2/15/08 - My Memo Sent to CC Legislators

This memo was sent to all Cortland County Legislators on 2/15/08. I also attached a pdf package.

Good Afternoon fellow Legislators,

I would like to communicate some information to all of you prior to the next Legislative session, and provide an update on some ongoing projects.

The GS committee is working to get a list of maintenance projects identified and prioritized for planning (such as major facility repairs), and will be distributing the information in the next month.

We are in the process of getting Barton and Loguidice to finalize the space planning study for the CCOB. Apparently the original proposal authorized in December had stalled for a short time, and the draft submitted earlier in the month included fees for investigation into the MEP systems in the building. Mr. Schrader met with the consultant and a revised proposal on department space needs should be forthcoming quickly (See information below on the building energy audit).

In addition, the DMV site design is still moving - you will be Agenda Item #6 for design service at the February meeting. I have asked that we receive the fee numbers prior to the 2/28 meeting so a cost can be approved, not just the "concept". We are looking at increasing the building size from 4,000 to nominal 6,000 square feet to include the new voting machines required as part of HAVA. There were (31) machines ordered for which space must be allocated for periodic testing and inspection in addition to simple storage. Rough calculations yielded approximately 1000 square feet for this, and consideration is being given to relocate the Board of Elections with the machines to help free up some space in the CCOB and keep the BOE and their equipment adjacent to one another.

Earlier this month the Legislature was provided guidelines for the voting machines that we hope to utilize for any design of space to house the machines, and provide required quarterly testing. FYI The current space used by the BOE is 860 square feet, when added to the machine storage/testing space brings the building size for the DMV/BOE option to roughly 6,000 square feet. I would be happy to share the Election Commissioners' feedback with anyone.

I have been working with the Planning Department and Real Property to get a package together that shows all of the county-owner properties including aerial / site plan, tax ID map, and floor plan. I hope to marry that package with facility square footage, $$$ owed, etc for a complete look at what we have. A draft of the pdf is attached (the spreadsheet with the areas and outstanding debt is not included). You'll see on page 2 of the pdf the Bell and Spina study from 1990, in which the adjacency chart indicates that the DMV and BOE proximity is "necessary". I think more importantly is the fact that proximity to any other department is neither "necessary" nor "desirable".

We are also hoping to get back on track with the Tompkins St training facility, the B&G crew is still working on Courthouse renovations and are trying to free up manpower to frame and rock the walls out there.

We are also working on the energy audit / recommendations for the CCOB (approved last year) and want to take that information, along with the space planning study develop a comprehensive plan for our facilities for the next several years. I encourage you to work through your respective committees to solicit feedback on space needs and funnel them back to the General Services Committee. Let's work together to plan for the future, communication is key.

2/15/08 - County nears agreement on wind study

(As published by Cortland Standard, Aimee Milks reporting)

Cortland County is considering an agreement with a company that wants to study the feasibility of building wind farms in the northeastern area of the county.

The draft agreement was discussed at Thursday’s meeting of the county Legislature’s Agriculture, Planning and Environment Committee.

TCI Renewables is seeking an agreement with the county to lease land at the landfill in Solon to erect a meteorological tower to test wind speeds over at least four seasons.

The company would gather all the data from the test tower and would pay the county a flat rate of $1,500. County Planning Department Director Dan Dineen said the test tower would be a pole between 100- and 150-feet tall and collect data for TCI for a year and a half to two years.

Dineen told the committee TCI contacted the county last year about putting wind towers in the northeastern portion of the county.

He added that preliminarily the company has estimated that 30 wind towers would be placed throughout Solon, Cuyler, Truxton and at the Cortland County Landfill.

For several years the county has been interested in a wind study for a potential wind farm. TCI came forward with a proposal about six months ago, Dineen said.

The company also wants to consider converting methane gas produced by the landfill into electricity.

“There needs to be approximately 50 acres of separation between the (wind) towers,” Dineen said. “I don’t believe they’ve talked to the towns yet but it’s probably a good time to start talking about land use regulations in those towns.”

Dineen said the towers would be 300 to 350 feet tall, with blades approximately 200 feet long.
“It’s my understanding that one tower would provide enough power for 10,000 homes,” he said.
TCI Renewables had sent a license and operation agreement to the county to lease county land for its wind tests. Dineen said the county had sent it back because the wording was directed more toward a private residential landowner than a public entity.

The county also sent back a contract agreement that stated the county would exclusively work with TCI for 30 years.

“We would like to see a shorter term, like two to three years,” Dineen said. “We want to see the results of the meteorological study to see if a wind farm is even feasible before we enter into a 30-year agreement.”

