HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-07-25 Newspaper - Our Opinion - If you build it, they will come ivionaay
July 25, 2016
Page 6
Our Opinion
If you build it, they will come
• ortland County could spend nearly$40 million building a nev
C
jail,which is sorely needed to replace the inadequate curren
facility. While most reasonable observers would agree tha
this needs to happen,nobody—with the exception of the jail's staf
—is particularly excited about spending so much money on such;
"°cheerless project.
Government business is, all too often, rather mundane. Nobod;
really wants to spend weeks at a time studying the jail problem o
discussing the revenue sinkhole that is our county landfill.But ever
now and then, governments have the opportunity to do something
;truly transformative.
• Cortlandville has just such an opportunity as it considers building
what would be the largest outdoor sporting venue in the state.
As a result of a land swap deal,the town has a 90.acre parcel nea
the Byrne Dairy yogurt plant on Route 13 at South Cortland.Earlie
this year,Cortlandville hired a consultant to examine the feasibilit'
of creating a sporting complex in order to attract state and region
al athletic events. We were not surprised to learn that the resulting
study found that such a facility would be a major boon to the area
and that a potential$10-12 million investment in'the project could bi
returned after just three years of operations..
Our community already hosts myriad athletic competions an(
youth camps, often based at SUNY Cortland's facilities. While fill
college has an impressive sport complex, the town's proposal —
which includes at this stage four baseball diamonds, eight socce
fields, a handful of sand volleyball courts and some of the ameni
ties of the town's current Citizens Park—would take it to the nex
level.
Cortland County is already a destination for outdoor enthusiasts
and numerous studies have shown that outdoor recreation and ath
letics are among our most highly marketable offerings as a commu
nity. The proposed complex in Cortlandville would perfectly-aligi
with the direction in which our community is already headed,and i
would take advantage of our propitious geographical position in thi
heart of New York state.
We can confidently predict that there will be some opposition tc
.this project. Ninety acres is a lot of land to disturb, after all, an(
although the pricetag might be far less than something like a nev
jail and the town would likely receive state support, there will b
naysayers opposed to the expenditure of any public money.We hop(
. Cortlandville officials will be able to allay such concerns and see thi;
project through to fruition. .
This project would bring in visitors who would need to eat, buy
gasoline and,in many cases,rent a room for the night.This mone
from outside the area would help to fuel our economy via expendi
tures on the aformentioned needs,as well as sales tax and occupant
tax revenue. It's easy to see how the town would recoup its invest
ment. Additionally, occupancy tax — a tax paid to the county b;
hotel and motel visitors is used to fund marketing efforts by loca
not-for-profit agencies and community events,which draw in mon
visitors to the community and results in more sales and occupanc3
tax revenue. -
We would like to remind county legislators,who are facing a bud.
get shortfall and are hungrily eyeing occupancy tax funds,that thi:
community would be better served using this money to attract visi•
tors and generate additional spending,rather than filling holes in the
county budget.
- - While there are some questions that need to be answered=name•
ly, who would maintain the park and handle what would surely be
complex scheduling, as well as how to pay for construction-we
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-. . Sciatica . «�
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1 , 0 .*l ,. From Mayo Clinic
„ ,: News Network
(TNS)
Dear Mayo Clinic: Three '
weeks ago I was diagnosed with
- 4 s , sciatica.I didn't have much pain
initially,but it has been extreme-
' 1: 7. ly painful the past few days —
usually when I'm sitting.Would :.:
physical therapy be .an option
for treatment? I don't like to
take medications for pain. Are
there other treatments I should ,:
% try?Could surgery help? ,-,
V P%' A:Sciatica can cause significant.
_ discomfort.The good news is that
;1" time•and treatment often success-,
-',;•& ,, fully, resolve this condition. In o-b
.. «t. .: • most cases, surgery is not neces- '-�'
I`. ,• g . sary to treat sciatica. .�.
Photo courtesy Fotolia/TNS Sciatica typically refers to pain.•...,
e, , from irritation of one of the spi-
nal nerves in your low back. Al-'though the source of the irritation
I . n c e is
of insciatica your backalong, ytheouaff feel then e pain
' ,
'
where it is located in your leg after`
`.� might fail, says Arthur- it exits the spine, typically in the ',,,,•:,
s Cameselle, who pres- buttock and leg. Sciatica usually
ents confidence-building affects only one side of the body. e 1
workshops around the Sciatica pain is often a dull
country. "If you walk in pain, but it also can be sharp and, ,,.,
thinking it's not going to at times, you may feel the pain
a work,that increases ten- travel or "shoot" down your leg.
sion. Then you actually Symptoms of sciatica may include -.,,
don't come across well. numbness, tingling or weakness:-
It's self-fulfilling." along with the pain. ,
�
People with normal Sciatica develops due to a ;,;,
ce confidence approach change in one of the cartilage pads
ist these situations as op- in your spine,called discs.A small,,
— portunities,not threats. component of the disc pokes into,j i
Confidence - ' flows the spinal canal, creating inflam-,3.,,
;,'says Adam Price,a psychol- mation, or swelling. That, in turn,
fli ces in New York and New leads to inflammation of the nerve :,�
ass comes from trying, learn- and triggers the symptoms of sci-
g again. atica. Pressure on the nerve from
ce confidence rests on your the disc may contribute to sciatica, ;
•uncertainty. You're not con- as well. Other less likely causes of '
the outcome, but know that nerve irritation include bone spurs, _V
at it, even in the face of fail- • cysts or other lesions in the spine ;,',
doubt, you will eventually that grow near a nerve. ;
Physical-therapy can be an ex-
-changes-as you learn :new cellent' treatment option for sci '#
elop new skills, Price points atica. It often involves learning :
gists call it plasticity.For that stretches to improve your flexibil-
itv.techniaues for vain control and -_,