Picente To Announce First Flood Mitigation Projects

$500,000 Being Awarded To Combat Future Flooding

County Executive Picente announced the first projects aimed at mitigating the devastating effects of flooding throughout the area. The announcement was made at the Oriskany Creek where one of the projects will take place.

Picente said “While we cannot stop natural disasters we can do our best as a community to be prepared when inevitable disasters such as flooding do strike. This program was put into place to assist in funding projects that would mitigate flood damage. These projects outlined today will make our residents safer and more secure so when the next flood strikes people will be more protected.”

Picente, after the severe flooding during the summer of 2013, announced that the county of Oneida would allocate $500,000 of County funds towards funding for municipal projects that would mitigate the impact of flooding in communities throughout the affected areas. The Board of Legislators passed the legislation which would be administered through the Oneida County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Kevin Lewis, the Executive Director of the Oneida County Soil and Water Conservation District said “All the projects being announced today fit our goal of mitigating the devastating effects of flooding and aid in making our communities more flood resilient. Projects include constructing detention ponds, stabilizing streams, new culverts and trash rack installations that will help prevent the destruction caused by flooding. This site we are at today is the Oriskany Creek which has experienced flooding for many years. The project here will stabilize this section of the creek and the St. Mary’s Brook Detention Pond which will install a series of detention ponds in the Village of Clinton that will alleviate the effects of flooding.”

The program’s goal was to assist municipalities with projects that will mitigate flood damage in the inevitable event of future flooding. In addition to the St. Mary project there is the New Hartford Culvert Trash Rack and Stream Alignment as well as Grange Hill Road Drainage, Paris repairs to the Park Road Ditch and the Westmoreland Shed Road Culvert.

Picente went on to say “Today is a tangible example of why good government and fiscal management are imperative. These projects may prevent one’s home from flooding and their possessions being lost forever,  or even worse flooding that causes real physical harm to loved ones. These projects are now a reality and Oneida County residents are safer and more secure because of them.”

Today, this $500,000 is being spent on making this community a better, safer place to live.

These projects total $497,844 in County funded financing making possible $1.2 Million total worth of infrastructure improvements.