August Update

Summer is coming to a close and autumn is soon on its way, but the construction season is in full swing for months to come. In this month’s Environmental Protection Committee, Legislators heard from Commissioner Shannon Harty about projects being undertaken by the City of Syracuse to continue the Save the Rain effort. Roadwork done by the towns, villages, and city are often done in conjunction with Water Environment Protection to maintain sewers and build green infrastructure. The County and the City frequently work in concert while roadwork is being done. When the City tears up a road, WEP will take that opportunity to design and pay the City to install rain gardens, brick pavers, trees, and more. This way, roads are only torn up once and multiple goals are achieved. This fall, work will be done on Water Street, completing a two part project started in 2018.

The Environmental Protection Committee also heard from Mark Berger, the Executive Director of Soil & Water Conservation District. In recent months, Legislator Ken Bush along with Leader May have been sounding the alarm about water chestnuts and their invasion into our waterways. Berger told the committee more about water chestnuts and the efforts being made by the county to mitigate their impact, despite the lackluster investment from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. In just one weekend alone, Soil & Water hauled 15,000lbs of water chestnuts out of Cross Lake to be recycled in an agricultural field. The County Legislature allocated $30,000 in the 2021 budget for water chestnut mitigation and recently Legislator Bush joined County Executive McMahon along with Chairman Knapp, Leader May, and Legislator Kelly to announce an additional investment of $50,000 to combat the issue in our waterways.

The County Legislature is working hard to serve our community in various ways, despite the setbacks we may be faced with. We are all eager to have the State Fair back this year, as well as the many concerts at the Lakeview Amphitheater. As you are out and about, make sure to say hi to our legislators if you see them, you never know where they might be!