County hopes to solve airport, land-claim issues
Jan. 2, 2001

By PATRICK GANNON
Observer-Dispatch

For the past several years, efforts to increase business at the Oneida County Airport and Griffiss Airfield have generally failed.

Now, most Oneida County officials agree it’s time to focus on Whitestown or Rome as the home of county aviation for the future.

“We’ve been trying for four years to find good uses for both facilities, and it’s been very frustrating,” Oneida County Executive Ralph J. Eannace Jr. said last week.

Settling the airport issue is one of the priorities set by county officials for 2002. A public meeting will be scheduled later this month to begin what could be a lengthy airport decision process, said Board of Legislators Chairman Gerald J. Fiorini, R-Rome.

Another priority for the new year is working toward a settlement of the Oneida Indian Nation land claim, Eannace said.

“There’s a lot of momentum building again for a negotiated settlement,” he said. “I’m trying to push that.”

Nation Representative Ray Halbritter also set an optimistic tone for the future in a recent column published in the O-D.

“Now is the time for all of us to set aside our differences and find new ways to work together,” Halbritter wrote. “New York state, Oneida and Madison counties and the municipalities of the region have, if they want it, a partner for progress in the Oneida Nation.”

The Oneidas are seeking reparations in federal court for some 250,000 acres in Oneida and Madison counties that they claim was seized by the state in 26 illegal transactions in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Other priorities for the county include responding effectively to changes in the economy and bringing 2002 operating expenditures in under the budget of $256 million. That could reduce a pending countywide tax increase, Eannace said.

“A tax increase is very likely (for 2003), but a substantial tax increase is what we’re trying to avoid,” Eannace said.

This year also could be the year that the Oneida-Herkimer Waste Management Authority receives the state permits needed to construct a two-county landfill in Ava. But those battling the authority aren’t going to go away, and the issue is destined to heat up again in 2002.

In his 2002 budget address in late September, Eannace said the county “cannot run two airports forever.” He said he soon would create a task force to develop long-range plans for both airports.

Eannace indicated last week that moving air service from Whitestown to Rome may not be economically feasible at this time.

“Right now, in my opinion, there’s not enough (business) to justify moving to Griffiss,” he said.

But Eannace and other officials stressed that no final decision has been made.

According to a September 2000 study by C&S Engineers of Syracuse, it would cost $24 million to move the airport to Rome, with a $7.6 million county share.

No firm date has been set for this month’s meeting.

County legislators, representatives from C&S Engineers of Syracuse, Mohawk Valley EDGE Executive Vice President Steven DiMeo and Rome Common Council members would be asked to attend. The public will be welcome, he said.