March Committee and April Session Update
March committee meetings were filled with informative discussions about an invasive species clogging our waterways, pay raises for county workers, drug money and board appointments.
The first meeting of the month was the Public Safety committee. They discussed an agreement between the county and the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) for a joint cooperative law enforcement effort referred to as the Central New York Contraband Interdiction Team (CNYCIT). The team will focus on illegal drug trafficking within and around Onondaga County, to include the seizure of illegal drugs, proceeds from drug trafficking and recovery of evidence relative to criminal activity, and to assist in investigative and prosecutorial efforts concerning criminal offenses involving the trafficking of controlled substances and money laundering.
One fulltime Onondaga County Sheriff's Office (OCSO) Detective will be assigned to USPIS, and in return, USPIS will reimburse the county for the overtime work and provide a vehicle stipend for the use of an Onondaga County vehicle. “We can pull our detective back to the Sheriff’s Office at any time when they are needed” explained Chief Civil Deputy Lisa Dell.
Legislator Richard McCarron (11th District) asked if this will “open the door to us maybe having more opportunity to obtain the seizure money that comes out of these investigations” to which Dell said yes.
The committee also discussed a resolution which would allow Onondaga County to enter into a lease agreement with the Radisson Community Center Inc. for office space at the Oberon Community Center, Radisson, in the Town of Lysander.
The space is currently being used by the Sheriff’s Office as a substation and the department desires to continue doing so. In addition to needed office space and bathroom facilities, the location also is convenient for the community and provides OCSO with added exposure. Under this agreement, there is no cost to the county.
The Radisson substation is one of four in Onondaga County. The others are in Onondaga, Salina and Van Buren.
Committee Chair Mark Olson (10th District) noted at the end of the meeting that he was sending a letter to the President and CEO of CSX Transportation, following a train derailment in his district. It occurred in the overnight hours of March 18th in the Minoa section of the CSX DeWitt Railyard and involved six train cars, two of which ended up on their side next to the track and quite visible from a heavily-traveled road. Olson’s concern is that CSX never alerted any emergency officials who could have notified the public that there was no danger or need for concern. Thousands of people saw the tipped train cars throughout the day and were fearful of what they and their family members potentially were being exposed to. It wasn’t until hours later CSX Transportation finally shared that the tipped cars contained sunflower seed oil. As of this writing, Chair Olson has not received any type of response from CSX Transportation.
Legislator Kenneth Bush Jr. (13th District) serves on this committee, as well as the Health & Human Services committee. With just one item on the agenda, their March meeting was a fast one.
Commissioner Sarah Merrick from the Department of Social Services – Economic Security spoke about a personnel resolution which authorizes a boost in pay for six Principal Employment Counselors in the department’s Temporary Assistance Employment Division.
Making her case, Commissioner Merrick said, “Last year, that whole team was able to get 1,521 individuals employed. My SST [Social Security Transition] team did a fabulous job transitioning 359 temporary assistance clients to Social Security income and that saved the county $1.9 million dollars. It’s a better benefit for them and it is a huge savings for the county.”
The committee is chaired by Legislator Cody Kelly (14th District) and also includes Legislator McCarron and Legislator Kevin Meaker (2nd District).
The first item on the agenda at March’s Environmental Protection committee meeting was the acceptance of grant funds from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Office of Climate Change in the amount of $100,000. The money will be used to help update and redo Onondaga County’s climate action plan.
“This $100,000 will really help us with phase one of redoing the plan, relooking at our greenhouse gas emissions, and reassessing our goals” Director Jesse McMahon of the county’s Office of Environment shared with Legislators. “It’s really kind of just getting our feet under us as far as climate action in the county.”
Director McMahon also said the county is very close to being certified as a climate smart community and that would allow her office to go after more funding opportunities. A task force is working towards that end goal, and Committee Chair Julie Abbott (6th District) is part of it.
The Director also spoke about a $75,000 transfer resolution for her department. The money was added by the Legislature to help with water chestnut mitigation in the county. The invasive species has become a big problem on local waterways in recent years.
“The Jack’s Reef area will get the most of this” said Chair Abbott. “What’s happened is, Cayuga County Soil and Water reaches across to us in Onondaga County Soil and Water to contract and do work for them. It’s kind of a sharing and not duplicating services but it’s become such a problem with the water chestnuts everywhere that now you have to contract sooner than later. When the seeds break off it is too late. You need to get the water chestnuts out before a certain time, so this allows Soil and Water to contract now to make sure they have the equipment and manpower."
In July 2022, Chair Abbott took her committee to Long Branch Park in Liverpool for an informative discussion on water chestnuts and a chance to see how the invasive species are removed – by hand - from the water. She feels the state should help pay for this removal. Last year more than 13 million pounds of water chestnuts had to be removed.
Committee Chair Julie Abbott with Legislators Colleen Gunnip and Debra Cody watch water chestnut removal
A closeup shot of a water chestnut plant
The water chestnuts "break off the size of five football fields, float downstream and jam up our waterways” adds Chair Abbott. “And then you talk about tourism, property value, quality of life and preserving our waterways but to me, there has to be a more comprehensive plan.”
