Chad Loomis Supports Mark Suben!

I am pleased to publicly announce my support of Mark Suben for Cortland County District Attorney.

I have known Mark for 5 years, both before and after I was elected to serve Cortland County. In that time I have come to know Mark well. Mark is a man of integrity, values and commitment. I have always been able to talk with mark on issues and get his legal opinion. Mark will also provide a personal opinion, but only when asked.

He does an outstanding job as County Attorney and having spoken with him about his past experience, will make an outstanding District Attorney. He knows what the County needs to prioritize, and how to meet the goals.

I encourage you to visit his web site - http://subenforda.com/ where you will find information on Mark, his candidacy, his mission and his message.

Mark is a man who puts doing the right thing FIRST. Good luck Mark!

B&G Update - October 2008

October's B&G Committee meeting contained an update of the New York Power Authority (NYPA) Energy Audit of County facilities, including the County Office Building, the Courthouse, the Jail / Public Safety building, and the Highway Department. A presentation was provided by David Lane, in which the findings of the report were discussed.

Overall, the County appears to have the ability to engage in some energy renovation/retrofit projects that will provide energy payback and over time, save taxpayers money. How this is accomplished is by replacing older, outdated equipment and light fixtures with new technology materials that are much more efficient. In turn, they use less energy and over time, pay for themselves (the cost of purchasing them and having them installed). there is some state funding available for the projects, and the paybacks range from 9 to over 30 years. Those offering payback of more than 12-13 years would need serious consideration, as these projects are not necessarily seen as economically viable.

We will be working to make final adjustments to the report and take an overall look at the plan for our facilities so as to integrate the NYPA recommendations. The global look at energy savings can provide tens of thousands of dollars of savings to our utility bills per year, which can be returned to taxpayers - and into their pockets.


CROWS- The crow deterrent (sound machine) is available for use by non-profit and government agencies as the fall season approaches. If you are experiencing the roosting of crows in your area, please contact your town, village or city representative and the machine can be transported to your area and turned on to make the crows move along. A similar system was installed permanently on the County Courthouse with success.

DMV / BOE building - Bids are due for the 7200 square foot building tomorrow (10/10) at 2pm. There will be a public bid opening and a resolution has been drafted for the Budget and Finance meeting on Tuesday 10/14. We are hopeful that the pricing will be competitive and that we can begin to update and upgrade our buildings and continue to provide great services to the people of Cortland County.

Office of Aging/ South Main Street - we are continuing to study the Aging Offices for South Main street on the Moose / Robbins site that was purchased earlier this year. There are some challenges with site access, but we are optimistic that the outcome will provide better services and programs for the Aging. Stay tuned, we hope to provide more information once the DMV / BOE is awarded and under construction.

Please email with any questions or concerns you have. Thank you.

Accountability

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Accountability is a concept in ethics with several meanings. It is often used synonymously with such concepts as answerability, enforcement, responsibility, blameworthiness, liability and other terms associated with the expectation of account-giving. As an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in both the public and private (corporation) worlds.

Accountability is defined as "A is accountable to B when A is obliged to inform B about A’s (past or future) actions and decisions, to justify them, and to suffer punishment in the case of eventual misconduct" ^[1].

In leadership roles, accountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies including the administration, governance and implementation within the scope of the role or employment position and encompassing the obligation to report, explain and be answerable for resulting consequences."

I believe in accountability in all levels and forms of government. We must hold our leadership and ourselves accountable for their actions and decisions. We must ensure that communication is open, dialog is honest and that information is shared in order to best serve the people.

I am working with the Chairman and Legislative leaders to build and foster accountability with our County leadership. One example is ensuring that our Department Heads and Administration receive their annual reviews. In this way, we can offer and solicit feedbackwith regards to the efficient operation of the County, as well as share ideas on how the Departments can better function.

In addition, I have requested that the monthly Legislative Committee minutes be drafted and distributed to the Legislature prior to the Legislature monthly meeting. In this way the Legislators will have the ability to review the context of the meeting, the discussions on the agenda items and the votes tallied.

DMV / BOE Building Out to bid

The DMV / BOE Building located on River Street is out for bid. The project to construct the 7,200 square foot (+/-) facility to house the Department of Motor Vehicles and Board of Elections offices is scheduled to have bids due on Friday October 10, 2008 at 2:00pm.

A joint meeting of the Buildings and Grounds and Budget and Finance will be held to review the bids and make a recommendation to the entire Legislature.

The approximate value of the project is $1.2 - $1.5 million, the funding of which shall be from tobacco securitization funds. The result is no tax impact on Cortland County residents.

South Main Street - Aging Office Options

Below are the five options / layouts reviewed by JCM Associates and B&L Engineers on Thursday August 21 at 7:30 pm in the Cortland County Office Building Auditorium.

In attendance were approximately 30 neighborhood residents, Legislators and media.

Joe Maryak presented each of the options after the public was allowed to view them. A poll was taken to determine which option was most acceptable to the public and Legislators. By unanimous public vote, Option #5 was chosen.

Each of the options are below in order.

OPTION 1

















OPTION 2

















OPTION 3

















OPTION 4

















OPTION 5

Option 5 will need further development as the delivery truck access was not considered adequate. JCM will provide alternatives to alow for trucks to park along the north side of the building rather than blocking traffic on Main Street.