COUNTY OF OSWEGO STRATEGIC PLANNING AND GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE

Transcription

1 COUNTY OF OSWEGO STRATEGIC PLANNING AND GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE October 24, :00 a.m. County Office Building, Oswego, NY 4 th Floor Conference Room E PRESENT: Leg. Milferd Potter, Chair Leg. Robert Hayes, Vice Chair Leg. Ronald Sakonyi Leg. Mark Fruce Leg. Doug Malone Leg. James Oldenburg EXCUSED: Leg. Michael Kunzwiler MEDIA: Steve Yablonski, Oswego County Today STAFF/GUESTS: Barry Leemann, Chairman of the Legislature Stephen Loadwick, County Auditor Greg Oakes, Assistant District Attorney Richard Mitchell, County Attorney Wendy Falls, Clerk of the Legislature Paul Stoner, DWI Coordinator STAFF/GUESTS: Myron and Sue Pringle Philip Church, County Administrator Steve Green, Assigned Council, Oswego County Leg. Margaret Kastler Leg. John Proud Leg. Fred Beardsley Sandy Menjik, Central Square Public Library JoAnn Sheedy, Williamstown Public Library Beverly Ripka, Williamstown Public Library Betty Maute, Fulton Public Library Carol Ferlito, Oswego Public Library Margaret Weigel, Pulaski Public Library Warren Leib, Pulaski Public Library Selma Rowland, Phoenix Library Noreen Patterson, Phoenix Library Dorothy Dineen, Mexico Public Library Michelle Farrend, Sandy Creek Public Library Charles Parker, President Oswego County Federation of Sportsman s Club Betsy Sherman-Saunders, Deputy Clerk of the Legislature ===================================================================== Committee Chair Potter called the meeting to order at 9:58 a.m. and excused Legislator Kunzwiler from the meeting. 1. Minutes of September 26, 2011: Motion to approve: Legislator Hayes Vote: Legislators Hayes, Sakonyi, Fruce, Malone and Potter in favor; Legislator Oldenburg abstained from the vote because he was absent from the last meeting. 2. District Attorney: A. Resolution Authorizing Budget Modification Medical Fees Due to the increase of unintended deaths in Oswego County, Assistant District Attorney Greg Oaks is requesting a transfer of funds of $40, to cover the Medical Examiner/Coroners component of the District Attorney s budget and $10, to cover the removal of the deceased. County Administrator Church explained that money will be transferred from fund balance. Motion to Support Resolution to Cover the Medical Examiner/Coroners component: Legislator Hayes B STOP DWI Plan 1

2 DWI Coordinator, Paul Stoner gave a detailed plan, as required by the Governor s Traffic Safety Committee, regarding the Certification of 2012 Stop-DWI Plan. The STOP-DWI Program is required on a yearly basis to submit a detailed plan to the Governor s Traffic Safety Committee. The Plan generally mirrors the proposed STIP-DWI Budget but also contains a narrative proposing the next year s goals and activities. Motion to Support Stop DWI Plan: Legislator Oldenburg Second: Legislator Fruce 3. County Attorney: A. Military Funeral Due to Governor Andrew Cuomo s new laws one which will triple the buffer zone for protests around religious services, funerals, burials or memorial services from 100 to 300 feet and another authorizing the state and municipalities to establish 1,000-foot zones around funeral events on public land, require permits for related demonstrations and impose fines for failure to comply the Legislature decided to revisit the Oswego County Military Funerals Resolution. Oswego County Attorney Richard Mitchell reported that he was researching the permit process, proposing a distance requirement or a combination of both regarding Military Funerals in Oswego County. Under the direction of this committee he will have something drafted for next meeting. If the County decides to adopt the permit process then any demonstration with 12 or more people, even at a military funeral, would need to apply for a permit. Legislator Malone asked if there was a cost for the permit process. County Attorney Mitchell explained that demonstrators can apply for a bond or the state law has some different requirements that the legislature may want to consider. Legislator Malone also inquired as to whether or not a permit could be refused. County Attorney Mitchell explained that the County must send a consistent message regarding time, space and manner because of freedom of speech. Legislator Malone, with the veteran in mind, would like to move this process to the floor for a vote. Legislator Potter suggested that the County consider adopting the state law if it mirrors the law the county is currently looking at enacting. Legislator Sakonyi agrees that the county should consider the same law as the state. County Attorney Mitchell explained that a resolution could state that the Legislature approves the state law. Chairman of the Legislature Leemann explained that the county does not need to pass a law regarding Military Funerals. In fact the county could adopt the state law and ask that County Attorney Mitchell work on a permit process and a permit fee. Motion to Move Forward with the Permit Process with a Fee and Approve the State s Law: Legislator Fruce B. Indigent Legal Services Family Court Discussion Oswego County Attorney Richard Mitchell explained that due to the changes at the state level regarding the indigent legal services, many counties are looking at contracting the legal service portion of their budget out to the Bar Association or private Attorneys. Before turning the discussion over to Steve Greene, Plan Administrator for the Assigned Council, 2

