12/31/07 - GOP caucus backs slate for key posts

(As published by Cortland Standard, Evan Geibel reporting)

The Republican legislative caucus met Saturday and endorsed the slate for county Legislature leadership positions that was proposed last week by party leaders.

The Republicans will be standing behind Legislator John Steger (R-Preble and Scott) for chairman of the Legislature; Patrick Perfetti of Homer for county attorney; and Carletta Edwards of Cortland for clerk of the Legislature.

No minority leader has been selected as the party is waiting to see what happens at Legislature’s organizational session Thursday night.

The Democrats, who hold a 10-9 majority, have chosen Carol Tytler (D-3rd Ward) for the chairmanship and Sandy Price (D-Harford and Virgil) for majority leader but have not put forward names for county attorney and clerk of the Legislature.

They will meet tonight to discuss possibilities and talk with interested persons. Tytler has said if she were appointed chairman by the Legislature, she would keep on Sue Morgan, the current clerk of the Legislature.

The bare 10-9 Democratic majority could make predicting an outcome difficult and both parties are poised to make last-minute decisions at Thursday’s session.

12/28/07 - Grant helps fund recycling building

(As published by Cortland Standard, Aimee Milks reporting)

Cortland County received nearly $1.5 million in recycling grants through the state Department of Environmental Conservation to reimburse half of its $2.9 million recycling center, which opened in 2005.

The announcement of the grant award came Thursday and will help pay for the costs of rebuilding the 22,000-square-foot facility, purchasing equipment and parking area.

The county received the $1,492,077 through the DEC’s Environmental Protection Fund.
According to the DEC, the grant program provides up to 50 percent reimbursement to local governments for eligible project costs, limited to a maximum state share of $2 million.

“Municipalities send in applications but must join a long waiting list for funding. As funding becomes available, the state gives the green light to qualified projects,” said DEC spokesman Yancey Roy.

Don Chambers, county highway superintendent, said this morning that the county sent in an application for the grant money in early 2004.

“When you deal with the state, nothing is a sure thing. But we knew we were eligible,” said County Administrator Scott Schrader. “The program was designed to pay 50 percent of the costs for solid waste projects.”

Chambers said the nearly $1.5 million will be used to pay back the money the county borrowed to build the facility.

Schrader said the money will go into the county’s reserve for debt service and allows the county to eliminate its debt service costs from the operating budget.

“Now there will be a couple of years where we won’t have to pay debt service,” he said. “Because we don’t have to show those payments in the operating budget it will be reflected, theoretically, in lower tax rates.”

The facility is nearly twice the size of the prior recycling center, which was burned to the ground in October 2002 after a city man parked a stolen van over a pile of newspapers.

“We have had very good luck with the new facility,” Chambers said. “It runs very efficient.”

12/28/07 - Democrats select choices for key Legislative posts

(As published by Cortland Standard, Even Geibel reporting)

The county Legislature’s Democratic caucus chose its candidates, leadership positions on the Legislature Thursday night, putting forth Carol Tytler for chairman and naming Sandy Price as majority leader.

Legislator John Daniels (D-Cortlandville) had also been vying for the chairmanship, but Tytler (D-3rd Ward) was chosen by a secret ballot.

The Democrats did not discuss possible appointments for the county attorney and clerk of the Legislature, but have scheduled another caucus to discuss the appointments and meet with possible candidates at attorney James Baranello’s office at 39 Church St. at 4 p.m. Monday.

Democratic Party Chair and Election Commissioner Bill Wood would not comment on the caucus selections this morning.

The Republican Party leadership has put forward its own recommendations: Legislator John Steger (R-Preble and Scott) for chairman, Patrick Perfetti of Homer for county attorney and former Legislature clerk Carletta Edwards for that position once again.

The Republican caucus plans to meet at 8 a.m. Saturday at Republican County headquarters on Port Watson Street to discuss these recommendations.

Tytler said this morning she shared her vision for the next two years and emphasized teamwork and communication as her priorities.

“For us as a Legislature, I think that one of the most important things that we can improve is communications — that’s vital to our success. All things flow from there,” Tytler said.

She addressed important countywide issues such as space needs, economic development, infrastructure, and inter-municipal cooperation, as well as an important concern of her constituents, flooding.

