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MVHS SEQR Scoping: Public Hearing
CITY OF UTICA PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC HEARING
regarding
MOHAWK VALLEY HEALTH SYSTEM ("MVHS") INTEGRATED HEALTH CAMPUS ("IHC”)
STATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY REVIEW ACT ("SEQRA") DRAFT SCOPING DOCUMENT
for
DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
******************
HELD:
Thursday, June 7, 2018
5:30 p.m.
New York State Office Building Conference Rooms A & B
207 Genesee Street
Utica, New York
Present: CITY OF UTICA PLANNING BOARD Fred Matrulli, Chairman Joseph Caruso, Member Anthony Colon, Member Christopher Lawrence, Senior Planner CITY OF UTICA, One Kennedy Plaza, Utica, New York, Kathleen M. Bennett, Esq. BOND, SCHOENECK & KING One Lincoln Center Syracuse, New York 13202 (315) 218-8631 kbennett@bsk.com
REPORTED BY:
NORA B. LAMICA, Shorthand Reporter and Notary Public
Mike Solak, Regional Vice President HAMMES COMPANY,
100 Cummings Center, Suite 207-P Beverly, Massachusetts 01915
(603) 370-0923
msolak@hammesco.com
Steven M. Eckler, Technical Manager O'BRIEN & GERE, 101 First Street, 4th Floor, Utica, New York
(315) 956-6421
Steve.Eckler@obg.com
PROCEEDINGS
MR. MATRULLI: Good evening everybody. We're ready to proceed. Can I have a motion to open the Hearing?
MR. CARUSO: I move that we open.
MR. COLON: Second.
MR. MATRULLI: The meeting is open. At this time, I would like to present Kathleen Bennett from the Bond, Schoeneck & King firm, who's going to talk about the project and our scoping documents. Kathleen?
MS. BENNETT: Hi. Good evening everybody. I am an attorney with Bond, Schoeneck & King, and we represent Mohawk Valley Health System in connection with the construction of an Integrated Health Campus in downtown Utica.
On May 7th, the City Planning Board issued a positive declaration pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, which I'm going to refer to as SEQRA -- and for purposes of the stenographer, that's S-E-Q-R-A -- and identified several potential significant impacts that require further study in a draft environmental impact statement, which I may refer to from time to time as an EIS.
In accordance with SEQRA, the draft EIS must address specific adverse environmental impacts, which can be reasonably anticipated. In connection with this process, the Planning Board has opted to engage in what's called the scoping process in order to solicit public input on the contents of the DEIS, focus the draft EIS on potentially significant adverse impacts, and eliminate consideration of those impacts that are irrelevant or non-significant.
With that in mind, we thought it would be useful to provide a brief overview of the project and the draft scoping document that has been available on the City's website.
So at this time, I'm going to ask Mike Solak, the regional vice-president of Hammes Companies, the project manager, to provide a brief overview of the project.
MR. SOLAK: Good evening. My name is Mike Solak. I work for the Hammes Company, which is a healthcare development firm. We've been contracted by Mohawk Valley to help manage the project going forward. A brief description of the project is what is contemplated as a 673,000 square foot acute care hospital, multi-story, containing services such as operating rooms, emergency department, labor and delivery, behavioral health, inpatient beds. The bed count is approximately 373 beds. And it is contemplated to be having cardiac services, which some of the beds will be of a CCU/ICU configuration. And there will be some multiple buildings associated with the campus eventually, including a parking garage, but currently this project is contemplating the hospital structure. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: If anyone hasn't signed up on the sign-up sheet that wishes to speak, you need to do that now. Does anybody fall in that category?
(Attendees indicated in the Negative.)
MS. BENNETT: So just briefly on the scoping process and the scoping document.
So SEQRA establishes a process to systematically consider environmental factors early in the planning stages of actions that require funding or approvals from local, regional or state agencies. Prior to issuing any discretionary decision, agencies must balance environmental impacts with social and economic factors.
The required avoid or Environmental Impact Statement that's for this project will explore ways to minimize some or all of the potential adverse environmental impacts in order to balance those impacts with social and economic factors. In order to do that, the draft EIS will identify the significant environmental conditions and resources that may be affected by the project, assess relevant environmental impacts of the project on those environmental conditions and resources, and eliminate or de-emphasize irrelevant or insignificant impacts or issues.
The scoping process will better frame the contents of the draft Environmental Impact Statement by focusing the EIS on the most relevant issues and potential impacts, including means to avoid or minimize those impacts and ensure that the draft EIS will be a concise, accurate and complete document adequate for public review.
 Scoping also allows an opportunity for public input and results in a review with broader perspective.
So to give you a 30,000 foot overview of the Draft Scoping Document, that document includes potentially significant adverse environmental impacts, including both short-term construction-related activities and long-term impacts associated with the operation of the proposed project. The potential impacts in that document are identified by topic and includes the extent and quality of information needed to adequately address each impact, such as existing information, required new information, and methodologies for obtaining that new information, as well as an initial identification of mitigation measures to avoid or minimize potential adverse environmental impacts.
So for example, the scoping document has identified the following potential impacts:
Potential impact to land and surface water during construction activities and includes potential mitigation to include preparation of a storm water pollution prevention plan and management of any impacted soils or subsoils in accordance with state and federal requirements.
It identifies potential impacts to groundwater during construction and operation in connection with historic spills from above or underground tanks and in connection with the bulk storage of fuel oil, and potential mitigation to include preparation of a storm water pollution prevention plan, a construction health and safety plan, removal of any historic contamination in accordance with state and federal requirements, and compliance with state and federal regulations for installation of any new tanks.
A potential impact to air from dust during construction and from emissions during combustion and process sources during operation to be mitigated by best management practices during construction and obtaining a state air facility registration from DEC for the operation of the hospital. Potential impacts from lighting to be mitigated by adherence to building code requirements and use of lighting fixtures that reduce glare and spillover.
 Potential impacts to historic and archeological resources to be mitigated by entering into and adhering to the terms of a programmatic agreement with the State Historic Preservation Office.
Potential impacts on transportation, which will require preparation of a traffic impact study and consultation with the New York State Department of Transportation and the City of Utica to develop appropriate mitigation with respect to road and/or signal improvements.
Potential impacts on utilities as a result of improvements and modifications needed to the existing utility infrastructure.
Potential impacts on energy during operation to be mitigated by implementation of energy-saving measures.
Potential impacts on noise during construction and operation to be mitigated by compliance with city code requirements.
Potential impacts on human health to include disturbance of hazardous building materials and contaminated soils and groundwater during demolition and excavation to be mitigated by implementation of a construction safety plan and complying with state requirements for demolition and disposal.
The use of hazardous materials and generation of regulated medical waste to be mitigated by handling, storing and disposing in accordance with state and federal requirements.
The proximity of the hospital to daycare centers and the proximity of the hospital to the CSX rail line to be mitigated by coordinating with emergency response commissions and implementation of emergency response plans.
Potential impacts on community character from land acquisition, secondary economic development, development different from surrounding land use patterns/architecture/character to be mitigated by compliance with building code and the programmatic agreement with the State Historical Preservation Office.
Potential impacts on solid waste management to be mitigated by compliance with local and state disposal plans and regulations.
And the potential impact on environmental justice to be addressed by implementation of the public participation plan. So the draft EIS will also consider the potential for cumulative impacts in conjunction with other proposed and existing projects, especially with regard to traffic and utility infrastructure, growth-inducing aspects of the project by relocating existing businesses and by increasing development potential of the surrounding area, and reasonable alternatives, including in addition to the downtown Utica site, the former New York State Psychiatric Center, the St. Luke's Hospital Campus, and the New Hartford Shopping Center.
So just by way of understanding what comes next with regard to the process, all of the comments received tonight or in writing up to June 20th will be reviewed by the Planning Board and the Applicant. The Planning Board, as the lead agency, is ultimately responsible for determining which issues and concerns are actually relevant, substantive potential impacts which should be included in the final written scoping document. The final scope that will be adopted by the Planning Board will become the standard by which the applicant, the lead agency and any other involved or interested entities should use in determining the adequacy of a submitted Environmental Impact Statement.
