Fairport mayor announces temporary county patrols and a tentative police contract as residents press for more enforcement

Mayor Julian Damitz told the Village of Fairport board on June 8 that the village has arranged for four additional Monroe County Sheriff's Office officers to patrol Friday and Saturday evenings on a temporary, month-to-month basis to supplement two village officers and provide community policing.

"We're adding four additional officers in the village of Fairport on Friday and Saturday evenings," the mayor said, describing the arrangement as temporary and subject to monthly review. He said the village is also still working to fill several key positions, including the police chief, and that the village will publish the chief's name once finalized.

The announcement followed public comments calling for more enforcement. A resident who spoke during the citizens forum said speeding on Route 250/South Main Street is routine and that enforcement has been insufficient under the existing county contract. The speaker said the records they reviewed show only 18 speeding arrests across a 14-month period covered by a Freedom of Information packet and warned that crashes could follow without increased enforcement.

Longtime resident Jim Tollik raised a separate concern about how the village's contract terms affect recruitment. Tollik pointed to a distinction in the police contract’s health-insurance language between officers hired before and after Feb. 1, 2023, and argued that requiring 20 years of service for retiree health benefits for newer hires could discourage experienced officers from applying.

"Officers hired after February 1, 2023 ... must attain 20 years of service with the village to qualify for retiree health insurance," Tollik said. "This ... may be keeping us from attracting our best candidates for our village."

Mayor Damitz also said the village has reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with the police union that has been ratified by the union and that the village board has discussed the terms in private. "We have a tentative agreement," he said, noting that the parties are finalizing paperwork and expect to bring the ratified contract to the board for formal action within two to four weeks.

Board members and staff described recruitment as an active effort. The mayor said the code-enforcement officer position has been filled and that police vacancies remain to be addressed once the chief is in place. The mayor also emphasized the village must follow New York civil-service laws in its hiring process.

Next steps: the board said it will finalize the written contract language and place the agreement before the board when the documents are ready; the police staffing situation and the chief search were described as ongoing and expected to be updated in coming weeks.