1/17/07 New sites suggested for county public health facility

(As published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

Although the county is still in the process of closing on properties for a proposed public health facility on south Main Street, some county officials, spurred by initial public opposition, are looking at other sites for the facility.

The county Legislature’s Budget and Finance Committee will discuss other property options Thursday, according to committee Chairman Ron Van Dee (D-5th Ward), one of which will be the site of the former Wickwire building, owned by the McNeil family, located further south on Main Street.
“Basically I went out with (County Administrator Scott Schrader), we looked at the McNeil property, we looked at some property in Cortlandville, and it looks like there’s property all over that could work,” said Van Dee, who did not want to discuss the other properties he had looked at. “I know we want to get a building up, but it doesn’t have to be tomorrow. I think we need to sit down and take a look at all our options.”
At its Dec. 21 meeting, the Legislature voted to acquire 2.46-acres of property for $894,000, with the intention of replacing the Moose Lodge on south Main Street with a 30,000 square-foot facility that would house both the health department and the mental health department. The project carries an estimated price tag of $5.5 million, about $3 million of which could come from the county’s tobacco settlement bonds.
Early reaction to the proposal was negative, as residents of the neighborhood surrounding the proposed site vocally expressed concerns about the large parking lot behind the building and the affect the facility would have on the neighborhood.
This prompted city and county elected officials to dial back their support for the project, including Van Dee, who has said he plans on calling for a reconsideration of the Legislature’s initial vote at its Jan. 25 meeting.
“I represent these people and their interests and it’s clear that they don’t want this, and I’ll do my best to do their will,” Van Dee said. “I’m certainly not going to ram something like this down their throats if they don’t want it.”
Still, proponents of the facility say the county can and would answer the concerns of the residents.
“It’s always been our intention to work with residents in that neighborhood, and we wouldn’t want to put anything up there that was going to upset people in that area,” said Legislature Chairman Marilyn Brown, who noted that drawings of the facility and the proposed parking were preliminary, and did not reflect the extensive planning process that would need to go into such a project.
“Could we have handled it better to start? Probably, but I think that as we go forward we’re going to be working with the public every step of the way,” Brown said. “There’s always going to be one or two people you can’t please no matter what you do, but for the most part I think the concerns of all the neighbors can be addressed.”