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Odessa, WG libraries among grant recipients

State funds will help on renovations

Special to The Odessa File

ALBANY, March 10 -- Several public libraries in Schuyler, Steuben, and Yates counties have been awarded state library construction grants, State Senator George Winner announced today.

Winner said that the grants are being funded through the state’s Library Construction Grant Program.

“A public library is a vital community resource,” he said. “We’re hopeful that these grants will help local libraries better afford and address their renovation needs.”

According to the New York State Library, which administers the grants, a recent survey revealed that public library construction and renovation needs statewide total approximately $2.3 billion. More than 40% of the 1,000-plus public library buildings across New York are over 60 years old. Another 30% are more than three decades old. Many of New York’s local public libraries are unable to accommodate users with disabilities, cannot provide computer and other electronic technologies to users because of outdated and inadequate electrical wiring, do not have sufficient space to house the library's collection, and lack sufficient space for public access computers.

The construction grants help alleviate those shortcomings.

The following grants were awarded to libraries in Schuyler, Steuben, and Yates counties:

-- Dutton S. Peterson Memorial Library in Odessa (Schuyler County), $10,279 for window replacements and other energy efficiency enhancements;

-- Watkins Glen CSD Free Public Library (Schuyler), $9,815 for the installation of accessible doors and energy efficiency upgrades;

-- Addison Public Library (Steuben County), $13,899 for construction and the installation of a stair/chair lift between the first and second floors;

-- Fred and Harriett Taylor Memorial Library in Hammondsport (Steuben), $27,437 for the construction of two meeting rooms and storage area;

-- Hornell Public Library (Steuben), $72,100 for restoration of the building’s historic roof and skylights, and additional construction upgrades;

-- Southeast Steuben County Library in Corning, $43,750 for the installation of accessible doors at the north and south building entrances;

-- Wimodaughsian Free Library in Canisteo (Steuben County), $16,242 for the installation of an enclosed chair lift; and

-- Modeste Bedient Memorial Library in Branchport (Yates County), $7,825 for construction upgrades.

Photo in text: The Dutton S. Peterson Memorial Library, Odessa

Legislature joins broadband-grant initiative, eyes emergency service upgrade

WATKINS GLEN, March 9 -- The Schuyler County Legislature Monday night unanimously backed a resolution showing its intent to participate in a regional effort to secure Stimulus 2 funding for a fiber-based telecommunications and broadband project.

County Administrator Tim O'Hearn told lawmakers that the regional group -- including Schuyler and six other counties -- would seek grant funding that would limit the local share of the project to $188,000, less than other options being considered to upgrade emergency services in the county.

He said the Southern Tier Central and Southern Tier East Regional Planning and Development Boards would be submitting the grant application by March 23. He said serious discussion of the application came up just recently, and that organizers needed an answer from counties on their intent this week.

O'Hearn noted that a broadband project called the ION initiative that runs in a loop through the Southern Tier had recently received a $40 million Federal Stimulus NTIA grant, leading to the belief that a similar organized effort by the seven counties might well generate a $30 million grant that would extend fiber infrastructure from the ION network "into key locations."

The ION network, he noted, is a private, fee-for-service initiative -- which means if the county simply tied into that system, it would do so as a paying client. Under the seven-county plan, there would be no such pay-as-you-go arrangement.

The resolution notes that it is "the intent to use this fiber to support public safety, healthcare, education, municipal collaboration, economic development and in general create a competitive advantage for our community."

O'Hearn said that installation of such a system could increase broadband coverage from the current 80 percent of the county to 98 percent. This comes, he noted, at a time when the county has been looking at options to upgrade its emergency communications network -- and that the initiative could serve that goal effectively.

In other business, the Legislature:

-- Rescinded the Local Law that had established restrictions on residency by registered sex offenders. The move -- necessitated by court action "throwing out" such laws, said Legislator Dennis Fagan -- came after a public hearing at which one area resident, a former day-care provider named Kristine Hansen, urged that the state pass a law with residency requirements similar to those that the local law had established.

-- Approved a resolution proposed by Legislator Paul Marcellus opposing the state-park cuts in Gov. David Paterson's budget proposal. The resolution was opposed by Legislator Dennis Fagan, who said he agreed with the state proposal, and by Chairman Tom Gifford -- but passed 5-2.

-- Approved a resolution proposed by Legislator Doris Karius "in support of the New York State Budget initiative called 'The Wine Industry and Liquor Store Revitalization Act'" -- which would permit the sale of wines in supermarkets. "I supported this when it first became an issue years ago," said Karius. "It was passed locally then, but could not get past the state."

-- Approved a resolution asking the State Legislature to enact legislation "allowing the Schuyler County Industrial Development Agency to be able to finanace automobile racing facilities." O'Hearn said the move was not requested by Watkins Glen International, but could help support its efforts to improve facilities at its racetrack. "It's a recognition of the continuing investment WGI is making in the track," said O'Hearn, noting that it would "allow the track to come to SCIDA" on future projects, which SCIDA would study for merit and possible funding aid.

-- Heard O'Hearn say that the official dedication of the Shared Services Building on South Decatur Street is tentatively set for 11 a.m. April 7.

Photos in text:

From top: Legislature Chairman Tom Gifford, right, and Administrator Tim O'Hearn; Legislator Dennis Fagan, left, and County Attorney James Coleman; and, from left, Gifford and Legislators Doris Karius, Glenn Larison and Mike Yuhasz.

'My difficulties are of my own making'

Massa issues resignation statement in Washington

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 5 -- The decision Friday by U.S. Rep. Eric Massa, D-Corning, to resign his seat in Congress was accompanied by a statement, presented below.

He read it to reporters two days after a conference call with members of the media in which he had announced he would not seek re-election because of health issues.

But superceding those issues is an investigation into a complaint by a staff member regarding alleged harassment by Massa of an unspecified nature. The Massa statement follows.

"Two days ago as I sat reading my new annual CAT scan, having been told that the anomalies in the films may or may not be scar tissue, I decided to finally take the advice that my doctors have repeatedly given me, and that is to take care of my family and myself before my profession. After I decided not to run again I was told, for the first time, that a member of my staff believed I had made statements that made him feel “uncomfortable.” I was told that a report had been filed with the Congressional Ethics Committee. At no point prior to this had any member of the Ethics Committee communicated with me directly -- in fact I first read it on the Internet.

"I own this reality. There is no doubt in my mind that I did in fact use language in the privacy of my own home and in my inner office that, after 24 years in the Navy, might make a Chief Petty Officer feel uncomfortable. In fact, there is no doubt that this Ethics issue is my fault and mine alone. But in the incredibly toxic atmosphere that is Washington D.C., with the destruction of our elected leaders having become a blood sport, especially in talk radio and on the Internet, there is also no doubt that an Ethics investigation would tear my family and my staff apart.

"Some would say that this is what happens when you stand apart from political parties, which I have done. Others will say that this is what happens to non-politicians when they go to Washington, D.C. I want to make something perfectly clear. My difficulties are of my own making. Period. I am also aware that blogs and radio will have a field day with this in today's destructive and unforgiving political environment. In that investigators would be free to ask anything about me going back to my birth, I simply cannot rise to that level of perfection. God knows that I am a deeply flawed and imperfect person.

"During long car rides, in the early hours of the evening, late at night and always in private, I know that my own language failed to meet the standards that I set for all around me and myself. I fell short and I believe now, as I have always believed, that it is not enough to simply talk the talk, but rather I must take action to hold myself accountable.

"Therefore, effective at 5 p.m. on Monday the 8th of March, I will resign my position as the Federal Representative of New York's 29th Congressional District in the 111th Congress. I do so with a profound sense of failure and a deep apology to all those whom, for the past year, I tried to represent as our Nation struggles with problems far greater than anyone can possibly imagine. I hope that my family, constituents, and fellow Members of Congress can accept this apology as being both genuine and heartfelt, and I wish for them and all Americans only the best.

"I will take all actions possible to ensure that my personal health is secured, in that I know that mine is a far more fragile lifeline than most. For the millions of fellow cancer survivors with whom I share this experience, they, more than anyone else, will understand the honesty and openness in this statement.

"I ask that members of the press respect the privacy of my family, my staff, and me at this time."

Photo in text: Eric Massa at a recent appearance in Schuyler County.

Massa won't seek re-election

Doctors' orders, he says, as he criticizes harassment claims

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 3 -- Congressman Eric Massa (D-NY) announced Wednesday that he will not seek re-election to a second term in the fall due to health concerns.

The Congressman, who won election in 2008 by defeating incumbent Republican John R. Kuhl, said he had experienced his "third major cancer reoccurrence scare" in December, and been told by doctors that he must slow down.

"I run at about 100 miles per hour, and my doctors have made it clear ... that I can no longer do that," said the former Navy officer, who fought off non-Hodgkins lymphoma several years ago.

He said he was bowing out of the race "early so other candidates may consider a run, should they decide to do so." His personal choice would be Hornell Mayor Shawn Hogan, who was asked by Massa to run earlier in the day.

"I was so taken aback by him not running, it was hard for me to respond," Hogan later told reporters.

Massa said his December scare led to a brief hospital stay that he "kept private between myself and my immediate family." He said it was "a very intense and personal experience." He did not discuss the extent or specific nature of the December setback, nor any prognosis. But he concluded:

"I will now enter the final phase of my life at a more controlled pace."

The remarks were in a brief statement read by Massa in a conference call to dozens of members of the media. He did not take any questions afterward.

He also addressed allegations that he had sexually harassed a male staffer, as follows:

"Now, there are blogs who are saying I am leaving because there were charges of harassment against my staff. Do I, or have I ever used salty language when I'm angry, especially in the privacy of my inner office or even at home? Yes, I have, and I have apologized to those where it's appropriate.

"But those kinds of articles, unsubstantiated without fact or backing, are a symptom of what's wrong with this city, and it's why so many have looked at the absolute gridlock in Washington, the intense partisanship without rational thought, and decided, like I, 'I do not have the life energy to fight all the battles all the time.'"

Photo in text: Congressman Eric Massa at a recent appearance in Schuyler County.

Soccer, dogs, tour bus subjects top busy Glen board meeting

WATKINS GLEN, March 1 -- The Watkins Glen Village Board Monday night -- in a lengthy session full of discussion -- approved work on the Clute Park soccer field, set a date for the next Dumpster Day, put off a decision on a dog park, put off discussion on potential village parking changes, and told a tour-bus operator he couldn't have a personal loading spot on a village street.

The soccer field work -- consisting of topsoil and seeding -- will cost $2,500 and get the soccer field behind the Community Center back in playable shape. The property, owned by Cargill Salt, has been in disrepair for a couple of years.

Since Cargill maintains the right to drill on its property, and has been drilling near the soccer field recently, Mayor Judy Phillips expressed concern that this repair work could come undone too easily. But trustee Wayne Weber, long involved in youth soccer, said the work should make the field usuable for years -- although the possibility exists that sometime in the future Cargill might want to drill there.

The spring Dumpster Day in the parking area adjacent to the Community Center will be from 8 a.m. to noon on May 8, the board decided. This has become a popular semi-annual event whereby village residents can dispose of unwanted items for free.

The dog park -- discussed at a past meeting -- was revisited at the urging of Barb Cook (pictured at right), who made the proposal months ago to have one at Clute Park or at nearby Tank Beach. She told trustees that she is not looking for financing from the village -- just a spot of land on which to build the facility, which would be bordered by fencing. Trustees continued to have questions regarding the village's liability, a matter that Cook and Village Clerk Donna Beardsley will try to assess. In the meantime, the matter was put on hold.

Potential parking changes will be weighed as the trustees discuss specifics of a proposed Local Law No. 1 that gathers all parking regulations in the village under one document. Mayor Judy Phillips had said at the last meeting that one change could come in the Third Street parking lot now limited to two-hour parking. She suggested that at least part of the lot revert to long-term parking, as it was before the opening last summer of Jim Guild's Seneca Lake General Store that fronts it. Guild had lobbied for -- and achieved -- the two-hour limit last year.

