UPDATED: Feb. 26, 1:32 a.m.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner and her Stadium Task Force discussed a proposal of building a new sports arena in the Kennedy Square neighborhood at the task force’s first public meeting.

The meeting was held at Housing Visions headquarters Tuesday morning in front of several community members and city officials.

The stadium would be built just outside of the property of Upstate Medical University. Ben Walsh, deputy commissioner of Syracuse’s Department of Neighborhood and Business Development and chair of the task force, said other sites have been discussed, but the Kennedy Square location is the one that’s being presented to the public.

“I think the way we structured this task force, we can only respond to the information that we have in front of us,” he said. “We believe that other sites have been discussed, but what was presented publicly was this particular site.”

He added that the task force is not looking at any other sites at this point, but they are open to suggestions.

Not every task force member was at the meeting. State senators David Valesky and John DeFrancisco and assembly member William Magnarelli were absent, but they sent people to represent them. Other members came in late as task force members introduced themselves, while others left the meeting early. Outside of the task force, there were only a few community members in the audience.

Two goals for the task force are to ensure that stakeholders make informed decisions, and making sure that the community’s voice is heard in the process, Walsh said.

“I think we would all agree that whatever happens in this neighborhood, whether it’s a stadium or something else, we want it to fit the existing fabric of the neighborhood to align with our municipal planning,” he said.

In a Feb. 7 letter written to the mayor, Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud said he would not appoint anyone to the task force and that SU would conduct an internal analysis to possibly renovate or replace the Carrier Dome.

Greg Eastwood, interim president at Upstate Medical University, asked how the task force would communicate with SU since no one is representing the university on the task force.

The task force can ask the university questions in writing, or ask them orally, Miner said. She added that Syverud and the SU community would provide assistance as needed.

“My experience has been that the chancellor has been very open to answering questions when he has an answer to them,” Miner said. “But if he doesn’t have answers to them, then obviously he can’t provide them.”

SU also hired Irwin Raij of Foley & Lardner LLP as a consultant for task force members to talk to, Walsh added.

At the end of the meeting, Walsh said they have not decided how many meetings the task force will have. Before deciding what the next steps are for the task force, Walsh said they will summarize the key points of Tuesday’s meeting, including the most important items for the committees.

Published on February 25, 2014 at 3:42 pm

Contact Ellen: [email protected] | @ellenkmeyers