Watch Shawn Smith!

For all my 8th Ward constituents -

I wanted to share some information on Shawn Smith, who is running for 8th Ward Alderman. She is a bright, energetic individual who has some great ideas for the City.

Please read the editorial in last Tuesday's Cortland Standard.

She presented at Housing Confab V, and spoke about housing issues in the City of Cortland.

You can see pictures and download her Powerpoint presentation at www.cortlandareactc.org

Her presentation can also be viewed on CATV Channel 2 at 10:30 am on October 31, and at 8:00 pm on Thursday November 1.

Congratulations Shawn and best of luck in your run!

You may email Shawn at shawnsmith@gmail.com

My View - County Master Plan

I would like to express my views on County topics in an effort to show my constituents where I stand. There is no better place to start then with the main reason I decided to run - a County Master plan. More will be posted, and I encourage you to email in questions that I will be glad to answer.

You can see that most of my comments revolve about press related to the South Main Street combined Health facility, which failed early this year. I hadn't heard about the facility until it was published in the Cortland Standard the last week in December. I wrote an email to my representatives asking some questions. You'll see I also asked about the generator planned for the CCOB- another blog will talk about that.

I attended the January 2007 Legislature meeting with about 60 other residents, and at that time, the Legislature voted to NOT acquire the properties.

Much debate occurred over the next several Legislature meetings, all well attended by the community; during that time, many questions were asked about the process in which the properties were discussed, considered and ultimately acquired.

Subsequently, several lawsuits were filed questioning the validity of that vote. Ultimately, the County decided to purchase the Moose property and Robbins vending properties due to court decision. More on that to come.

A group of citizens formed called the Concerned Citizens for Neighborhood Preservation (CCNP). I was part of the group. We shared notes and were unable to determine the methodology for the Health Department during the debate over property acquisition. We asked our Legislators and Administration to provide backup that would justify the size, cost, and priority for the facility. The building proposed took a big chunk out of South Main Street and encroached on the Church, Randall and William Streets properties. We asked other questions such as what the traffic impact was on those streets, snow removal, street parking, security and policing. Unfortunately we never received any answers.

An Ad Hoc Committee was formed to look at the County's needs. Since that time, the push for a combined Health facility has diminished slightly. The Ad Hoc focus appears to be primarily on the DMV. However, there has been talk about a larger jail from a study completed in January.

None of the talk about facilities, whether it is the DMV, Health or Mental Health, or the jail deal with a master plan. What a master plan will provide is a map for all moves, both for new construction and the renovations of those leftover spaces.

When looking at the needs of the County, you need to think several moves ahead to be efficient. You cannot just build a jail and not know what the old jail will become, or whether you should consider the needs of the City (which also has jail issues).

You need to be looking at what could backfill the DMV if/when it moves, then what will fill the vacated space that moves into the DMV, and so on.

You need to consider leasing versus owning, building new versus building out a vacant facility. You need to consider where you are building and its impact on the municipality tax base.

Bottom line is that the facilities we build now should last for generations, and if not properly planned, they could be mistakes that cost the taxpayers substantially.

10/26/07 - County tax rate drops 4% in new draft budget

(As published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston Reporting)

A healthy fund balance will allow Cortland County to cut property taxes by about 4 percent, according to the county administrator’s tentative $114 million budget for 2008.

County Administrator Scott Schrader presented the Legislature Thursday with a proposed 2008 budget that would reduce the average county tax rate of $14.91 per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2007 to a 2008 rate of $14.31 per $1,000.

Schrader’s budget calls for $2.7 million in new spending for 2008, while the overall budget of $114 million represents a $6 million, or 5.2 percent, increase over the $108 million 2007 spending plan.

Despite the spending increases, the proposed budget reduces the overall tax levy, the amount of property taxes the county needs to collect for its budget, by $111,000, or 0.5 percent, to $24.7 million.

These cuts to the tax rate and the tax levy — the first substantial cuts since 1995, Schrader said — are possible due to the county’s relatively solid financial position, he said.

“The bottom line is we’re reducing our reliance on real property tax dollars to run our operations, which is a very good thing,” Schrader said. “We’re getting a good return on the fund balance we’ve built up, our bond rating is down which will lead to significant long term savings. It’s amazing what four and a half years have done.”

Schrader and numerous legislators credited one another and county department heads for improving the county’s financial situation significantly since 2003, when Schrader was hired.

In 2003, after a depleted fund balance contributed to a poor bond rating which led to significant tax increases, the Legislature resolved to grow and maintain the county’s fund balance at 10 percent of total expenditures.

Schrader’s budget proposes spending $3.9 million, or 38 percent, of the county’s roughly _$10.2 million general fund balance.

Including surplus funds earmarked for specific uses such as county roads, the county will spend about $4.7 million of its total $12.8 million budgeted fund balance for 2008, leaving it with an $8.1 million total fund balance heading in to 2009, assuming no money is unspent in 2008.

That figure is just under 10 percent of the $90 million in total expenditures in the budget Schrader said, noting that the $114 million figure comes from certain expenditures that come from the county’s general fund but go toward funds like highway and health insurance, and are counted twice.

My congratulations to the County Administration and Legislature for their efforts to keep our taxes down for the next year.

Let's keep it rolling!

10/24/07 - State to study merger

Report on city, C’ville merger part of broader effort to encourgage consolidation

(As Published by Cortland Standard, Evan Geibel Reporting)

A feasibility study for merging the city of Cortland and the town of Cortlandville will be among the first such reviews under the governor’s effort to encourage consolidation of municipalities statewide.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer wants to see municipalities talking about consolidation, and the city and town were chosen as subjects through the study that is expected to be completed by April. The proposal will not be binding on the town and city.

Mayor Tom Gallagher and Cortlandville Supervisor Dick Tupper met with representatives of the state Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness on Oct. 3 at City Hall.

They were told that someone had proposed the two municipalities be examined by the state as possible candidates for consolidation.

“We have no idea where it came from — all we know is that out of the city, the county and the town, nobody we know made that recommendation,” Tupper said this morning.

A call to the commission’s office was not immediately returned this morning.

In a letter to Gallagher and Tupper dated Sept. 14, commission Executive Director John Clarkson wrote that the governor asked for and received hundreds of proposals for merger and consolidation from local governments, and that “in order to stimulate public discussion of these issues, and provide a current review of the issues and possibilities involved, several of these proposals were selected for study. The City of Cortland and the Town of Cortlandville is one such area.”