Once the EIS is determined to be complete, there will be another round of public comment on that document, followed by preparation of a final Environmental Impact Statement, and the adoption of a findings statement by the lead agency and then by all involved agencies prior to any approvals that those agencies have to issue with respect to the project.
So we thank you for your time and we look forward to your comments.
MR. MATRULLI: Can I have a motion to open the Public Hearing?
MR. CARUSO: So moved.
MR. COLON: Second.
MR. MATRULLI: The Hearing is open. Thank you for coming. The purpose of this Hearing is to identify potentially significant adverse impacts related to the proposed actions that are to be addressed in the draft environmental impact statement, including the content and level of detail of the analysis, the range of alternatives, the mitigation measures needed, and the identification of non-relevant issues. Scoping provides us with guidance on matters that must be considered in the environmental impact statement and provides an opportunity for early participation by involved agencies and the public in review of the proposal.
A draft scoping document was prepared by the applicant and was made available to involved and interested agencies, as well as to the public via the City's project website.
As SEQRA leading agency, the Planning Board scheduled a public scoping meeting to solicit public input relevant to the matters to be addressed in the environmental impact statement, which will be prepared over the next couple of months.
As lead agency, the Planning Board is interested in receiving your input on the following: An identification of those aspects of the environmental setting that may be impacted by the proposed project; the extent and quality of information needed to adequately address each impact; mitigation measures to avoid and minimize adverse environmental impact; the range of reasonable alternatives to be considered.
A final scoping document will be prepared that will account for the relevant substantive comments we receive tonight, and through the public meeting period, which ends on June 20th. The final scoping document will provide a road map that will guide the preparation of the environmental impact statement.
I would like to state the following meeting ground rules. This is your time to provide input. We will not be responding to questions or comments tonight. Feedback will be used to guide the content of the environmental impact statement. Respect the stated purpose of the meeting.
Respect each other. Listen actively to others. Be patient when listening to others speak and do not interrupt them. Limit side conversations. Please silence cellphones. If you choose to make a comment, we will allow each individual three minutes to speak, per our normal Planning Board protocol. Chris Lawrence will be our timekeeper and will notify the speaker when the three minutes is complete. Be respectful of the time allotted for verbal comments. Additional thoughts can be shared via the comment cards provided.
Speakers will be called in order per the sign-up sheet. Once your name is called, please make your way to the microphone to provide your comments. Note that you may only sign up once for your own opportunity to speak. Speaking time may not be transferred to anyone else.
We have a stenographer present to capture verbal comments. Please clearly state your name and address before you begin your comments. The stenographer may ask you to repeat or spell your name or street address.
If you have additional comments you would like to submit and you do not feel comfortable speaking in front of the group, you may submit a written comment via the comment cards available. Mail comments to City of Utica Planning Board, One Kennedy Plaza, Utica, New York 13502. E-mail comments to bthomas@cityofutica.com. For more information, visit the cityofutica.com or cityofutica.com/department/urban-economic- development/planning/mvhc-seqra/index. Got that?
All comments are due by close of business on June 20th.
Okay. We shall begin. And I hope I don't destroy too many names as I go through here. Mark Laramie of Judd Road, Oriskany.
MR. LARAMIE: Good evening. My name is Mark Laramie. My address is 5999 Judd Road, Oriskany, New York. I'm here to support the Mohawk Valley Health System Integrated Health Campus project.
I work for the Oneida County Department of Public Works, and for the past twenty-five years, I have been directly involved with many municipal and public development projects in the historic Bagg Square district within the City of Utica, New York. I have witnessed firsthand the positive impact public improvement investment projects have had on the economic development, historic preservation, and revitalization of the district.
As a result of public investment, future prospects for the historic Bagg Square district are better now than any time in the memorable past. The Mohawk Valley Health System Integrated Health Campus Project will have a similar, but exponentially larger halo effect on economic development, historic preservation, and revitalization, and these benefits will persist for many generations to come. It is my opinion that these benefits must be carefully weighed when considering any adverse impacts that this project may present in the community. Thank you very much.
MR. MATURELY: Thank you. Next is Millie Candor [phonetic] -- Millie, I'm sorry, but I can't read your writing.
MS. CANDOR: No.
MR. MATRULLI: No? Dave Mathis. MR. MATHIS: Thank you. My name is
David Mathis, M-A-T-H-I-S. I live at 833 Symonds Place, that's S-Y-M-O-N-D-S Place, Utica.
I'm here also to voice support for the new hospital in downtown Utica. I have been a resident of the City of Utica for seventy years. I have worked downtown in Utica for forty-four years. From 1974 to 1980, I worked in 360 Columbia street. That's the old Burger Department Store building. And for the six years I worked there, it was a horrible building then and it's a horrible building now. I can tell you that without a doubt, as I travel through the city -- I worked downtown for forty-four years, and my way home is to go down Lafayette Street, Bleecker Street. And as I travel through that area, it's very clear to me that we need to have something done there. And to have the environmental scope done and to look at that location for development, it's clear we need to have it. You know.
I go back far enough to remember when many of us at the time wanted to see development in the City of Utica, and one of the projects that we supported was to maybe put SUNY-Poly, which is now in Marcy. We wanted it downtown Utica, because we believed it would bring economic development, jobs and a lot of growth. We didn't do that. Utica lost out. Now I'm hearing the same thing again, that if we build the hospital somewhere else, Utica will lose out.
I'm about supporting strongly that we need to have development within the City of Utica. This project will do it. I think if you drive down there or if you walk down there where this project is proposed, take a look at it. And when somebody tells me that these buildings need to be preserved, I just don't see it. And I think it's about time that those of us who are strongly supportive of development within the City of Utica, that we take a stand. My stand is build the hospital. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Karen Jones.
MS. JONES: Good afternoon. Karen Jones. I'm the director of the Department of Social Services, 800 Park Ave, Utica. I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak here today.
The Department of Social Services is one of the largest county departments. We have eleven divisions that encompass more than twenty-five distinct program areas. The services provided are diverse in what we're able to provide, running the gambit from benefit-related programs, temporary assistance, SNAP, Medicaid, to services-related programs such as child welfare, adult and child protection, employment and daycare, foster care and adoptions. While these services are quite diverse, they share a common theme of primarily working with people who struggle with issues related to poverty.
Poverty brings with it a myriad of other problems, indirectly related to the issue of not having enough resources to meet one's basic needs, issues like the lack of access to secure and adequate housing, transportation, child care, safe and environmentally-friendly neighborhoods, medical care, and quality education and job skills, all of which are critical to a person's ability to escape impoverishment.
The mission of the Oneida County Department of Social Services is to provide for financial and social services to eligible residents of Oneida County and to ensure these services are provided in a manner that reflects respect for each individual and enhances family and individual functioning and well-being, reducing dependency and maintaining children and adults in a safe community as a first priority.
When I reflect on this statement, it's evident to me that to be successful in meeting our objections -- our objectives, it is essential that there be recognition that a person's well-being and independence must be viewed in the context of the community as a whole and the opportunities that exist within the environment in which our individuals live, work and play. I think it is often these types of connections that are missed between the community and social services, because DSS is often perceived by the general public as the answer to the problem of poverty versus one that is a component of a many-sided solution to the complex issue.
The availability of quality healthcare, and the revitalization of the area of an urban center and creation of job opportunities are all tremendously available to people seeking assistance from our department. Poverty has been clearly linked to many adverse health conditions, social problems, and therefore, impoverishment impacts our entire community, regardless of one's own social and economic standing. A lack of fiscal or social resources creates situations where a person is unable to mitigate the normal problems each of us encounters everyday. Having adequate resources provides a buffer to manage difficult situations, whether it be addiction, relationship problems, poor health, high stress, or a vast array of human challenges that are in existence in every society and every social class. One strategy to remedy this is to ensure recipients have access to high-quality and readily available healthcare. Another strategy is to create opportunities --
MR. LAWRENCE: Ma'am, your time is up.
MR. JONES: Okay. Thank you. I apologize. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you.
MS. BENNETT: You can remind speakers that they can submit written, too.
MR. MATRULLI: You can submit that in writing. Anybody can submit anything they've printed up, the whole package. We'd be more than happy to receive it. Frank --
MR. LAWRENCE: I want this to go as smooth as possible. I don't want to cut anybody off, but it might help that I just raise my hand at ten seconds just to give you a warning.
