Herkimer County officials met with town of Schuyler officials on Wednesday to further discuss the possibility of a jail adjacent to the Schuyler Business Park.
Chairman of the Public Safety/Emergency Management Committee, Leonard Hendrix, said that this was just the very preliminary stages of determining of it is feasible to have the jail there.
“We wanted to make sure we were on the same page,” Hendrix said. “It has to be a joint effort between the county and the town.”
The Herkimer County legislature approved the Schuyler site about two months ago. At the end of last month, the state commission of corrections approved the site allowing the county to move forward with feasibility studies on the site.
The biggest issue is the sewer and water being provided to the site.
Currently there are 80,000 gallons supplied to the business park. However, only 57,000 are used, leaving an excess of 23,000, enough to accommodate the jail.
Hendrix said the next step is to set up meetings to find out about the water and sewer and talk to the Department of Environmental Conservation.
“By running the sewer line up there it would help the whole town,” Hendrix said.
Hendrix said that the town of Schuyler had no problems or concerns with the jail being in the Schuyler Business Park.
“They seem like they’re on board with us conducting these studies,” Hendrix said. “They’ve been very cooperative.”
Hendrix says the site is still in the very preliminary stages and now that the county met with the town, officials will have to meet with Oneida County about the water and sewer, the Mohawk Valley Water Authority and the DEC.
“We still don’t know what we’re going to find out from the DEC or other people that are still involved,” Hendrix said.
Following all those meetings, and the results being positive, the county and town will meet with the public in the area.
“We’ll meet with the public as soon as we have some idea whether it’s a doable project,” Hendrix said.
Herkimer County is working on a September deadline, when the state commission of corrections said the county has to have its site-specific bubble diagrams in to the state.
“Right now we’re pushing to make that deadline,” Hendrix said.
Hendrix summarizes the meeting as being “very very basic.”
“It’s good to be moving forward on a site,” Hendrix said.