Picente Seeks Meeting With State on Sauquoit Creek

Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente, Jr., today announced that he has written an urgent letter to State Department of Environmental Conservation Regional Director Judy Drabicki calling for a meeting between the state and the Sauquoit Creek Basin Intermunicipal Commission regarding flood control measures along the waterway.

“The recent devastating flooding in the Basin as a result of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee have kept the member municipalities extremely busy with emergency response measures to help the impacted residents and businesses attempt to recover from the significant flood related damages that occurred,” Picente wrote. He added: “With the imminent expirations (October 1^st and October 8^th, respectively) of the Emergency Declarations issued by Commissioner Martens in response to Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, much work remains to be done.  With these deadlines in mind, the Commission urgently requests a meeting with you and such members of your staff as you deem appropriate to identify measures that the Commision member municipalites can undertake, in cooperation with the Department, to not only continue to recover from the two recent storm events, but also to prepare for the next event which could occur at any time.”

Picente said that the Commission, created in 2004 through the collaborative efforts of the state, county and communities along the creek, has been a successful partnership in implementing initiatives to better manage the Sauquoit Creek watershed.   “It’s important that in the aftermath of two storms and as we head into autumn that we bring all of the partners together to address the needs of the communities along the creek. I know that by working together, we can successfully work to identify and implement both short and long term measures to alleviate the repeated hardships caused by flooding to the residents and businesses in the Sauquoit Creek Basin Intermunicipal Commission.”