Tupper made the first local announcement on the issue Tuesday at a League of Women Voters Meet the Candidates forum at the Cortlandville Fire Station, in response to a question about consolidation from an audience member.

The commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness was created in April and had been proposed by Spitzer during his first State of the State address in January.

A report would have to be issued by April 15, according to Spitzer’s executive order that created the commission.

Since the meeting at the beginning of the month, Tupper and Gallagher said they have not heard back from the state.

11th LD Race - 10/23/07

Legislator’s attendance record questioned

Wow, it sure doesn't look good when you can't be reached for comment on your lack of attendance.

The article makes no mention Dafoe's past accomplishments or his goals for the next two years.

10th LD Race - 10/20/07

10th Legislative District - Increased discussion among top priorities

(As published by Cortland Standard, Christine Laubenstein reporting)

Both candidates for Homer’s 10th legislative district cite improved communication between legislators and the public as one of their priorities, though they have different ideas about how they can be achieved.

Republican Tom Williams, the race’s incumbent, and Democrat Jennifer Gofkowski, a newcomer to politics, both view the purchase of properties on south Main Street last fall as evidence of the Legislature’s lack of communication.

“Most legislators knew nothing of the south Main Street project until a couple of days before we were expected to vote on the $6, 7, 8-million project,” said Williams, 62, of 2 Bedford St., Homer.

"I knew four days ahead of time. There was never a meeting of all of us.”

Both candidates criticized how the Legislature’s discussion of big issues is often reserved to smaller committees or political caucuses that are often behind closed doors.

“I think that right now there’s a lot of closed-door session things keeping public business away from the public,” said Gofkowski, 33, of 934 Anderson Drive, Homer. “I think there needs to be better communication between legislators and taxpayers.”

Williams said he believes the county’s department heads and 19 legislators should hold work sessions on issues of importance, such as a master plan for the county’s space needs. At those work sessions, which ideally all of the legislators would attend, legislators would discuss the issues they would eventually vote on at the Legislature’s regular meetings.

“If I’m not on the Buildings and Grounds Committee it’s hard for me to talk to the Buildings and Grounds Committee if I don’t have access to them, if I can’t see one of the legislators (on the
committee),” he said.

Gofkowski said she would prefer that discussion take place during legislative sessions, where all the members are already gathered.

After discussion, votes should be tabled until the next legislative session, to ensure residents have a chance to give legislators feedback.

“I think that’s a big frustration right now with Cortland County residents,” she said of the lack of openness. “They’re not given any voice.”

The 10th district candidates both agree the county needs to figure out how to handle all its space needs, though each has some opinions he or she is adamant about.

9th LD Race - 10/20/07

9th Legislative District — Candidates call for taxpayer savings

(As published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

One of the Legislature’s staunchest conservative voices will square off with a Democratic challenger with strong ties to the community in the race for the legislative seat in Homer’s expansive 9th District.

Both incumbent Republican Newell Willcox, who lives on Route 281 in the northern portion of Homer, and Democratic challenger Jeff Currie, who lives on East River Road in the southeast portion of the town, offered ways to save the county and taxpayers money, and stressed that communication with constituents and the community at large were key.

Currie, 37, and an electrician, said he had been compelled to run after he heard numerous complaints from neighbors along East River Road about garbage falling out of passing trucks and littering the road.

“I called three different agencies and I didn’t get anywhere — the third person I called switched me back to the first,” Currie said, noting that he wound up cleaning up the garbage himself.

Willcox, who is 81 and owns Willcox Tire on Tompkins Street in Cortland, said he felt he had represented the 9th District well in his four years as a legislator.

“I think I’ve basically been kind of a watchdog for this Legislature, and I’d like to continue,” said Willcox, noting that, at times he’s been “a minority even in my own party” during his time on the Legislature.

Willcox said he would like to see the Legislature look to cut the county’s budget, either by going line by line or by requiring each department head to cut 2 to 3 percent from its budget.

Currie agreed that spending is a concern, and said that one way he envisioned the county saving money was seeking more energy efficiency in its buildings.

“That’s something I’d be pushing for … if the county really got into energy management and learned to cut some corners, we could save a lot of money,” he said.

Currie was critical of the current Legislature for its handling of the aborted south Main Street land deal, saying more communication with the public from the start was needed.

“I’m not really in tune with exactly what happened there but I think that Newell Willcox probably should have been more in tune with it,” he said.

Willcox has said numerous times that he felt left out of the loop on the project, and that he was not informed of the deal until the project was announced to the public.

City News - 10/18/07 - City begins work on master plan

(As Published By Cortland Standard, Evan Geibel reporting)

The city’s work on the new comprehensive plan is just getting started, and the project coordinator hopes to have the document finished by December 2008.

The 19-member project steering committee met for the first time Monday afternoon and went over the process for the plan’s development with Thoma Development Consultants, which will guide the process for the city.

On behalf of the city, Thoma applied for and received a $54,000 grant from the state for the plan’s development. The last citywide master plan was approved in 1991.

According to a presentation given by Wes Pettee, the project manager for Thoma Development, a comprehensive plan includes a municipality’s goals and recommended actions to achieve them. It provides an outline for orderly growth and continued guidance for decision making, and focuses on immediate and long-range protection, enhancement, growth and development of the municipality.

The plan development process will include input from the Common Council, the steering committee, members of the public, city employees, the county Planning Department, and other state and local agencies, in addition to Thoma Development.

The development of the comprehensive plan will be similar to that of the South End Strategic Plan, which was adopted by the Common Council in June after months of preparation — the recommended course of action in the South End plan would be included in the development of the citywide plan.

Surveys would be sent to random samplings of residents and college students, and business owners would also be given a survey.

Six community meetings would collect public input. Four meetings would be devoted to brainstorming the city’s problems and possibilities; one would focus on possible design recommendations, and another would examine mapping and land use.

Issues for consideration within the comprehensive plan include public facilities; health and public safety; infrastructure and utilities; energy; land use; intergovernmental cooperation; historic and architectural resources; transportation; open space and parks; and the natural and man-made environment.

