway on the development’s apartment complex, an office building and Movie Tavern, which will open next year and offer in-theater dining and bar service.

New Business:

2640 Warners Road / Ronald Clare TM # 006.-02-33.0
Site Plan
(New construction of garage)

6171 Airport Road / Douglas Baule TM # 012.-01-33.0
Site Plan Review for Special Use Permit
(light industrial use requires special use permit)

201 Maplegrove Rd / 111 Westfall St. /Peter & Cheryl RecoreTM # 016.-06-08.1
Lot Line Re-alignment

Affordable Senior Housing Opportunities/Milton Ave TM # 037.-01-02.1
Amended Site Plan
(lighting information)

Old Business

3512 West Genesee Street / Bubble Up Carwash TM # 047.-05-22.3
Site Plan

Township 5 / Cameron Group TM # 017.-05-65.1
Site Plan
(New Construction)

Township 5 / Cameron Group TM # 017.-05-65.1
Amended Site Plan / Petco