(Utica, NY – June 2013) The Cornhill Neighborhood Association will meet at the Thomas Lindsey Public Safety Center, James Street June 18 at 6:30 p.m. to share thoughts/ideas on developing new community gardens in Cornhill.
In the fall of 2012, the Oneida County Health Department (OCHD) and the NYS Department of Health (NYS DOH) began the Cornhill Brownfields-to-Greenfields Project to help transform a former school property on Kemble Street into a recreational park.
While Cornhill residents have expressed the desire for neighborhood parks and community gardens, a common barrier to the use of many of the City’s vacant and abandoned properties for this purpose has been the concern of potential soil contamination.
OCHD and NYS DOH staff will attend the Cornhill Neighborhood Association’s meeting on June 18 to provide an update on site assessment and the soil testing underway at the Kemble Street School site. (PLEASE NOTE: test results will not be available for a while.)
In addition, they would like to begin a community-wide discussion about developing neighborhood gardens in Cornhill, which is another component of the project.
You can help:
Identify neighborhood interest in community gardening
Consider possible locations for a new community garden, slated for development in 2014
Determine educational needs to help new gardeners getting started
If you cannot attend the meeting but would like more information on the project, or to sign up to be notified about upcoming events, please contact astanier@ocgov.net.