Two comments here: one for the City, the other for the County-

1) I think the City should engage the County to get someone involved as sit in on the meetings. After all, the South Main Street deal could have been eliminated had someone at the County level been paying attention to the City's South End strategic plan. And that will also allow the County to feel the City's pain with lack of taxable property in the City, and maybe consider some facilities that could be built outside City limits.

2) County in general - ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?!?!?! This is the second announcement in a week about comprehensive master plans to take a look at all facilities! Homer first, now Cortland. Cortland got a grant through Thoma Development.

City News - UH,OH - 10/17/07 - Nearly 10% city tax increase proposed

(As published by Cortland Standard, Evan Geibel Reporting)

The proposed $16.8 million 2008 city budget, which would increase the tax rate 9.8 percent, was distributed to the Common Council at its meeting Tuesday night.

The tax rate would be about $17.99 for every $1,000 of assessed property value. The current tax rate is $16.37 for every $1,000 of assessed valuation.

The proposed $16.8 million in overall spending represents a 6.3 percent increase over this year’s $15.8 million budget.

The total tax levy, or amount to be raised by local property taxes, for 2008 would be $9.6 million, up from the $6.6 million 2007 tax levy.

In his budget report, Mayor Tom Gallagher recommended that the council adopt the budget as written — it includes no new programs to be funded and no capital equipment or vehicle purchases.

The spending increase is attributed to salary increases, which are up about 3 percent on average; escalating pension costs; increases in the cost of fuel and utilities; and a 13 percent increase in the cost of health insurance.

Gallagher said the city paid $258,000 for pension costs in 2003. In 2007, those costs had risen to about $1.2 million.

City Director of Administration and Finance Andy Damiano said that short of cutting personnel, there appears to be no feasible method of reducing the tax rate.

“This is, for all intents and purposes, just a sort of stagnant budget, other than costs that are entirely out of our control,” Damiano said this morning.

About 73 percent of each year’s budget is used for personnel expenses. Since the city is already operating at minimal staff levels, the mayor strongly discouraged the council from considering staff cuts.

“The only way to reduce manpower is for the city to reduce services. We have to find that fine balance, and I think we’re at it,” Damiano said.

The tax increase — the largest in recent memory — is due in part to the inability of the city to rely on surplus funds to offset the following year’s tax increase.

Bond balance

Over the last three years, the Common Council has been reducing its reliance on surplus funds to offset possible tax increases in response to a recommendation by the city’s bond rating service. Now, the city’s surplus has been drained and the council does not have a choice.

City Director of Administration and Finance Andy Damiano said he does not expect the rates at which the city pays back the debts it has incurred to skyrocket because of the lack of a surplus fund balance.

“On the one side, it’s not positive that we’ve pretty much wiped out the fund balance, but it is positive that we can demonstrate a reduced commitment to appropriating from the fund balance,” Damiano said this morning. “They might not be very happy about the one issue, but they would be happy with the other.”

And because the city has never operated at a deficit, the bond rating company, Moody’s, would likely look favorably upon sound management practices, Damiano said.

The bond rating is an important consideration since the city is considering major overhauls to the City Hall building, as well as the possible construction of a new multi-million dollar fire station, if not just an expensive overhaul of the Court Street fire station.

Damiano has said it is likely that any future bonding would be structured in a way that would not result in any tax increases — old debts would be paid off just as new debts were beginning to be incurred.

So my question as a City taxpayer is - how does the City revaluation play into the big tax increase we are facing? Is it "double dipping"? Please ask you Aldermen as they visit you during Election season - it may be two years until you see them again!

10/17/07 - Suits challenge judge over conflict attorney

Second judge drawn deeper into dispute over position

(As Published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

Two more lawsuits relating to the contentious debate over the county’s conflict attorney position were filed late last week, both drawing a second county judge who opposes the position deeper into the fray.

County Conflict Attorney Tom Miller filed suit Friday in state Supreme Court against county Judge Julie Campbell, claiming Campbell was wrong in removing Miller from a Family Court case based on Campbell’s opposition to the conflict attorney position.

Meanwhile on Thursday the client in the same Family Court case, Charles Miller of Cortland, also filed suit against Campbell.

“I just felt that my rights were being overlooked,” Charles Miller said of his decision to file his own suit. “She tried to make me take a lawyer that would have a conflict of interest with me … Mr. Miller was assigned to me, and she’s trying to make me give him up, but I’m not going to do that.”

The two suits bring to four the number of lawsuits filed regarding the conflict attorney position.

Public Defender Keith Dayton in August filed a suit similar to Tom Miller’s against county Judge William Ames for creating a conflict in Dayton’s office by removing Miller from representing a client, while three members of the Cortland County Bar Association have sued Cortland County, claiming the conflict attorney position was created illegally.

The two latest lawsuits take issue with Campbell’s decision to nullify an appointment of Tom Miller to handle Charles Miller’s case.

Charles Miller, who was engaged in a custody case, was referred to the conflict attorney because the Public Defender’s Office had previously represented the mother against Charles Miller in a previous, “bitterly contested case,” according to Tom Miller’s suit.

The conflict attorney’s suit lays out an extensive narrative of Campbell’s rejection of his representation of Charles Miller and, like Dayton’s suit against Ames, questions the judge’s conduct. For instance, the conflict attorney details a court appearance from Sept. 18 before which he met with Charles Miller, who agreed he wanted the conflict attorney to represent him.
The case was scheduled for 1:45 p.m., but was bumped in favor of a number of cases scheduled for later in the day, and not called until 3:15 p.m., Miller’s suit claims.

There is more in the print article, but you get the "big picture"...

10/13/07 - Dems reappoint Wood party chairman

(As Published by Cortland Standard, Evan Geibel Reporting)

Cortland County Election Commissioner Bill Wood was re-elected as the county Democratic Party chair at a Democratic Committee organizational meeting Oct. 6.

County Legislator Sandy Price (D-Harford and Virgil) is the vice-chair; Alice Starmer was appointed treasurer; and Sean Mack is the secretary.

“The only nominations were the people that were elected. There were no nominations from the floor,” Mack said Friday morning.

The vote was unanimous, he added.

Mack said about 25 people were in attendance at the meeting, with a total of 4,169 weighted votes, including proxy votes submitted by absent committee members — this was about 1,000 more votes than needed for a quorum, he added.

