Archive: News

Legislators Hear Comment on Livable Wage Issue
The Legislature heard from nearly a dozen citizens who, following up a rally in DeWitt Park, voiced their strong support of requiring County contract agencies to provide a livable wage for their employees, saying the living wage is a moral and societal imperative.  One of those was former Ithaca Town Supervisor Cathy Valentino, who maintained that all employees in Tompkins County should be paid a living wage, and the Legislature should take a leadership role in requiring this for contract workers, as an investment in the community.  One speaker, Nancy Werany, who is running for County Legislature, countered that it is actually up to employers, and the market, to determine wages.

Many legislators expressed thanks to those who addressed the Legislature for their concern and their engagement, and expressed their general support and commitment to the living wage and doing what they can.  Government Operations Chair Pat Pryor, whose committee later this month will begin reviewing the report of the County workgroup on this issue, said the issue will be balance:  what the County can do in the context of what taxpayers, a number of whom as struggling, can afford.

Budget chair Jim Dennis, who served on the workgroup, said the County has been a living wage employer for many years, and that a large majority of those the County contracts with pay a living wage.  He promised that the County can and will do something, but cannot do it all at once, and urged all to keep listening and remain involved.

Legislature Urges Preservation of Regional Mental Health Services
The Legislature, by unanimous vote, followed the recommendation of its Health and Human Services Committee and urged that the State to preserve inpatient mental health services in the Southern Tier/Finger Lakes region and refrain from closing the Elmira Psychiatric Center and the Greater Binghamton Health Center as part of its proposed mental health services reorganization plan.  (Chair Martha Robertson was excused.)
The Legislature calls upon the State to establish a Southern Tier Office of Mental Health region , with a center to serve the Southern Tier and portions of the Finger Lakes, to provide “continued access to child adolescent, and adult inpatient and community services, managed under a locally responsive rural model.”

Health and Human Services Committee Chair Frank Proto said, “Leaving the entire Southern Tier without a facility is unacceptable” and that it leaves the region “in a very precarious position.”  Legislator Nate Shinagawa agreed that the issue is significant.  “Proximity is very important in the healing process,” he said.  “It’s important that we fight to get as many of these centers as close to us as possible.”

Construction Funding Agreement Authorized for Hanshaw Road Reconstruction Project
The Legislature, without dissent (Chair Martha Robertson was excused) authorized a construction funding agreement with the State Department of Transportation (DOT) for the Hanshaw Road reconstruction project.  In accordance with DOT regulations, the County must appropriate the full project cost ($5.3 million from the project’s Capital Account), then file for federal and state reimbursement for their project shares.  With the funding agreement, construction costs will be largely reimbursed by federal and state sources—80% Federal and 15% State, with the Town of Ithaca, Village of Cayuga Heights, and Cornell University also participating in the project.

Among other actions:

The Legislature approved a budget transfer to reimburse from the Highway fund balance $81,000 in materials cost expended for recovery from damage caused by last month’s heavy rains August 8 and 9.  Total storm recovery cost is estimated at more than a quarter-million dollars.  Action was taken to avoid delay of planned 2013 road improvements.

• The Legislature approved three resolutions related to perimeter security fence improvements at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport—authorizing a consulting agreement with C&S Companies for construction observation and contract administration services, accepting a Federal Aviation Administration grant for that and other projects, and awarding the bid to construct the improvements.  Legislator Carol Chock was one who expressed serious concern that the more than million dollar cost (only 5% of it local expense) was just too high.  The replacement of the two miles of fence, which must go deep in the ground to prevent animal burrowing, includes removal of the deteriorated current fence and drainage improvements, and must be done to FAA standards.

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