Archive: News

Local governments across New York state are turning to new technologies to save money, communicate with residents and allow taxpayers to make payments, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.  DiNapoli released his report, "Smart Solutions Across the State: Advanced Technology in Local Governments," at a press conference in the City of Schenectady with Mayor Gary R. McCarthy, Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara and National Grid Eastern New York Regional Executive Laurie Poltynski. The city recently began installing energy saving LED street lights and expanding wireless connectivity to certain neighborhoods as part of its Smart City Project.

"New technologies are reshaping how local government services are delivered. Local officials are stepping up to meet the evolving expectations of residents who want their interactions with government to be easy and convenient," DiNapoli said. "Officials can use smart technology to trim costs, hold the line on taxes, and encourage new growth, but must be vigilant against cyberattacks. Schenectady is deploying technology to cut lighting expenses and provide greater internet access. The initiatives underway in Schenectady are a model for others to follow, and I commend Mayor McCarthy and the Schenectady City Council for prioritizing these projects. I encourage other local officials to explore options to improve their service delivery."

Albany - Senator Pam Helming attends a public hearing in Albany that was hosted by the New York State Legislative Commission on Rural Resources and the New York State Standing Committee on Local Governments. Helming is the Ranker of the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources as well as the Ranker of the Senate Standing Committee on Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business.

The hearing included testimony from the Empire State Development's Office of Innovation and Broadband, the Department of Public Service, the Attorney General's office, local elected officials, as well as state residents and representatives from several school groups and broadband committee groups.

The Department of Financial Services has issued a new report detailing the successes of New York's first-in-the-nation out-of-network law, which protects consumers from emergency and surprise bills from out-of-network doctors and other healthcare providers, including an increasing number of dispute resolution requests. The law, which takes consumers out of the dispute process, has saved New Yorkers more than $400 million with respect to emergency services alone.

"New York has made extraordinary progress when it comes to enforcing fairness in healthcare costs," Governor Cuomo said. "These findings show how the out-of-network law has been effective in protecting patients and making it clear to everyone that getting the care New Yorkers need is a right, not a luxury."

With the recent increase in e-cigarette-related illnesses reported in New York State and the announcement of the ban on flavored e-cigarettes, the Tompkins County Health Department supports the Governor and the New York State Department of Health in their effort to protect the public, especially youth, from these addictive products that pose serious health risks.

"Protecting youth from fruit- and candy-flavored e-cigarettes is a huge step in addressing this public health epidemic. We do not want another generation of young people addicted to nicotine," states Frank Kruppa, Public Health Director. The Health Department reminds the public of negative health risks of e-cigarette use. The inhaled E-cigarette aerosol can contain:

The draft Solar and Wind Energy Systems amendment to Lansing's zoning ordinance is very close to being complete, but one key element will determine whether it will be feasible for large and medium-scale solar farms to locate in the Town.  The Lansing Town Board debated whether and how much to limit the size of commercial solar farms in the Town after a public hearing on the law.

"I am very concerned about the environment.  I am very concerned about the farmlands.  I am very concerned about the farmers.  I am very concerned about a variety of different things," said LaVigne. "But I'm also very concerned about the Town's tax base.  I propose we do an analysis of what the financial benefit is to the Town of Lansing.  What is the best bang for our buck?  We have to look out for the Town."

Some TCAT passengers this week will be among the first to ride one of three new smaller buses that the transit system launched into service this week to help ease overcrowding during peak times.

As announced earlier, TCAT purchased three 35-foot Champion buses, each with a Freightliner chassis, to support TCAT's 54-bus fleet. The three new buses went into service Tues., Sept. 17, to address overcrowding on some of TCAT's 34 routes during commuter rush hours. The Champion buses each seat 29.

The Lansing Board of Education voted unanimously to establish and funded a Teacher Retirement System (TRS) reserve Monday.  School Business Administrator Kate Heath said that with increasing costs the reserve will be needed to stabilize expenses and prevent huge jumps in the district's TRS liability, which she said is currently over a million dollars.  The reserve is a sub-fund of the Employee Retirement System (ERS) reserve fund, and was only authorized by Albany in April of this year.