After two of Guild's representatives told the board Monday night that they deemed the two-hour limit essential, Phillips assured them that nothing had been decided yet. "We haven't got that far," she said. "We need to look at it."

The tour bus operation is being planned by Gregg Bittler (pictured at right), the owner of the Tiki Bar. He plans to provide tourists with bus rides around town and on the old Grand Prix road course -- and was hoping to have a loading/unloading spot designated for his vehicle on 10th street, across from the Sheriff's Office and alongside the planned parking lot being installed by the state across Franklin Street from the Watkins Glen State Park.

But Bittler's bus -- more than 24,000 pounds loaded -- far exceeded the 5-ton limit on many of the village streets and on the old road course, leading to a suggestion by trustee Nick Kelly that more discussion of the proposal is needed, with the potential for limitations. Meanwhile, Bittler was told that he might approach Mr. Chicken to see if it is interested in providing a parking spot for his bus at the rear of its parking lot -- within sight of the State Park.

In other business, the board:

-- Approved a request for the return of the weekly Farmer's Market to LaFayette Park on Fridays from 3-7 p.m., beginning May 28 and running through Oct. 29, with the exception of the Friday of the Grand Prix Festival (Sept. 10).

-- Heard from Clerk Donna Beardsley that summer board meetings would be held once a month, and that the starting time would be 8 p.m. instead of the current 7 p.m.

Photos in text:

From top: Trustee Wayne Weber, Barb Cook and Gregg Bittler at Monday's meeting.

Parking in Watkins lot may be revisited

WATKINS GLEN, Feb. 16 -- The Watkins Glen Village Board breezed through its meeting Tuesday night, finishing up in 25 minutes.

But along the way came a hint of a possible debate ahead -- on an issue that was a hot-button topic last year: parking in the Third Street lot.

The matter was raised obliquely at Tuesday's session, when Village Clerk Donna Beardsley introduced Local Law No. 1 of 2010 -- a law designed to gather all traffic regulations in Watkins Glen into one document, including an updating of Local Law No. 1 of 1977.

Mayor Judy Phillips and trustee Greg Coon both indicated one area they wanted to revisit was parking in the Third Street lot, located behind the Seneca Lake General Store. That lot has two-hour parking -- a change adopted last year from previous unregulated parking. It was altered at the urging of the General Store owner, Jim Guild, who argued prior to the store's opening in July that he needed the lot time-limited in order to attract customers and thus succeed with the store.

Phillips explained after Tuesday's meeting that she had never backed two-hour parking for the entire lot, and would "like to see some sort of compromise" that would open part of the lot for longer-term parking.

"They say that lot is always full," she said, "but take a look. It isn't."

Beardsley said there will likely be changes to the Local Law she presented Tuesday -- and possibly in the matter of that lot (which takes up just two lines in the 21-page document). If there are changes, she said, then she will have to reintroduce the law -- and then put it up for discussion at a public hearing.

In other business, the board:

--Approved Suzanne Bianco as a co-director for the Summer Rec program at $10.50 an hour. The program lasts about four weeks. A second co-director has yet to be named.

--Heard Phillips read a letter extending an invitation to Village Police Chief Thomas Struble to attend an FBI National Academy session running from April 11 to June 18 in Quantico, Virginia. The board had approved Struble's attendance last fall, contingent on him passing tests, a physical and interviews -- which he did. The program, wrote James H. Robertson, Special Agent in Charge, provides a "unique opportunity" for participants "to enhance their management skills."

--Heard the mayor express concern over a situation in Chemung County involving a possible extension of designated flood-plain areas -- which if allowed to take effect could create financial hardship for affected property owners thus required to purchase expensive flood insurance. "I'm afraid they're moving north," Phillips said, referring to Federal Emergency Management Agency officials who revised the Chemung flood-plain maps. If the same situation develops here, she added, "it could have a real negative impact on the village."

Photo in text: Village trustees Greg Coon, left, and Wayne Weber at Tuesday's meeting.

Chesapeake drops wastewater-well plan

Special to The Odessa File

ELMIRA, Feb. 16 -- The Chesapeake Energy Corporation is withdrawing its application to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for an injection well permit in the Steuben County town of Pulteney, according to published reports.

The well proposal had drawn fire from many Pulteney residents and officials.

The company sent letters to the EPA and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regarding its decision.

"We no longer require a ... permit for the Bergstresser well in Steuben County," it told DEC, although it stressed that public opposition was not the determining factor.

"We are not rescinding our application because we believe our proposed well would have been a threat to the environment or because of vocal oppositon to the project," it said, citing an "advanced ... operational capability to reuse/recycle water produced in other areas of the Marcellus Shale, greatly reducing our current need for additional disposal facilities in New York."

“It’s the right decision," said State Senator George Winner, "and I’m pleased that company officials have been more than willing to listen and to give every consideration to the concerns of local leaders and local residents."

“This is a victory for the families of the Finger Lakes,” said Congressman Eric Massa. “The concerned citizens of the Finger Lakes showed everyone that a strong grassroots movement can defy all odds and emerge victorious. While some politicians may try to swoop in and take credit for today's news, clearly this victory belongs to the citizens who fought to protect the place they call home.”

Want to keep SROs in schools? Try this

Are you upset about the state's plan to remove School Resource Officers from the hallways of our area high schools?

Rather than just stew about it, you can do something: write a letter to the governor.

What follows is a sample letter provided to this website by one such resident -- one of the many who see SRO removal as a negative on different levels.

Feel free, if you wish, to cut and paste the letter and send it on to the governor with your signature.

****

Gov. David Paterson
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Gov. Paterson:

Your proposed 2010-11 budget eliminates funding for the school resource officer program of the New York State Police. This is a cost-saving step that should not be taken.

The students, parents and staffs of the Odessa-Montour and Watkins Glen school districts well know how successful this program has been in Schuyler County.

While the school resource officer clearly brings heightened personal security to the schools, our students experience many more benefits, which are just as important.

The officer is a role model; he or she is a confidante. He or she shows our rural students a face of law enforcement that is non-threatening yet steadfast in insisting the right thing be done. The school resource officer is a teacher of the highest quality because he or she is teaching our students about real life and the way to live it.

This program of the New York State Police should continue in our schools.

Sincerely,

****

You can send copies, if you wish, to our representatives in Albany and to State Police officials. Their addresses follow:

State Legislature:

Sen. George H. Winner Jr.
53rd Senate District
Albany Office
Room 814
Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
Phone: (518) 455-2091
Fax: (518) 426-6976
Elmira District Office
228 Lake Street 
Box 588
Elmira, NY 14902
Phone: (607) 732-2765
Fax: (607) 732-2832

*******
Assemblyman Tom O’Mara
137th Assembly District
Legislative / Constituent Services
333 E. Water Street
Suite 301
Elmira, NY  14901
Office 607-732-3500
Fax 607-732-4800
Email  omarat@assembly.state.ny.us

********

New York State Police:

New York State Police
Superintendent Preston L. Felton
1220 Washington Avenue
Building 22
Albany, NY 12226-2252

Troop E
Major Mark Koss
1569 Rochester Road,
Canandaigua, NY 14425-0220
(585) 398-4100

Report outlines Watkins police activity

WATKINS GLEN, Feb. 4 -- The Watkns Glen Police Department has submitted its 2009 annual report to the Village Board -- a report that tells its story largely in numbers.

Police Chief Thomas Struble's report shows that his department answered 2,278 incidents in 2009, including 182 motor vehicle accidents, 102 emergency calls, and 445 calls to assist homeowners and other citizens.

The value of property reported stolen in the village totaled $48,508, and the value of property recovered was $29,949.

There were 653 Vehicle & Traffic citations issued, and 26 arrests for Driving While Intoxicated. There were 157 Penal Law arrests, including 44 for narcotic or drug possession, 20 for larceny, 12 for harassment and 12 for disorderly conduct. The department logged a total of 44 bad-check cases.

Officers issued 323 parking tickets, 231 of which were paid for a total of $4,255.

Photo in text: Watkins Glen Police Chief Thomas Struble at Feb. 1 Village Board meeting.

Winner joins Medicaid Fraud Task Force

Special to The Odessa File

Albany, Feb. 2 – State Senator George Winner (R-C-I, Elmira) has been appointed to the newly created Senate Republican Task Force on Medicaid Fraud, which is charged with finding out why state taxpayers continue to lose hundreds of millions of dollars to abuse, fraud, and waste in New York’s more than $50 billion Medicaid system.

Winner said the urgency of the state’s fiscal crisis demands a renewed focus on the fraud that has plagued the Medicaid system for years. In his proposed 2010-11 state budget, New York Governor David Paterson increased the state’s target for Medicaid fraud recovery by $300 million, which Winner said isn’t nearly enough.

“It’s way past time to put in place a ‘zero tolerance’ policy to combat the millions upon millions of dollars of taxpayer dollars being lost to Medicaid fraud and waste,” said Winner. “We need to determine, once and for all, why we can’t put a stop to the scams and rip-offs that still define this system. New York government has a responsibility to eliminate abuse and waste and we know that the Medicaid system remains a prime target.”

Winner said the task force will hold public hearings and issue recommendations before the April 1st deadline for adopting a new state budget.

Congressman Eric Massa, right, speaks to Tony Specchio, SWCD Board chairman.

Massa: Go slow on drilling

Sees health reform bills as 'gone,' court ruling as 'mind-popping'

Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards honored as Conservation Farmer of the Year. People

MONTOUR FALLS, Feb. 2 -- Congressman Eric Massa on Monday urged caution in Marcellus Shale drilling, said health care reform would likely start over from scratch, and expressed concern over the Supreme Court ruling lifting limits on corporation spending in federal elections.

His comments came at the annual banquet meeting of the Schuyler County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD).

The Congressman fielded questions from some of the 60 people in attendance at the session, held in the Schuyler County Human Services Complex. Among those present were several county legislators.

Massa said he has "tried to slow the process down" as drilling companies look toward this region for access to the Marcellus Shale, a huge underground field of natural gas stretching from Ohio to New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

"What's the hurry?" he said. "The gas will still be there" in future years. "We want to figure out how to do (the drilling) safely." He pointed to one problem -- the disposal of wastewater from the relatively new hydrofracturing drilling process. "There is no answer to what to do with it."

Marcellus drilling has been permitted in various areas of Pennsyvlania, he noted, but reports have been surfacing of lawsuits involving allegations of contaminated wells. "Let's not get caught in the same situation," he said.

The potential for aquifer and well-water contamination, he said, leads to this thought: "If at the end of the day we don't have well water, what do we have? We can't even live here ... The whole idea is to get it right."

In answer to a question on the status of health care legislation in Congress, Massa said that in his opinion "both bills (in the House of Representatives and the Senate) are scrubbed, gone. They're not gonna see the light of day. That's my belief. We're going to see smaller pieces of legislation" dealing with specific aspects of health care reform.

"I see a complete restart," he said. "We're starting the whole thing from zero."

And on the recent Supreme Court decision rejecting a limit on spending by corporations in federal elections, Massa said the 5-4 ruling was "mind popping ...a very lopsided decision that will skew politics against individual concerns."

The decision will permit corporations and labor unions to finance TV ads without restraint, as well as other forms of advocacy for or against candidates.

"It is the single largest political decision by the Supreme Court in my lifetime," Massa said.

"Corporations by their nature are not evil, but when you grant them rights of personhood ... you've gone down a terribly slippery slope."

Photos in text: Congressman Massa answering questions at the SWCD annual banquet.

Winner: Don't remove SROs

Governor's proposal 'lacks common sense,' he says

Special to The Odessa File

ALBANY, Jan. 29 -- State Senator George Winner says he’ll urge the Democratic leadership of the state Senate to follow the lead of Republicans when they held control of the chamber in 2008 and immediately reject a proposal to reassign to non-school duties nearly 100 New York State Troopers currently working as “school resource officers” (SROs) in educational facilities across New York.