County to reduce number of voting sites

(As published by Cortland Standard, Aimee Milks reporting)

The county plans to consolidate the number of polling places from 42 to 28 for the next general election in November.

Democratic Election Commissioner Bill Wood told the county Legislature’s Personnel Committee Thursday that consolidating the number of polling places will save money on the number of voting machines that must be purchased and number of polling inspectors.

Cutting costs for holding elections is critical for the county because federal mandates for new voting machines are expected to increase costs to counties, Election Commissioner Robert Howe said this morning.

Each poll eliminated saves $425 for each primary and $665 for each general election.

The cost of new paper ballots that are needed by the new machines would cost about $14,000 per election and the new federal rules require additional training of poll workers and more maintenance of machines, Howe said.

A total of 31 new machines will be purchased to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act. The machines will operate as both a ballot marking device and as a voting machine and will cost $370,000 if machines are purchased for only 28 polling places. The county will have to pay 5 percent of that cost.

The county Legislature’s Personnel Committee endorsed a resolution Thursday to match funds from HAVA to buy the machines. The full Legislature will have to vote on the funding.

Wood said after they are purchased, the machines will be sent to Albany to be tested and then shipped to Cortland.

“They are due in Albany on April 3,” Wood said. “My gut feeling is that we will get the machines in June, July latest.”

He added that a training program is being created and will be submitted to the state within the next couple of weeks.

2/9/08 - Elections office may go in new DMV site

Commissioners say current space in the County Office Building is cramped

(As published by Cortland Standard, Christine Laubenstein reporting)

Election commissioners urged the county Tuesday to move the Board of Elections office into a planned Department of Motor Vehicles Office on River Street.

As a result, the county’s General Services Committee requested two cost estimates and project timelines for a DMV with and without an elections office.

Engineering firm Barton & Loguidice will complete the work.

County Administrator Scott Schrader estimated the cost without the elections office between $400,000 and $600,000, while the cost with it would be between $600,000 and $900,000.

The cost will be paid out of the county’s $2.8 million share of state settlement funds from tobacco companies.

The new DMV building would be about 4,000 square feet without the Board of Elections office, while having the Board of Elections within it would require about 6,000 square feet, Schrader said.

Once the cost estimates and project timelines are complete, which should be within the next few months, the committee will vote on which option it prefers, committee Chairman Chad Loomis (D-8th ward) said Tuesday afternoon.

The full Legislature will also have to approve the plan.

During Tuesday’s General Services meeting, county Election Commissioners Bill Wood and Bob Howe said they need more space.

Wood said one of the commissioners has a very small office with no air conditioning or heat. Howe said after the meeting that the office referred to was Wood’s.

Howe added that moving the Board of Elections office into the new building would allow an additional room for absentee voters coming in to vote.

Many absentee voters come into the office to fill out a voting form, Howe said, as opposed to filling it out at home and sending it by mail. Those people must go into Wood’s office, Howe said.

We are soliciting a proposal for the work as two separate options from Barton and Loguidice- one for the 4,000 square foot DMV, the second will be a DMV and BOE building. B&L has not been given the work until the proposal is received, reviewed and approved by the Legislature.

2/13/08 - Sheriff: New jail should be in city

(As published by Cortland Standard, Ida Pease reporting)

Cortland County Sheriff Lee Price suggested Tuesday that a new jail should be built in the city.
“I’m not prepared to give you a recommendation. I don’t want to shock you,” Price told the county Judiciary and Public Safety Committee.

Price said if the county remodeled or expanded the current jail on Greenbush Street in the city, a big cost would be for personnel. He explained that inmates would have to be moved if the jail was remodeled for better efficiency and they would have to be transported back and forth for court.

Price said the biggest ongoing expense in a jail is personnel so an efficient design is necessary in building a new jail.

Capt. Bud Rigg, jail administrator, said with a more efficient design the number of inmates could be nearly doubled without changing the staffing. He said the most efficiency the current county jail can obtain is one correctional officer to 24 inmates (providing there are no females) but the design would allow one officer to oversee 40 inmates.

The cost of a new jail could reach $30 million.

“I think we need to build for the future,” Price said, noting the jail should be attached to a county facility that also includes a common booking area for city and county police. He said the county does not have enough holding cells to handle city cases. Price suggested extra meetings about the jail be held outside committee meetings because discussions could become lengthy.

Committee Chairman Tom Williams (R-Homer) said judges, courts, probation and jail officials would all have input on how they impact the jail and projections for the future.

Price said a notebook each legislator on the committee had been given had all the studies from the last five years including one done by the National Institute for Corrections and a local one that included input from former District Attorney Tom Jewett, former Probation Director James Cunningham and Roy Lewis, former jail administrator.