There are about 84 members of the Democratic Committee, for a total of just fewer than 5,900 weighted votes.

The meeting — held at attorney and committee member Ric Van Donsel’s law office on Church Street — was initially adjourned because there did not appear to be a quorum, but was reconvened shortly thereafter when weighted votes were tallied and a quorum was evident.

Wood confirmed that the meeting had taken place and that he was appointed chairman, but he would not comment further.

Incumbent Alderwoman Shannon Terwilliger (D-2nd Ward), who failed to receive the party endorsement in her bid for re-election and then lost the September primary to Democratic challenger Clay Benedict, said she showed up at the meeting with four proxy votes that she was not allowed to cast.

A former committee member herself, Terwilliger was told she was off the committee — her loyalty to the party was questioned — and that the proxy votes she was carrying could not be accepted.

10/13/07 - County opts to retain health administrator

Switch to different company to manage health insurance claims opposed by unions.

(As Published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

Cortland County’s Personnel Committee decided Thursday to stick with the current health insurance administrator for county employees, turning down $125,000 in savings.

The decision was made because of a lack of support from the unions and the potential for unseen costs and administrative burdens.

The committee had been told last month that a switch from current third-party administrator RMSCO to a similar company called POMCO could save the county $125,000 for administering the county’s health plan to the roughly 750 families and individuals enrolled in the plan.

The committee was tempted by the savings, but County Administrator Scott Schrader warned that POMCO is an accepted administrator at fewer doctors than RMSCO, and that the change could cause headaches similar to those experienced when the county switched to RMSCO three years ago.

Schrader told the committee Thursday that three of the county employee unions — the Civil Service Employees Union, the Nurse’s Association and the Deputy Sheriff’s union — had all responded negatively to the proposed switch.

Schrader said the county has the right to change plans, but the unions would have a case that the change would have a negative impact for the employees who receive treatment from the doctors who do not accept POMCO.

Of the health care providers used most often by county employees, 89 percent accept RMSCO while only 79 percent accept POMCO.

“We could negotiate with those individuals (to pay for their doctors), but that just erodes into the savings,” Schrader said, adding that the change could potentially prompt legal action from the unions.

Furthermore, the change would almost certainly include glitches, Schrader said, noting that when the county switched to RMSCO from Blue Cross/Blue Shield, there was a change in the way RMSCO administered the county’s health plan, which resulted in administrative difficulties and coverage problems for employees.

“There will be instances where the procedures (of POMCO) will be different (from RMSCO),” Schrader said.

Committee members noted that they had heard a lot of negative feedback to the potential switch.

“I feel that what we did three years ago, it’s finally up and running smoothly now, why change it and put the employees through it,” said Committee Chairman Larry Cornell (R-Marathon and Lapeer).

11/12/07 - County considers senior offices move

South Main Street location eyed for housing the Area Agency on Aging

(As Published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

The county is considering constructing a building for its Area Agency on Aging on the two properties it was compelled to buy on south Main Street.

Some officials say the move could create space for the cramped Department of Mental Health and help alleviate a parking shortage at the County Office Building, where the Agency on Aging is now located.

Carol Deloff, director of the Agency on Aging, asked the Human Services Committee Thursday to consider her department as a possible tenant of the recently acquired properties at 157 and 159 Main St.

“With the older population in this community growing, I think it would be great if the center could grow, and we were able to offer more opportunities,” Deloff said. “I’m not saying it would work for sure, but I think it’s worth looking at.”

The Legislature voted in September to purchase the former Moose Lodge and Robbins Vending properties in response to a judge’s ruling that the county breached an original contract to purchase them in January.

The two properties, which including legal fees will cost $576,000, were originally part of an $894,000 deal aimed at placing a public health facility on a total of nine parcels of land along south Main, William and Randall streets. The project included the departments of Health and Mental Health.

Because it opted to purchase only the two commercial properties involved and is seeking to settle with the remaining property owners, the county must to decide whether to come up with a scaled-down project for the site or to sell two properties. The two properties are the former
Moose Lodge and the adjacent Robbins Tobacco Co. properties.

Deloff told the committee that the Agency on Aging’s current space is limiting, particularly for its meal delivery service.

The Agency on Aging delivers 500 meals per day to senior centers and to homes, but the process by which it gets the meals out of the County Office Building basement has long been arduous, requiring employees to lift large carts of meals at a number of points between the kitchen and the delivery vehicles, Deloff said.

“It’s an important service and our staff is great, they do what they have to do, but it’s been something we’ve been talking about fixing for years,” Deloff said.

The Agency on Aging occupies nearly 13,000 square feet in the County Office Building. It would cost $1.5 million to $2 million to construct a suitable 14,000-square-foot building on south Main Street, County Administrator Scott Schrader said this morning.

SEE DRYDEN TOWN HALL ARTICLE BELOW!!!! Sorry, it will be $3,000,000 PLUS the cost to purchase the land and prepare it, and by the time it is built, will be clser to $4,000,000.

Who is going to pay the difference? How does this impact taxpayers? Inquiring minds want to know.

10/12/07 - Dryden hosting open house for new town hall

Public gets first view of $3M building at meeting Thursday

Bob Ellis/staff photographer

Zoning enforcement officer Slater gives a tour of the new courtroom and meeting room in the new Dryden Town Hall. The town is holding an open house for the new building from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday

(As Published by Cortland Standard, Ida Pease Reporting)

Town Board members held their first meeting Thursday night in the new town hall, giving about 40 people in the audience a chance to see the inside of the $3 million facility.

An open house will be held Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the 93 E. Main St. facility.

Town employees have worked out of the buildings since Sept. 24. Both the old and new town hall were closed for business Sept. 20 and 21 when departments were moving to the new facility.

Code officer Henry Slater said the code office is the most settled, in part because there are five full-time employees who work out of the office. He said last week he issued his first building permit from the office for Maple Ridge, a housing development that is being developed across from the new 12,400-square-foot town hall.

The code clerk’s and recreation offices are off the main foyer and entranceway, which feature a cathedral ceiling with a skylight and a large glass display case with historical books and pamphlets.

The main meeting room, which can also be used for court, is in back of the building. The area features recessed lighting and oak woodwork. The town board and judge sit behind a long bench area. There are jury boxes, which during Town Board meetings will be used for town officials, such as the code enforcement officer and attorney.