3 County Attorney Mitchell explained that this is not part of the 2012 budget. Plan Administrator Greene explained that funding from the state for Indigent Legal Services will be gone by the year These services are mandated by the state and the state expects the services to improve, however, each year there will be a reduction in the state aid until the money is gone in Plan Administrator Greene pointed out that in the Oswego County budget 60% of these monies go toward criminal court and 40% family court. Legal Council Greene is suggesting that the county consider putting out a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the family court portion of the budget because family court is run out of one building making it efficient for a law firm to take over this program. He further explained that it is costing the county about $655, and feels a private law firm would be more than capable of maintaining this program efficiently and effectively for $655, or less. This could be a substantial savings to the county and should be considered now. County Administrator Church explained that this would be implemented in 2012, however, 2013 is when to expect a reduction in the budget. Motion to have the Family Court Portion of the County Attorney s Budget go out to RFP: Legislator Hayes Second: Legislator Fruce 4. Budget Reviews: A. Clerk of the Legislature Clerk of the Legislature Wendy Falls presented the 2012 Clerk of the Legislature budget. Clerk of the Legislature Falls explained that for the most part the budget is the same as last year accept for a few items. She pointed out: i. The salary of the Clerk will decrease due to a new Clerk in the position and the Deputy Clerk will go up from $35,008 to $36, ii. Clerk of the Legislature Falls explained that after reviewing the numbers for Off Track Betting (OTB), there was a significant drop in revenue over the past two years. For that reason, she has decided to decrease the number in next year s budget iii. A Revenue line was added to the Tobacco Securitization because the office and phone line are located within the Clerk of the Legislature s office. Motion to add a Tobacco Revenue Line: Legislator Oldenburg Motion to accept Clerk of the Legislature Budget: Legislator Hayes B. County Attorney Oswego County Attorney Richard Mitchell reported that the insurance budget from 2011 to 2012 will remain flat. The insurance broker of record was RFP d several years ago under Eastern Shore Associates and the County is still in the scope of the five year contract with them. Attorney Richard Mitchell also pointed out that under the departmental budget there was an increase in assigned council in the public defenders office and there is a significant decrease (from $400, to $170,000.00) in legal fees. He also explained that he hoped to have a tax agreement and change the retainer with Duane Morris, LLP by the end of the year. 3

4 County Administrator Church pointed out that the books and periodical line includes books from West Law and currently several county offices receive West Law periodicals. The County is looking into negotiating a discounted rate and putting it all under one account. This would save the County money. Motion to accept Oswego County Attorney Budget: Legislator Oldenburg C. County Legislature Legislator Potter pointed out that there is a 3% salary increase budgeted for the Legislators for He suggested that it go to the full Legislature for approval. Motion to Send Salary Increase to Finance and Personnel: Legislator Sakonyi Motion to Send the Rest of the County Legislature Budget to Finance and Personnel: Legislator Hayes D. District Attorney Assistant District Attorney Oaks explained in 2010 there were 721 felony arrests, this year it is expected to be over 800. Regardless of the increase in crime, the District Attorney s office is keeping the budget the same and will not be asking for an increase. The one change to the District Attorney s budget is the Medical Examiner and Coroners department. An additional $20, was added for the medical examiner for autopsies and an additional $4, for other expenses related to autopsies. Motion to accept Oswego County District Attorney Budget: Legislator Oldenburg Discussion: Legislator Oldenburg commented on how he appreciates the District Attorney s office keeping the costs down especially with all the changes that are occurring in their department. Legislator Hayes asked what the percentage of drug related arrests were in the County. Assistant District Attorney was not sure of the exact number but said they were seeing more drug arrests than in the past. As the department sees more of the designer drugs move into Oswego County, arrests and deaths have increased. Assistant District Attorney took time to thank the Legislature for their support of the drug task force, which is almost fully operational. He continued to say that without the support of the Legislature, these issues would not be addressed to the extent that they are. E. Oswego County Library Council Beverly Ripka from the Williamstown Library and President of the Council of Libraries spoke on behalf of the Library Council. Ms. Ripka explained that although there has been an increase in library usage by 15 30% and all 11 libraries in Oswego County have become fully automated, the Council is requesting the same amount of money as last year $55, She also explained that the use of county money in 2011 went toward summer reading programs, replacing worn out carpeting, several classes for the public, building a book collection for visually handicapped patrons (large print books cost more money), purchase of 4

