Onondaga County gives Webster Pond a $25,000 grant to keep the Valley duck pond open

Onondaga County will give a one-time $25,000 grant to keep Webster Pond, the duck pond and wildlife sanctuary in Syracuse’s Valley neighborhood, from closing, County Executive Ryan McMahon announced on October 1, 2026. The announcement came days after the volunteer group that runs the pond said rising costs had wiped out its operating budget, Syracuse.com reported.

McMahon was joined for the announcement by County Legislator Rich McCarron and Chad Norton, who has run Webster Pond for 29 years as vice president of the conservation group that leases the site. Norton said it is the first time the county has given the group a grant for the cost of operating the pond.

The grant at a glance

The basic terms of the county’s grant, as described in the October 1 announcement and Syracuse.com’s coverage, are these.

• The grant is a one-time payment of $25,000 from Onondaga County.
• The money has to follow a work plan that the county approves in advance.
• Every proposed project and expense goes through county review before grant money can be spent.
• Eligible uses include care of the pond, grounds and wildlife and activities that fit the county’s Greenways and Blueways initiative.

Why the pond ran out of money

Norton told Syracuse.com in a September 28 story that the bare-bones cost of running the sanctuary is about $3,500 a month, for electricity, internet service and corn. Corn is by far the biggest expense. The waterfowl eat about three tons a month, at a cost of about $2,500, and the supplier had not been paid in some time.

Income has stayed flat while costs climbed. Norton said he used to keep a reserve for surprises, but that cushion went to jobs such as clearing Japanese knotweed that had taken over the trail around the pond and rewiring the security cameras. Before he started an online fundraiser in September, he had enough money to keep going for about six more weeks.

The group also has far fewer hands than in years past. Norton said the group had about 100 members 20 years ago and now has only a handful, as longtime members aged out or died. Work that volunteers once did for the price of materials and a pizza, such as roof repairs, now has to be hired out, which raises the bills.

The online fundraiser drew a quick response. Norton started it with a goal of under $10,000, and by October 1 it had raised about $27,000, Syracuse.com reported. That money is meant to carry the pond through winter, when visitors and donations drop off.

What the money can pay for

According to the county, the grant can go toward a set of approved uses listed in the work plan, including the following.

• Capital improvements to the pond, grounds, buildings, trails and access points are allowed.
• Habitat protection and restoration and the management of waterfowl and other wildlife qualify.
• Improvements that make the site easier to reach and more comfortable for visitors are eligible.
• Routine site maintenance and preservation work can be covered.
• Educational, environmental and community programs at the pond are also eligible.

Norton said some of the money will go to bills that cannot wait, including past-due payments for feed corn and trail upkeep. He also listed improvements he hopes to make with the rest: new stone for the wheelchair-accessible path around the pond, new fencing, upgraded security cameras and a pavilion where visitors can get out of the rain.

Who runs Webster Pond

The pond belongs to the City of Syracuse, and the same conservation group has leased the site from the city since 1960. The city handles mowing, plowing and trash pickup. The group covers everything else, from the electric bill to the corn.

About 60 resident domestic waterfowl live at the pond, along with an uncounted number of wild ducks and geese. Norton works out of a small office about the size of a garden shed, and the money that keeps the place running comes mostly from occasional grants and from the cash visitors drop into a locked metal box.

This is not the first time the public has stepped in. After a 2021 break-in in which thieves wrecked the office and stole money and equipment, donors gave more than $10,000 for repairs and new security cameras, according to Syracuse.com.

For many families the pond is a habit that runs back generations. Dr. LeMorris Dexter, minister of Salem Church of Syracuse, fed the ducks there as a child and stopped by in September for his first visit since moving back to the city 10 years earlier. “There’s nothing else like it in the city,” Dexter told Syracuse.com.

Tips for visiting

Visitors who want to help the pond while they feed the birds can follow the practices Norton described to Syracuse.com.

• Use the corn available at the office instead of bread, because bread can cause a wing deformity called angel wing in waterfowl.
• Bags of corn carry a suggested donation of $3, though Norton said there is no charge.
• Cash donations go in the locked metal box in the office, which is how the pond pays many of its bills.
• Norton said visitors and donations nearly dry up in winter, the leanest months for the pond’s budget.

What happens next

Several steps come before the county money reaches the bills, according to the October 1 announcement and Norton’s comments to Syracuse.com.

1. The pond’s operators submit a work plan, and the county reviews and approves each proposed project and expense.
2. Norton plans to pay the past-due bills for feed corn and trail maintenance first.
3. Later projects on his list include the stone path, fencing, camera upgrades and a rain pavilion.
4. The roughly $27,000 from the online fundraiser is set aside to carry the pond through the winter months.

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