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The Syracuse Common Council voted to approve an agreement with Syracuse University for a field study program between the Syracuse Police Athletic League and SU’s Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics during its meeting Monday.

The agreement will allow Falk students to work with PAL, which will in exchange supervise and evaluate participating SU students’ work for university credits, according to the meeting’s agenda.

PAL, established in 2021, intends to build partnerships among city youth, law enforcement and the greater community via programs that emphasize collaboration and work toward teaching and developing good citizenship, according to the organization’s Facebook.

Law enforcement officers and at-risk Syracuse youth participate in activities through the program, like the “Pal Presents March Madness” 4-on-4 basketball tournament, which is set for Friday nights from March 3 to April 7. The council also approved the lease agreement for PAL to host the tournament at the Tipperary Hill Community Center.

The partnership between SU and PAL has a five-year term with no cost to the city, according to the agreement.

SU and PAL also collaborated via SU’s Office of Community Engagement, which invited local youth PAL participants to attend the university’s 38th Annual MLK Unsung Heroes Dinner on Jan. 23.

The council also voted to appropriate funds from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act to establish the ARPA Distressed Property Fund, a grant program aimed at redeveloping vacant or dilapidated commercial historic properties.

Last year, the council worked with Mayor Ben Walsh to apply to the Restore New York Communities Initiative, a state program which provides funds to demolish and redevelop blighted structures.

Syracuse has previously put ARPA funding toward job training, housing construction and rehabilitation investments, public safety, police accountability and infrastructure. On Oct. 18, Mayor Ben Walsh announced 43 grants from the Commercial Corridor Improvement Fund totaling $2 million to help local businesses and organizations recover financially from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other business:

• The council voted to approve a grant of permanent easement, or the right to use city property, to Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation at Syracuse Hancock International Airport. The grant calls for installation, operation and maintenance of an underground power line, as well as a transformer and a concrete pad for the Airport Glycol Recycling Facility.
• Councilor Michael Greene asked to delay a vote on the labor agreement between the city and the Police Benevolent Association, the recognized bargaining unit and labor union for Syracuse police officers. The agreement would provide a yearly 1.75% salary increase over a five-year period beginning in January 2023 and ending in December 2027.
• Greene also introduced and tabled a piece of legislation to amend the July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 city budgets to reflect the labor agreement’s resulting salary increase.

Published on February 6, 2023 at 11:03 pm

Contact Kendall: kaluther@syr.edu