Archive: News

The Legislature tonight held its annual Community Budget Forum, inviting residents to learn about and comment on the County's recommended 2018 budget currently under review by the Legislature.

About 18 people attended, and ten of them spoke during the hour-long session—seven speakers praising the Tompkins County Public Library and urging support of its funding request for an additional Youth Services Librarian. The Library seeks more than $65,000 in over-target funding to restore the 30-hour position.

Kit Kephart Appointed Commissioner of Social Services
The Legislature, by unanimous vote, confirmed County Administrator Joe Mareane's appointment of Kit Kephart for a five-year term as Tompkins County Commissioner of Social Services.

Commissioner Kephart has been employed by Tompkins County in the Department of Social Services for 17 years, first as the Department's Staff Development and Quality Coordinator, then as Deputy Commissioner since 2014. She has served as Acting Commissioner of Social Services since the retirement of former Commissioner Patricia Carey at the end of July.

Washington DC - Last week, the House passed Congressman Tom Reed's Standard DATA Act as part of HR 2824, the Increasing Opportunity and Success for Children and Parents through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act. The purpose of this legislation was to reauthorize the funding for the Maternal Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV).

The Standard DATA Act requires consistent data requirements across key human service programs, which will help to with efficiency and ensure government programs are set up to communicate effectively with one another. By breaking down silos between government agencies we can help assist individuals in a more efficient way rather than repeating steps with each government agency.

The Village of Lansing Board of trustees voted Monday to join an Article 78 proceeding to force the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to require a full environmental review of the Cayuga Salt Mine's Shaft #4 project, the tunnel connecting the shaft to the existing mine, and future mine expansion beneath Cayuga Lake.  After a contentious discussion the Trustees voted 3-1 (with one abstention) to pass the resolution.

"I have a lot of concerns with the way DEC is treating our area," said Trustee Ronny Hardaway as he presented the resolution to the Board.  "They have basically washed their hands of Gun Hill and said that there's lead all over it, but everything's OK.  Right now we have a major construction that is going to be built above the salt mine, that will allow the salt mine to extend itself northwood.  Cargill has split their request to DEC into pieces.  Therefore each piece is evaluated independently.  The tunnel that will join the mine to the shaft was one, the shaft is another.  A future request will be to extend the mine further north.  To me that smacks of segmentation."

Two years ago, Lansing and Newfield were plagued by a wave of political sign stealing. This year, the Freeville listserve is abuzz with complaints from citizens whose signs supporting Community Solar have been removed from their properties. Dryden Town Supervisor Jason Leifer reports that his campaign signs have been removed multiple times from a Dryden business along Route 13. "I put them back up, and they're gone within 24 hours."

"Aside from that kind of thing being unethical," says District Attorney Matt Van Houten, "it is absolutely illegal." According to Van Houten, stealing signs from a residential or commercial property is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, probation for three years, or a fine up to $1,000. Even damaging a campaign sign is considered Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree, also a Class A misdemeanor.

Washington, DC - Reps. Tom Reed (R-NY) and Tim Ryan (D-OH), along with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), have introduced a bipartisan, bicameral resolution to recognize the first Friday in October as "Manufacturing Day." This year Manufacturing Day will be Friday, October 6.

Celebrating Manufacturing Day annually recognizes the industry for its contribution to the U.S. economy, raises awareness for important investment and career opportunities within the sector, allows communities to engage with their local businesses, and better educates Americans on the importance of manufacturing.

Joe Wetmore called out the Lansing Town Planning Board and Town Supervisor Ed LaVigne Monday when he rebuked LaVigne for saying public comments made at the scheduled October 30 public hearing would not be considered before the Planning Board votes on sending their draft of the comprehensive Plan to the town Board for approval.  Wetmore quoted a statement LaVigne posted on Facebook and sent as a 'Letter to the Editor' in the Lansing Star' in which he wrote, "If you wait until the October 30th meeting, there will not be time for them to consider your requests, comments or concerns. There will be no debate at a public hearing. They will only listen and then vote."