Trooper David Waite (pictured at right) is the SRO in both the Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour School Districts, and heavily involved in coaching and other mentoring.

Former Governor Eliot Spitzer attempted a similar removal move two years ago and was met with swift and strong opposition from Winner and other Senate Republicans. The proposal was subsequently left out of the final 2008-09 state budget.

In his 2010-11 proposed budget, Governor David Paterson has again proposed to reassign 90 SROs statewide.

“One responsibility you never turn your back on is safe schools,” said Winner. “This proposal lacks common sense. It threatens the security, safety and quality of our schools. It should immediately be rejected by legislative leaders.”

Winner said that he will also continue to urge New York’s federal representatives to provide aid for SROs, as recently suggested by area Congressman Eric Massa.

The senator pointed to a 2008 incident at a BOCES campus in Coopers Plains in which a man attacking a woman was subdued by a School Resource Officer in conjunction with two administrators. And he pointed to statewide figures from that year alone -- in which State Police SROs responded to more than 2,500 criminal calls, made over 1,000 arrests, confiscated nearly 100 illegal weapons and intervened to prevent more than 170 potential suicides.

Photo in text: State Trooper David Waite (File photo)

Roads and Infrastructure Committee member Jerry Verrigni, left, addresses the Council.

Task Force casts cautionary eye on natural-gas drilling

MONTOUR FALLS, Jan. 28 -- Caution was the byword Wednesday night as several speakers addressed the issue of natural-gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, and what it might mean to Schuyler County communities.

The setting was a meeting of the Schuyler County Council of Governments, with 14 representatives of towns, villages and county goverment meeting in regular session -- but with a special and timely theme: the seemingly inevitable drilling that will descend on Schuyler and other counties that sit over the Marcellus Shale, a formation deep underground that contains an estimated 168 or more trillion cubic feet of natural gas running through a wide swath from Ohio to New York State.

The meeting, at the Human Resources Complex in Montour Falls, attracted a crowd of about 35 people, some of them members of an Ad Hoc Energy Task Force that has been studying the possible impact of drilling should it start in earnest here in the near future. The matter of drilling -- with companies using a controversial hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, technique -- is under review by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Should the DEC give the go-ahead to the drilling -- presumably with various environmental safeguards attached -- the area government leaders want to be ready. Said County Administrator Tim O'Hearn at Wednesday's session: "We're not taking a position on whether drilling is right or wrong, but we're looking to prepare for it. Ideally we'll be dealing with it with continuity and collaboration."

Task Force reports came from four subcommittees -- on Economic and Social Impacts, on Environmental Effects, on Public Safety and Health, and on Roads and Infrastructure. And in each case, cautionary notes were sounded.

In a power-point presentation on the potential impact to the economy, Cooperative Extension assistant planner Rocky Kambo presented charts and graphs on the trends shown in areas experiencing a surge in drilling activity -- specifically in Sublette County, Wyoming, scene of extensive natural-gas drilling.

While that county saw an influx of income, it also was faced with challenges such as a population spike affecting the number of students served by local schools, inflationary trends that impacted fixed-income residents adversely, an increase in crime, and a drop in community unity as factions battled over policy.

Nonetheless, the conclusion of the subcommittee was that "likely impacts of gas drilling in Schuyler are not necessarily all positive or all negative. If dealt with appropriately, and in a coordinated fashion, a municipality could be able to mitigate negative effects while enjoying the benefits."

Schuyler County Emergency Management Coordinator Bill Kennedy, speaking for the Public Safety and Health group, noted that rapid change offers "the possibility for catastrophic events" which an emergency services system already taxed "and fragile" might have difficulty handling. "On any given day," he said, "we might not have the manpower to respond" to emergency needs. An influx of a drilling industry into the area would require "specialized training and specialized equipment," not to mention a larger pool of emergency personnel.

Other safety concerns include "the potential presence of naturally occurring radioactive materials in the flowback water"; any "acceptance of wastewater by municipal plants," which "would likely compromise effective functioning of plants"; and "private homeowner well contamination from migrating gases, drilling fluids and flowback water." The subcommittee recommended extensive monitoring systems and the development of emergency plans.

And with an anticipated significant rise in truck traffic in the area, the subcommittee on Roads and Infrastructure noted, issues of concern include road damage and bridge and culvert damage. A system is needed, it said, to ensure "proper compensation" from drilling firms "in a timely manner" for those damages. A spokesman for Delta Engineers described a system devised in Sullivan County designed to meet the needs of local governments in dealing with such matters. For a fee, he said, local governments here could tie into a computerized system designed to effect payments in damage cases.

Photos in text:

Top: Odessa Village Board member Peggy Tomassi is flanked in the background by Town of Dix Supervisor Harold Russell, left, and Schuyler County Legislature Chairman Tom Gifford. All are members of the Council of Governments.

Second: County Administrator Tim O'Hearn.

Third: Schuyler County Emergency Management Coordinator Bill Kennedy.

Bottom Cooperative Extension assistant planner Rocky Kambo.

Winner: Don't cut Wine & Group group

Special to The Odessa File

ALBANY, Jan. 20 -- State Senator George Winner (R-C-I, Elmira), one of the Legislature’s most vocal and long-standing wine industry advocates, Wednedsay rejected Governor David Paterson’s plan to completely eliminate state support for the New York Wine and Grape Foundation.

Last year’s budget cut the Foundation’s funding from $2.8 million to just under $1 million. In his 2010-2011 proposed state budget, Paterson has called for completely eliminating the state assistance that supports the Foundation’s efforts.

“The rise of New York’s wine industry is one of our state’s most remarkable success stories, and the Wine and Grape Foundation has been a driving force behind the success,” said Winner. “The Paterson plan puts at risk a statewide industry that generates billions of dollars in economic activity, accounts for thousands of livelihoods, forms the backbone of Finger Lakes tourism, and brings national and international acclaim to New York.”

Winner's office, in a press release, said state legislators, including Winner, "created the Foundation in 1985 at a time when New York’s wine-and-grape industry was on the brink of collapse. Since then the Foundation, currently based in Canandaigua, has been the driving force behind the marketing, promotion, and research that has led to the industry’s resurgence."

“We need," Winner said, "to take every necessary and reasonable action to address what we all recognize is a serious fiscal crisis, but this specific action would worsen the crisis in the long run. You don’t address a fiscal crisis with a plan that jeopardizes long-term economic growth and stability.”

Program will keep tabs on young drivers

Special to The Odessa File

WATKINS GLEN, Jan. 16 -- A new program designed to help parents keep tabs on their young-adult children's driving habits is being implemented by the Schuyler County Sheriff's Office.

According to a press release, the “STOPPED” (Sheriffs Telling Our Parents and Promoting Educated Drivers) Program -- developed by the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office -- will help reduce the number of teenage drivers involved in automobile crashes.

"The STOPPED Program," the press release said, "utilizes a parental notification system to link the efforts of law enforcement officials with those of parents. It is a simple and innovative approach in helping young motorists to become safe and responsible drivers."

The Sheriff’s Office will soon give parents and grandparents the opportunity to enroll in the STOPPED program and register any motor vehicle that will be driven by someone under the age of 21. Once registered, parents will be given an identification sticker, which will be permanently affixed to the vehicle’s windshield. The parents will then receive written notification whenever the vehicle, while operated by a driver under the age of 21, is stopped by police within Schuyler County.

"The STOPPED Program emphasizes the tremendous responsibility required when operating a motor vehicle," the press release said, "and is designed to reinforce mature driving habits exhibited when young drivers are accompanied by their parents. Enrollment into the STOPPED Program will provide teenagers with a constant visual reminder of their accountability as they travel on their own. It will also provide parents with notification when young drivers fall short of parental expectations."

Notifications to parents, the release noted, "will contain information such as time, location, reason for being stopped, and how many passengers were in the vehicle. Deputies will note who was operating the vehicle and whether or not tickets were issued. It will simply provide parents with the means of getting information about their children’s driving habits so that they have the opportunity to correct them before it is too late."

Anyone interested in enrolling may e-mail Schuyler County Undersheriff Breck Spaulding at bspaulding@co.schuyler.ny.us.

Meal-site change approved by lawmakers

WATKINS GLEN, Jan. 12 -- The Schuyler County Legislature Monday night gave its blessing to a move of Office for the Aging (OFA) community meals in Monterey to the Fire Department's community room.

The move from the Monterey Baptist Church -- an action deemed necessary by organizers because of inadequte heating at the church that was "not easily correctable," as one observer put it -- was the subject last week of debate when new legislator Barbara Halpin cautioned at a legislative Resolution Review Committee meeting that the county shouldn't be approving any new spending in this economically turbulent time. While the church, legislators were told, did not charge for use of its facility, the fire department would charge $10 per week.

She was the lone vote against the measure Monday after an amendment that would have eliminated any mention of cost was rejected by lawmakers 5-2.

After the votes, Legislator Dennis Fagan noted that the actual cost to the county would be just $45 per year due to state and federal aid for congregate meal sites.

But it turned out that no cost is likely since the Monterey Fire Chief, Larry States, told county officials earlier in the day that the fire department had not requested any payment; that in fact the payment had been offered by the OFA even though "we did not want it nor did we ask for it." Accordingly, he said, the contract has been changed "to say the fire company will offer the use of our hall at no charge."

Legislature Chairman Thomas Gifford said Monday's proposed amendment that tried to eliminate mention of cost was rejected because lawmakers think the fire department "has the right to charge $10 if it wants to charge $10."

The Legislature posed for its annual photo at Wednesday's organizational meeting in the legislative chambers at the County Building. Seated, from left, are Legislators Doris Karius, Glenn Larison and Mike Yuhasz, and County Attorney James Coleman. Standing from left are County Administrator Tim O'Hearn, Legislature Chairman Tom Gifford, Legislators Stewart Field, Dennis Fagan, Paul Marcellus and Barbara Halpin, Legislature Clerk Stacy Husted, and Deputy Clerk Jamee Mack.

Legislature's new year: Gifford retains chairmanship while Halpin takes a stand

WATKINS GLEN, Jan. 7 -- The Schuyler County Legislature, starting a new decade, got a taste of its altered landscape Wednesday at its organizational meeting.

New Legislator Barbara Halpin, a Town of Catharine Republican elected Nov. 3 who saw previous service on the Legislature in the 1990s -- including a one-year stint as chairman -- perhaps set the tone for the upcoming four years (the length of her term) Wednesday when she voted against the re-election of Republican Tom Gifford as chairman, and then tangled with other legislators over an expenditure of $10 a week.

The election of Gifford, starting his 12th year in the chairmanship, was uncontested at the Legislature's organizational session. He was nominated by Legislator Mike Yuhasz, and seconded by Glenn Larison. But when the vote to close the nominations was taken, Halpin said "no." And when the actual vote was held, she reiterated the answer as Gifford was returned to the post by a 7-1 count. She later told a reporter she was not going to explain her position; that she had discussed it in private with Gifford.

Then, after the organizational session yielded to a gathering of the legislators for a meeting of their regular Resolution Review Committee -- where upcoming resolutions are discussed -- one item in particular caught Halpin's attention and drew her fire: a proposal to spend $10 a week for use of the Monterey Fire Hall to hold weekly meals offered the elderly by the county's Office for the Aging.

Those meals have been offered in the Monterey Baptist Chuch -- which did not charge for its use. But inadequate heating, legislators said, created an environment that discouraged attendance. Thus the move, and the $10 per week charge, which Legislator Dennis Fagan, a Tyrone Republican, said is available in the 2010 budget.

"I don't think there should be any new spending," said Halpin. "Times are tough, and we can't be everything to everybody."

When Fagan said the cost was "negligible," Halpin said that "everything is negligible until you add it all together. It's one thing of many." If the resolution is adopted, she said, "we have to look at where we can cut something else."

