SYRACUSE -- One of the biggest concerns for city officials when their city is growing tremendously is safety. Syracuse is one of those cities currently going through growing pains, and the city council Tuesday approved several new full-time firefighter positions. The fire department already has a staff of approximately 28 part-time firefighters and a staff of four full-time firefighters. The four full-timers work exclusively with fire Chief Dale Snyder. "The promotions will be in-house. We still don't know exactly how many positions the council will approve, but the city needs some more full-time firefighters," Chief Snyder said.

The trick when approving new positions for city officials is budget allotment. By deadline for this edition, it was still unknown how many positions were approved within the city budget. The Jan. 12 edition will have more information as to how many full-time appointments were approved.

"Positions like this are always dependent on budget. It's kind of a waiting game to see how many positions actually get approved," Snyder said.