"Now, according to our Town Supervisor, you are going to hold the public hearing, but 'there will not be time' for the Planning Board 'consider' our 'requests, comments or concerns'," Wetmore told Planning Board members.  "Let me repeat that, at a formal public hearing, there will be no time to 'consider' Lansing's residents 'requests, comments or concerns'. Really?"

The New York State Commission of Correction (COC) today consented to a three-month extension of Tompkins County Jail's long-standing 18-bed variance, but indicated that is the final extension the County will receive. The decision came at the Commission's meeting with County officials in Albany.

County Administrator Joe Mareane informed legislators of the decision at tonight's meeting of the Legislature's Expanded Budget Committee.

The Legislature's Public Safety Committee today formally received results from the Law Enforcement Shared Services Study conducted by the Center for Governmental Research (CGR), commissioned by Tompkins County and the City of Ithaca, with participation by Cayuga Heights, Dryden, and Groton police departments. CGR's Paul Bishop detailed the findings of his firm's wide-ranging study from nearly nine months of examination and research, and responded to Legislators' questions. Marking the milestone in the study's process, County Administrator Joe Mareane called it "a very important meeting."

Senator Pamela A. Helming (R,C,I-Canandaigua) announce that a bill that she supported in the New York State Senate to require state agencies to develop guidelines to help healthcare providers be able to better identify cases of elder abuse, self-neglect, and maltreatment was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo last week. The original legislation, S.6676 in the Senate, was sponsored by Senator Sue Serino (R-Hyde Park) and Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo (D-Endwell), and it passed both houses unanimously.

The law, which takes effect immediately, directs the New York State Office for the Aging, the Department of Health, and the Office of Children and Family Services to develop guidelines to assist healthcare providers and others in healthcare settings to identify suspected self-neglect, abuse, and maltreatment of individuals age 60 and older. The guidelines will include common signs and symptoms, screening tools and questions to ask for detection, training materials to distribute to health care providers and others in healthcare settings, information for reporting suspected cases, and resources available for older adult victims. The three agencies will make the developed guidelines and materials available on their respective websites and provide these guidelines and materials to healthcare providers and facilities.

Senator Pam Helming hosted the Informational Forum on Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases at Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua on Tuesday, Sept. 26.

The featured speakers were Dr. Matt Frye, an extension educator with the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program at Cornell University; Dr. Robert Ostrander, associate professor in the Department of Family Practice at SUNY Upstate Medical University, member of the New York State Rural Health Council, and former President of the New York State Academy of Family Physicians; Ontario County Public Health Director Mary Beer; Holly Ahern, associate professor of microbiology at SUNY Adirondack and Vice President of the Lyme Action Network; and Dr. Cassandra Guarino, extension associate for serology and immunology for the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. There were also information tables from Cornell University and the public health departments from Wayne, Seneca, and Ontario counties that offered tick removal kits for attendees to take home.

Legislature Urges Passage of New Federal 'Dream Act'
The Tompkins County Legislature, without dissent, urged the United States Congress to pass the new bipartisan-supported "Dream Act of 2017," to prevent the revocation of legal status from immigrant youth protected under the five-year-old Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program—an action it states will "strengthen the fabric of our economy and country." Earlier this month, President Trump ordered an end to the DACA program that shields young undocumented immigrants from deportation. The "Dream Act of 2017," introduced by a bipartisan group of Senators including New York's Chuck Schumer, would establish a road to lawful permanent resident status or U.S. citizenship for about 800,000 registered DACA individuals.

Legislator Anna Kelles, who drafted the resolution, noted that she doesn't typically like the Legislature to pass a lot of resolutions urging action on national issues, but in this case felt this very important. Ms. Kelles said she's hoping Tompkins County's support, when combined with those of other local governments, will create a push for action at the national level.