Fagan, seemingly agitated, asked Halpin if she was "going to penalize the rural elderly in Monterey?" Then Legislator Doris Karius added: "What's wrong with providing lunch to lifelong residents of the county for $10 a week?" She, too, appeared agitated.

"All good points," answered Halpin, reiterating her opposition to new spending. She concluded: "Well, you get my point, I think."

The resolution will go before the Legislature at its next regular meeting, Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the legislative chambers at the County Building..

Photo in text: New Legislator Barbara Halpin at Wednesday's session.

Final Schuyler County layoff total is 3

WATKINS GLEN, Dec. 29 -- The Schuyler County Legislature Monday morning wrapped up its 2009 meeting schedule with a 6-minute session that marked the departure of Legislator Del Bleiler.

Bleiler, who chose not to seek reelection in November, is leaving his seat after 12 years.

The year-end gathering saw passage of several resolutions, including one amending layoff language previously approved by the Legislature, which eliminated 12 county positions and reduced a 13th from full-time to part-time in November. The job cuts came with reduced spending in the $45.2 million budget.

According to Administrator Tim O'Hearn, three employees are losing their jobs because of those cuts -- down from the expected five thanks to a couple of vacancies that have occurred, one in Social Services and one in Mental Health.

O'Hearn also said the final tax rate in the new budget is $8.17 per $1,000 of assessed value, which is 10 cents higher than expected but still below last year's $8.37. The adjustment occurred with discovery of a transposition of figures in the Town of Reading's full-value assessment calculation. The tax levy was not affected by the mistake.

The Legislature's next session will be its organizational meeting, set for 9 a.m. Jan. 6. Its first regular meeting of the new year will be at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 11.

*****

Photos in text: Legislature Clerk Stacy Husted and Legislator Mike Yuhasz at Monday's session.

Left: Legislators Paul Marcellus, foreground, and Dennis Fagan. Right: Administrator Tim O'Hearn arrived at the meeting in a Santa cap after serving as a Salvation Army bell-ringer for the Lions Club at Walmart.

O'Hearn: Outlook is increasingly bleak

WATKINS GLEN, Dec. 15 -- Schuyler County Administrator Tim O'Hearn Monday night outlined a state budget situation that looks increasingly bleak and will spell difficulties for county governments -- creating revenue shortfalls.

His cautionary note came at a regular meeting of the County Legislature on a night at which outgoing legislator Del Bleiler -- who did not seek re-election and is stepping down after 12 years on the lawmaking body -- was praised for his service.

Said O'Hearn to Bleiler, referring to expected upcoming budget woes: "You picked a good time" to leave.

Bleiler was honored at the meeting's outset by Chairman Tom Gifford, who read a Certificate of Recognition noting "the outstanding performance" of Bleiler in various committee and agency assignments over the years.

"Del's dedication, compassion and understanding," Gifford read, "have had a tremendous impact on all throughout the years. He will be sorely missed" (and here Gifford ad-libbed "Boy, that's an understatement") "and we wish him success in his future endeavors."

Bleiler, whose term officially ends at the conclusion of 2009, thanked his colleagues. "It's been fun," he said, "but challenging at times. I appreciate all the dedication that you guys put in. You've made my stay enjoyable."

O'Hearn's economic report came near the meeting's end -- a meeting low-keyed and short on significant resolutions.

He said he had recently returned from a Syracuse meeting of county administrators at which the shaky financial state of New York's government was front and center among discussion subjects. And he pointed out a specific instance of economic instability -- whereby the state's reimbursement to the county for child welfare services will be reduced, temporarily, from $191,000 to $110,000.

Of the $81,000 difference, O'Hearn said: "It's money that is being delayed,"

That is a disquieting result of a state government in flux -- with Gov. David Paterson announcing a delay in $750 million in payments to local governments, school districts and various agencies because of an inability by the state to pay its bills in December.

"In effect, the counties will be the state's bankers," O'Hearn said, adding: "But we can't foreclose."

There is "an unprecedented crisis on the state level," the administrator added -- one that is considerably worse than situations in past years in which there were "cash flow problems. This is a 'lack of cash' crisis.

"Thankfully," he added, "the county is relatively healthy financially." But if the trend continues -- if there are further delays, he said -- "we'll be forced to look for alternative funding sources" that could include borrowing.

In other business, the legislators:

-- Set their year-end meeting for 9 a.m. Dec. 28 in the Legislative Chambers in the County Building. The 2010 organizational session will be held there at 9 a.m. on Jan. 6.

Photos in text:

Top: Legislature Chairman Tom Gifford, left, congratulates Legislator Del Bleiler just before presenting Bleiler with a Certificate of Recognition. Bleiler's last of three 4-year terms is drawing to a close.

Bottom: Legislator Glenn Larison at Monday night's meeting.

Village Board OKs new camping rates

WATKINS GLEN, Dec. 8 -- The Watkins Glen Village Board Monday night approved a small increase in Clute Park camping rates for next season.

The board approved a day rate of $39 (up from $38 in 2009), a weekly rate of $245 (up from $240), a monthly rate of $675 (up from $650), a July and August rate of $700 (up from $675), and a seasonal rate of $1795 (up from $1750).

The village will start taking reservations on Jan. 11.

"These rates are a steal," said village trustee William Smagner. "They're fantastic."

"Yes, and very competitive," said Mayor Judy Phillips.

Responded trustee Nick Kelly about the reasonableness of the rates: "When I'm old and fragile, I'm going to get a camper and move down to the park."

In other business, the board:

-- Voted to keep the renovated park office open through the winter, rather than lowering the heat and moving Park Superintendent Michelle Hyde to the Village Hall. That move was proposed by trustee Kelly, but when it was determined that call-forwarding Hyde's phone would cost hundreds of dollars, Kelly agreed she should stay in the office this winter, with the village tracking expenses to determine a future course.

-- Heard Mayor Phillips say that she doesn't think lakeside is the place for a dog park proposed by Barbara Cook at a meeting last month. "While we're still interested," she said, "we have to find another site. It's got to be the right spot; we just don't know where it is."

-- Approved the hiring of Daniel Thomas Eberhardt and Bradley Conover as part-time patrolmen in the village police department. They will fill two vacancies in the 10-person part-time force.

-- Approved payment of $5,926 to the Schuyler County Partnership for Economic Development (SCOPED) for 2009, the village's share of that agency's budget.

Photos in text:

From top: Village trustee William Smagner, Mayor Judy Phillips, and trustee Greg Coon.

Missing driver shows up at Sheriff's Office

WATKINS GLEN, Nov. 29 -- The driver of a car involved in an accident near Catharine early Saturday -- and the subject of an afternoon-long search Saturday afternoon (see story below) -- showed up this morning (Sunday) at the Schuyler County Sheriff’s Office and was charged with three traffic violations.

Neil Monthie, 27, of Horseheads appeared at the Sheriff's Office at about 9:30 a.m. "to speak with deputies regarding the accident," a department press release said.

The accident, officials have said, occurred about 1 a.m. Saturday when Monthie left County Route 15 between Odessa and Catharine and struck a power pole, shearing it. Power was later shut off for four hours in a section of Odessa while the pole -- with a transformer on it -- was replaced by NYSEG.

When a Sheriff's deputy and firefighters arrived at the crash scene, nobody was in or near the car. A search was mounted later in the day after officials were notified that Monthie had not returned home. The search was called off when it turned dark.

Monthie, the release noted, "is being charged with leaving the scene of a property damage accident, moving from a lane unsafely, and operating a motor vehicle while on a cell phone."

He is scheduled to appear in Town of Catharine Court at a later date.

No further details, such as where he was all day Saturday, were made available.

_________________________

Firefighters and emergency personnel formulated search plans in the basement of the church.

Crash leads to power outage, search for a missing driver

ODESSA, Nov. 28 --. A car accident on County Route 15 between Odessa and Catharine at about 1 a.m. Saturday led to a 4-hour power outage in the eastern section of Odessa ... and to a subsequent afternoon-long search for the driver of the abandoned vehicle.

The sequence of events began at about 1 a.m. when a car that the Schuyler County Sheriff's Department said was driven by Neil Monthie, 27, of Horseheads hit a power pole -- a pole with a transformer that served as the main feed into the village.

Sheriff's deputies and Odessa firefighters called to the scene found nobody in or near the car. Firefighters remained on the scene, guarding against a possible field fire -- they feared winds might send downed lines into a nearby field -- until after NYSEG officials arrived.

NYSEG cut the power at 5:30 a.m. in order to remove the old pole and install a new one, and the power in Odessa was restored at 9:30 a.m.

Then, at about 11 a.m., fire officials, county emergency services personnel and the Sheriff's Department started setting up a command post at Saint John's Episcopal Church in Catharine in order to find the driver -- who they identified as Monthie, a man who family members reported had not returned home overnight.

A total of 62 firefighters from the Odessa, Watkins Glen, Montour Falls, Millport, Mecklenburg, Burdett, Newfield and Town & Country departments participated in a foot search of the field adjoining the crash site and across a widening section of terrain. Also on hand were DEC Forest Rangers, Schuyler Ambulance, Emergency Services Coordinator Bill Kennedy, and Sheriff Bill Yessman. State police contributed a helicopter that Yessman said covered a wide area.

But it was all to no avail, and the search was called off at about 4:30 p.m. due to darkness, with Yessman saying it was possible that Monthie -- if not injured and still out in the cold -- was hiding somewhere, unaware of the size of the effort put forth to find him. The sheriff -- who said Monthie was facing a charge of leaving the scene of an accident -- subsequently issued a press release in the hope that Monthie or someone who knew of his whereabouts would see it and come forward. The release reads as follows:

"The Schuyler County Sheriff’s Office is attempting to locate a 27-year-old Horseheads man who was involved in a motor vehicle accident early this morning on County Route 15, also known as the Ridge Road, in the Town of Catharine.

"At about 1:00 a.m., Neil Monthie was driving southbound just north of County Route 14 when he left the roadway and struck a utility pole. Monthie walked away from the scene, and at this time his whereabouts are unknown. Monthie is approximately 5 foot 11 inches tall and weighs 165 pounds. He has blonde hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a white sweatshirt and blue jeans.

"A foot search of the area was conducted this afternoon by the Odessa Fire Department with assistance from New York State Forest Rangers, the Schuyler County Emergency Management Office and a helicopter from the New York State Police Aviation Unit. Sixty-two firefighters from eight departments also assisted in the search, which was suspended due to darkness.

"The Sheriff’s Office is requesting that anyone with information on Mr. Monthie call 535-8222."

Photos in text:

From top: Odessa Fire Chief John Jelliff; Ranger W.E. Meehan (left) and Emergency Services Coordinator Bill Kennedy; and Sheriff Bill Yessman.

Left: Odessa Mayor and firefighter Keith Pierce as the search was being called off. Right: Deputy Andrew Yessman helped organize the search effort.

Search personnel gather outside Saint John's Episcopal Church in Catharine.

Legislators approve 2010 budget, job cuts

WATKINS GLEN, Nov. 24 -- The Schuyler County Legislature Tuesday morning approved a 2010 county budget that calls for a tax levy increase of 4% and eliminates 13 county worker positions, mostly through attrition.

Voting against the budget were Legislators Dennis Fagan and Mike Yuhasz, both of whom supported reinstatement of a 4% sales tax on clothing to generate enough funds to avoid the layoff of four workers -- the number actually losing their jobs. Legislator Glenn Larison said he thought the layoffs could be avoided by increasing the property tax levy, but he backed the budget nonetheless.

County workers Charlotte Dickens and Jill Wicker spoke against the job cuts, contending that the loss of a transportation aide in the Department of Social Services would seriously impact that unit's delivery of services, while CSEA Local president Sue Brill objected to what she saw as improper public notification of Tuesday's session.

