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MVHS DEIS: Executive Summary

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Executive Summary

To further its goal of delivering higher quality, more effective care with better community outcomes at a lower cost, the Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) proposes to build and operate an Integrated Health Campus (IHC), which will include the following elements:

 Hospital building
 Central utility plant (CUP)
 Parking facilities (including one municipal parking garage and multiple surface lots)
 Future medical office building (MOB) (by private developer)
 Campus grounds
 Hospital helipad

The IHC will replace and consolidate services currently provided at MVHS’ existing Faxton-St. Luke’s Hospital (FSLH) and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center (SEMC). Except for certain existing ancillary facilities within which existing operations will be maintained, MVHS’ also plans to redevelop the existing St. Luke’s and SEMC campuses consistent with the Town of New Hartford’s and the City of Utica’s long-term development plans such that each site will remain capable of making an economically positive contribution to each community.

The MVHS IHC will encompass approximately 25-acres within the City of Utica, which will generally be bounded by Oriskany Street (NYS Route 5S) to the north, Broadway to the east, NYS Route 5/8/12 to the west, and Columbia Street, City Hall and Kennedy Apartments to the south. The proposed location is proximal to the City’s urban core, as well as the City’s proposed “U” District, existing Brewery District, Bagg’s Square and Utica Harbor Point. Development of the MVHS IHC will involve the acquisition of properties, modifications to existing public/private utility infrastructure, and closure of city streets. A 40-month construction schedule, beginning in 2019, is anticipated. The hospital will operate 24-hours per day, 365-days per year.

Funding for the project will be furnished, in part, by New York State via the Oneida County Health Care Facility Transformation Program, which provided capital funding ($300 million) “in support of projects located in the largest population center in Oneida County that consolidate multiple licensed health care facilities into an integrated system of care.”

Construction and operation of the IHC will require several local and state permits and approvals. The issuance of local and state discretionary approvals requires compliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), which mandates that environmental review must be completed for projects that may result in a significant adverse environmental impact. The SEQR process establishes steps to systematically consider environmental and socio-economic factors early in the planning stages of actions that are directly undertaken, funded or approved by local, regional and state agencies. By incorporating environmental review early in the planning stages, projects can be modified as needed to avoid or minimize adverse impacts on the environment.

The City of Utica Planning Board is acting as the Lead Agency for the IHC SEQR process. The Lead Agency is the Involved Agency principally responsible for undertaking, funding or approving an action, and therefore responsible for determining whether an environmental impact statement is required in connection with the action. As the public agency responsible for reviewing and approving the IHC site plan, the City Planning Board, as SEQR Lead Agency in a coordinated review process, issued a “Positive Declaration” requiring the project sponsor (MVHS) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

In July 2018, the City Planning Board issued a Final Scoping Document, which summarized the required content of the DEIS. The Final Scoping Document was based on the receipt of substantive public and agency comments received during a 30-day public scoping comment period that included a public scoping meeting held on June 7, 2018.

This DEIS has been prepared to evaluate potentially significant adverse impacts and reasonable alternatives. Moreover, measures to reduce/mitigate the significant adverse impacts that could potentially result from the construction and operation of the project are identified in the DEIS. Consistent with the Final Scoping Document, the DEIS considers impacts relative to land, surface water, groundwater, air, aesthetic resources, historic and archaeological resources, transportation, energy, utilities, noise and odor, human health, community character, and solid waste.

In addition to issues identified in the Final Scoping Document, SEQR regulations require that the following elements be included in the DEIS:

 Cover sheet
 Table of contents
 Summary of the document
 A concise description of the proposed action, its purpose, public need and benefits, including social and economic considerations
 A concise description of the environmental setting of the areas to be affected, sufficient to understand the impacts of the proposed action and alternatives
 A statement and evaluation of the potential significant adverse environmental impacts at a level of detail that reflects the severity of the impacts and the reasonable likelihood of their occurrence including, as applicable:
» Reasonably related short-term and long-term impacts, cumulative impacts and other associated environmental impacts
» Those adverse environmental impacts that cannot be avoided or adequately mitigated
» Any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of environmental resources that would be associated with the proposed action
» Any growth-inducing aspects of the proposed action
» Impacts of the proposed action on the use and conservation of energy
» Impacts of the proposed action on solid waste management and its consistency with the state or locally adopted solid waste management plan
 A description of the mitigation measures
 A description and evaluation of the range of reasonable alternatives to the action that are feasible, considering the objectives and capabilities of the project sponsor including the “no action” alternative.
 A description of the project’s impact on “Environmental Justice” issues
 A list of any underlying studies, reports, EISs and other information obtained and considered in preparing the DEIS.

The DEIS is supported by field and issue-specific studies and evaluations that describe the project's potential impact and potential methods to reduce/mitigate a significant adverse impact on the environment. Information from these supporting studies are relied upon in the document, with the complete reports provided as appendices. Information sources are referenced throughout the document with full citations provided at the end of the document.

Release of this document by the City Planning Board (as Lead Agency) initiates another public and agency review process. Upon acceptance of this DEIS by the City Planning Board, it will be made available to the public and involved/interested agencies for the purposes of soliciting substantive comments. Both written and oral comments will be received, with the latter obtained at a public hearing to be scheduled during the comment period.

Following the comment period, a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) will be prepared. The FEIS will include responses to the substantive agency and public comments raised during the comment period. The FEIS will be used by the involved agencies (including the City Planning Board, as Lead Agency) to make written findings regarding the environmental effects of the proposed actions. In their respective findings, involved agencies weigh and balance the relevant environmental impacts along with social, economic, and other essential considerations to determine whether the action minimizes or avoids environmental impacts to the maximum extent practicable. “Findings” must be based on information presented in the FEIS. The proposed action cannot be undertaken until a positive findings statement is written, approved and field and the applicable permits and approvals are obtained.

SEQRA notices relevant to this project will be published in the Utica Observer Dispatch and in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (NYSDEC) Environmental Notice Bulletin. In addition, SEQRA materials will be accessible on the internet at the following address (http://www.cityofutica.com/).

Next Section: Project Overview, or return to MVHS SEQR DEIS Index.


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No Studies, No Reports, thus we remain #NoHospitalDowntown