The room can hold about 200 people, and Slater said the room can be divided by an automated electric door.

There is a separate room that can be used for arraignments and there is a room with a bench where defendants can wait for court proceedings along with a bathroom for those going before the court.

At the old 4,000-square-foot town hall, town meetings had to be interrupted for arraignments, and defendants waited in the hall.

A separate entrance in the back north side of the building has a metal detector and another court-related display area.

There is also an east side entrance near a bathroom and the holding cell where defendants will enter.

The old town hall had two bathrooms, one for men and the other for women. The new town hall has seven bathrooms, including one bathroom with a shower.

There are conference rooms and a separate room for duplicating and copying, which could also be used for small gatherings.

“There is no office area that does not have the ability to have a conference area,” Slater said.
Slater said the heating and cooling system is geothermal, which takes advantage of the heat from the ground below the frostline.

Slater said the town system uses 14 wells and includes seven heat exchangers, which heat or cool water from the starting point of 50 degrees Fahrenheit (its temperature below the frostline) and distribute this water through lines that heat or cool the building, depending on whether heat or air conditioning is needed.

“It’s like a new toy,” Trumbull said of the new facility. “Everyone has their own space and it’s more comfortable,” he said.

Construction started in September 2006 after Labor Day and was complete by late September this year. He and Marty Christofferson said the board had looked at several sites and buildings before finding this location.

Trumbull said one day he was driving by and happened to see the “for sale” sign.

“I’m hoping it will last 100 years,” Christofferson said. “We’re real proud of this.”

Legislators, pay attention... this is the cost of a "normal" project - $3 million for a 12,400 square foot facility. Any new construction say for a Health Facility, will cost $250 per square foot! This article did not say whether the Town owned the land, or had to purchase from private residents. I would believe these are bare costs.

If this has been the combined Health facility for South Main Street, is would be 40,000 square feet X $250/ square foot or $10,000,000, plus $1,000,000 for site purchase and preparation. That's 50% more than the Schrader figure given at the end of 2006/ beginning of 2007.

10/11/07 - County settles on Page Green Road repairs

Contractor, state to pay about $250,000 to repave a strip of defective roadway

(As Published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

A dispute with a contractor over unsatisfactory work on a portion of Page Green Road has been settled, and work on the road should be finished within the next couple of weeks, the Cortland County Highway Committee was told Tuesday.

The county will have to pay $3,500 of the roughly $250,000 cost of fixing the portion of road, a small price, county officials said, compared to the potential cost of taking legal action against the contractor.

The contractor, Binghamton-based Contour Construction, which had been denying responsibility for pavement failure issues along a portion of the road finished in late 2006, will contribute $178,000 to the repairs, while the state Department of Transportation will contribute $70,000.

“The bottom line is the taxpayers are going to get the road they paid for,” said County Highway Superintendent Don Chambers.

Chambers told the committee that the agreement had been brokered with cooperation from the DOT, which has procedures in place for dealing with disputes such as this.

“Is it the absolute best we could hope for? No,” said County Administrator Scott Schrader, who said he felt the contractor was fully responsible for the issues. “But it avoids a protracted legal battle and frankly it will provide a stable driving surface where, right now, we don’t have one.”

The initial reconstruction work on the portion of Page Green Road running from Ely Road and Congdon Lane was completed in November 2006, Chambers told the committee.

“We had concerns about the quality of workmanship within days after it was paved the first time,” Chambers said.

The quality of the materials used for the road — the asphalt and the granular subbase — did not appear to meet the specifications outlined in the county’s contract with the contractor,

Chambers said in August. Over the course of the summer the road began breaking apart, causing cracks and potholes.

The county formally rejected that portion of road in June, and met with the DOT regarding the
issue three weeks ago, Deputy Highway Superintendent Bob Buerkle told the committee.

Contour Construction has already removed the asphalt that was laid down in 2006 and stabilized the existing subbase, and is in the process of laying down new asphalt, Chambers said.

The new asphalt, mixed by Suit-Kote, will cost roughly $70,000, Chambers told the committee.

10/10/07 - County considering future of south Main St. properties

(As Published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

The county’s General Services Committee Tuesday took a small first step toward determining what the county will do with recently acquired property on south Main Street. County officials stressed that any substantive discussion of uses for the property is still a long way off.

The committee instructed County Administrator Scott Schrader to begin meeting with county department heads to determine if the space could accommodate departments currently housed in the County Office Building, potentially clearing space for the cramped Department of Mental Health in the building.

The Legislature in December 2006 voted to purchase nine parcels along south Main Street for $894,000 in order to construct a building that would house both the Health Department and the Department of Mental Health.

The Legislature backed out of those agreements in January, prompting a legal challenge in which a judge ruled the county had violated a valid contract to purchase the properties.
At its Sept. 27 meeting, the Legislature voted to purchase the two nonresidential properties involved in the deal and attempt to reach settlements with other property owners.

But what the county will do with the two properties — the Moose Lodge property at 158 Main St. and Robbins Vending property at 159 Main St. — has still not been determined.

Schrader said the two properties alone did not offer enough space for a public health facility, but that potentially moving a department out of the County Office Building would free up space for the Department of Mental Health.

“That way we could still consolidate services between the Health Department and Mental Health,” Schrader said.

Schrader would not say at this point what options could work on the south Main Street site; however, he said he would be looking for a department that is “not so reliant on other departments for services they provide,” and one that “would be more attractive” to its users in another location.

Creating space for any county department would require new construction, he said.

“I think it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that the buildings will have to go,” he said of the structures purchased on south Main Street. “I hope that if we’ve learned anything based on experience (with the County Office Building), it’s that we shouldn’t take an existing structure and try to make it work for our own purposes.”

Legislature Chairman Marilyn Brown (D-8th Ward) said she would like to have proposals to consider by next month.

10/5/07 - Homer begins work on comprehensive plan

Residents say plan should focus on preserving village’s small-town atmosphere, architecture

(As Published by the Cortland Standard, Christine Laubenstein reporting)

Village residents want a small town atmosphere, architectural preservation and a more welcoming appearance at the village’s entrances as goals of a new comprehensive plan.

“The (Route) 281 strip should be cleaned up like they did in McLean,” said Judy Barbash Laure, a Burgett Drive resident.

