The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Vaccines, other county updates shared at council meeting
Some information relating to vaccine distribution and other county COVID affairs were reported last night at Oneida’s Common Council meeting. Regarding Madison County Madison County Supervisor Matt Roberts shared his report.
Sales tax for the county until the end of 2020 has been up from the same time last year. The supervisor has shared this news at previous meetings, but on Tuesday shared that for 2020 overall, sales tax was up 4.5% compared to 2019. Roberts said he believes this increase is largely attributed to more online sales. “Nobody’s going to the mall,” he remarked.
COVID cases, though still higher than past trends, are starting to trend downward, he reported. The county is averaging 30 or so new cases per day, down from 45 in previous reports.
The number of deaths in the county rests at 78, though this is a number that may catch some residents off guard. Due to an error in reporting to the Madison County Health Department noticed on Jan. 7, 2021, some misclassified deaths were corrected, thus shooting the Covid-related death toll up a bit, according to county reports.
Public Information Officer Samantha Fields explained to the Dispatch that the misclassification was a clerical error, one caused by issues relating to where a person dies (in or out of county) and where they are from. The issue was caught when Madison County officials noticed that the NYS data was not in sync with the county’s, she said.
A press release on the matter was published by the county on Jan. 7. In that statement, the county shared that of the total county Covid-positive deaths to date, which was 74 at the time, 59 had been residents at local nursing homes.
Looking at the county’s online COVID trends data, a large spike can be seen in the rate-ofnew-deaths line graph, occurring on Jan. 7, 2021. The spike shows a rate of about 35 new deaths, a majority if not all of these may be attributed to the correction.
Many of the county’s total deaths are recent occurrences. Since Dec. 1, 2020, the county has had 56 Covid-positive deaths, the report stated.
Roberts also shared some vaccination-related updates for the county.
The good news, he said, is the county has a “perfect score” when it comes to administering its vaccines as they’re given.
The bad news—that means they’re not getting enough doses.
Those who received a first dose are getting close to receiving their second, Roberts said, assuring they’re in the clear. But as far as new patients getting a shot to the arm, many will have to wait.
“The problem is with [the] supply chain,” he shared. “We
have the capacity in Madison County right now, through the PODS (points of distribution) that we have set up... for somewhere between 3-4,000 doses per week... unfortunately, this week, we received 100 doses. We asked for 1,500.”
Though the county is far from reaching its vaccination potential, Roberts was proud to admit that, for a population of 72,000, they’re prepared to do quite a bit.
The Kallet Theater is slated to be one of the county’s PODS if they can get their hands on enough doses to run it, Roberts said.
He speculated that manufacturing delays are partly to blame for the lack of supply. Additionally, he said the frequent rule changes weren’t helping when certain systems obviously weren’t prepared to meet demand. Expanding the pool of those eligible has spread the supply quite thin, he said.
“I know the state has been blaming the feds for changing those rules, but we don’t have to abide by the feds rules of who we give the doses to. It’s really the state that’s deciding that. We really need to put pressure on Albany to say ‘look, let’s put the people at risk first,’” he remarked.
The number of doses the county gets on a weekly basis is news every time, Roberts said; they never know what they’re going to get.
Things are so bad, “we’ve had to actually turn people back who have signed up for appointments,” Roberts shared. “We’re hoping that it gets better, but all we can do is sit and wait”
City affairs
Public hearings relating to either keeping or doing away with particular language in the city’s proposed large-scale solar system regulation ordinances were held. Much of the opinions shared were the same of that previously reported by the Dispatch in the paper printed earlier that day.
Former Solar Committee member (the committee has been dissolved) and resident Jill Lynch spoke at the hearing, emphasizing her stance that the flexibility in the language gives developers too much of an advantage. Many solar developers are not staunch members of the community, but outsiders seeking their own opportunity, she said. They “thrive” by minimizing time, quality, and effort in their developments, and the language in the ordinances should push them to a higher standard, she argued.
Primarily, the issue of holding developers accountable for the visibility of their solar farms is priority, Lynch argued. They’ll try to cut corners if they can, she continued, and so now’s the chance for the city to get ahead of that via legislation.
Cassie Rose, also a former Solar Committee member and current Oneida Planning Director, emphasized the stance she previously expressed in a past report, which is that the recommended language for the ordinances is taken from the NYS Energy Research and Development Authority, and it’s there for good reason. The flexibility in the language is necessary when the PCZBA reviews site plans, she said.
The Common Council is set to vote on the proposed solar-related regulation changes on Feb. 2, 2021.
Rose also shared that the city received good feedback from residents to participate in a home rehabilitation program. The council authorized the planning director to submit the city’s grant application; now they must wait to see if they’ve been chosen to receive the funds.