Tytler hopes to hold a strategic planning session with both legislators and county department heads, similar to one she attended after joining the Legislature in 2004, in order to prioritize the issues facing the county in the years ahead.

She seemed optimistic about her chances of emerging as chairman during the Jan. 3 organizational meeting of the Legislature, at which appointments for the leadership positions and other county positions will be decided by the full Legislature.

12/27/07 - Local lawyers defend county attorney

(As published by Cortland Standard, Even Geibel reporting)

Several local attorneys have come out in support of the County Attorney’s Office, alleging the county administrator is unqualified to be making the accusations of misconduct he has leveled at the office and that this is another example of heavy-handed administration.

Schrader defended his actions and accused the lawyers of having ulterior motives.

With local attorney Mike Shafer of the Riehlman, Shafer & Shafer law firm acting as spokesman, the lawyers also urged legislators to think hard before they renew County Administrator Scott Schrader’s contract in three years.

Shafer and local attorneys Mardis Kelsen and Matt Neuman held a press conference on the steps of the County Courthouse early Wednesday afternoon. Shafer stressed that they were there as individual attorneys, not speaking for the county Bar Association.

Schrader had given a memorandum to the county Budget and Finance Committee on Dec. 13, indicating he believed County Attorney Ric Van Donsel’s recommended settlements for two properties on Williams and Randall streets — included in the failed south Main Street Public Health Building project — were too high and that a criminal investigation was warranted.

“Mr. Schrader’s outrageous suggestion that the District Attorney’s office conduct a criminal investigation concerning the conduct of the County Attorney’s Office,” Shafer said in a prepared statement, “while arising out of the aftermath of the failed South Main Street Development Project, is part and parcel of the County Administrator’s consistent practice of pointing blame at others when one of his schemes does not come to fruition as he would have hoped.”

Van Donsel has not been willing to comment to the Cortland Standard on the matter.

Schrader had also suggested an investigation into Assistant County Attorney Ron Walsh’s conduct, given that Walsh had represented Steve Lissberger, the former owner of the Randall Street property, in a sale to a third party in August without notifying the county.

Walsh said Dec. 14 he was unaware that his client was involved in negotiations with the county at the time the property was sold — Lissberger filed his claim in April, Schrader said — and that he had represented Lissberger when the property was originally purchased in March 2006.

Schrader said this morning that he was still drafting the formal request for an investigation to be presented to the district attorney.

12/21/07 - County decides to buy site for DMV building

(As published by Cortland Standard, Even Geibel reporting)

The county Legislature voted to purchase a site off Port Watson and River streets for a Department of Motor Vehicles office at its last session of the year Thursday night.

The roughly 1-acre property would cost the county $375,000, which will be paid out of the county’s $2.8 million share of state _settlement funds from tobacco companies.

The only legislators to vote against the purchase — a two-thirds vote of the Legislature is necessary for property acquisitions — were Newell Willcox (R-Homer), Tom Williams (R-Homer) and Kay Breed (R-Cortlandville).

Legislator Larry Cornell (R-Marathon and Lapeer) was absent.

Part of the property would be subdivided from the BOCES plaza at 240 Port Watson St., owned by Joe Armideo of Homer.

The neighboring Barbarito Auto Body shop and a single-family home on that parcel at 112 River St. has been bought by Armideo and will be included in the sale of the property to the county.

Both will be torn down to make way for the DMV office, which the county will build for approximately $400,000, according to estimates. That cost can also be paid out of tobacco settlement money.

A resolution to lease was on the Legislature’s agenda but became moot after legislators approved the purchase of the property. The lease would have cost the county about $60,000 annually over a 10-year period.

Armideo provided the county with the rough costs of a building he would have constructed and later leased. At between $120 and $150 a square foot for a 4,000-square-foot building as the county envisions for the DMV, the building could have cost as much as $600,000 after a 10-year period.

“We’re basically paying for that building over its life span,” Schrader said.

A $60,000 yearly lease would amount to a half a percent tax increase, Schrader said. The county could not use tobacco money to lease; the money can only pay for capital improvements.

Willcox said he wanted more information about leasing. “I didn’t vote against the DMV,” he said. “I didn’t feel the lease options were fully explored.”

Also, a higher $777,000 figure for the lease was included in the Legislature’s agenda for the night, which Schrader said had been inserted before the $600,000 lease price had been provided.