5 new computers for children, leasing new efficient machines, and has enabled Oswego to be one of 50 libraries in the state designated as a computer center to assist people in retraining for employment. These things would not have been made possible if it weren t for the County Legislature. She thanked the legislature for their support. Motion to Accept the Library Council Budget: Legislator Sakonyi Second: Legislator Fruce Discussion: Legislator Malone recommended that the Finance and Personnel Committee look at increasing the library budget by 7%. He went on to say that if we invest money in our library then maybe it would help with the drug problem that seems to be increasing in Oswego County. He continued to explain that as discussed in today s meeting, the county is investing more and more money in drug related deaths and arrests; maybe investing in the library will help prevent this. Legislator Sakonyi agreed with Legislator Malone that an increase in Library funding would be beneficial to Oswego County. Motion to ask Finance and Personnel to Increase the Library Budget by 7% ($3,850.00) Legislator Malone Second Legislator Oldenburg F. Oswego County Federation of Sportsmen s Clubs Charles Parker, President of the Oswego County Federation of Sportsman s Club explained how helpful the county s investment of $5, is to the Sportsman s Club has been. President Parker explained that the money invested last year went toward sending 23 children to the NYS DEC Youth Camps, Oswego County Fair s Good Times event for the Handicapped, various Oswego County 4H events, shooting sports programs, NYS DEC to have free fishing events for wounded warriors and veterans, and archery programs in four schools. Oswego County Federation of Sportsmen s Clubs has been around since Motion to Accept Oswego County Federation of Sportsmen s Club Budget: Legislator Sakonyi G. Mercy Flight Central Oswego County Administrator Phil Church explained that he had received a new request for money from Mercy Flight Central. Mercy Flight Central is a non-profit organization out of Canandaugua, NY and provides critical care air medical services. Legislator Potter explained that this company is critical in his community because of the work that they do to rescue individuals who have been injured on snowmobiles and ATV s, not to mention the occasional car accident. Legislator Hayes agreed that public safety is important. It is vital to have the helicopter to save lives. Legislator Potter asked if Mercy is Onondaga County s helicopter. Legislator Oldenburg explained that Mercy Flight is not the same air rescue flight as the one in Onondaga County. He continued to say that they already charge money for their flights. Legislative Potter commented that they are collecting about $10, already for each flight. Legislator Potter said that he would be in favor of paying Onondaga County for their helicopter than Mercy. Legislator Hayes commented that he was disappointed that a representative from Mercy didn t come to the meeting. 5

6 Motion to fund $5, to Mercy Flight Central: Legislator Hayes Second: None Vote: Motion fails due to lack of a second 5. New Item Legislator Malone is recommending that the committee look at putting some guidelines together in regards to people receiving Social Services benefits. He would like to see stricter guidelines for people collecting Social Services. They should have a driver s license, social security card, and they should be drug tested. County Administrator Church explained that Assemblyman Barclay is currently looking at drafting legislation in regards to this same issue due to the fact that several counties are encountering the same problem. He continued to say that this would be a topic for the Health and Human Services committee. Malone added that he would like to see some legislation drafted at the local level. 6. Adjournment: Motion to Adjourn the Meeting: Legislator Oldenburg Meeting adjourned at 10:58 a.m. 6

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