MR. MATRULLI: Frank Przybycien.
MR. PRZYBYCIEN: My name is Frank Przybycien, 10 Irving Place, Utica, New York.
COURT REPORTER: Can you spell your last name, sir?
MR. MATRULLI: Spell that.
MR. PRZYBYCIEN: P-R-Z-Y-B-Y-C-I-E-N. I'm representing myself. I'm a professional engineer, and I'm also representing, tonight, the Genesis Group.
The Genesis Group feels very strongly for the approval of this project and endorsing it at a downtown location. We think that the location is the best in the entire region. It's got road development - north, south, east, west - and it's the cornerstone of that. It also is less than five minutes away from the thruway exit.
The first thought that we have is that the project, although we're looking at it as a project for today, once the medical center is open, it is going to be in use between sixty and eighty years. And we've got to think of it as, what is medicine going to be like in eighty years? What is transportation going to be like in eighty years? This building will still be in use. So we're looking at it from the long range, not just the first year it's open.
The first thing we do think of is it has an amazing conductivity to other great projects that are underway in downtown Utica, the "U" District, historic Bagg Square, hotels, and also Varrick Street and multi-purpose housing and so many other proposals that are yet to be named. We think that this location -- and I don't think of it as a hospital. I think it should be thought of as a medical center campus, that there will be additional buildings and additional towers and additional services that we don't even dream of today will be underway in this location.
The support services for this location are just outstanding. We also think that we should use renewable energy where it is possible, particularly geothermal, if not in Phase 1 of this project, but in further phases. We'd like to think that this medical center will have R&D resources, and that Utica will become known as a research center and additional jobs in the medical industry.
The final thought is this project gives unique opportunities for other uses of the three hospitals that are presently being used.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Different people are being asked different questions, like their name and so forth. Can you start the timer after people specify their name and they're asked to spell it, so on and so forth, so the clerical work is not counted in their time? Is that possible?
MR. LAWRENCE: Yes.
MR. MATRULLI: Michael Galime.
MR. GALIME: My name's Michael Galime, spelled G-A-L-I-M-E. Rather than come before the Planning Board this evening and discuss whether there's support or a lack of support for this project, I'd like to address the process.
Over two years ago, this project began with a proposal. It was very public. It was discussed. A location was selected publicly. This process should have begun with MVHS and the business owners, the property owners. That's how that process should have begun.
And then the second step, which was Phase 2 of this project, should have been the filing of this project and the Planning Board. As we know, after almost three years, February 2nd of this year is when this project actually officially started. I feel that the Utica Planning Board should have been afforded the ability to weigh in on the impacts of a potential hospital downtown prior to two years of public debate, promotion and demotion of this project.
Essentially what I'm asking today is that this assessment be pragmatic and priority-based, and I'd just like to list some of those priorities from the perspective of Utica.
The tax base, how it's affected. The City of Utica has essentially provided its services to the residents of this City, and the tax base and the ability for it to garner revenue is very important.
The private property and business owners, not only in the primary subject of how to deal with the fact that there are business owners that may be displaced if this hospital is built, but also the secondary effects if people are relocated. There has been proposals through the LDCs that they'll be given pilots and other tax breaks. So there's not only primary issues here, there's also secondary and tertiary.
The city facilities and property. There are much costs involved in not only gifting properties to this project, but also the relocation of facilities, such as the police department and other facilities in the near future, and they are related to this project and should be considered as part of this cost.
Our form-based code. We do have a form-based code. If this proposal does move forward, I would strongly urge that the Planning Board be allowed to consider that form-based code and that those impacts be weighed on the actual design of the hospital.
The St. Luke's campus and the St. Elizabeth's campus, not only will this affect other parts of the City of Utica, but this will also affect other parts of the City of New Hartford -- or Town of New Hartford. Those may have positive and negative effects.
Overall, what are we building and why? The legislation states very specific things, and it's for the delivery of good healthcare --
MR. LAWRENCE: Time's up.
MR. GALIME: -- whether this building will provide this or not.
MR. MATRULLI: Michael, can you also provide us with your address?
MR. GALIME: Yes, 2617 Crestway, 13501. It's Utica. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Michael Romano.
MR. ROMANO: Michael Romano, 120 Airline Street, Oriskany.
I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to speak about the proposed downtown hospital project. On behalf of the needs of our region's older residents and those with special needs, I'm Michael Romano, director of the Oneida County Office for the Aging and Continuing Care.
And I would like to commend the leaders of the Mohawk Valley Health Systems, who have had the vision and foresight to create and design the intent to consolidate existing resources, while eliminating duplication, with the goal of expanding the breadth and scope of medical services.
I believe the system designed to incorporate the latest technology to improve access and availability, along with a plan to attract specialists, is of the upmost importance to better serve our communities and increasing older population, those known to be at greatest risk for acquiring multiple chronic conditions and acute illness requiring and deserving the most skilled medical care available. Since we know our area already has a high percentage of older persons, as cited by our county demographics, which includes close to 52,000 persons over the age of 60 county-wide, of which include 48,000 living in the cities of Utica and Rome. Demographic projections indicate this population will increase significantly by 2050. And if you consider this idea from a regional perspective, the older population, age 60 and older, are projected to increase by nearly 30,000 by 2040. And again, this is a population that is projected to be the higher utilizers of both acute and primary care and -- of our five-county region.
And while planning to accommodate for elders and the need for emergency department care, acute care, and discharges into rehabilitation and community care, I urge the planners to not only consider the demographic projections, but to also consider the national hospitalization rates of older persons. National data indicates that while hospitalization rates of those 85 and older are significantly higher than those age 65 to 85, they're generally up to five times higher than those under the age of 65. Also statewide demographics also project that age 85 and will increase by twenty-five percent from two-thousand to twenty-five [sic].
So because of this trend, I also ask approach this with increased focus on the our older consumers. So thank you very much.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Karen Corrigan-Ryder.
MS. CORRIGAN-RYDER: Good evening. My name is Karen Corrigan-Ryder. I'm here on behalf of Claris, LLC, which owns the property at 333 Lafayette Street, the Burger Department Store, which by the way is alive and moving, and Wilcor International, which has an annual product show and displays at 333 Lafayette Street. Does that take care of the address and the name? Okay.
Our property and a substantial portion of our business is in the footprint, and where our older that you needs of employees and ourselves will be displaced with this move. The draft scope by MVHS is a starting point, but it's a mere skeleton of what a proper scope for a project of this scale and magnitude should be.
We understand that the SEQRA process involves some give and take. From this first draft scope, it's clear that MVHS expects to take, and expects the community to give. This is their first offer, and we urge the Board to come back with a more reasonable and realistic scope for an EIS that will more fully achieve SEQRA's objective of elevating environmental considerations to equal footing with social and economic considerations.
Since this is a blueprint for the entire environmental review, it's imperative that we get this right at the outset and we embark on this process together, that both the community and MVHS receives proper, even time to discuss the process. It will be the Board's determination whether the final scope is adequate, so please give this document and your efforts your most careful consideration. We will submit this in writing.
How an applicant will finance a particular project is not typically relevant to a project's purpose and need; therefore, we ask that the state grant not to be referenced or discussed under the section on purpose and need, as those two parameters need to be independently and clearly established in this record. Spending money for the sake of spending money is not a legitimate purpose.
SEQRA's broad definition of "environmental" includes existing patterns of population, concentration, distribution or growth and existing community or neighborhood character. This project would affect multiple communities and neighborhoods in Oneida County, not just downtown. We don't believe the draft scope properly addresses these existing patterns and character, or the significant impacts the project will have on our existing patterns of growth and development in our neighborhoods.
We urge the Board to take the necessary hard look and analyze how the project will affect the neighborhood and community where the project is proposed, including people and business such as ours, which would be displaced, as well as those around the existing facilities, including the Associated Medical Service businesses who have made significant investments around the current existing facilities. Please make sure that they're subject to analysis and a robust discussion whether DEIS -- and please make sure, very sure, that adequate mitigation is imposed for all these impacts.
I believe that somebody will be finishing my comment when they come up, and I thank you very much.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Patrice Bogan.