The session was announced late last week, rescheduled from a previously planned vote date of Dec. 9th after legislators decided the wait would prove pointless.

Schuyler budget put on hold pending NY action; clothing still exempt from sales tax

MONTOUR FALLS, Nov. 10 -- Schuyler County legislators Monday night agreed to wait until Dec. 9 to vote on the 2010 county budget, giving them time to see what effects a special session of the New York State Legislature might have on the county's financial health.

The move came in the wake of a lengthy public hearing at which county workers and residents objected to the proposed elimination of 12 positions -- including eight by layoff -- in the budget plan.

And it came after a vote failed on a resolution that would have reinstated a 4% sales tax on clothing in the county -- a measure those in the audience had repeatedly urged as a means of raising funds to avoid those layoffs.

The sales tax measure was proposed by Legislator Dennis Fagan, and supported in a vote by Mike Yuhasz and Chairman Tom Gifford. But Paul Marcellus, Del Bleiler, Doris Karius and Glenn Larison voted against it, with Legislator Stewart Field absent. It would have required five votes in order to pass.

The two-and-a-half-hour gathering began with a 40-minute presentation by County Administrator Tim O'Hearn explaining the various expenses and revenues of the budget. That was followed by a public participation period in which more than a dozen speakers voiced displeasure with the job cuts, with most of them urging a repeal of the sales tax exemption on clothing.

About 120 spectators crowded the meeting room at the Human Services Complex, filling all available chairs, lining the walls and pushing out into the hallway.

Former legislator Philip Smith (right) set the tone early, urging in a civilized tone that the Legislature "very seriously consider reinstating the sales tax."

Other speakers echoed that sentiment, and some dwelt on the loss of services the layoffs will create in the county.

Former county employee Taylor Peck, now retired, told legislators: " I suggest you keep working on the budget. There seems to be room without laying off people."

Sue Brill, president of the CSEA Local representing 150 workers, said layoffs "are not the only option."

Added a Department of Motor Vehicles employee: "It appears 2011 and 2012 will be worse. Will layoffs always be your final resolution? Eventually there will be no one to lay off."

O'Hearn conceded that the outlook for next year is grim.

"I don't want to be gloom and doom," he said. "But the (federal) Stimulus money will be gone, so we'll be starting 2011 in the hole." But, he added, "we're in a good position relative to other counties" where layoffs are more severe.

The state has him worried, though, as it starts a special session designed to attack a growing deficit in the New York budget.

"The Schuyler County 2010 budget cannot absorb further cuts from the state," he said. "We did not build in an anticipation of revenue reductions."

That concern, in fact, held sway when the Legislature, meeting in regular session after the public hearing, came to the resolutions that would have approved the budget -- and the layoffs.

After the clothing tax move had failed, Fagan asked his colleagues if "you would consider holding off on the budget vote pending state action."

With assurances from O'Hearn that the budget -- with possible modifications -- could still be completed with the delay, the lawmakers decided on Dec. 9 for a vote, immediately after a meeting of its Resolutions Review Committee.

Photos in text:

Top: Former county employee Taylor Peck expresses an opinion.

Second through fifth: County Administrator Tim O'Hearn talks about the budget; former legislator Phil Smith; and legislators Del Bleiler and Dennis Fagan.

Revenue find eases county's levy increase, but job cuts still loom; hearing Monday

WATKINS GLEN, Nov. 5 -- Schuyler County is realizing $150,000 more in revenue than anticipated, helping Administrator Tim O'Hearn trim the tax-levy hike to a Legislature-requested 4% and avoid the need for job cuts beyond the 12 and a half positions already targeted.

O'Hearn told legislators meeting Wednesday morning as the Legislative Resolution Review Committee that $130,000 in rebates from prescription drugs purchased under the county's self-funded health plan had been overlooked in the tentative 2010 County Budget. Another $20,000 was found by correcting town-contribution miscalculations in the health plan.

The added revenue accomplished what legislators had asked of O'Hearn at their last meeting -- a reduction in the tax-levy increase to 4% from 5% in the $42.6 million budget. And it provided a way to do that without cutting more payroll beyond the already planned job cuts.

Those cuts include the elimination of four positions through attrition, and eight through layoffs. One position will be reduced to part-time.

With the changes, the proposed tax rate will be $8.07 per $1,000 of assessed value, down 3.5% from the 2009 budget.

"In light of circumstances," said O'Hearn, referring to the economic downturn in the country, "those numbers are quite an accomplishment, though the union (representing affected workers) disagrees, obviously."

The budget will be the subject of a public hearing on Monday evening, Nov. 9 at the Human Services Complex. It will start at 6:30 p.m., and will be followed by a Legislature meeting at which the budget, with Wednesday's changes incorporated, will be voted upon by lawmakers.

Photos n text: Legislature Chairman Tom Gifford, top, and Legislators Paul Marcellus (left) and Dennis Fagan at Wednesday's session.

The vote: How they fared in Schuyler

Larison, Halpin, Karius win Legislature seats; Van Soest, Hoffman win in Catharine

WATKINS GLEN, Nov. 4 -- Two incumbents and a former legislator were elected to four-year terms on the Schuyler County Legislature Tuesday.

Republican Incumbents Glenn Larison and Doris Karius, along with Barbara Halpin -- a Republican who served as a legislator for six years in the 1990s -- outpolled Democratic challenger Clifford Yaw in the race for three Legislature seats. Del Bleiler, a Democrat who has served on the Legislature for 12 years, chose not to seek re-election.

In the Town of Catharine, Democrat John Van Soest outpolled Republican Robert Ketchum in the contest for Supervisor, and Town Clerk Carmella Hoffman, a Republican, turned back the challenge of Democrat Katherine Deal. Incumbent Republican council members George Tanner and Wayne Chapman defeated Democratic challenger Ron Havens in the race for two council seats.

There were close races in the Town of Dix, where incumbent Democrat Charles Franzese edged Republican challenger Harold Russell for the post of Supervisor, 192-188; and in the Town of Cayuta, where incumbent Republican Clerk Robin Kay E. Reed defeated challenger Debra C. Barrett 77-74. Barrett was running on the Voice of the People line.

And in the race for Supervisor in the Town of Tyrone, Democrat Lisa Bishop polled 156 votes to Republican Joe T. Sevier's 154. Bishop's total included 12 on the Community Vision party line.

All totals are unofficial pending a count of absentee ballots, which might not be completed for about two weeks. Military absentee ballots can arrive as late as the end of next week to be counted.

Photos in text:

Top: Voters mark their ballots in privacy.

Bottom: New digital scanners were used for voting. One machine broke down in Burdett during the morning, prompting a hand count of ballots.

The vote counts in Schuyler County:

County Legislature (3 seats):

Glenn Larison (R-C) 1,008
Barbara Halpin (R-C) 985
Doris Karius (R-C) 925
Clifford Yaw (D) 756

District Attorney: Joseph Fazzary (R-C) 2,445

Sheriff: William Yessman (R-C) 2,401

County Clerk: Linda M. Compton (R-C) 2,514

County Coroner: James P. Coleman III (R-C) 2,470

Town of Catharine

Town Supervisor:

Robert Ketchum (R) 153
John Van Soest (D) 219

Town Council (2 seats):

Wayne L. Chapman (R) 249
George A. Tanner (R) 301
Ronald Havens (D) 139

Town Clerk:

Carmella Hoffman (R) 231
Katherine Deal (D) 146

Town of Dix

Supervisor:

Charles Franzese (D) 192
Harold I. Russell (R) 188

Town Council (2 seats):

Jeffrey J. Meehan (D) 245
Craig Gardner elected as a write in

Town Clerk: James A. McMahon (R) 312

Superintendent of Highways: Richard J. Richtmyer (R) 340

Town of Cayuta

Supervisor: David M. Reed (R) 100

Town Clerk:

Robin Kay E. Reed (R) 77
Debra C. Barrett (Voice of the People) 74

Town Council (4 years, 2 seats):

Steven A. Brown (R) 90
Ted E. Dudgeon (People's Choice) 97

Town Council (2 years, 1 seat): Thomas J. Russen (R) 111

Supt. of Highways: David Shepherd (R) 120

Town of Hector

Town Clerk: Jane M.V. Ike (R-C) 797

Town Justice: Dale E. Jaynes (R-C) 745

Town Council (3 seats):

Michael J. Bergen (R-C) 553
Jeffrey T. Mangus (R-C) 614
Alvin J. White (R-C) 605
Charles A. Langenfeld (D) 453
Heather C. Sandford (D) 410

Town of Orange

Supervisor:

William F. Mullaney (R) 154
Henry E. Taylor Jr. (D) 110

Town Council (2 seats): James E. Pinkard (D) 146 and Ronald B. Froebel (D) 136

Town Clerk: Joanne A. Randall (D) 255

Town Justice:

Melissa A. Miller (R) 189
Cynthia L. Roseman-Puccio (D) 81

Highway Superintendent:

Darold Allen DeCamp (R) 143
Walter J. Strawser (D) 133

Town of Tyrone

Supervisor:

Joe T. Sevier (R) 154
Lisa Bishop (D-Community Vision) 156

Town Council (2 seats):

Pamela A. Grimmke (R) 226
Edward J. Perry Sr. (R) 206
Frederick D. Erdle (D) 162

Justice: William L. Kennedy (R) 276

Town of Reading

Justice: John D. Norman Jr. (R) 226

Council (2 seats) : Beverly A. Stamp (R) 216 and Patrick B. Gill (R) 201

Town of Montour

Supervisor: David L. Scott (R) 173

Justice: Donald R. Spaccio (R) 167

Council (2 seats): Barta Besley (R) 157 and Lester W. Cady (R) 166

Board OKs Teamster pact, eyes dog park

WATKINS GLEN, Nov. 3 -- The Watkins Glen Village Board Monday night ratified a three-year contract with its Teamster workers and listened to a proposal for a dog park at Clute Park.

The three-year pact covering eight DPW workers was approved with little discussion -- the culmination of talks with the Teamsters Union from which participants left "satisfied they got what they wanted," said Village Board member Greg Coon, who with Trustee William Smagner represented the village in negotiations.

The pact extends through May 2012, and includes a 2% increase the first year, a 2% increase the first half of the second year, a 2% increase midway through the second year, and a wage reopener in the third year.

There is also a change in health contributions, with new employees paying more than existing employees.

The union ratified the pact at its last meeting. It covers two water workers, two sewer workers, a parks worker and three streets workers.

The dog park proposal was put forth by Barbara Cook, who said she walks her dog at such a park in Ithaca. She said she has met enthusiastic response from dog owners throughout the area about the creation of a park here.

"It provides a place for dogs to run off-leash safely," she said, noting that it might also be a useful tool in promoting tourism -- attracting dog owners. ("It is becoming more important to dog owners to take their dogs on vacation instead of sustaining the expense of kennels and bringing trauma to their pets," she added in a e-mail to The Odessa File.)

She said dog owners would clean up messes in the park, although a corps of volunteers would do the honors if owners failed to do so. The preferred site would be at the east end of the Lakeside portion of Clute Park, although Tank Beach farther east would be acceptable.

Mayor Judy Phillips said it was "an interesting concept, worth looking into." But she cautioned that even if the board ultimately approves it, "there's a lot to look into. This is just the beginning. It's not going to happen overnight."

Cook said she understood, noting that it took two years for the Ithaca Park to be created. She said she hopes to raise all money needed through donations and fund-raisers so that the village would incur little or no cost.

"We are in the beginning stages and will need to do some leg work," she added in her e-mail. "Anyone interested in helping can give me a call at 607-535-9398."

In other business:

-- The board approved a request from Watkins Glen Promotions to hold Village Christmas downtown on Friday, Dec. 4, from 5-8 p.m. Franklin Street will be closed from 2nd to 7th Streets.

Photos in text: Mayor Judy Phillips (top) and Barbara Cook.

