Syracuse United Neighbors and County Executive Nicholas Pirro agree on one thing: Lake Onondaga needs a good cleaning and a sewage plant best accomplishes this. Their common opinions end here.

The two groups will meet at 7 p.m. March 31 at the New Testament Missionary Baptist Church to discuss details of a sewage plant, a part of a $380 million plan to clean Lake Onondaga, to be built on the city’s south side. In the years since the sewage plan became public, activists have visited Pirro unannounced at his home and office to protest. Despite past disagreements, most are hopeful they will find a solution that satisfies both sides.

‘This is an opportunity where there is a chance for dialogue,’ said Steve Levy, a senior environmental science major in the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a member of the Student Environmental Action Coalition.

Martin Farrell, a spokesman for Pirro, said that even though protesters have not made themselves strangers to Pirro himself, Monday will mark the first time he has been asked to discuss the issue.

‘This is the first time they’ve ever invited him to speak,’ said Farrell.

Farrell hopes the meeting will show residents that Onondaga County has made considerable changes in the sewage plant plans since its introduction in 1996.

‘We believe that our plan is environmentally sound, affordable and as undisruptive as possible to the neighborhood,’ he said.

The Onondaga County officials want to build a $54 million regional treatment facility that would treat about 322 million gallons of sewage before flowing into Onondaga Creek. The community wants a $74 million underground storage facility that would hold sewage until it could be shipped to Metro, the region’s major sewage treatment plant.

‘[Pirro] keeps saying the same thing over and over to us: ‘I keep worrying about the budget,’ ” said Aggie Lane, a SUN activist.

SUN’s Zac Moore disagrees with Pirro’s argument.

‘We believe it’s an example of environmental racism because plants like this are being built underground in other parts of the city,’ Moore said.

SUN plans to present these concerns to Pirro and Michael Cunningham, the lake cleanup’s project manager, at Monday’s meeting.

Community members believe that a public forum with Pirro is long overdue.

This is the first time that community members and Pirro have met publicly. On March 11, the two met privately to discuss alternative plans to the regional treatment facility, but nothing concrete was established.

Overall, both parties are optimistic about the final outcome of the project.

‘I’m looking forward to the meeting,” Levy said. ‘This should be something we work to resolve so that everyone can get something they want.’

Published on March 30, 2003 at 12:00 pm