Laure and approximately 40 village residents attended the first public planning session Wednesday for a new village comprehensive plan.

The meeting, which took place in the village’s Community Building behind the fire station, was the first of a series of public meetings on the plan. The village decided earlier this year it was time to replace its current comprehensive plan, which was adopted about 30 years ago.

An 11-person steering committee will base the comprehensive plan it eventually creates largely on public input, which will also come from a random survey of 500 residents.

The survey was sent out last month, and so far 46 percent of recipients have filled it out and returned it, said Ann Hotchkin, a program manager for Thoma Development Consultants, the Cortland-based company hired to oversee the comprehensive planning process and write the plan.

The village is paying Thoma Development $26,000 plus fees for supplies, copying and services up to $2,000 more.

At Wednesday’s meeting residents were asked by Hotchkin and Rich Cunningham, also a Thoma program manager, what they like best about their village and what they like least about it.

Many people were content with the state of the village.

Barry Ryan, a North Main Street resident, said he moved 3,000 miles to buy a house in Homer. He said he loves the architecture of the houses, their historic quality and the easy access to Interstate 81.

“Maybe the community doesn’t want any changes,” he suggested at the beginning of the meeting.

Others cited the Village Green, the village’s overall history, school district, Center for the Arts, green space, downtown business district, 24-hour village police coverage and small-town feel as village assets they would like to maintain.

Hotchkin said about 95 percent of people who’ve responded to the surveys so far noted the village’s small-town feel as one of the village’s most valuable assets.

I would like to see the County do something similar. Although you can't study 500 square miles, you can certainly look at County facilities, their location and needs, as well as their projected growth over the next 20 years.

And most importantly, if the County DOES in fact develop a comprehensive master plan, they need to follow through on it.

10/5/07 - County tax rate may drop for 2008

(As published by the Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

Buoyed by a positive independent audit of Cortland County’s 2006 finances, county officials are cautiously optimistic the county’s overall tax levy will be lowered in 2008.

Independent auditor Rick McNeilly reported to the county Budget and Finance Committee in September that by increasing its unreserved fund balance to approximately $12.7 million, the county has put itself on firm financial footing in regard to cash flow and its bond rating.

In the final published audit report released this week, McNeilly writes that the fund balance is strong enough that it can be maintained in the future at its current level “with cautious optimism for use.”

The audit report also states that both County Auditor Dennis Whitt and County Administrator Scott Schrader anticipate a reduction in real property tax rates.

“We’ll know more once we get through the budget process, but conservatively, I’m optimistic we might have a tax savings,” said Legislature Chairman Marilyn Brown (D-8th Ward). “We’re really in solid financial shape, I think we should pass some of that back to the taxpayers.”

Schrader, who is in the process of preparing a tentative budget for 2008, could not be reached for comment.

Because of the county’s strong fund balance, Whitt said that he thought the overall tax rate could be reduced by 3 to 4 percent for 2008.

The Legislature passed a resolution in 2004 announcing its intent to keep the county’s fund balance at approximately 10 percent of the overall budget, Whitt said.

In years past, particularly in the early part of this decade, the county spent the bulk of its fund balance to keep taxes down, he said, which led to much higher tax increases the following year.

“Of course you don’t want to empty the bank, but we’re at a point now where we’ve got a comfortable cash flow, and we can start making judgments about taxes that are prudent and aren’t going to eventually wind up costing the taxpayers,” Whitt said.

The 2007 budget was $108 million, with an overall tax rate of $14.91 per $1,000 of assessed property value, and an overall tax levy, the amount the county needs to raise through local property taxes, of $24.9 million.

The 2007 budget included a tax rate increase of 3.4 percent.

Just in time - for Election Season!!! :-)

10/4/07 - Public Defender’s suit questions judge’s conduct

(As published by the Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

A seemingly simple Family Court case that has already been drawn into the larger controversy over the county’s conflict attorney position, now may also spill over into a discrepancy over judicial conduct.

Public Defender Keith Dayton has filed four pointed and critical objections to the conduct of County Judge William Ames, against whom Dayton has filed suit relating to Ames’ opposition to the newly created conflict attorney position.

Arguments in the suit, originally scheduled for Monday, were adjourned by Supreme Court Judge Kevin Dowd, with no new date yet set.

Dayton, on Sept. 17, filed four formal objections to Ames’ conduct surrounding the lawsuit, including Ames’ use of his courtroom as a forum “to attempt to advance his position relative to the pending” lawsuit.

Ames, in a counterclaim filed Sept. 26 by his attorney Edmund Hoffman Jr., outlined his opposition to the conflict attorney position, and argued that Dayton is pursuing a personal agenda with the case.

Dayton filed suit against Ames Aug. 21 after Ames removed Conflict Attorney Tom Miller from representing the father in a custody case due to Ames’ objections to the county’s Conflict Attorney Office, which was created in late 2006.

That action by Ames, which sent representation of the father back to the Public Defender’s office, effectively obliged Dayton’s office to cover both the father and the mother in the case, an unacceptable conflict of interest, Dayton said.

The conflict attorney position was created by the county Legislature in 2006, but was not filled until August.

Ames has said that he does not believe the position to be legal, that the Legislature superceded state law by creating the position, and that the position is too closely tied to the Public Defender’s office.

At an Aug. 30 hearing involving the parents involved in the custody case, Ames outlined his position for news media outlets he had invited to the proceeding.

Dayton, in his objections, takes issue with Ames’ use of that forum.

He notes that Ames had invited the news media to the proceeding and that, after once denying a request from Dayton to adjourn the conference before he spoke to the news media, Ames offered to adjourn the case after his remarks.

“Judge Ames knew or should have known that his public remarks may have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding … particularly in the eyes of the public,” Dayton’s objection reads.

Dayton also charges that Ames was “attempting to garner public (i.e. taxpayer) support,” by suggesting that his intent was to save taxpayer money, and that Ames “usurped” the role of the Supreme Court judge by “using his own forum to adjudge the matters of fact … as an unsworn witness and under the veil of his own judicial authority.”

Furthermore, Dayton notes that Ames had initially accepted Miller as the father’s attorney, and that a standing decision, issued Aug. 23, from Ames and fellow County Judge Julie Campbell declaring the position null and void came after Ames had dismissed Miller on Aug. 21.