"Based on our audit we're making the recommendation to create and fund the reserve effective 6/30/2019," she said. "When I was speaking with our lead auditor he recommended doing that because it's the first year to make sure we establish it and have some money in there.  The concern is that those costs are going to be increasing and those percentages are going to be increasing.  So having this reserve gives us some padding to help stabilize those costs so we don't have huge jumps. Then we'll have some more flexibility on funding it every year."

Lansing High School has a new principal this year, an interim principal to allow district officials to search for a permanent replacement for Coleen Ledley, who served as principal since 2013.  Ledley has become the district's Director of Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and Professional Development.  Patrick Hornbrook, who served as Dean of Students last year, has moved into the Principal's chair.

"In an interim position my first priority is to insure that all of the good things that we have going on here at Lansing High School are going to continue to happen," Hornbrook says. "By the same token, I'm fortunate that I was here last year when we started some of the new initiatives.  Social Emotional Learning (SEL) was a big part of what we were working on last year, and trying to figure out how we can humanize the academics and help kids understand the role of failure, or being resilient, or learning from experience."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Tuesday that the new Upstate Cellular Coverage Task Force, which will develop potential solutions and policies to address the lack of cell service in rural and remote parts of upstate New York. The task force, which the Governor originally proposed as part of the 2019 State of the State, will be administered by Empire State Development.

"Every New Yorker should be able to access a stable cell connection, yet our upstate regions have struggled for too long to make the connections that are vital to everyday life and commerce," Governor Cuomo said. "Today we're leading the way forward by establishing a task force of cellular service experts, elected representatives and environmental advocates who will develop concrete policies and help to ensure service is provided and infrastructure for it is built in a sustainable way."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Tuesday that the Department of Financial Services is taking action against the opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacy benefit managers to secure $2 billion for New York consumers who have shouldered the cost of the ongoing opioid epidemic in the form of higher insurance premiums.

"I've seen a number of schemes and frauds, but the opioid scheme is as diabolical, as brazen, as obnoxious and as offensive as anything I've seen," Governor Cuomo said. "These drug companies knew what they were doing. It was not accidental - it was an industry-wide conspiracy. The damage they have caused has been immeasurable - it has cost thousands of human lives and billions of dollars, and they have gotten away with it for decades. These drug companies are not going to get away with murder, and we are taking a series of actions to ensure that they don't."

Photo courtesy of New York State Department of Health
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo directed the New York State Department of Health Monday to take a series of measures to address two emerging public health crises: the increasing number of cases of vaping-associated respiratory illnesses and the increasing number of youth that are using vape products and developing lifelong nicotine addictions. The Governor directed the Department of Health to issue subpoenas to companies marketing and selling 'thickening agents' used in black market vaping products and to issue emergency regulations mandating that warning signs must be posted in all vape and smoke shops in New York State. Additionally, the Governor announced that he will advance new legislation to ban flavored e-cigarettes.

"Common sense says if you do not know what you are smoking, don't smoke it, and right now we don't know what you are smoking in a lot of these vaping substances," Cuomo said. "The rise in vaping-associated illnesses is a frightening public health phenomenon and I am directing the Department of Health to take several actions to address this crisis, including starting an investigation into some of these companies that produce vaping substances to find out what's in it and requiring that smoke and vape shops post a warning that lets people know that this is a risky activity. I am also going to propose new legislation that will ban flavored e-cigarettes. In the meantime our advice is quite simple: don't do it because we don't know if it's safe."

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) today announced the completion of Key Capture Energy's system, the largest battery installation in New York which will serve the state's electrical system by enhancing power grid performance and reliability and will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The 20-megawatt energy storage system supports Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's Green New Deal, the most aggressive climate change initiative in the nation which mandates New York's energy storage target of 3,000 megawatts by 2030, the largest target in the country.

"Governor Cuomo has set New York on a path to lead the country and the world when it comes to deploying clean energy, and this project is more evidence that New York is not wasting any time getting started," said NYSERDA President and CEO Alicia Barton. "This first project under NYSERDA's energy storage incentive program – the largest battery installation in the state to date—will enhance our electric system and demonstrate the value of large scale energy storage systems that will accelerate our ability to meet the state's commitment to a carbon-free electric system by 2040."