Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon presented some new ideas and talked about some old ideas as he outlined how central New York will rise from the pandemic in his annual State of the County speech Wednesday evening.
New Ideas include expanding benefits for child care eligibility, a kind of triage for calls to the county 911 center starting this summer, and a senior tax credit worth $200-dollars, and more money for mental health and addiction programs.
Some of the old ideas are under a five-point hospitality and tourism action plan. It includes two controversial projects that couldn’t get traction last fall. One is a $25 million multi-sports complex and an $85 million aquarium. McMahon said they are part of a strategy to revive the tourism and hospitality industry, which still has an almost 10% unemployment rate in central New York. McMahon said he’s ready to bring the concepts to the County Legislature, where it ran into opposition last year.
“We have identified where there are problems, and we’ve acknowledged from my administration some of the area legislators said were problems, we agree they’re problems, and we’ve put resources there,” McMahon said. “Now they need to come to the middle and recognize the hospitality industry is flailing right now. They need help and the way we can help them so it’s sustainable, is with infrastructure."
Legislature Chairman Jim Rowley said there ought to be more public input on the whole idea before lawmakers agree to it.
"I think a lot of legislators would like to see that. Would like to see some kind of survey done or some kind of input. The County Executive has some work to do to get it past the legislature in my view,” said Rowley. “I’m open minded. He sort of connected the dots tonight, and we’ll see where it goes."
The other topic that came up in a couple of initiatives was the White Pine Industrial Park in Clay. McMahon, as well as state and federal officials, are hoping a major chip or high-tech manufacturer decides to bring a mega project to central New York. It’s one reason for creation of a $10 million fund to provide gap financing for housing.
"We are competing for some of the largest economic development projects in the history of the county,” McMahon said. “And in order to win those projects, you have to show a comprehensive housing strategy, and this is part of that."
Any chip manufacturer would also need a more robust sewage treatment structure, so about a third of a proposed $600 million for new sewers would be targeted in that area alone.
McMahon’s proposal would spend the $600 million on sewer upgrades over the next six years, and would need approval from the County Legislature.