“I object to Judge Ames attempting to insert … his own Standing Decision, which is dated after the date of my Petition, in an attempt to justify his actions,” Dayton’s objection reads.

Finally, because no legal challenge of the law creating the conflict attorney position was ever in front of Ames, the judge did not have the authority to rule on its legality, according to Dayton.

10/4/07 - C’ville budget plan ups tax levy 11%

(As published by the Cortland Standard, Evan Geibel reporting)

The town’s tentative $5.9 million budget for 2008 projects an 11.3 percent tax levy increase, but the Town Board hopes to trim that back to 3 percent or less.

The town’s general fund budget is an increase of 2.6 percent over this year’s $5.7 million budget, but some revenues are down and some costs are up, Town Supervisor Dick Tupper said after the regular Town Board meeting Wednesday night.

When he says some costs are up, does he mean the $1.6M Town Hall renovation they just talked about in the 10/2/07 Cortland Standard article?

The proposed amount to be raised by taxes is $1.8 million, a $185,437 increase over this year.
The Town Board plans to meet at 3 p.m. Oct. 15 to review the tentative budget — the meeting is open to the public but does not allow for public comment.

The tentative budget is based on the unaltered budget requests from the town department heads and the proposed contracts, Tupper said. The contracts — which include agreements with the Cortland Free Library and McGraw’s Lamont Library, local recreation programs and various service providers — have yet to be accepted by the town and are “still up in the air,” he said.

“We’ve been in pretty good shape economically for the past two budgets and we haven’t messed with them (contracts) much. But this year, they keep creeping up on you so we have to take a look at them,” Tupper said this morning.

The exact figures for water and sewer tax rates were not available, but Tupper expected that they would be similar to last year’s, which amounted to about $87 or $88 per unit for sewer and about $91 or $92 per unit for water.

“The sewer revenue doesn’t equal the expenses at this point, but we have enough reserves that we don’t need to raise the rate,” Tupper said.

Town employees will be seeing pay raises between 3 and 4 percent. The town is also spending about 15 percent more for employee health insurance through Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
Employee benefits account for about 5 percent of the total budget.

Some revenue sources are down but increases elsewhere have resulted in a 5.9 percent increase in total estimated revenue for 2008, for an estimated revenue of nearly $3 million. Tupper said the revenue portion of the budget should warrant further review.

“I would suspect that we could find some more revenue in there,” Tupper said, pointing out that increased development in the town should generate additional fees.

Also, sales tax revenue is always estimated conservatively in case of an unforeseen downward economic turn.

The Town Court’s budget request is actually down this year, Tupper said, and the Highway Department’s budget request is only slightly more than the current year.

“There are two or three items in there that I know can go immediately,” Tupper said in reference to budget cuts that can be made. “But it looks like a pretty good budget.”

Town Board member Ted Testa said he thinks the proposed tax increase can be brought down to zero, or near to it.

Tupper said the first public hearing on the budget would likely be held prior to the Town Board’s regular meeting on Nov. 7 and the final budget would have to be approved by Nov. 20.

10/2/07- Renovations to C’ville Town Hall improve service, work conditions

I am posting this because it's funny (after you read the 10/4 C-S article, that is).

(As published by the Cortland Standard, Evan Geibel reporting).

In the space of one year, the town’s Raymond G. Thorpe Municipal Building has doubled in size and working conditions have also improved.

The $1.6 million project to expand the town hall and town court facilities from 5,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet began in September 2006 and was substantially complete last month.

The project was funded with $500,000 that the town had in its reserves, and the remainder was paid for via a bond anticipation note, a short-term bond that the town can pay off within the next five years.

A central corridor runs between the addition and the original building, with windows opening into the town clerk’s office and an antique wooden water line is currently on display.

The addition of a 5,000-square-foot court facility, which will also accommodate meetings of the Town Board and other boards, was completed in February and the town departments have been moving around the construction workers ever since, and vice versa.

Supervisor Dick Tupper said that although keeping the employees working in the building through construction might have tacked on a few months to the project, it did not disrupt employees’ routines to any great extent.

Only the outside walls of the original building, the roof rafters and the concrete floor were retained in the essentially brand new structure, which Tupper said has a one-year warranty.

The Town Hall at 3577 Terrace Road was built in 1962 and received an addition in 1986. Tupper said the building was still under construction when he became supervisor in September 2005, with much of the ceiling unfinished, temporary construction lighting providing illumination and asbestos tiles underfoot.

He expects the new building to meet the town’s needs for at least the next 30 years.

The building is very energy efficient, utilizing geothermal cooling — via the 42-degree water from the nearby municipal well — automatic switching between heating and air conditioning. It also is equipped with low-energy light fixtures.

“The people that installed it told me that we should have roughly the same utility bills for twice as much space,” Tupper said as he sat in his new office Monday afternoon.

I wonder if the County Administrator spoke with the Cortlandville folks about project cost. I see that this addition of 5,000 square feet to the Town offices cost $1,600,000. I can't imagine that a 4,000 square foot DMV will cost the $400,000 to $500,000 Mr. Schrader has claimed, do you?

Ask your Legislator to get the cost figures for the project! I am sure they are in the same file that was used for the South Main Street project and the County Office Building generator.

9/29/07 - County must hike pay of election commissioners

(As published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

The county will have to pay both of its election commissioners $29,967 for this year, a Supreme Court judge ruled this week.

The salary is $3,600 more than the Legislature intended to pay the commissioners through the
passage of a recent local law.

Supreme Court Judge Kevin Dowd ruled the county did not have the right, by passing a law last December, to set both commissioners’ salaries at $26,384, as doing so would reduce Republican Commissioner Bob Howe’s salary in the middle of his two year term.

Dowd ruled that, for 2007, the county must pay Howe’s 2006 salary of $29,967, which had been based on his 10-year longevity in the position.

Because of a state law that the commissioners’ salaries be equal, the county must also raise Democratic Commissioner Bill Wood’s 2007 salary — in 2006 Wood was paid $25,616 because it was his first term in the position — to match Howe’s, Dowd said in the ruling.

The local law removed the election commissioners from the county’s management compensation plan, which raises county employees’ pay based on longevity.

