Syracuse officials say state placed noise monitors in trees without city notice

During a Syracuse City Council meeting, city officials said the New York State Department of Transportation placed noise monitors on city property — including in trees — without notifying the city or following the city's approval process, Greg Lowe, the city's chief policy officer, said.

Lowe told the council that a newspaper article about the monitors was amended to note that the state agency "did not notify the city of the location of that noise monitor. They placed it in a tree, which wasn't approved, wouldn't have been approved if it had happened." He said the placement in a tree was not approved and that the state "didn't handle it correctly."

The discussion arose while councilors were clearing agenda items. Councilors asked who would be the city's point of contact with the state agency; Lowe said questions about using poles and streetlight fixtures are handled by the Department of Public Works. "When it comes to using poles, the point person is in Department of Public Works in many cases for those kinds of situations. Ken Towsley handles that because it involves our streetlights," Lowe said.

City staff also said the Engineering/Public Works office (referred to in the meeting as EPW) typically works with external agencies on requests for location and provides areas where city utility poles or National Grid poles may be used. Lowe said the state did not follow those procedures in this case.

Councilors asked additional procedural questions, including who the city's contact would be with other outside agencies mentioned in the meeting transcript. The council did not take any formal action on the matter during the session.

The meeting record does not specify how many monitors were placed, the exact locations, whether the monitors remain installed, or any next steps the city will require of the state. Those details were not specified during the council discussion.