Welcome to the official website for the village of Oneida Castle, NY.

Looks like things are going slow with the contractor and the sewer project. He is presently behind schedule. He has gone under Oneida Creek and hooked into City of Oneida Sewer System but there is a long way to go. An idea was brought up for use of the village park.

The idea was to bring in food trucks and have different venues such as bands in the gazebo and other activities. They would have to pick up all trash and leave the park clean when completed along with each food truck having a million dollar liability policy. Money would be donated to a charity but Trustee Gwilt came up with a better idea. Money would come to the village earmarked for replacing the trees that were cut down. It is still in the discussion stage. Any input from our residents would be greatly appreciated.

Our Eagle Scout, Gab Stone has just about finished his Eagle Scout project in the park and is hoping that one the good weather gets here the residents come to the park and use the exercised equipment. Thank you Gabe.

Here is our January minutes:

January 13, 2025

The January meeting of the Oneida Castle Village Board was called to order at 7:00PM by Mayor John Deschamps in the village office. Also present were Trustees Ackerman and Gwilt, Clerk Canada and Treasurer Meyers. Village residents in attendance were Fred and Cindy Whipple, Kathy Wojocieshowski, Richard Moore, Rhonda McLaughlin, Sherri Stone, Sharon Bognasky, David Green, Tom Cochran, Cody Carnaya and Dave DeMarco. Oneida County Legislator, Keith Scheible was also present.

MINUTES

A motion was made by Trustee Ackerman and seconded by Trustee Gwilt to accept the December minutes.

B. REPORTS

Mr. Scheible gave a report on the business at Oneida County. At a vote of 13-10 the Board voted to extend the terms of election commissioners from two to four years starting in 2025. He also made note of the fact that there are 192 polling places in Oneida County.

Mr. Scheible noted that the International Ice Hockey Women's World Championship held in Utica attracted 70,000 visitors and generated $3.4 million in spending.

Discussion took place about a new device that has been purchased to detect gunshots in Utica. About 80% of the gun shots in Utica have been undetected as people are hesitant to call 911.

In other business, the County approved a semi-annual report on mortgage tax receipts. Municipalities will receive $1,731,274.

C. PUBLIC CONCERNS

Sewer concerns will be held until the Business portion of the meeting.

D. BUSINESS

The first order of business was the adoption of Local law #1 of the year 2025 which is a local law imposing a six month moratorium on commercial free standing solar photovoltaic systems within the Village of Oneida Castle. This was previously local law #1 of the year 2024 which the village was unable to enact as they were waiting for a necessary County recommendation.

A brief discussion of this took place for those who had not attended previous meetings. A motion was made by Trustee Ackerman and seconded by Trustee Gwilt to adopt the resolution to put a 6 month moratorium on commercial solar power systems. A roll call vote was taken resulting with three ayes. This was certified and sealed by Clerk Jean Canada on January 13th.

The meeting began with Mayor Deschamps asking Mr. Carnaya if there was any news to report regarding grants for homeowners to help with sewer costs. Mr. Carnaya responded that the committee has some leads but would prefer to wait until the next meeting for any announcement.

Mrs. Stone spoke for her son who is unable to attend tonight. Gabe is working on his Eagle Scout Badge and his bench is now together in the park. The price of wood has doubled since he began this project so he is still looking for donations and bottles to return. His book library is almost finished as well.

Richard Moore asked if the workers will be responsible to clean up his lawn area when they are done. His lawn is now full of stones which are getting in his snowblower. He feels the progress seems very slow. He then asked if they were still required to hook up. The Mayor responded by stating that nothing had changed and that you do indeed have to hook up within a certain time frame. He also stated that he will report the lawn and stone problem at the meeting tomorrow.

Mrs. Stone inquired if it is just Oneida Castle involved in this project or does it extend to Prospect and Pratt Dr. Mayor Deschamps responded by saying that the Town of Vernon did not wish to be included so it is just Oneida Castle.

Mrs. McLaughlin reported that she had her wires go down due to an excavator hitting them. Unfortunately a truck was going by at the same time and also took the telephone lines which are still hanging. The Mayor will report this to the company.

Kathy W. of East 8th St. reported that she has water surrounding her mailbox and is worried someone is going to fall into the hole that is developing.

A question arose from the floor about why the sidewalks are not being plowed. Mayor Deschamps replied that it is because the sidewalk plow cannot run on the sidewalks because of damage to the walks when the trees were removed.

Mr. Greene of Steuben Place asked who will have the final say on where the hook up would be. Mayor Deschamps stated that that would fall to the homeowner’s decision.

In final business the home on E. Second St that was lost in the fire was brought to the floor for discussion. Mr. Fromey is trying to have it removed but is being stopped because of asbestos. He is now trying to sell it but the buyer would have to deal with this problem.

The Board asked the clerk to discontinue village trash pickup until the spring.

E. TREASURERS REPORT

Ms. Meyers began her report with the cash flows from December. Inflows were $274,748.32 (EPA grant payment) while outflows were $322,758.12 (sewer project) making an overall total of - $48,009.80.

Year to date inflows are $1,324,355.63 and outflows are $1,437,895.01 making an overall year to date total of $113,539.38.

There is currently $116,615.15 in checking and $105,679.30 in savings making an general fund balance of $220,729.43.

A motion was made by Trustee Ackerman and seconded by Trustee Gwilt to accept this financial report.

A motion was made at 7:45 to adjourn. The next scheduled meeting of the Oneida Castle Village Board will be held on February 3, 2025 at 7:00PM.

Respectfully submitted,


Jean Canada, Clerk