Judiciary & Public Safety Committee

July 6, 2005 - 8:30 am

DRAFT MINUTES

Committee Present: Scott Elston, Chairman; Merwin Armstrong, Vice Chairman; Kay Breed, Larry Cornell, Ron VanDee – Committee Members Absent: Kurt Behrenfeld, Tom Hartnett

Others Present: Scott Schrader, Scott Steve, Angie Wyatt, Dave Hartnett, Keith Dayton, Jane Goldner, Lee Price, Bob Duell, Eric Mulvihill, Tricia Hansen, Dave Butler

The meeting was called to order at 9:00a.m. by Chairman Scott Elston

APPROVAL OF THE JUNE 1, 2005 MINUTES: MOTION BY LARRY CORNELL 2^ND BY KAY BREED – ALL VOTED IN FAVOR - PASSED

APPROVAL OF THE JUNE 14, 2005 MINUTES (SPECIAL JOINT MEETING WITH BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE): MOTION BY LARRY CORNELL – 2^ND BY KAY BREED – ALL VOTED IN FAVOR - PASSED

1. Create Senior Probation Officer, Probation Department – MOTION BY RON VANDEE – 2^ND BY KAY BREED – ALL VOTED IN FAVOR – PASSED

Discussion/Justification: This position was explained by Jane Goldner at the June JPS Committee meeting. DSS is funding this position for handling PINS cases.

2. Abolish/Create – A.T.I. Coordinator/Community Services Coordinator, Probation Dept. – MOTION BY RON VANDEE – 2^ND BY KAY BREED – ALL VOTED IN FAVOR – PASSED

Discussion/Justification: Larry Cornell asked if this position is in the budget. Jane Goldner indicated that the position is in the budget and the title is being changed due to the MSD study’s position name change.

Fire and Emergency Management:

3. Amend 2005 Budget, Fire and Emergency Management (Tower Project) – MOTION BY LARRY CORNELL – 2^ND BY MERWIN ARMSTRONG – ALL VOTED IN FAVOR – PASSED

Discussion/Justification: The Bond funds for the tower have been expended and this is to finish up the project (in particular the T1 line).

4. Amend 2005 Budget/ Authorize MOU with City of Cortland, Allocating Expenses for the 2004 Weapons of Mass Destruction Grant, Fire and Emergency Management – MOTION BY LARRY CORNELL – 2^ND BY RON VANDEE – ALL VOTED IN FAVOR – PASSED

Discussion/Justification: NO DISCUSSION

5. Rescind Resolution 91-99 and Authorize County-Wide Specialty Teams, Fire and Emergency Management – MOTION BY LARRY CORNELL – 2^ND BY MERWIN ARMSTRONG – ALL VOTED IN FAVOR – PASSED

Discussion/Justification: This is for the purpose of county-wide specialty teams such as the Volunteer Emergency Search Team, Deputy Coordinators, Fire Investigators Team and the Cortland County Hazardous Response Team can be covered for VFBL (Volunteer Firefighters’ Benefit Law and VAWBL (Volunteer Ambulance Workers’ Benefit Law).

1. 2004 Annual Report Public Defender’s Office- Keith Dayton, (Receive and File With Clerk of the Legislature) – Keith Dayton distributed the 2004 Annual Report and briefly outlined the contents. Keith discussed the department’s caseload and indicated that there is a great increase in Family Court cases. Kay Breed expressed concern on how many times clients have to go back to court which is costing more in attorney time. Keith explained that judges do urge eligible individuals to apply for representation from the Public Defender’s Office but the clients do not take care of it right away which delays the court proceedings. The billing from Conflict Attorneys has been behind thus they are paying for 2004 bills in 2005. Members of the Committee asked about having a County Conflict Attorney to alleviate the billing program. Keith pointed out that the County could lose 40% of subsidy reimbursement from the State if we had Conflict Attorneys. The Committee would like Keith to find out for sure if the County would lose the State subsidy if we had a Conflict Attorney(s) rather than Assigned Counsel. The 2004 Public Defender’s Annual Report is available for review from Carletta Edwards, Clerk of the Legislature or Angie Wyatt, Secretary to Scott Schrader, County Administrator in the Cortland County Administrative Offices.
2. Establish Disaster Response Review Sub-committee – This would be a temporary Sub-Committee to conduct a short investigation into how the emergency response went due to the April flooding. It was suggested that 3 Committee members from the Judiciary & Public Safety Committee serve on this Sub-Committee. This Sub-Committee would be interviewing a variety of individuals to determine the results of the emergency response and then report back to the JPS Committee. It was suggested that Scott Elston, Larry Cornell and Ron VanDee serve on this Sub-Committee. Larry and Ron will advise Scott if they will be able to serve on the Sub-Committee.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30a.m.

Meeting minutes prepared by Angie Wyatt, Secretary to Scott Schrader

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