Onondaga County lawmakers Tuesday set aside $2 million for sports and tourism projects, but they can’t seem to agree on where to spend it. The funding was part of a larger deal to build a $25 million sports complex in the Town of Salina that legislators never got around to approving.
The Hopkins Sports Complex was first proposed by County Executive Ryan McMahon in fall of 2021. But after some committee meetings, lawmakers never brought it to the floor for a vote.
A year later, Micron announced its transformational investment in the region, and the $25 million was promptly redirected. Legislators agreed, but that left $2 million earmarked for sports and tourism in limbo.
Legislator Deb Cody, who chairs the facilities committee, said the funds simply would have returned to the general fund had they not acted.
“This will enable us going forward to look at where we want to spend that,” Cody said. “It was originally earmarked for Carrier Field, which was part of the sports complex proposal. But that money was used for Micron projects.”
Cody said her committee will discuss how to use the $2 million at a later date. But Legislator Linda Ervin said she’s trying to remind her colleagues that the money was supposed to be directed to Carrier Park.
“The county executive had made a promise to DeWitt that he would do this,” Ervin said. “But it didn’t quite happen. When the Hopkins Field thing was happening, it was reiterated, and [legislator] Mary Kuhn made sure the money was there for that. The project [Hopkins] has not come to fruition yet, so I’m making sure that this is still in place. That’s why people seem to be confused about it.”
Either confused or, Ervin said, simply forgetting. She said several other legislators were at meetings where it was discussed, so they should remember the agreement and not allow the money to go elsewhere. County Chief Fiscal Officer Steve Morgan told the legislature’s ways and means committee last week that the $2 million was not specifically earmarked for Carrier Park.
PLANNING FOR MICRON
In other business, county lawmakers approved using $1 million in surplus budget funds to provide planning services or funding to towns and villages in preparation for growth generated by Micron. The Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency would help develop comprehensive plans and zoning updates to meet the needs of those communities. SOPCA Planning Director Dan Kwasnowski said half of the money will be focused on the northern part of the county.
“Working with towns up there to make sure we have the planning in place so that infrastructure goes in the right place. And our housing is there and supply, you know, for workers coming into the area and making sure we're creating really high quality communities.”
Kwasnowski sai go they’ve even had requests from towns like Cicero asking for an update to their comprehensive plan.
“They've had some hiccups lately, because they don't really know what they want," Kwasnowski said. "And the comp plan really gives them this kind of the picture on the puzzle box, so that when something comes in, they can look at it and say, ‘does this meet the puzzle? Does it fit or does it not?’”
He says they’re also seeking proposals from national firms to work on what he calls sub-area plans such as business corridors or town centers.