MS. BOGAN: Hi. My name is Patrice Bogan, and I'm a City of Utica resident at 320 Hartford Place --
COURT REPORTER: Can you spell your last name, please?
MS. BOGAN: B-O-G-A-N. And I'm the deputy director of the Oneida County Health Department.
With this new hospital location comes the opportunity for new and strengthened relationships with the urban community. The required public health and hospital community health assessment identifies the City of Utica with higher than average numbers of obesity, chronic disease, childhood lead poisoning and addiction, to name a few. Therefore, the downtown location is desired, due to the opportunity for this new hospital to enhance health promotion strategies within the City of Utica communities, where it will live and where it will serve, and that, in benefit Oneida County as a whole. Many factors that contribute outside of the healthcare system.
turn, will to health are The social determinates of health are healthy aging.
Progress in addressing racial and ethnic disparities, and socioeconomic status all influence health. The New York State prevention agenda recognizes the critical role of healthcare providers and health improvement, with emphasis on actions that the community, at an environmental level to achieve prevention agenda objectives, with a goal of improved health status of New Yorkers.
Within the healthcare setting, strategies that increase access to care and foster more meaningful engagement with those getting care will support the goal of improved health and reduction of disparities through increased emphasis on prevention. This development will provide growth and improvement of a healthcare system for a rapidly aging population. The downtown location will provide an easily accessible site for people in need. The combined services from existing locations to this central point will also increase operational efficiencies, decreasing the rate of healthcare spending. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Dan Gilmore.
MR. GILMORE: My name is Daniel Gilmore, G-I-L-M-O-R-E. I'm with the Oneida County Health Department. I'm the environmental health director, 185 Genesee Street, Utica, New York.
I'm here to support the new MVHS hospital. I have several reasons for this.
First, there are some residential and mixed use buildings that are old and dilapidated and unsafe to live in in the hospital footprint area. They will be removed, and this will be a benefit for people that are living in poor conditions.
Second, with the removal of the older buildings and to develop the new construction, it will provide opportunities for water system infrastructure upgrades and improvements. And third, when finished, the project will allow for pathways for walking, green space, and other recreational uses for people that work and live in this section of downtown Utica.
Thank you for your time.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Steven Keblish.
MR. KEBLISH: Steve Keblish, 106 Genesee Street, K-E-B-L-I-S-H. Good evening.
So I want to mostly address the impact on land use tonight, bringing it down to two categories.
Land use by the City of Utica. The City of Utica currently possesses and employs several parcels and streets within the impacted site. These publicly-held lands serve interest in the public good, including supporting public safety operations, private and public transportation, commerce, parking, and preserving the historical character of Utica. The scoping document should call for review of these uses, including plans to mitigate the impacts to the City of Utica's police maintenance facility operations, plans to replace the police maintenance facility, the impact on closing streets to transportation and parking, especially on local events, including the Boilmaker, Adirondack Bank Center events, and other events which rely on these streets, the historical significance of Lafayette Street, the historical significance of the street grid, especially as it relates to historical events, such as National Beer Day and the potential beer museum to be located in Utica, and the values of the properties held by the City of Utica, and the ability of the City to recoup the value of those properties, especially as measured against the purpose of acquiring those properties, i.e., the collecting and generating of property taxes.
And the second category here is the land used by private property owners. The proposed site includes many private property owners who utilize the land for private commerce, non-profit activities, worship, storage, display, services and community organizing. These lands generate benefits to the community and public in the form of property taxes, sales taxes, public space amenities, fellowship, donations, and access to food and other goods. The scoping document should call for a review of those uses, including how the project will impact property tax collection, including the total impact to the county, the city, the school and library before and after the project, including the impacts on property taxes at alternate sites, sales taxes collected within the site, the degree to which charitable giving will be available in or near the impacted site before and after the site -- after the project, the degree to which food service -- food services and other low cost goods will be available before and after in that area, the degree to which space will be available for community organizing, worship and other social activities within that space, and the degree to which the project will displace businesses, people and other community activities. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Dennis Davis.
MR. DAVIS: Good evening. My name is Dennis Davis. I currently have worked thirty-eight years in the heavy construction business. I'm currently the commissioner of public works for the County of Oneida. My comments will be brief and in a general nature of the construction business, and intended to be in support of this project.
Large scale infrastructure projects of this nature definitely can have significant environmental impacts. Improvements, especially storm water discharge, can be realized during these types of large projects and provide long-term benefits. I believe that the scoping document will address all of these issues, and I will provide further written documents. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Ralph Humphreys.
MR. HUMPHREYS: Yes. My name is Ralph Humphreys, H-U-M-P-H-R-E-Y-S, Tibbitts Road, New Hartford. Thank you for the opportunity to be here.
I have more questions than anything else, but listening, I was wondering. Is this about urban renewal or is it about our healthcare? That is one of my questions.
I ran a business for many years, and I was always taught to not put all your eggs in one basket and depend upon -- and I think what we've got with three hospitals under one management is working very good. And with the things that are happening in the world, we're much better to have them divided than all in one place. And we're losing a lot of beds by doing -- doing it this way. You know.
And the main thing about a hospital is the structure of it, that it stays up, a location the people can get to, the equipment in the hospital and the management, and management is a very important thing. You know. They say we've got problems with St. Elizabeth's now. I have not heard of any engineering reports, anything that tells about what is wrong with it, what is the cost to repair it, to put it back in shape. Those things should be decided first before we go into just get rid of it and build a new one.
We will end up -- yes, our project is going to be very expensive, and I believe the best way to stop -- find out where everybody stands is a public referendum and let the voters decide. Do that and then we can advance on after that.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Fred Lampman.
MR. LAMPMAN: Hi. My name is Fred Lampman, 120 Base Road, Oriskany. I am the deputy director for Oneida County's Department of Emergency Services.
Currently our department is undertaking a multimillion dollar public safety radio communications upgrade project, and one of the challenges that we face when dealing with a project of this type is the type of construction that the proposed hospital would be for getting in-building coverage for our first responders when they're in such a facility. And it is our hope that Mohawk Valley Health Systems will work in consultation with our department to implement an in-building communication solution to provide adequate radio communication to our first responders as they move forward with their plan so that our responders can stay in contact with each other and with the 9-1-1 dispatch center. Thank you very much.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Jim Brock.
MR. BROCK: Good evening. I'm Jim Brock. That's B-R-O-C-K, 1900 Genesee Street.
It's been said that a city can never be revitalized by subtraction. Bulldozing an entire historic neighborhood is not the solution. It is, in fact, the problem.
Your job, as the lead agency on SEQRA, is to compare alternative sites, which begs the question: Where are the studies that MVHS promised would be provided to you of the other sites that they chose not to go to?
It is incumbent upon you, as the lead agency, to not only have it for your review, but to also provide it to us, the citizens of this community.
Also, with all due respect to a lot of the folks that spoke today, we're not here to discuss how happy or nice it would be to have the hospital downtown. Your job is to look at the environmental issues. And as you know, SEQRA lays them out. It is not simply air or water. It's minerals, it's flora, it's fauna, it's noise, it's resources of agriculture, it's architectural, historic, aesthetic significance. It's existing population concentration, distribution of growth, existing community or neighborhood character, and ultimately human health. When you look at those, the alternate site that was unanimously approved by the MVH Board of St. Luke's, if it was deemed to not be feasible to come downtown, it's clearly the site it should go to. It is your job to determine whether the alternate site should, in fact, have been the correct site.
We know that by coming downtown, you will disrupt our tax base, both city, school, county, sales. You will disrupt businesses that have been in business for generations. You will literally be giving a green light to rip people's properties away from them, under one of most evil things that exist in our country called eminent domain. We may agree that on occasion, eminent domain, taking a private property for a public use, might have a reason to go forward, but in very limited situations. It should never used to be take private property and give it to a private entity. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Shawn Corrigan.
MR. CORRIGAN: Shawn Corrigan. That's Shawn, S-H-A-W-N, Corrigan, C-O-R-R-I-G-A-N, living at 1 Derbyshire Place, Utica, New York.
And this is in regards to the location at 333 Lafayette Street, owned by Claris, LLC, which is named after my grandmother, who started the business in the early thirties, and Wilcor International is housed in that location with its international showroom.
