Winter Festival schedule of events announced

Cazenovia’s annual celebration of winter is coming soon!

This year’s Winter Festival, featuring snow sculptures, ice skating, a pancake breakfast, a talent show and much more, will be held Feb. 10-12.

Daily: noon to 8 p.m. Family ice skating, Burton Street Ice Skating Rink - weather permitting Daily during daylight hours (conditions permitting) --- Cross country skiing at Meier’s Creek Brewery. Enjoy cross country skiing in the beautiful countryside surrounding the brewery –33 Rippleton Road.

Friday, Feb. 10

7 to 9 p.m. Winter Festival talent show and opening ceremony. Cazenovia High School Auditorium - Organized by Project CAFE. Tickets $5 at the door. Proceeds to fund student scholarships.

Saturday, Feb. 11

All day: Self-guided outdoor activities at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park. Visit Stone Quarry Hill Art Park anytime during the winter to enjoy activities like snow shoeing and cross country skiing.

Burton Street

According to Crofut, CAP will meet officially with the supportive housing residents once a week and will maintain constant contact with them.

CAP staff will be onsite during business hours on weekdays and during the daytime on weekends. After hours, CAP will be available on an on-call basis in case of emergencies.

Residents will also be provided with contact information for the local mobile crisis team in the event of a mental health crisis.

Crofut said the level of assistance/support that will be required of CAP will vary from tenant to tenant, depending on their service plans.

“It will be a mixed population that we are working with, and some will need more assistance than others,” she said.

She explained that while more self-sufficient tenants might simply require check-ins to see how they are doing, others might need help keeping appointments, making sure they have the groceries they need, and securing transportation to medical appointments and support groups for example.

According to Crofut, CAP’s presence will also allow the development’s other residents to utilize similar services to those available to the supportive housing units.

“Domestic violence affects all ages and so do mental health issues, so we are not just going to limit our services to somebody that is under 60,” Crofut said. “If there is somebody in the rest of the population that may need our services, that is always a possibility too.”

Service and operating funding for the supportive housing is pro -

7 a.m. to noon Pancake breakfast at American Legion. Cazenovia Post 88 will sponsor a pancake, sausage, bacon and egg breakfast accompanied by NY maple syrup, orange juice, coffee and tea. Location: Legion Post Home, 26 Chenango St.

9 a.m. to noon Scholastic snow sculpture construction. Memorial Park area, Albany Street - Judging at noon.

Theme: “Disney.”

Morning to 12:30 Community Snow Sculpture Competition. Throughout the village – Families, community groups or businesses. Pre-register at 315-655-9380.

9 to 4 p.m. Downhill skiing at Cazenovia Ski Club. Please come enjoy downhill skiing at the only downhill ski area in Cazenovia. $30 ski passes Feb. 11 and 12 (see lift attendant). skicaz.co m for hours and information.

2 to 4 p.m. Scholastic Winter Olympics. Cazenovia High School Track –Grades 8-12 will face off in snow volleyball, tug of war, human sled dog races, snow tower building, the obstacle relay race and a scavenger hunt. Come cheer them on.

10:30 to noon Valentines Day Family Tea at the library. Join us in the Betsy Kennedy Community Room to vided through the New York State Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative.

According to Lockwood, the program ensures that CAP has longterm operating funding in place to provide the appropriate staffing and support for the 10 set-aside units.

“I recognize that terms like ‘mental illness’ and ‘risk of homelessness’ cause concern,” said Mayor Kurt Wheeler. “At the same time, the reality is that many of our current neighbors here in Cazenovia already suffer from these challenges but often without the appropriate support.

“As a teacher, I am acutely aware that mental health problems and [the] risk of homelessness are issues that impact many children in our school. As a community, we are strong enough and gracious enough to help overcome these challenges, especially with the professional support of Madison County CAP.”

CAP Community Services Director William Nicholson also emphasized that the project will enable CAP to help some particularly vulnerable individuals — who are already members of the community — to be safe, gain stability, build skills and resilience, and move forward with their lives in a location that is highly conducive to healthy living and community and social engagement.

“Largely, we find that the individuals who are recipients of services such as these are really more likely to be the more vulnerable person in any interaction,” said Nicholson. “Questions of security and whatnot are appropriate, but, again, the population that we are serving is really very vulnerable, and this is a facility that has really state-of-the-art security and monitoring functions. That’s important to remember when people ask questions about this project.”

315-663-1167

Celebrate Valentine’s Day at the library with a tea party. There will be games, crafts and snacks. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Cazenovia Public Library, 100 Albany St (Parking behind the library off of Riverside Drive). For information call 315-655-932 2 or visit cazenoviapubliclibrary.or g

Sunday, Feb. 12

All day Self-guided outdoor activities at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park. Visit Stone Quarry Hill Art Park anytime during the winter to enjoy activities like snow shoeing and cross country skiing.