Speaking of water, the Executive Director of Operations for the Onondaga County Water Authority (OCWA) discussed a desired change to the rates charged for water and service in the City of Syracuse. Geoff Miller told the committee the change would help equalize rates countywide and that city residents would not see an increase in what they pay due to this change for several years.
Finally, the committee received an update on projects currently underway at the county’s Department of Water Environment Protection (WEP). Commissioner Shannon Harty says WEP projects are large and complex and long in duration.
She started by sharing the typical steps for a capital project.
Commissioner Harty also provided Legislators with printed updates for each project currently underway. They include:
Baldwinsville-Seneca Knolls and Oak Orchard WWTP Oxygen System Replacement
Camillus Force Main Replacement
Clarifier Rehabilitation at Brewerton WWTP
Meadowbrook Limestone WWTP Aeration System Improvements, Pump Station Upgrades
Davis Rd Pump Station Rehabilitation and Forcemain Improvements
Ley Creek/Liverpool Force Main Rehabilitation/Replacement Project
Meadowbrook Limestone & Brewerton WWTP Drum Replacement & Odor Control
Metropolitan WWTP Clarifier Rehabilitation, Main Substation Asset Renewal
Metropolitan WWTP Harbor Brook Pump Station Asset Renewal
Richmond Street, Sackett Street, Taylor Street Pump Station Rehabilitations
Improvements to Kirkpatrick Pump Station, Woodard Pump Station, Lakeside Pump Station
White Pine/Rt 31 Municipal Sewer Expansion
Committee member, Legislator Debra Cody (5th District), says “Kudos to the WEP team for providing us with a comprehensive guide to their ongoing projects, complete with costs and color coded timetables - very instructive and much appreciated!”
The first Planning & Economic Development committee of the term was held, with Legislator David Knapp (12th District) taking on the role of Chair.
Facilities Management Commissioner Archie Wixson came before the committee to ask for an additional $15.5 million dollars for the renovation of the former Central High School for use as a STEAM school. He said that from the time the original funding was approved in 2019, the cost of work has increased due to inflation and the pandemic.
“The New York State Department of Education will be reimbursing the Syracuse City School District for this and they will pay us back in their lease agreement with us” he told committee members.
Legislator Meaker asked, “So once this project is completed and the county is made whole, the county will then sign over the deed to this building to the Syracuse City School District or the City of Syracuse?”
“It’s my understanding that the property is the City of Syracuse” Commissioner Wixson answered. “The actual real estate that the building sits on is the City of Syracuse.”
Onondaga County Deputy County Executive Brian Donnelly added, “The City transferred ownership of the building to the county for $1.00. Once the bonds are paid off and the lease is complete, the building will go back to the City of Syracuse.”
Chair Knapp said, “I was Chairman when the Legislature put this through four years ago and as we know, nothing is the same as it was in 2019. I'm not surprised that we are seeing this, but it is great project.”
The resolution was advanced, then Department of Planning Director Dan Kwasnowski shared an update on the implementation of Plan Onondaga, the county’s recently updated comprehensive plan.
Many of the above resolutions came before the Ways & Means committee, where they were approved and advanced to Session for a full vote by the Legislature. Legislator Colleen Gunnip (4th District) chairs the committee.
Leader Brian May (1st District) added some context to the funding request for the Office of Environment’s request for $75,000 for water chestnut mitigation.
“Two years ago, when I was chairing Ways and Means, we came up with a solution that was based on the needs of Soil and Water to accomplish what needs to be accomplished year-to-year. The goal was to make sure there was $175,000 annually available to Soil and Water to do what needs to be done to remediate water chestnuts in the river system all the way through. Because we never know how much is going to be used or expended, whatever is unexpended gets dropped into a project account to then fortify at the point we go to budget. That’s the goal, process and funding method for that problem so we need to release the full amount."
The committee also advanced to Session the correction of certain errors on county tax bills, and appointments to the Central New York Regional Transportation Authority, the Onondaga County Board of Ethics and the Onondaga County Public Library Board of Trustees.
At April Session, all the above items were approved 17-0 by the full Legislature with one exception – appointments to the Onondaga County Public Library Board of Trustees.
“The County Executive makes his picks for this board, and does so based on a thorough review of all applicants” said Legislature Chairman Timothy Burtis (3rd District). “Just like in the professional world, often times there are more applicants than openings and the field is narrowed to the candidates who could best fill the role.”
Speaking on the floor about appointments in general, Legislator Gunnip said, “I take this role very, very seriously. I review the resumes and maybe everybody does not fit the qualifications of what they should be on the board but everybody brings a different perspective to the board. I’ve been on a committee for about 20 years and it’s a music committee that presents music performances in our village and I’ve never played an instrument and I’ve never sang a song but I do have really good organizational skills and I believe I’m an asset to that committee.
The full Legislature also approved an Intermunicipal Agreement between Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse for use of, and access to, a portion of South Warren Street in the city as STEAM school construction continues.