I want to mention a few others -- SEQRA -- important things to consider. SEQRA requires that all draft environmental impact statements identify and discuss all reasonably related short-term and long-term impacts, community impacts and other associated environmental impacts. Other associated environmental impacts from the project include the secondary impacts that would result from the displacement of property owner and business within the footprint of the project. We understand economic impacts are not directly within the purview of SEQRA, but to the extent this project would substantially interfere and alter our existing patterns and population concentration distribution growth and significantly affect several existing neighborhoods and communities, the secondary impacts to displace these property owners and businesses must be thoroughly analyzed and mitigated.
The draft scope will determine the only alternatives that will be analyzed and discussed in the DEIS. And if an alternative is not in the scope, it is not fair game. So it is extremely important that the range of reasonable alternatives in the scope be as broad and comprehensive as the project is large in scale and scope. At the very least, the final scope should include an alternative that would involve upgrading, renovating or retrofitting MVHS' existing facilities to achieve its objective of improving the delivery of patient care. Such an alternative is viable and could likely achieve significant advancements and efficiencies in patient care at a substantially less cost than the construction of a new facility.
We implore the Board to make sure the range of alternatives specified in the scope is appropriately broad and reasonable and that it omits unnecessary throw-away alternatives, such as the New Hartford Shopping Center. Please do your own independent and thorough review of the draft scope. Rely on your own professional and independent consultants instead of solely on those working for MVHS. And please err on the side of inclusion instead of exclusion when it comes to finalizing the scope, because if something is not in the scope, it won't be in the DEIS. And any of our later comments or any matters not addressed in the DEIS will be completely ignored. That is why the scoping document is so important, so please get it right.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. John Swann.
MR. SWANN: I'm John Swann, S-W-A-N-N, and I'm a Utica resident speaking on behalf of the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, 2608 Genesee Street, Utica.
I've been a Utica resident for more than thirty years, and I speak to you on behalf of the Community Foundation tonight as its executive vice-president.
As an organization committed to significant and continuing investment that enhances area resident's quality of life, the Foundation supports Mohawk Valley Health System's Integrated Health Campus project. The Foundation has invested in many of the area's not-for-profits for decades, including the vast majority, if not all of its institutional healthcare providers in both counties. Meeting the healthcare needs of regional residents is one of our continuing strategic priorities. The MVHS downtown project provides a unique opportunity to build a community asset for our collective future, one that will not only meet healthcare needs, but will also support and enhance urban connectivity and place-making through integrated design. Purposeful investment in our community's urban core through this unprecedented public/private project is not an option. It is a necessity.
It's important to the Community Foundation as a steward of community resources that the draft scoping document thoroughly address potential environmental impacts of this project. We have reviewed the document and found it to be thorough and wide-ranging in fulfilling that purpose. We agree with facts stated in its descriptive comments, and especially the stated project purpose. On behalf of our President and CEO Alicia Dicks and our Board of Trustees, I would like to thank you, members of the City Planning Board, for your dedication and commitment to this process. The Community Foundation looks forward to continued progress, both for the environmental review process now underway, and for MVHS downtown. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. I'm not sure of this name. Is there a K. Revere?
MR. REVERE: Kevin.
MR. MATRULLI: I'm sorry.
MR. REVERE: It's okay. Kevin Revere, K-E-V-I-N, R-E-V-E-R-E. I'm the director of emergency services for Oneida County. We are the emergency managers for the county. We run the 9-1-1 center. I'm the fire coordinator for the county, and we also oversee the Stop DWI program.
I've got over thirty years in public safety experience. I have a bachelors degree from the University of Central Missouri. Go Mules. And one of the first papers I had to do in college in the early eighties was about boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions, which has been touted as one of the reasons not to build in that area. And I request you, as the Planning Board, to take that concern into consideration. My examination of it is that it's not real. There is no need to move it because of the railroad tracks.
Hazardous materials are transported on vehicles, trucks, all over the country every single day. The explosions that you see and hear about that make national news, and they should, are unbelievably rare. And the chemicals that are transported on the tracks are also offloaded into vehicles that go along our highways all the time, but I do think that you should look into that and engage our department, engage the hospital, which is required by law to have emergency evacuation plans, emergency management plans. Our office works with all those agencies regularly, but it is a topic that has been brought up, and we'd be more than happy to engage with the Planning Board in this process, because it is an environmental concern.
In my years of experience in public safety, I also ran the Child Advocacy Center for about twelve, thirteen years. We investigated child sexual abuse in Oneida County. And just like the mentally ill, people need some -- some help. A lot of sexual abuse victims or rape victims are brought to hospitals because there's no place else for them to go. There is no hospital in Oneida County that has today's functionality for victims, especially child victims of child sexual abuse, and mental health facilities. I personally interviewed children in waiting rooms because there was no place else to do it. It's not conducive to get a disclosure at that time.
I encourage you to even take a look at, as a Planning Board, that perhaps this project needs to be a little bit bigger and more floor space to accommodate the mentally ill and the children and rape victims who need to have a segregated space. They need a different approach. That has been done in medicine for a very long time, not here but across the country.
Lastly, as I mentioned, we run the 9-1-1 center. We dispatch first responders for over 100,000 calls. St. Elizabeth's on Genesee Street with all the intersections, all the traffic, is a huge problem. St. Luke's, they run into traffic problems all the time. This location is much more conducive to that. So thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. I think next is Stefan Rubitski.
MR. RUBITSKI: Good evening. Stefan, S-T-E-F-A-N, Rubitski, R-U-B-I-T-S-K-I. Hopefully you have that. 22 Main Street, Yorkville, New York.
This is a critical time for this Utica/Oneida County area, and we need to come to an agreement for -- about what we want to do here. And I'm neither for or against this, but we need to -- we need to look at alternatives, and that area that they want the hospital in is an eyesore. It -- it's in disrepair and something needs to be done in that area, development, some type of development. If it's not the hospital, what could go there? We need to think outside the box here, and we need to -- we need to come to an agreement and get along as a community. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Edwin Waszkiewicz.
MR. WASZKIEWICZ: My name Edwin "Butch" Waszkiewicz. That's W-A-S-Z-K-I-E-W-I-C-Z. I live at 1612 Harrison Ave in Utica. Actually my parents and my sisters moved in on September 1, 1950. I was born on September 4, 1950, and I've lived there my entire life. So my neighbors aren't just lucky.
But I am here because I am "yes, hospital downtown" for all the right reasons. You're letting in a 67-year-old who, for the last seven years, has actually been an overnight patient about eleven times. It started out -- I went in for the nose job. They woke me up and I had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia.
So I asked the doctor, "You know, Doc, what's my blood pressure?"
He said, "It's about 297 over 197, when it's suppose to be 120 over 80."
And I kind of fainted off into the other world, but I came back. And after about forty-eight hours, I had reached the point where he could either send me home or keep me for another day.
But I said, "You know, Doc, I watched the room across me. They've got the masks on." They moved the guy who was in the other bed because they had to put the mask on him, and I was in worse shape so they moved him.
And then I walked down the hall, and the next room down has those. So forty-eight hours after that incident, I had about a one hundred percent chance of catching what they had, and I said, "Doctor, send me home." And I was fortunate, I did not have to go back.
But that is one of the important things to think about, because most of the rooms there are going to be single. And one of the biggest problems -- you can look at the lists and they all have the problem where if person "A" has it, person "B" catches it. And that is a huge, huge issue. I was very lucky.
I had a cousin who died. His operation was successful, but he caught the infection. And we've all had friends that have had that problem, so this will be better from that viewpoint.
And the central location - north south, east and west - the roads are already there. We're all set. For the reasons of good health for a 67-year-old, who in the last six years spent about ten or eleven times in there, I'm in favor of it. In fact, one of my friends was Judge Ralph Eannace, and I hadn't seen him in a couple years. And I mentioned how many times I've been there.
He said, you know, if you went to Marriott or Hilton, you would've gotten points. Do they offer points? I jokingly asked somebody and they just laughed. But for all the right reasons. At one of the Utica common council meetings, I did mention there's three parts to what these people have to be paid. The first part is the fair market value of their property, and building costs and marketing costs thereof. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Michael Lehman.