That law, which set both commissioners’ salaries at $26,384, was passed in response to a complaint from Howe and Wood that their uneven salaries, due to the longevity pay, did not comply with state law.

The day after the Legislature passed the law however, Howe and Wood sued the county, claiming that Howe’s salary could not be reduced mid-term, and that Wood should be paid retroactively to match Howe’s salary for 2006.

Dowd’s ruling does not state that the county owes Wood retroactive pay for 2006, but focuses on 2007, after the commissioners’ were removed from the management compensation plan.

By that same logic, Dowd’s ruling also does not address whether paying the commissioners for longevity, with an equal base salary for both positions, was legal, instead focusing on the decision to remove the commissioners from the management compensation plan and, subsequently, reduce Howe’s salary.

Howe, who took the lead on pushing the county to even the commissioners’ salary, said this morning that he felt Dowd’s ruling “vindicated” his original intent to even the commissioners’ salaries.

“In following election law, I thought I was correct in asking that both commissioners be paid the same,” Howe said. “I know there were people who asked ‘why is he doing this,’ but I did it because it’s the law and I was willing to take consequences, good, bad or indifferent.”

Attorney Greg Gates, who represented the county in the case, said that he felt Dowd’s decision upheld the county’s intent in passing the local law.

“When the Legislature acted in 2006 to take them out of the plan, that was entirely proper,” Gates said.

Gates said that the county had conceded that it shouldn’t have decreased Howe’s salary mid-term, and that any decision on the commissioners’ salaries beyond 2007 would fall to the Legislature.

9/28/07 - County announces three possible motor vehicles office sites

(As Published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

Three potential sites for the county’s motor vehicles office were made public at Thursday’s legislative session, and will be presented to the community over the next month before the Legislature makes a final decision.

The Legislature voted to authorize County Administrator Scott Schrader to lock in prices for the sites, two of them in the city along River Street and the third along Tompkins Street Extension in Cortlandville.

The site on Tompkins Street is a roughly 3-acre parcel carrying an asking price of $300,000, while a 2.2-acre site that straddles Cleveland and River Streets has an asking price of $400,000.

An asking price has not yet been obtained for the third site, a portion of the BOCES Plaza on River Street.

“We still haven’t done any hard negotiating on any of these,” said Legislator Carol Tytler, who chairs the special committee that selected the sites, after reviewing a total of 31 options.

The Legislature had considered a fourth site, Tytler said, but the property, the former Cayuga Medical Center on Commons Avenue, was sold.

That property was attractive due to an already existing building, Tytler said, and carried a price tag of $680,000, which included $40,000 for an adjacent property.

The remaining three possibilities will all require new construction, Tytler said.

The county is in need of a 4,000-square-foot building for the motor vehicles office, along with space for approximately 50 parking spaces.

Schrader estimated that construction would cost between $100 and $150 per square-foot, suggesting that the building could cost between $400,000 and $500,000.

The Legislature will still need to decide whether it wants to have a building constructed in order to lease, or buy the property and construct its own building, Tytler said.

Schrader has suggested that purchasing would be a better decision financially, but Tytler said the county would look at its options with each site, noting, for instance, that the owner of the BOCES Plaza property has expressed an interest in either selling or building to lease.

The three primary criteria the committee considered in seeking sites were space for a 4,000-square-foot building, space for parking for 50 cars and access to public utilities.

OK, quick math lesson again for Scott Schrader - criteria is 4,000 square feet. Cost for new building is between $100 and $150 per square foot.

SO low figure - (4,000 square feet ) x ($100 per square foot) = $400,000.
High figure - (4,000 square feet ) x ($150 per square foot) = $600,000.

OOPS... another math error!

And I bet the $600,000 is on the low side of the cost. In today's world, you can't build residential property for this cost.

9/28/07 - County opts to buy two south Main St. properties

Legislature OKs $576,000 purchase of Moose Lodge, Robbins Vending properties

(As Published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

Calling it the best move financially in response to a judge’s ruling against the county, the Legislature on Thursday reversed its course once again and decided to purchase two properties from the failed south Main Street land deal for $576,000.

The Legislature voted 15-4 to buy the Moose Lodge site at 157 Main St. and the Robbins Vending property at 159 Main St. and 9 William St.

The two commercial properties were the most substantial pieces of a bid to purchase a total of nine parcels for $894,000 to build a county public health facility on south Main Street.

Legislators were unsure at this point what the county would do with the two properties, but those in favor of buying them said that purchasing was the most cost-effective way to answer state Supreme Court Judge Phillip Rumsey’s ruling that the county breached a valid contract by backing out of agreements to purchase the properties in January.

Purchasing the properties will cost about $26,000 more than the original agreed-upon prices of $250,000 for the Moose Lodge and $300,000 from Robbins Vending, due to estimated damages from attorneys for the two property owners relating to legal fees and the delay of the sale.

The county’s liability fund will pay the $26,000 difference, but the original $550,000 costs will be covered by the county’s tobacco settlement money, which was a key factor in the Legislature’s decision, said County Attorney Ric Van Donsel.

Had the county decided not to purchase the properties, attorneys for the Moose Lodge and Robbins Vending had suggested their clients would accept damages for the breach of contract of $50,000 and $120,000, respectively.

Those costs would not be able to be paid for out of the tobacco settlement funding — which requires a capital investment by the county — instead requiring payment by the Legislature out of its general funds.

“I think a big part of the consideration was the source of the money,” Van Donsel said. “Plus the county will still have the value of those properties to show for the expense.”

Legislature Chairman Marilyn Brown (D-8th Ward) agreed. “I think this was the only way to do it, other than to appeal the decision." "

The question was, do we just settle, or do we buy and settle, and I think it makes the most sense to at least get something out of it,” said Legislator Carol Tytler (D-3rd Ward).

Legislators Newell Willcox (R-Homer) and Kay Breed (R-Cortlandville) both voted against the purchases out of principal, but they agreed the Legislature had utilized its best option at this point.

“This has been screwed up from Day One … the whole thing was botched,” Breed said of the Legislature’s decision to purchase in December of 2006, followed by its decision to back out of the purchases in January.

Willcox agreed, but said that “the decision made was really the only one fiscally that could be made at the present time.”

Willcox and Breed were joined by Legislators Tom Williams (R-Homer) and Ron Van Dee (D-5th Ward) in voting against the decision to purchase.