Schuyler workers point finger at county

Special to The Odessa File

WATKINS GLEN, Oct. 30 -- The labor union representing about 150 Schuyler County workers charged Friday that the county administration has mismanaged finances and that the layoffs of 13 workers -- and perhaps more -- as proposed in the 2010 budget will have "a harmful effect on county services."

Colleen Wheaton, Central Region President of the Civil Service Employees Association, said in a press release that "it's wrong for the county administration to be blaming proposed layoffs on the union workers for failing to make contract concessions."

Said Wheaton: "Our workers understand that a contract is a contract, and we can't go back on it, or else it has no value. More than that, it's a promise made to them for the hard work they perform. Our members didn't cause the financial shortfall the county faces, and they shouldn't be the ones who have to make up for it"

The press release went on to quote Wheaton as saying that the union "has already agreed to cost-saving measures that, along with better financial management from the county, would have helped avoid the current shortfall.

"We've already agreed to a change in our insurance carrier, and put into place an alternative drug importation option that should produce significant savings for Schuyler County taxpayers. Meanwhile the county administration has not done a good enough job managing the finances, and has spent down most of the reserves that should have been available to get us through these tough economic times. The workers deserve better leadership and so do the taxpayers."

According to the press release, CSEA representatives also asked that the county offer an early retirement incentive to allow workers with more seniority to leave county service "and save more money," but that it was rejected by County Administrator Tim O'Hearn.

"The Schuyler County administration needs to stop blaming the workers and look at coming up with real solutions that don't involve cutting back on services needed by taxpayers," Wheaton is quoted as saying. "We're willing to work with them to find savings outside of re-opening the contract, but so far they've been unwilling to work with us."

From left: Legislature candidates Glenn Larison, Barbara Halpin and Doris Karius.

Candidates weigh in on budget, drilling

League of Women Voters luncheon features election forum

WATKINS GLEN, Oct. 22 -- Three of the four candidates seeking seats on the county Legislature discussed the budget, natural-gas drilling and other subjects as they appeared Wednesday at the annual Schuyler County League of Women Voters Candidate Luncheon at the Glen Motor Inn.

Incumbents Glenn Larison and Doris Karius, along with former legislator Barbara Halpin -- Republicans seeking three seats from District III (the Towns of Catharine, Cayuta and Hector) -- were on hand to present introductory statements and answer questions. The election is Nov 3.

Democratic challenger Clifford Yaw of Hector was unable to attend, instead sending a prepared statement saying he was concerned about county spending and the threat of diminishing sales tax revenues he foresees happening when a Wal-Mart supercenter opens in Ithaca.

Also speaking briefly was Sheriff William Yessman, a Republican running unopposed for re-election.

Introduced from among the 60 diners on hand were candidates for various town offices, including: John VanSoest and Carmella Hoffman from the Town of Catharine, James McMahon from the Town of Dix, Jane M.V. Ike and Michael Bergen from the Town of Hector, Cynthia Roseman-Puccio from the Town of Orange, Beverly Stamp and Patrick Gill from the Town of Reading, and William Kennedy and Pamela Grimmke from the Town of Tyrone.

Karius, who is in her 24th year on the Legislature; Larison, a 12-year legislator; and Halpin, who served on the Legislature for six years in the 1990s, including one year as chairman, responded to several questions pertaining to the upcoming budget, natural-gas drilling and other issues.

Among the highlights:

-- Halpin saying that two key issues "among many as the Recession starts to hit" our county are a high real property tax rate and "a dearth of high paying jobs" here.

-- Karius saying that while this coming county budget is "precarious ... next year will make this year seem like a dream."

-- All three Legislature candidates noting the presense of pros and cons in the anticipated increase in natural-gas drilling in the county. "Nothing in life that has benefits is without risk," said Halpin, noting that we have to wait "to see what the studies tell us."

Photo in text: Sheriff William Yessman speaks at the League luncheon.

Records Management grants awarded

Area legislators say funding helps localities keep pace with new technology

Special to The Odessa File

ELMIRA, Oct. 19 -- Local governments and school districts throughout Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, and Tompkins counties have been awarded records management grants from the New York State Archives.

State Senator George Winner (R-C-I, Elmira), Assemblyman Jim Bacalles (R-C-I, Corning), and Assemblyman Tom O’Mara (R-C-I, Horseheads) said in a statement: “We are incredibly pleased that a number of localities, school districts, and community organizations that we represent will benefit from this valuable grant program to help them achieve more effective and efficient systems of records management. It’s imperative for New York State to provide this local assistance in order to ensure that these systems keep pace with new technology, preserve valuable documents, and meet all of the diverse responsibilities of records management.”

The lawmakers said that the New York State Archives is awarding approximately $5.7 million in grants to approximately 217 local governments, school districts, and community organizations statewide this year. They announced the following local grant recipients.

Schuyler County

> Schuyler County, $16,109 for microfilming; and
> Schuyler County Historical Society, $5,822 for documentation.

Chemung County

> Chemung County, $66,200 for active records, imaging and document management.
> Chemung County, $29,605 for active records, county lands record initiative;
> Elmira City School District, $58,938 for active records, imaging and document management; and
> Schuyler-Steuben-Chemung-Tioga-Allegany BOCES, $39,479 for active records, disaster/business recovery planning.

Steuben County

> Southern Tier Central Regional Planning Board, $58,690 for geographic information systems;
> Town of Urbana, $28,626 for inactive records, storage and retrieval.
> Village of Bath, $6,567 for active records, e-Government.

Tompkins County

> Tompkins County, $42,000 for active records, county land records initiative;
> Tompkins County, $50,847 for active records, records systems; and
> Town of Ithaca, $16,000 for active records, business process analysis.

Chamber's tourism role is renewed

WATKINS GLEN, Oct. 15 -- The Schuyler County Legislature Tuesday night unanimously approved a resolution designating the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce as the county's official tourism promotion agency for another year.

The Chamber, which has been performing that function for 15 years, thus will receive county room-tax revenues expected to surpass $300,000, plus the right to apply for matching state funds.

In other business, legislators heard:

-- Phil Yaw (at right) -- whose 2-year-old daughter Holly Kaie Yaw drowned in a Reading Center pool in August -- urge stricter swimming pool safety laws because "nobody should have to go through what we've gone through the past two months." He suggested the discussion include the possibility of requiring CPR certification for pool owners.

-- Legislator Dennis Fagan, R-Tyrone, report that herbicide treatments on Waneta and Lamoka lakes were a success. He said a Cornell University study showed "we have eradicated milfoil from both lakes" without negative impact on native plants, which are flourishing.

Photos in text:

Top: From left, Legislator Mike Yuhasz, Legislature Chairman Tom Gifford and County Attorney James Coleman at Tuesday's meeting.

Bottom: Phil Yaw, who issued a plea for stricter swimming pool safety laws.

Odessa Mayor Keith Pierce confers Monday night with board member Peggy Tomassi.

Odessa Board votes to dismiss Jaynes

ODESSA, Oct. 6 -- The Odessa Village Board voted Monday night to terminate the employment of Tim Jaynes as the Superintendent of Public Works.

The move came following an executive session that lasted more than a half-hour. The vote was taken in front of 14 village residents on hand to view the proceedings. The only dissenting vote came from board member Rita Decker.

The decision, effective immediately, comes two-and-a-half months after Jaynes was suspended for what the board said were multiple job offenses. Jaynes took the matter to a hearing, which was held in two parts in mid-August and late August. After that, Jaynes and village officials waited for a decision from hearing officer Robert Halpin.

Halpin's ruling, released late last week, said that nine of 27 charges against Jaynes had been proven, but did not seem substantial enough to warrant dismissal. He said they did warrant further disciplinary action, and suggested that if the board were to proceed with a vote to terminate, then case law indicated Jaynes would not be able to overturn the decision on appeal in the courts.

Mayor Keith Pierce said following the executive session and before the vote was taken that while some village residents "think we have an agenda or a personal axe to grind, nothing could be further from the truth." He said every member of the board had found the entire process "a grind."

Board member Shawn Crane then issued the motion to terminate Jaynes, the vote was taken, and Pierce opened the floor for comments. The only person to speak was Jaynes himself, who thanked "everybody who supported me. And thank you, Rita."

The next move, Pierce said afterward, is for the board to advertise for either a new DPW chief or a person to fill a similar post covering both Odessa and Montour Falls, which also has no Public Works Superintendent.

"We were approached by Montour Falls about the possibility of a joint DPW Superintendent," he said, "so we're going to explore that. We're trying to find creative ways to save money, so that makes sense. We just have to see if we can accomplish it logistically or not."

Photos in text:

Top: Village trustee Robin Thoman and Mayor Keith Pierce.

Middle and Bottom: Trustees Shawn Crane and Rita Decker.

******

And the week before:

Jaynes report issued; board plans session

9 charges "proven," but are "not sufficiently egregious" for recommendation of dismissal; further discipline urged

ODESSA, Oct. 2 -- The hearing officer "In The Matter of the Discipline of Timothy Jaynes" says in his report on the case that while 9 of the 27 charges against Jaynes were "proven," he finds "that the proven charges ... are not sufficiently egregious that it would be appropriate for this officer to recommend dismissal."

Hearing Officer Robert Halpin added, however, that "I also find that the penalty of dismissal would not, in my view, be so disproportionate to the proven charges as to be subject to reversal" should Jaynes -- the village's suspended Superintendent of Public Works -- be dismissed and pursue the matter in the courts. Halpin also recommends that the village "proceed with further discipline."

The report will be discussed by the Village Board in special sessionat 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5. Mayor Keith Pierce said the meeting will open publicly but go to executive session since the matter under discussion involves personnel. He said whatever decision the Board reaches will be announced at the conclusion of that meeting.

Jaynes was suspended without pay by the village in late July -- but has been receiving wages since the 30-day suspension period ended during the hearing stage that followed. The hearing was held under Civil Service Law after Jaynes secured attorney John Hayes of Odessa to fight the action. Two hearing sessions were held, covering about seven hours of testimony by village officials, residents and Jaynes.

Officials testifying included former Mayor Betsy Austin, Village Clerk Kristi Pierce, Assistant Clerk Kay Collins, Village Trustee Peggy Tomassi, and Mayor Keith Pierce.

Among the charges proven, said Halpin, included:

"-- Failure to provide information regarding a trench box to the Board as requested.

-- Insubordinate comments to a Board member at a public meeting.

-- Failure to submit mileage logs as requested in October 2008 and November 2008.

-- Purchasing tires in violation of the Village's procurement policy.

-- Failure to follow instructions regarding placement of sandbags for water diversion.

-- Using Village truck to pull out a private vehicle, and allowing a private citizen to use the Village-issued cell phone.

-- Mowing around municipal building on a Friday, contrary to instructions.

-- Submitting a time sheet with two hours of unauthorized overtime.

-- Removing fire department flags from the flag pole without authorization."

Two of the 27 charges were removed in the course of the hearing. Halpin found charges not proven in 16 other cases.

Under his concluding Recommendation, Halpin wrote:

"Nine of the charges against Mr. Jaynes were proven. Mr. Jaynes offered evidence which could be considered in the nature of mitigating circumstances with respect to some of the proven charges. Taken individually, the nature of the charges combined with the mitigating factors would not support a recommendation of further discipline in addition to the thirty days of unpaid leave already imposed on Mr. Jaynes. Considered together, however, the nine proven charges warrant a recommendation of further discipline.

"The Village notified Mr. Jaynes in its statement of charges that it seeks to dismiss Mr. Jaynes from his service with the Village. The settled law in this area is that an agency has broad discretion in determining the appropriate discipline of employees, and a penalty of dismissal will not be overturned by the courts unless the penalty is so disproportionate to the proven charges to be 'shocking to one's sense of fairness.' See, e.g., Brey v. Board of Education of Jeffersonville-Youngsville Central School District, 245 A.D.2d 613, 615 (3rd Dept. 1997). I find that the proven charges against Mr. Jaynes are not sufficiently egregious that it would be appropriate for this officer to recommend dismissal. However, I also find that the penalty of dismissal would not, in my view, be so disproportionate to the proven charges as to be subject to reversal under the foregoing standard. I recommend that the Village proceed with further discipline of Mr. Jaynes in accordance with the foregoing."

