The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Downtown farmers market plans
ONEIDA, N.Y. » The Oneida City Center Committee wants to bring the farmers market back to downtown Oneida and it’s got the mayor and members of city council excited.
Dr. John Costello Jr. and Paul Marco of the OC3 addressed council Tuesday, outlining ways to bring more people to Oneida.
“We would like to propose to have a farmers market in the city center this summer,” Marco said. “But I don’t want everyone to think that it’s just a farmers market and that it’s just a place for people to buy fruits and vegetables.”
Marco said OC3 wants to help the city center grow and make Oneida a go-to destination dur- ing the week. OC3 is looking at approaching 35 different vendors to offer food, drinks, arts, crafts and more. OC3 is also looking to partner with the Kallet Civic Center and the Oneida Performing Arts Group to provide live music.
The farmers market would be every Thursday from 4:308:30 p.m. along Farrier Avenue, stretching from Chase Bank to the end of the post office and along Higinbotham Park.
“As we’re moving forward, we have to ask what we can do to bring more people downtown,” Costello said. “We’re trying to make downtown more of a hub. Something like Party in the Plaza was in Syracuse when that was big in the ‘90s, or what they do in Norwich. On Thursday nights in Norwich, they have a big band in the city center and all the stores are open. I went through Norwich one Thursday last year and there had to be 600 to 700 people gathered for the concert.”
“We don’t want to pitch this as just a farmers market where some people can come, pick up a few things and go,” Marco said. “Think about looking at the city as an ecosystem. We have business, we have people and events.
They’re all a piece and all of those have to work together. And what we’re trying to establish is that on Thursdays, between the months of May and October, Oneida has a place for people to come down during the evenings to have a beer or some wine, interact with vendors, people and maybe even bring down elements of the city.”
The ultimate goal of the city council and OC3 is to revitalize downtown and make it the go-to place in the Oneida area. But to do that, Marco explained, the city needs events like the farmers market to “prime the pump.”
Councilors were optimistic, but also raised anumber of concerns before moving forward, such as how closing down the road would af- fect the post office, the logistics needed from the police and fire department, and alcohol in the city park.
Marco said the city council is the first stop of many and wanted to see if council was interested. OC3 also has plans to talk with the Parks and Recreations Department, the city fire department and the police department before anything is done.
Ward 5 Councilor Jim Chamberlain said the market is a fantastic idea and Ward 4 Councilor Helen Acker said she loves what’s planned. She suggested OC3 reach out to the Madison County Historical Society and see if it’s possible to combine the farmers market the society runs on Tuesday afternoons with OC3’s efforts.
Mayor Leo Matzke said he fully supports the project and wants to do whatever he can to support OC3.
“Over the next two years, all of downtown will be renovated, from the facades to the trees. So your timing is good,” Matzke said. “I think, like you said, it’s each a little piece you put together.”
Quick Hits
•Ward 4 Councilor Helen Acker gave thanks to the Oneida City fire and police departments. “We stand for the pledge allegiance and the mayor asks us to stand in silence for the heroes that serve. I personally experienced two sets of heroes in our community.” Acker said her grandson drives a tow truck and last Monday, after parking it in their driveway, it exploded. “We heard this bigbang. The tow truck blew up and lit on fire. The fire and police department were superb. They got there, took care of the fire and saved our house, my daughter’s car, the garage, the trees and the neighbor’s fence.”
•City officials, being led by Comptroller Lee Ann Wells, are beginning to look at new software for the city’s systems to bring their network into the 21st century. In a meeting with Tyler Technologies NYS Account Executive Terry Quinn, Wells told Quinn that much of the support for their current system is almost nonexistent and that she has to do several reports and logs, such as the Affordable Care Act logs, by hand. “Our observations of the current situation in Oneida, the system being used is called KVS. At one time, it was widely used and very popular in New York. It’s become a very dated systemand the technology is probably 30 years old. There’s not a lot happening for new development,” Quinn said. “There isn’t a path for an upgrade.”