MR. LEHMAN: Good evening. I'm Michael Lehman. It's A-E-L, last name Lehman, L-E-H-M-A-N, 153 Ridge Road in Utica, New York. My family moved to Utica sixty-one years ago from the Albany area, so we've been paying Oneida and Utica taxes for that amount of time.
I grew up here, moved away to college and career, and moved back to Utica about five years ago. I'm trained as an architect and urban planner, and I think the best part of my education was that I've been taught to try to respect the other person's point of view and opinion, even if I didn't agree with them or didn't agree with them very strongly. So I've tried to do that in all the meetings I've attended that MVHS had, and as I think one other person pointed out, try to breakdown the issues. And the issues basically are best quality healthcare possible.
And if for some reason we've got lumped into this, which has nothing to do with healthcare, economic revitalization. The facts as I have seen them from the health system and the other discussions during their community input sessions were that all of the stated Mohawk Valley Health System's healthcare goals can be achieved at their second location, the St. Elizabeth's -- the St. Luke's campus, actually again, by their own admission, and that is their second preferred location should the downtown site prove financially unfeasible, which I believe it has already because they can't afford to build the parking garage that they need. So I wish somewhere along the line that would be defined, as well.
The economical revitalization, again, it's barely conjecture on all the parts of all those folks who -- wishful thinking. All the comparisons and the other examples that are made are not in downtown. One of the facts we are sure of is that the downtown hospital has actually stifled development downtown. Empire Bath & Beyond moved out and they're in Marcy now. Many businesses down there were planning to expand their businesses, and it's on hold pretty much until they see what's going on with the hospital project.
I think it's very important, again, not to be sucked in by shiny renderences [sic], etcetera, that basically are, again, eye wash. It's been said that this is a state-of-the-art building, yet in my conversations with MBBJ, the architects for the building, they -- at the direction of Mohawk Valley Health Systems, they will not be going after a LEED accreditation for the building, which is basically an energy-saving thing, that again, is typically done in state-of-the-art hospitals.
I have some experience in planning hospitals, and during my thirty-plus year career, I did facilities planning work for Albany Medical College and the Albany Medical Center Hospital, so I'm somewhat familiar with the issues involving -- that are very complicated in terms of designing hospitals, etcetera.
So again, I would ask you to consider all the things, and that truly progressive design, etcetera, would involve the use of newer urbanism reorganization and getting LEED accreditation on the building. So otherwise, it's just change for change's sake and not really progress, despite what all the other folks may tell you. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Joe Cerini.
MR. CERINI: Hello. My name is Joe Cerini, C-E-R-I-N-I. I own the location at 418 Lafayette Street. Presently the business is Citation Services. The building is in the age range of 160 years old. The building has been there since the 1850s, 60s. At one point it was a hotel. It's older than Hotel Utica. It was also a restaurant. After that, International Heater purchased the building. International Heater is why we have a Boilermaker race. That was their main sales floor. At that point, they built the rear building as an international shipping location to the -- from their building to the Erie Canal. They conglomerated the businesses, Carton Furnace, Wheeler and three other companies under the International Heater name and sold from that location.
The area has been gradually improving over the last fifteen years. Seventeen years ago, you wouldn't want to be down there. My friends told me I was crazy, but it has been improving gradually, and it's already a walkable neighborhood from downtown Utica through to Varrick Street. You can see people walking constantly, people riding their bikes. It's not like it was ten years ago. People shouldn't be afraid to be down there.
What has happened with this hospital project three years ago? There should have been public input that was included before the politicians basically got ahold of this.
Now, the entire decision for the downtown was made before any consideration of environmental impact called for by legislation that was proposed and why the hospital is being given three-hundred million dollars.
I'd like to enter into record the 710 pages of e-mails in today's record, incorporation by reference, that clearly show that the public input was not sought. The downtown site was a predetermined decision by Anthony Brindisi, Anthony Picente, Larry Gilroy and Steve DiMeo that pushed Mohawk Valley Health -- you.
MR. LAWRENCE: Time's up, sir.
MR. CERINI: I'll enter the rest. Thank
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Robert Heins.
MR. HEINS: Robert Heins, 15 Clinton Place, Utica, New York 13501.
I've had a great experience. I've probably told the story too many times. In 1963, I was a professor at Syracuse and got us on a bus to come to Utica.
And we said, "Why are we coming to Utica?" And we were going to the Munson-Williams. Michele Deschampes [phonetic] was giving a lecture. It was the fiftieth anniversary of the arbor exhibit. And the lecture was so boring, and I was so arrogant, I left halfway through because I wanted to see Utica. And I walked down Genesee Street, and I had a chance to get the hamburger -- cheeseburger at Woolworth's. I saw the busy corner and I saw what was happening then, and it was a multi-use mix.
Now I'm an architect. I've done 3,300 projects around the world. There's -- architecture is set designs. So you can make a building look like anything, but what you can't do are some of the things accomplished by the Auditorium Authority or Harbor Point Authority.
And one of the great opportunities at that particular location is to look at the possibility of that whole area as a donut. So that in the center of it, you put your hospital or box store or whatever - you know - would be going there. At this point, if it's a twenty-story building, it's a twenty-story building, but around the perimeter, you create a neighborhood. And how do you create a neighborhood? You work within the existing fabric that's there. You do condition reports of all the buildings that are there, per the State Historic Preservation Office guidelines. You find out what's going to be qualified for adaptive reuse.
I worked on the State committee that helped to draft SEQRA. I also was chairman of a hospital for a major expansion. And so one of the first things that we did at the alternative sites we looked at -- and we decided to stay at the site that we were at. We looked at those sites and did Phase 1, and started a lot of Phase 2 development with the New York State DEC, looking at the property. We did traffic studies before we hired an architect, before we did anything. We did the geo-tech of the sites. We did the histrionic study about what was done at the property. So when the SEQRA discussions were being evolved, as New York State DEC was evolving after 1970, we would get together and say, one of the purposes of SEQRA is to study all alternatives. And we would say that, "Study all alternatives. Study all alternatives."
And the other thing is to ask questions. You're volunteering to serve on a Planning Board, and it's truly unique. The Planning Board is the lead agency for this particular project, the things that are in there.
I would just say one other thing. You cannot build 673,000 square foot based on prevailing scale for $500 a square foot. Please get the budget correct as you're going into this, in all impacts, from infrastructure right on down.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. I think this is Lucretia Hunt.
MS. HUNT: Thank you. Lucretia Hunt, L-U-C-R-E-T-I-A. The last name is simple, Hunt, H-U-N-T. I live at 903 Bleecker Street in East Utica.
I am for the hospital. My daughter got sick and she lived in D.C. and we went to Georgetown. I never saw anything right in the middle of the city. You went around the business area, come down, and there you see the hospital, surrounded by everything, modern equipment and everything. We need some of this here. We need a modern hospital.
I know we have the three hospitals, and they're doing the best that they can, but we need to think outside of the box. We're always negative when it comes to Utica - negative, negative, negative. Don't you think it's about time we think of something positive?
We have an opportunity to do something now to move the city forward with everything else that's going on. We've had a lot of statistics tonight and answered information that I wasn't even familiar with, but I am for the hospital, and I am for the future, and I do think we need a new hospital in the city. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Richard Tone. Is there a Richard here? This person lives on Perry Street in Buffalo.
MR. TONE: That's me. I don't wish to speak.
MR. MATRULLI: That's fine. Michael Mandia -- or Michele Mandia. Excuse me.
MS. MANDIA: Hi. My name is Michele Mandia. I live at 1436 Albany Street in Utica. I'm here because I was under the impression that this was a forum, because the hospital and the people involved in it did not present it to the public enough, according to the newspaper. The merger consolidation group came and said, "You didn't get involvement from the public." So I thought that's why we were here, but I feel a little hoodwinked because there's every department head from the county and the city here. So I feel a little hoodwinked by this meeting today.