Attorney Hayes, when asked for comment, said he wanted to study the ruling over the weekend before saying anything. Mayor Pierce said further comment by the village would not be issued "at this time."

Photos in text:

From top: Tim Jaynes, Hearing Officer Robert Halpin and Attorney John Hayes at the hearing in late August. (File photos)

Watkins Board moves festival buoys out

WATKINS GLEN, Sept. 9 -- The Watkins Glen Village Board Tuesday night voted 3-0 to move boat buoys out 1,000 feet from shore -- from the current 500 feet -- during the period preceding, during and soon after the annual Italian-American Festival at Clute Park.

The board, responding to issues at this year's festival -- which a village spokesperson said included arrests, domestic disturbances and nudity -- voted to impose the distance regulation starting one week before next year's festival and ending one week after it. At all other times, the buoys will be 500 feet from shore.

Mayor Judy Phillips said the board will take a look next year at how boaters are behaving. If the current move improves the situation, "fine; if not, we'll take further action."

The distance issue came up two years ago, when more than 100 boaters attended a Village Board oard meeting to protest a resolution approved by the board that would have established the 1,000 feet distance as standard policy. There were so many people present that the meeting was moved from the Municipal offices to the Community Center.

Phillips said boaters at that time vowed to police themselves, to keep under control the few among them who were creating administrative waves. As a result, the board rescinded the 1000-foot resolution.

But "they did not behave," Phillips said of boaters at this year's festival. Hence the resolution Tuesday, proposed by trustee William Smagner, seconded by Nick Kelly and approved by those two and trustee Wayne Weber. Trustee Greg Coon was not present for the vote.

In other action, the board:

-- Canceled its Sept. 21 meeting. The next board session will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 5.

-- Set Oct. 17 as the next village Dumpster Day, one of two this year where residents can discard old unwanted items. It will be held from 8 a.m.-noon in the parking lot adjacent to the Community Center off Fourth Street.

Photos in text: Trustee Nick Kelly and Mayor Judy Phillips before Tuesday night's meeting.

Candidates in the Republican Primary for the Schuyler County Legislature: From left, Barbara Halpin, Richard Owlett, Doris Karius and Glenn Larison.

Primary has 4 seeking Legislature seats

WATKINS GLEN, Sept. 8 -- Next Tuesday, the field seeking four-year seats on the Schuyler County Legislature will be reduced by one.

Four Republican candidates are on the Sept. 15 Primary ballot vying for three slots in the November general election.

This year, the three seats in District III -- the Towns of Catharine, Hector and Cayuta -- are up for grabs.

Incumbents Glenn R. Larison (R-Catharine) and Doris L. Karius (R-Hector) are seeking re-election, while Barbara J. Halpin (R-Catharine) and Richard Owlett (R-Catharine) are each seeking a first term. Incumbent Del Bleiler (D-Catharine) is retiring after 12 years on the Legislature.

Meanwhile, one Democrat -- Clifford D. Yaw (D-Hector) -- will be on the ballot in November, seeking one of the three District III seats.

According to a spokesman at the Schuyler County Board of Elections, Karius -- should she outpoll any write-in campaign -- will advance from the Primary to the general election because of her residency in Hector. Local law requires that Hector be represented on the Legislature. So, the spokesman said, those advancing will be Karius (assuming no write-in outpolls her, and even if she's fourth in the balloting) and the two candidates with the most votes besides her.

Other GOP Primary races are occurring in the Town of Cayuta, where incumbent Robin Kay E. Reed and Debra C. Barrett are seeking a two-year term as Town Clerk/Tax Collector, and in the Town of Tyrone, where Town Justice and Town Council races are on the ballot. In the Justice race, Roberta L. Sparling and William L. Kennedy are contending for a four-year term. In the Council race, James E. Thomas, Frank Muoio, Edward J. Perry Sr. and Pamela A. Grimmke are seeking two available four-year terms.

In countywide races this year, incumbents are running unopposed: Sheriff William E. Yessman, District Attorney Joseph G. Fazzary, County Clerk Linda M. Compton and Coroner James P. Coleman III.

Eric Massa as seen through part of the crowd at Thursday's town hall meeting.

Massa: Health Bill probably won't pass

ERIN, Aug. 28 -- Eric Massa loves to meet with large groups of his constituents.

"This is the part of the job I like. I enjoy the interfacing," Massa told about 125 people crowded into the Erin Town Hall for a public meeting Thursday night. They were there to talk primarily about health care.

And they did. They fired questions Massa's way, and he responded clearly. He reiterated that he cannot vote in favor of the Obama Administration's health care reform bill as it now stands.

And he added this when asked what would happen if the bill doesn't pass: "I'll make a prediction. I don't think it will. Then, we will address smaller pieces of the pie."

That was the heart of a 90-minute give-and-take that included some discussion of Massa's opposition to a Cap and Trade Bill, but mostly involved talk about health care and its possible reform.

The Congressman proposed various measures to curb existing shortcomings in the health-care system, such as forcing prescription drug companies to compete for federal contracts and eliminating huge tax breaks they get for advertising their products.

He especially dislikes their television ads, because they direct customers toward products when in fact physicians should be doing so. One dominant area of advertising, he noted, features pills to combat sexual dysfunction.

"Ladies, close your ears," he said, adding: "Gentlemen, I hate to tell you this, but that is not a life-threatening condition."

A woman in the audience answered: "You obviously don't need it." That drew loud, sustained laughter from the audience, and an admission from Massa that for one of the few times in his public speaking experience "I am blushing."

Another humorous moment came when another woman said she had read the entire health care reform bill and "understood most of it."

"Well, good," said Massa. "Do you want a job?"

Said the woman: "I'm not insured and I'm unemployed, so I'm totally screwed. So yes, I'll take a job." That drew another sustained laugh from the crowd.

Massa said he has been chided by other officials for not understanding the exorbitant cost that goes into the prescription firms' drug research and development. "But I do understand" in a first-hand sort of way, he added. He said he was diagnosed with cancer 11 years ago and given four months to live, but that a clinical-test drug, not yet on the market, was utilized in his case "and saved my life."

In other related matters, he said:

-- lobbyists are not intrinsically evil, with many providing a valuable service;

-- the health insurance industry should not be exempt, as it has been for years, from the rules of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Eliminating the exemption would create much-needed competition.

-- that while many of his constituents fear and decry Socialized Medicine, "this bill is not Socialized Medicine." However, he added, that very system does exist in the Veterans Administration. "But if I walked in here and said I wanted to cut funding for the VA, you'd rip off my legs and beat me with them."

Photos in text: Congressman Massa holds the health care reform bill in his hands (top); Massa makes a point.

Architect Norbert Hausner points out aspects of the hotel expansion plan.

Harbor Hotel expansion plan gets Planning Board go-ahead

Work will begin before winter; completion seen in spring

WATKINS GLEN, Aug. 20 -- The Watkins Glen Planning Board Wednesday night gave unanimous approval to a plan that will expand the size of the Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel.

The plan was first presented to the Planning Board in June. Work will begin before winter, according to architect Norbert Hausner of NH Architecture of Rochester. He has speculated before that the project should be finished by April.

The Planning Board action -- technically approval of the final site plan -- followed a public hearing that attracted nobody from the public, and came after the board rejected a request by the Schuyler County Planning Commission to delay the decision.

Village Code Enforcement Officer Gordon Wright told the board that the commission had concerns about drainage from the hotel parking lot during a recent heavy storm. But it is designed properly and handling rainwater as expected, he said, and is not a factor that would affect the expansion site.

Hausner was on hand Wednesday with an artistic rendering of the planned structure, which he said will have "a collaboration of facades." It will connect the west end of the hotel with the east end of the brick building to its west that houses Watkins Glen International, the Schuyler County Partnership for Economic Development and a Wine Center. The expansion space will include offices, "hotel accessory services" and retail facilities.

Construction drawings will be prepared over the next few weeks, Hausner said, with construction starting "before the snow flies for sure" -- but not too much before. The project will temporarily create a mess and would get in the way of nearby seasonal businesses if started too soon. "We have to wait until it becomes a sleepy little town again," he said.

Board Chairman Joe Fazzary, in outlining the plan, noted that a variance had been requested and granted on a portion of the expansion -- in the same area where the pool was granted one prior to the initial hotel construction.

The hotel and brick building are owned by Peter Krog (of Krog Construction) and David Hart (of Hart Hotels).

Highlights of the expansion will include:

-- Installation of an elaborate spa for use by hotel visitors and the public. It is still to be determined whether hotel personnel or an outside entity will operate it, Hausner said.

-- A fitness center for hotel guests.

-- An expanded WGI facility that will bring the organization's ticket sale venue into the village, enhance the WGI Store entrance, and expand WGI offices. The space will include an area for display of a race car.

-- Expanded office and conference facilities. The wine center will remain where it is.

While the pool area at the west end of the hotel will remain one story, the building expansion will be three stories. A portion of the brick building that is now one story (and once housed the Professors' Place restaurant) will be built up to the three-story level of the rest of the structure. The hotel itself is four stories.

Photos in text:

Top: Planning Board Chairman Joe Fazzary, right, and board member John Vona.

Second-Fourth: Code Enforcement Officer Gordon Wright, board member Kevin Smith, and board member Amedeo Fraboni.

Aerial view shows the hotel and the brick building, top right, that is part of the project.

Glen board weighs SCOPED funding change proposal

WATKINS GLEN, Aug. 18 -- The Watkins Glen Village Board Monday night listened to -- and showed little warmth toward -- a proposal that would alter the public funding of the Schuyler County Partnership for Economic Development (SCOPED) from property-tax based to sales-tax based.

County Administrator Tim O'Hearn (right) presented a lengthy explanation of the funding process involving SCOPED, which has been instrumental in finding and securing grant funds for projects in the area. It operates on a budget of roughly $250,000 a year, O'Hearn said -- a situation that will leave it $50,000 in the hole by the end of 2012.

Funds for the agency's operation are provided by private concerns -- about 40 percent of the total -- and by a dozen municipalities including eight towns and four villages.

The new proposal from a subcommittee would provide payment to SCOPED through sales taxes -- with each municipality providing 5% of its sales-tax share. That would increase the agency's funding significantly and ensure its future, said O'Hearn, who stressed more than once the importance of SCOPED in securing grants and helping keep the area's economic vitality running.

But members of the Watkins Board said the village's share under the new plan would climb from $5,900 annually to about $13,000 -- and that the jump was too steep, especially in the current economic recession.

"I'm not against SCOPED," said trustee Nick Kelly. "I don't want to see them go. But I am against using sales tax." He later amended that stance to say he could see a 3% sales tax share as acceptable, but O'Hearn said such a level would not improve SCOPED's financial outlook.

O'Hearn's presentation was one of many around the area at recent municipal meetings outlining the sales tax proposal. The matter will be discussed at the next Council of Governments meeting, he said -- with the proposal possibly amended to 4%. In any event, he noted, it would take the support of a majority of the municipalities in order for any new plan to be approved.

In other business:

-- The board heard a complaint from resident Tony Compese that music from outside the Village Marina on two consecutive nights recently was too loud and too late -- going on until after 1 a.m. He said his wasn't the only complaint police had received, and wondered why the village noise ordinanace wasn't utilized. But as in the past, the explanation was that the ordinance, a state law, measures by decibels, not by annoyance, and is very difficult to enforce.

-- The board heard from Brian Vanderburgh (right), owner of the soon-to-open restaurant called BV's on the site of the former Bianco's Daughters restaurant on Fourth Street. He will be providing food theme nights and theme weeks, "constantly evolving and changing the environment." He will also have music, but said it will not be blasting outdoors late into the night. "I like to be a good neighbor," he noted. The restaurant will be opening in early September, he said.