9 to 4 p.m. Downhill skiing at Cazenovia Ski Club. Please come enjoy downhill skiing at the only downhill ski area in Cazenovia. $30 ski passes Feb. 11 and 12 (see lift attendant). skicaz.co m for hours and information.

1 p.m. Snowshoe Sunday with CPF. Fairchild Hill Parking Area (Behind the brown building at the intersection of Route 92 and Route 20 near the south end of Cazenovia Lake. Please park only in the designated trail parking lot.) Meet at 1 p.m. to get geared up and then hit the trails. You can follow along with a CPF guide for a group snowshoe walk or strike out on your

Lockwood provided the following capital stack for The Landing at Burke Meadows, which he described as “fairly customary” financing for these types of developments across the state:

NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance funding:

$2,500,000

NYS HOME: $2,640,000

NYS Senior Program: $3,000,000

Federal Home Loan Bank: $500,000

Tax Credit Investor Equity: $11,727,658

Deferred Developer Fee: $464,381

Permanent Loan: $420,000

Total: $21,252,039

“[Housing Visions] applied for and received multiple grants and funding sources to make the final product affordable to seniors and other tenants while still being built to high standards,” said Wheeler.

According to its website, Housing Visions is a Syracuse-based not-for-profit developer, general contractor, and property manager with a mission to be the catalyst for sustainable positive change in neighborhoods through real estate development and community collaboration.

The company serves low- to moderate-income households including special populations such as veterans, the physically disabled, the developmentally disabled, survivors of domestic violence, and the homeless.

Community Resources for Independent Seniors (CRIS) — the leading advocate for seniors in the Cazenovia, Nelson, and Fenner areas — reached out to Housing Visions years ago to address a need for senior housing options in Cazenovia and the surrounding Madison County community.

“After years of research, [CRIS] selected Housing Visions to develop a senior housing project for own route. Go to cazpreservation.org/ snowshoe-sundays-2023 / for more details. our community based on their extensive experience and outstanding reputation throughout CNY and the Northeast,” said Wheeler.

11 to 3 p.m. Sleigh rides and carriage event at Lorenzo. The New York State Draft Horse Club will offer sleigh rides, free to the public Sunday from 11 to 3 p.m. Wagon rides if there is not enough snow. Take a Horses and Hot Chocolate break from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with some four-legged friends of the Lorenzo Driving Competition. Stop by the tent at the Lorenzo State Historic Site to meet the Cazenovia College miniature horses and a real-life Fjord horse – just like Sitron in Frozen. (Dress as your favorite Disney character for a special photo!) Gifts, raffles, hot chocolate, and a chance to tour Lorenzo’s second – and seldom seen – Oakman Carriage Collection. There’s no charge, but donations of $10 and above to support LDC will receive a BOGO ticket for a beverage from Meier’s Creek Brewing Company and a raffle ticket for a basket of winter cheer and goodies Meier’s Creek and Lorenzo. Go to cazenoviachamber.co m for updates.

Please note that all outdoor events are subject to weather conditions.

The mayor added that CRIS and Housing Visions evaluated multiple potential locations for the project in the Cazenovia area and selected the Burke parcel as the site that best suited their needs.

On Nov. 4, 2019, the Village of Cazenovia Board of Trustees passed a resolution approving the zone change (R-10 to Planned Development District) requested by Housing Visions to permit the construction and operation of its proposed senior/family housing complex.

On March 9, 2020, the Village of Cazenovia Planning Board approved the final site plan for the development.

“[Housing Visions] applied and went through a rigorous review process that included numerous compromises and changes to their original plan to better meet the needs of our community and the neighborhood,” said Wheeler.

Construction on The Landing at Burke Meadows is expected to be complete by fall 2024.

“The village is in regular contact with [Housing Visions] and will remain so throughout the construction process and the life of the development to ensure that it is built, maintained, and operated in a manner that is beneficial to our community,” said Wheeler.

Similarly, Lockwood remarked that everyone at Housing Visions recognizes the trust that has been put in the company to develop and maintain a high-quality development that ultimately benefits not only the inhabitants but the village itself.

To learn more about Housing Visions, visit housingvisions.or g

For more information on CAP, visit capmadco.or g

Help Wanted Heavy Equipment Operator

The Town of Cazenovia currently has an opening for a full-time Heavy Equipment Operator for the Town highway department. Applicants must have a high-school diploma or equivalency, experience operating heavy equipment and a CDL license is preferred. Applications may be picked up at the Town Office at 7 Albany Street, Cazenovia or found on the Town website, www.townofcazenovia.org.

Please mail applications to: Bryan Smith, Highway Superintendent 3425 Constine Bridge Road Cazenovia, NY 13035

Help Wanted

Clerical Position – Part-time position available at the Town of Cazenovia Office in the Town Clerk’s Office. 20 hours per week, pay depending on experience. This position requires applicants to have proficiency in computers and excellent customer service skills. If interested, please send resume to: Town Clerk, Town of Cazenovia, 7 Albany Street, Cazenovia, NY 13035.