But as I sit here, my head was spinning, because I want to thank everybody here for paying your taxes to New York State, because without you paying your taxes, I don't see Mr. Cuomo writing us a check for three-hundred million dollars out of his pocket. So I think where we got the three-hundred million is from everybody in this room and this state. So I'm glad we got the money but -- in regards to that, I only foresee the parking garage that's going to cost us money. My city taxes will be going up. My county taxes will be going up. My school taxes probably won't go up, because I'm on the School Board and we work diligently to keep them at a zero percent tax increase.
As a negotiator for my union that works for the hospital, our average person -- well some of the people make $9.40 an hour who've worked there for fifteen years. So if you took that and told them their city was going to go up, their county and their parking garage fee, because nobody's come out to tell us this. Is my parking garage going to be free? As an employee, do I get to park for free? Nobody's come out to tell us that.
So what I figured out is the average employee making $40,000 a year would probably have to work close to twenty years to make what the CEO makes in one year.
So I'd like you to take it back that -- everybody here, the new hospital is great to have, but I don't think anybody here has really found the impact on the taxpayer. I know it's great to have a new hospital, but you haven't told us what you're going to do, and how much my taxes were going to be increased? You know. Am I going to pay to park? Am I going to find a place to park once everybody else starts using the parking garage for other events?
So I think it's up to you to have more forums that aren't stocked with department heads from the county and the city.
MR. MATRULLI: Donna Beckett.
MS. BECKETT: Hello. My name is Donna Beckett, B-E-C-K-E-T-T, and my address is Norton Ave in Clinton, New York. I was not planning on speaking tonight, but I did list my name knowing that I could withdraw. And I am grateful, because my job is going to be much easier right now because of those other people who've spoken before me.
When we first started speaking and some of the first people speaking, I was sitting there writing a few notes, because I was listening to what they were saving. And as you've heard, I got varying opinions. It was an opinion that it might be economic growth. It was an opinion that the condition of that neighborhood is not good. The opinion -- I worked in Oneida County Social Services for twenty years, so we had some of you here talking about that. I also worked in a hospital in a support service for fifteen years. I've been doing this for three years everyday. I diditwith--Icametoitwithanopenmind. I thought, I wonder why they're doing it. And then I found out more. Okay.
So anyway, not so much about me. Also Genesis spoke, mentioned about the future, what a hospital would be like in seventy, eighty years, what healthcare would be like, what transportation would be like. I'm very aware of that. I worked in a hospital in 1980, 1985. I saw the changes. I -- working at a hospital at a young age, you know how it is. You pay attention to it, even after you left that. And I know how rapidly things are changing.
So anyway -- and again, it is about healthcare. I am so grateful that I have as much information as I have. I, too, am a person who is not emotionally driven. I'm looking at both sides. I want facts. I want information. I don't want -- hopefully that it's an economic engine. Hopefully it will be wonderful.
So I think I'm going -- I just want to remind -- the simplicity of this is, please remember this audience clapped when those people who spoke and did not think it's a good idea. No one clapped, except for Lucretia, when who are in favor of it.
So -- and my final thing, although he hasn't interrupted yet. Let's have it both ways. Let's have expanded healthcare regional medical campus at St. Luke's. It's a perfect sixty-four acres. Use the money for healthcare and not to buy out people.
The final thing is that I, too, walk those streets, because I worked in Oneida County, and I saw it getting better. Not only a year and a half ago, I went and did a survey, not time to push an agenda. I met all of them. So thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. John Kent.
MR. KENT: Good evening. My name is John Kent, K-E-N-T. I'm commissioner of planning for the County of Oneida, and our address is 321 Main Street, Utica. I have some very brief prepared remarks, and I have a copy that I can read with you.
But just in light of something that was said a few minutes ago, I am a county department head, but I'm the head of a department that was required under SEQRA to take certain actions when it comes to new projects. So we are an interested agency under SEQRA, and we need to be here to have input into the process. So just to clarify that one point.
These comments I hope will be pretty brief.
I would like begin my comments by complimenting the City of Utica Planning Board, acting as SEQRA lead agency, for its decision to elect to follow the formal scope and process in determining the topics and analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the Mohawk Valley Health System proposed Integrated Health Campus, to be addressed in the draft Environmental Impact Statement. While SEQRA does not require scoping, electing to follow the formal scoping process will provide the most comprehensive and transparent discussion of the proposed MVHS IHC project.
As described in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's publication, The SEQRA Cookbook, the scoping process has six objectives: Focus the draft EIS on potentially significant adverse environmental impacts, eliminate non-significant or non-relevant issues, identify the extent and quality of information needed, identify the range of reasonable alternatives to be discussed, provide an initial identification of the mitigation measures, and provide the public with an opportunity to participate in the identification of the impacts. That's why we're here tonight.
A careful review of the draft scoping document reveals that it is diligent and meeting the six objectives noted above. The document clearly identifies potential significant adverse impacts, both those associated with the HIC [sic] construction and the operation of the completed facility. It identifies existing information sources, as well as additional information required to make a final determination. Finally, it identifies potential mitigation measures, both for the construction and the operational phases of the IHC. The draft scoping document provides a solid framework upon which to build a draft environmental impact statement that fully addresses all relevant issues and concerns. We fully support the lead agency moving forward in an expeditious manner with the preparation of a draft EIS.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important step in the process of this important project of major significance to the City of Utica, all of Oneida County, and the entire region. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Ronald Vincent.
MR. VINCENT: My name is Ron Vincent. I live at 477 Roseclair Avenue, Utica, New York. The last name is the same as the first, V-I-N-C-E-N-T.
Tonight we heard from a lot of people. There was a lot of people here from the county. There was a lot of tax-exempt charity organizations. I'm here to speak as a taxpaying citizen, which there are many of in the City of Utica, Oneida County.
For three years, I think that's the time I heard earlier, three years we've been hearing from every politician from state, county, city, talking about this hospital. And we've even heard from the hospital people, and everybody said the same thing, that politicians say it has to go in this location in downtown Utica. We the taxpayers have listened to this for three years. And as I stand before you tonight, I'm sorry to say, I cannot in three minutes say as much as they have had time to say in three years. What you people should do is give the taxpayers, give the citizens one-on-one small group meetings, three more years to air our side of this, because we do have some good ideas, places where they could build a hospital where it wouldn't even cost them for the property or the building sitting on it, a place that I came up with to try and tell somebody where they could get a parking lot one-and-a-half mile long for only one-and-a-half million dollars. Think of the money that's being spent to buy these buildings, the taxes that are coming off the tax rolls, and the money that's going to be invested before the first bulldozer comes onto the site, when they could save so much money.
Outside tonight, there was a group of union people saying they want these jobs because of the union. If they built that house -- or hospital at St. Luke's, you could have union builders up there. If it's going to cost so much money to build this hospital in downtown Utica, union people, let me bring this to your attention. If they're going to spend, say, ten percent of their money before they even start building this building, they might be tempted to hire non-union people.
I yield the rest of my time. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Donna Bills.
MS. BILLS: Good evening. My name is Donna Bills, B-I-L-L-S. I live at 1430 Old Burrstone Road, Utica, New York.
I didn't think I was going to be speaking. I thought, as another woman had said, that I was going to be listening and getting information.
I also agree with her that I feel hoodwinked. From what the paper had said, it made it seem like it was going to be a question-and-answer forum and that we were going to be given more information on alternate sides besides downtown Utica, and apparently not so. I also agree with one of the other speakers that had mentioned that they are muddying the waters in regards to are we talking about land use or are we talking about healthcare.
There are many people that had spoken in regards to the healthcare, and they had many good credentials, and they told about all the good work that they do and all the good work that needs to be done, and I thank you for your service and keep up the good work, but that has nothing to do with destroying downtown Utica. We can still have all of that, and all those people out there yelling and carrying on from the union, they can have their jobs, as well. It's not a situation where there has to be a winner and a loser. We should be in this to all be winners. I've lived here my whole life, and I pay taxes, and I'm part of that aging group. I just turned 60. And I really don't want to spend the rest of my life paying for a parking garage that doesn't even need to be there if the hospital was in a different location.
Land use. There is just so much land that you have and you're not going to get any more. And if you take a portion of the city that is just trying to revitalize itself and slap a hospital in the middle of it, you're going to be destroying something that you can't get back.