Photos in text:

From top: County Administrator Tim O'Hearn, trustees Nick Kelly (left) and Wayne Weber, and restaurateur Brian Vanderburgh.

Congressman Eric Massa speaks to Farm Bureau members during the bureau's annual picnic.

Massa weighs in on the issues

Speaks at Farm Bureau picnic; 3 farms honored

WATKINS GLEN, Aug. 14 -- Congressman Eric Massa made no bones Thursday about his dissatisfaction with the proposed Health Reform bill as it currently stands.

"If I had to vote today, I would have to vote against it," he said of the document, H.R. 3200 -- a copy of which he brought with him to the annual picnic of the Schuyler County Farm Bureau, held at Lakewood Vineyards. Massa arrived at the beginning of the picnic, and after opening remarks -- mostly about the Health Reform bill -- he answered questions from those in attendance.

The copy of the bill, he said, fell in the mud when he was in the western portion of his district reviewing damage caused by Sunday storms -- damage which is prompting an emergency declaration by the federal government.

"Someone said I should leave it there in the mud," he said, and added, smiling: "But that's another story."

Despite his misgivings with the document as it stands, he is nonetheless a Health Reform advocate: "If we do nothing, six years from now we will have a doubling of health insurance premiums, and an additional six to eight million people uninsured. There is a national mandate to act. But I think this" -- and he held up the bill -- "gets it wrong."

The final bill, he added, won't be in the same form as the current one. "This is an entering argument," he said -- a starting point for discussion and negotiation. That it has created publicized shouting matches at town halls around the country just shows the emotional nature of the issue, although he said he takes exception with the "fictions" that some opponents have spread.

Massa also weighed in on the Marcellus Shale, cautioning -- as he has with Health Reform -- "that we go slowly. I don't want to find out twenty years from now that we've poisoned our water. We have no greater natural resource."

And in going slowly on any planned Shale projects -- which propose to remove "tens of trillions" of dollars worth of natural gas from far beneath the Earth's surface -- there should be "transparency" by drilling companies as to what chemicals they're putting in the ground as part of the extraction process, he said.

He also discussed milk pricing inequities, the need to guard against "hyper inflation" as the country climbs out of the recession, and the huge expenditure of funds in Iraq.

Farms honored

The picnic also saw three county farms presented with Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM) Awards "in recognition of exemplary stewardshp of natural resources and commitment to environmental protection," according to a press release. The honorees were farmers Jim and Eric Hazlitt of Sawmill Creek Vineyards, Hector; Ken and Kenton Burr of Burr Ayr Farms, a dairy operation near Trumansburg; and Rory Miller and Don Desrochers, sheep farmers in the Town of Tyrone.

The Schuyler County Soil and Water Conservation District presented the awards, with Massa congratulating each of the honorees. The Schuyler County Farm Bureau and the county Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board were co-sponsors of the awards with the District.

"In Schuyler County, over 150 farmers are actively participating in the AEM program, and these three farms represent the best of the best," said Elaine Dalrymple, Soil and Water Conservation District field manager. "They deserve to have the recognition from their neighbors and the community for their efforts to protect natural resources, which benefits us all."

The state's AEM program is a voluntary approach to promoting environmental stewardship and long-term profitability. It provides farmers with technical assistance and resources to keep soil and nutrients on the farm and keep clean water clean.

Photos in text:

Top: Congressman Eric Massa talks to Elaine Dalrymple, Soil and Water Conservation District field manager.

Second: Massa displays a copy of the Health Reform bill.

Third: New York Farm Bureau President Dean Norton of Batavia was on hand. He said he tries to make a number of such functions around the state.

Bottom: Massa shares a laugh with Schuyler County Farm Bureau President David Stamp.

Congressman Eric Massa poses with the agriculture honorees. From left are Massa, Ken Burr of Burr-Ayr Farms; Rory Miller and Don Desrochers, sheep farmers in the Town of Tyrone; and Eric and Jim Hazlitt of Sawmill Creek Vineyards. (Photo provided)

NASCAR race control lauded

WATKINS GLEN, Aug. 11 -- Schuyler County law enforcement and emergency personnel had their hands full -- and were short-staffed -- when the NASCAR race at the Watkins Glen International track was postponed from Sunday to Monday.

Law enforcement personnel from other counties who had come to Watkins Glen to help on the weekend were in many cases called back to their home bases Sunday night in response to emergencies created by severe thunderstorms that moved through the region that day.

As a result, said Schuyler County Administrator Tim O'Hearn at Monday night's meeting of the county Legislature, local personnel involved in traffic and racetrack control Monday "ran today's race (operations) on a shoestring. But as far as I can tell, things went well. Thankfully there were no major incidents."

He praised "all personnel" involved in the scaled-back operation for a job well done.

Also at Monday's meeting:

-- The Legislators -- minus Dennis Fagan, Mike Yuhasz and Paul Marcellus, who were absent -- approved two resolutions reducing staff in the Office for the Aging. One resolution eliminated one of two caseworker positions, while another cut the position of OFA deputy director.

An objection to the resolutions was lodged beforehand by Tammy Brown, president of the Schuyler County Civil Service Employees Associaton. And CSEA official Sue Brill told lawmakers that elimination of the caseworker position would have an "impact ... (that) goes far beyond the Office for the Aging. We can do better by our senior population."

Brown said afterward that she was "concerned with the way the (caseworker) position was abolished. We don't feel the right information was obtained to make that determination."

However, O'Hearn said during the meeting that "this has been an ongoing discussion. Quite frankly, the workload doesn't support the staffing levels." Afterward, he added that "we are in a time when we need to do more with less."

Photos in text: Legislature Chairman Thomas Gifford (top) and Legislator Stewart Field at Monday night's meeting.

Aerial view showing the hotel and the brick building, top right, that is part of the project. (Photo provided)

Watkins Planning Board fields Harbor Hotel expansion plan

WATKINS GLEN, June 18 -- The Watkins Glen Planning Board Wednesday night heard the initial site plan proposal for expansion of the Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel. The plan calls for construction to start in the fall, with completion in April.

Architect Norbert Hausner of NH Architecture of Rochester outlined the plan, which would connect the hotel to the brick building to its west that is owned by hotel owners Peter Krog (of Krog Construction) and David Hart (of Hart Hotels). The brick building houses Watkins Glen International and the Schuyler County Partnership for Economic Development.

Highlights of the expansion would be:

-- installation of an elaborate spa for use by hotel visitors and the public;

-- a fitness center for hotel guests;

-- an expanded WGI facility that would bring the organization's ticket sale venue into the village, enhance the WGI Store entrance, and expand WGI offices;

-- expanded office and conference facilities. SCOPED will remain on the third floor.

While the pool area at the west end of the hotel will remain one story, the building expansion would be three stories. A portion of the brick building that is now one story (it once housed the Professors' Place restaurant) will be built up to the three-story level of the rest of the building. The hotel itself is four stories.

The Planning Board voted to send a letter to the Zoning Board of Appeals urging it to permit a variance on a portion of the expansion -- in the same area where the pool was granted one prior to the initial hotel construction.

The board will review the plan at its July 15 meeting for environmental impact, and then pass the issue to the County Planning Commission. After the commission completes its review, the plan is expected to get the green light from the Planning Board at its August meeting.

"I didn't think I'd be back so soon about expanding," Hausner told the board, "but that's a good thing. Due to the success of the hotel to date and requests from clients who are interested in more than wine and racing, we want to establish a spa type of atmosphere."

Other aspects: The WGI space will include an area for display of a race car; the wine center will remain part of the brick building; and the plan shows an area on the third floor marked "Future Tenant Space," although Hausner said it could be used for enhanced hotel conference space.

Photos in text:

Top: Architect Norbert Hausner (left) outlines the expansion plans at Wednesday night's Planning Board meeting. Board member John Vona is on the right.

Bottom: An aerial view of the south side of the hotel. (Photo provided)

First-floor plan shows wine tasting area (top left), WGI retail space and a fitness center.

Second-floor plan shows WGI office space on the left and spa reception area, lounges and treatment rooms in the center and on the right.

Third-floor plan shows SCOPED offices on the left, a conference room and "Future Tenant Space"

This shows overview of hotel block, with existing hotel in white and the proposed addition gray.

Watkins Board approves 2-hour parking

Guild "thrilled" at move, which takes effect immediately

WATKINS GLEN, June 16 -- The Watkins Glen Village Board Monday night approved a resolution limiting parking to two hours in the 3rd Street lot behind the old Ace Hardware Store.

The lot has had unrestricted parking, but was thrust into the center of debate last month when Famous Brands owner Jim Guild asked for the time limit as he nears the opening of his Seneca Lake General Store in the old hardware building. A time limit was essential, he said, to create a turnover of vehicles in the lot that would make room for more downtown customers.

Monday's board move came in the wake of debate at a meeting in May at which several business owners objected to the proposed change. And the move came more quickly than expected.

The board had said it would need to adopt a Local Law and go through a time-consuming process before a change could be adopted -- but said Monday it had been advised by its attorney that village ownership of the property put change within the province of a simple resolution. The board vote came following comments by several residents.

Among the speakers were businessman Junior Specchio, Villager Motel owner Chris Franzese, resident Mark Stephany, and Guild, with sentiment weighing in favor of the change. Mayor Judy Phillips also read three letters supporting the change, including one from the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce.

While the proposed resolution prepared by village personnel had included provisions for half of the lot to be two-hour parking and half unlimited, the board voted instead to make the entire lot two hours -- effective immediately. Signs will be posted in the near future. The lot will not be metered.

Trustee Nick Kelly signaled the board sentiment before the vote when he took issue with the resolution as prepared, saying splitting the lot into two different sections -- one timed and one not -- was "BS. It's too complicated. There have been cars parked there for over 10 days. It's ludicrous not to make it all two-hour parking."

If nearby business owners wanted to park there, he said, "that's too bad. They can park down the street. The right thing is two-hour parking. Just do it."

Trustee William Smagner agreed, saying the entire lot should have a two-hour limit, but trustee Wayne Weber said he thought three of the lot's four rows should be two-hour parking, with one remaining unlimited. Smagner responded that he had conducted a survey that showed that one truck didn't move from the lot for more than four days, and that a van remained there for 2 1/2 days.

"That opened my eyes," he said. "If there's not a two-hour limit," the privilege of parking "will be abused."

Mayor Judy Phillips said she was concerned that two hours might not be long enough for downtown visitors to complete their shopping and eating excursions on Franklin Street.

But following a motion from Smagner, he -- along with Kelly and Weber -- voted in favor of the two-hour limit. Trustee Greg Coon was absent.

"The motion passes," said the mayor.

Guild -- who had told the board in early May that he needed the two-hour limit in that lot if he was to proceed with his General Store development, and had received preliminary board support at that time -- said after Monday's vote that he was "thrilled to pieces."

"I'm so excited," he said. "This is so good for all the retail businesses downtown."

He noted that the ground floor of his new store will open on the July 4th weekend, with the second and third floors to follow in the near future. He eventually plans to employ 30 people in the store.

In other business Monday, the board:

-- Approved the Cardboard Boat Regatta parade from Lafayette Park to the waterfront at noon this Saturday, part of the Waterfront Festival;

-- Approved a 7-9 p.m. gospel music concert at Lafayette Park on July 11 staged by Freedom Village singers;

-- Approved a request to hold the annual Thunder in the Glen festival along Franklin Street and on some side streets from 4-9 p.m. Aug. 7th;

-- Approved a request to hold the annual Grand Prix Festival on Franklin Street from 1-10 p.m. Sept. 11th.

Photos in text:

From top: Trustee Nick Kelly, businessman Jim Guild, and trustees William Smagner and Wayne Weber at Monday night's meeting.