I was so excited when we started to have things come back and little businesses popping up all over the place, and Utica actually being something that people would say, Oh, have you been to Utica Bread? Have you been here? Have you been there? All these little places that are coming up and the way that we were starting to connect the dots. We have a historic area on Genesee Street. We have Munson-Williams. We have the Stanley, and those are very impressive things for a city our size. We are really impressive, and people don't seem to take that into account. We have the auditorium.
They want me to wrap it up. Healthcare is one thing, and location is another thing. And they have not given any of the alternate places this place could be when you have New Hartford saying, "Take my shopping center, please" and they're not interested. Thank you for your time.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you very much. Phil Scalia.
MR. SCALIA: My name is Phil Scalia and I'm from Fort Plain, 21 Prospect Street, Fort Plain. The last name is spelled S-C-A-L-I-A.
I'm a professional photographer from Fort Plain. One of my favorite places to come for pictures is Utica. One of my favorite neighborhoods to go is the one that's under threat by this expansion project. The light in those few blocks is fantastic. I have three or four photos from there that are my favorites. Two of them are currently in a group show at Saratoga Arts. I invite everybody to go. It's up until June 16th.
One thing I know, you don't fix a problem by bulldozing irreplaceable architecture. They just don't build them like that anymore, to use the old saying, not to mention that it's unconscionable to do so by eminent domain.
I hope the Planning Board will consult with the City of Batavia to ask them how it went when they tore out the heart and soul of their city in the seventies in the name of urban renewal, an unmitigated disaster by all accounts. Conversely the City of Baltimore had a visionary mayor in the seventies who created a homesteading program by which old buildings were sold for $100 to folks that wanted to renovate. It was a tremendous success.
In my opinion, Utica would be committing suicide by taking out these beautiful structures. They may be vacant now, but that is not a reason to tear them down. The economy moves in cycles. Save these businesses and homes. I urge the Planning Board to consider alternatives. I am one tourist you will lose. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. James Zecca.
MR. ZECCA: Good evening. My name is Jim Zecca, Z-E-C-C-A. I am a resident of Utica, 2662 Hedgewood Road, South Utica.
I'm here tonight to talk about the red zone, as has been mentioned earlier by the emergency management folks. The red zone is a real concern that needs to be looked at in the SEQRA process, and I'm going to read a statement. I'll be sending information, further information, to the Board for review.
But long freight trains coming through Utica carry hazardous, flammable and combustible materials far more dangerous than most people realize, and by knowing these facts, we have yet another major reason not to locate our only new hospital in this zone of danger called the red zone. Up to thirty of these types of trains, which are carrying very explosive fracking oil from the Dakota's that people don't know about, but this is happening everyday. Up to thirty of these types of trains now run through Utica every week, many having a hundred cars stretching a mile down the tracks. That is a 4,000 percent, 4,000 percent increase in this type of travel through this area in the past six years with this fracking oil. A high-risk red zone has been declared along both sides of the railroad tracks to prepare emergency response for spills, fire, toxic fumes and even explosions from a track failure or a train derailment, or just plain accident. And don't say it doesn't happen, because it happened just recently a few years back. We had a runaway train from West Utica that slammed into the train station, and thank God nobody was killed in that accident.
The U.S. Department of Transportation puts out an emergency response guide annually. This is an official document by the U.S. government. Please review this document in your SEQRA review. Thank you very much.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Is there anyone that wanted to speak that I didn't call?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I do. I don't need that, because I have a loud mouth. My name is Krista [phonetic].
I'm going for his store and the trees. Trees help everything, and you guys want to take down trees. Trees are from God and everything.
And the noise. I live right there, okay? I live right there on Genesee Street, right next door. And if they build it -- if you guys build it, I'm moving because of the noise. I'm not going to put up with that noise all night long.
And I'm doing this for their store, because he's my friend. His girlfriend is a brain injury person and all that stuff. So go Wilcor.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Would you mind giving us your name and address?
MS. MORTON: My name is Katie Morton. I live at 23 Parkway Drive, Whitesboro.
So I just want to share that my husband and I moved back from Charlotte, North Carolina to be in Utica and open a business. We wanted to move back here. We wanted to raise a family here. The more I hear about the downtown hospital proposal and the blatant disrespect and disregard for business owners, I'm beginning to wonder, like, why we ever did this without the respect. The more I hear -- give me one second.
One of the earlier speakers boasted about being a Utica citizen for seventy years, said he drives home that route and sees nothing there. Well, I drive home that route everyday, too, and neighbors like Columbia and Lafayette are exactly why we moved back to Utica. Those neighborhoods hold beauty and history and is unmatched whenever I travel to other cities. To say there's nothing there, you hear that all the time, but then why did thirty-five to forty properties and businesses have to have an offer letter to leave?
There's obviously something there.
Hear me when I say, I desperately want to have an updated medical center. I'm about to have my second baby here in two months and will be delivering at Crouse again because of my very common but high-risk pregnancy issues. We can't be secure and be accommodated here and be taken care of at the current MVHS hospital. That said, I'm hopeful about the new hospital proposal, not at downtown but in general. However, I rarely hear about the actual healthcare, so it's hard to say.
But let's highlight the environmental issues that I've had. The very blocks this hospital is supposed to be built in in the Columbia/Lafayette neighborhoods was once known as the furnace capital of America, just like Joe Cerini highlighted. So this is back in 1850. Those very blocks where the hospital wants to go now was -- let's see. Those mills and foundries aren't there anymore -- sorry, out of breath from being pregnant -- so now they're demolished and built over. So we want to go through and bring that all back up, expose it. I'm highly concerned of what the contamination impact it will have on the health of those in the area once those blocks are exposed.
So that said, downtown Utica is far from replaceable. There's acres of properties to build a hospital in regard to our health, transportation, and urban growth, and if we have any hope of getting our future generations of families to want to live here. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. Anyone else?
MR. BROCK: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. My name is Jonathan Brock, 2 Tennison Circle, New Hartford, New York.
Now, we have been a part of this conversation from the very start, and actually this conversation started long before any of the public knew what was about to happen to our downtown. I just turned 30 years old in September, and I watched my entire high school graduating class move away from this area because of poor decisions, like placing a hospital within our downtown, or bulldozing a building because nobody saw the vitality in it. I recently graduated from Mohawk Valley Community College, and I will tell you, there is no more an interest from the younger generation to stay here and maintain a living or have a future the way the generations before us have.
Now with that being said, with regard to the SEQRA process, I do agree, many feel hoodwinked tonight with regard to those in the room taking their time to speak, or rather our time. This decision is monumental, and yes it is transformant, but for what, why, and how much can we, a community like this, afford this decision long-term? Can healthcare in this community afford this long-term? Some people talk about a hospital that may be state-of-the-art on the outside, but we know, according to what it is the healthcare system has put out, it is not state-of-the art on the inside.
Now, as a student of architecture and one who has had the luxury of traveling and seeing many neighborhoods and many communities revitalize themselves, bring themselves back and maintain their integrity, the little bit that sometimes there's left. I do not agree that we should be bulldozing what little history we have or ripping up what old streets or remnants of the boiler mess that we have in downtown Utica.
Now, this conversation should be about and only should be about healthcare. The idea that this is about -- somehow about transforming our downtown and economic development is sickening.
And not for anything, but somebody said it earlier. We should all get along, but you know what, I haven't seen a group dragged through the mud, their businesses, their families, their relationship and their own life by their own so-called friends as the way the people who've advocated against the downtown location, not against the hospital, but against the downtown location the way I have in this argument, and this dissertation, and even within this room.
Now with that being said, I hope that you guys completely and fully consider every location and disclose everything that you find to the public. Young and old, we deserve to know. Thank you.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you.
MR. BROCK: I just want to add. I have an idea for revitalizing that neighborhood. There's so many that see light in it. There's a $30,000 grant that's usually given out to a start-up business. I encourage more of that. I actually am a huge advocate of it. As a young person, we need more of that.
MR. MATRULLI: Thank you. I believe that's the last speaker. I want to thank everybody for coming, and I really want to thank everybody for their very comprehensive information that was given. I really do. I think it was quite helpful for us. Thank you very much.
I make a motion to close the meeting.
MR. COLON: I second that.
MR. MATRULLI: So moved.
(Whereupon, the Public Hearing concluded at 7:33 p.m.)
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