Chairman Steve called the meeting to order at 6:07 and led the Salute to the Flag.

The Clerk called the roll and all members were recorded as present except Mr. Elston and Mr. Willcox who were recorded as absent.

On motion of Mr. McKee, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye, the minutes of the June 16, 2005 session were approved as printed.

Chairman Steve recognized Mrs. Jessica Cohen – District Superintendent for OCM BOCES who stated she was here with a group of representatives from OCM BOCES to say thank you form their students, staff and Board to the Legislature for their assistance during the flood in April. She read and presented a Resolution of Recognition and Appreciation to the Cortland County government and its employees that was passed by the Board of Education of the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES to Chairman Steve. She stated that during the time after the flood they had to find a home for over 600 students and found the cooperation of Cortland County staff and administration was outstanding. Ms. Cohen introduced Daniel Dabona, Principal of the McEvoy Campus and Secondary Education, who then presented a framed art piece done by a BOCES students in thanks and recognition of the services, sacrifices and support provided to the students and staff of the McEvoy Technical Center during their time of need to the Administration and staff of the County Office Building to Mrs. Edwards. He then presented a framed art piece done by a BOCES student in thanks and recognition of his personal commitment through his dedication, leadership and service to the community to Chairman Steve. Mr. Dabona requested that the pieces of art be displayed at the County Office Building for everyone to view.

Chairman Steve recognized Machell Phelps, Executive Director of the Cortland Regional Sports Council and Joe Reagan, Chairman of the Board. Mr. Reagan thanked the Legislature for allowing them to be here to share some good news. The CRSC has made some tremendous strides since they met a little over two years ago as a steering committee to create the Sports Council. The goal when they started was to build upon the success they had hosting the 2003 Empire State Games by creating a vehicle that would market the County of Cortland as a top venue for sporting and recreational events. The County had all the ingredients for success willing and committee partners, top notch facilities and a central location but just needed the vehicle to make it happen. Tonight we are here to celebrate because we did make that happen. With the help of the Legislature, the committee of SUNY Cortland, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the City of Cortland, the Chamber of the Commerce and many others including volunteers by the thousands the CRSC is capitalizing on our community strengths and bringing new dollars into our community. On June 18^th we hosted the opening day of the Brine Upstate Lacrosse League with over 3400 participants. He said he would like to introduce the Board of Directors, some are here and some are not: Mike Whitlock, Pete Koryzno, Garry VanGorder, Jim Dempsey, Lisa Schere, Amy Simrell, John McNerney, Todd James, Bob Eckard, and John Eves and our friend and partner from SUNY Cortland, Presdent Eric Bitterbaum. Mr. Reagan introduced Machell Phelps. Ms. Phelps said that when she first took this job she asked Mr. Reagan what he would deem as success during the first year. He said that the Council needed to set a goal and if they could have atleast two successful events he would consider this a success. She is here tonight to tell everyone that they have had eleven successful events in eight months. The Legislature has been given a packet tonight that tells about the events and tonight she will highlight a few of them. The first one she will be talking about is the RMR Snowcross event that was done in conjunction with CNY Powersports located in Pockville that had an attendance of over 5000 people over the two day period. In May they hosted their first ever Lumberjack invitational and they filled the sports complex for the first time. In June they hosted three different Lacrosse events. In the upcoming months the will be hosting the New York State Junior American Legion Baseball Championships with six teams being here for five days while they play their State Championship. They have just started to scratch the surface and so far she has not even had to go out looking for events to host. There are so many opportunities that lie ahead. There are many areas that are tied into these events which include the SUNY campus, TC3 and the City parks. We have the opportunity to host the 2006 National Lumberjack Championships. They have bid on this and have been given the opportunity to host it if they can bring it all together. They are working with the New York State Bow Hunters to host their championships at the end of August. They are keeping track of how hosting these events are impacting the economy. She used a formula from the New York State Department of Economic Development to prepare a graph showing how Cortland has been impacted. She stated that as much of the marketing money as can be if spent right here in the community. Ms. Phelps introduced President of SUNY Cortland, Eric Bitterbaum. President Bitterbaum said that probably most everyone was aware that SUNY Cortland was one of the first partners that CRSC had. The college is very interested in economic development within this community so anything that the community can do to bring people to come to visit we are very interested in. One example is that Linda Hartsock, the mayor and I know that Mr. Steve will be involved in the future, did away with what was known as the Contento field that had many cars on. There are actually many people who are interested in turning that into a Park. The expertise that the college brings is in adaptive PE, we have some of the world authorities working with people who are born or have developed physical disabilities through life. The hopes for development of the Park are that it would be done with a turf so that people in wheel chairs can play soccer, golf or whatever the case may be. We actually have the intellectual capacity to do this. We are very interested in what he calls stewardship of place and helping the community move forward. The college wants their resources to be used and they want people to come to the community. As more people come to Cortland their will be more tax dollars coming to the area. This will happen with continued support for programs that work. President Bitterbaum thanked the Legislature for their support. Ms. Phelps stated that they had set a goal of reaching a million dollars within the first year and they have exceeded that goal within eight months. She thanked everyone for their support of the program and invited the Legislators for lemon-aid and cake after the meeting. Mrs. Breed complimented CRSC on their successes with the events and how they are run. She said she has had a great deal of good feed back about the Lumberjack contest.

On motion of Dr. DiGiovanni, seconded by Mr. Armstrong and adopted be all members present voting aye the Appointment of Election Commissioner – Robert C. Howe – Term: 1/1/06-12/31/07 by Republican Caucus was ordered received and filed.

On motion of Mrs. Breed, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye the Revised Year to Date Budget Report – Treasurer’s Office Balance Sheet April 2004, April 2005 was ordered received and filed.

On motion of Mrs. Breed, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye, the 2004 Annual Report - Public Defender was ordered received and filed.

On motion of Mrs. Breed, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye the Year to Date Budget Report- Treasurer’s Office Balance Sheet May 2004, May 2005 was ordered received and filed.

Chairman Steve moved the Status of County Litigation – John Bardsley, County Attorney – to the end of the agenda to be given at the end of session because it is a verbal report and will be given in Executive Session.

On motion of Mr. Steve, seconded by Mr. Allen and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 1 became Resolution No. 207-05: Appoint Members, Community Services Board and Mental Health Subcommittee

On motion of Mr. Steve, seconded by Mr. McKee and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 2 became Resolution No. 208-05: Amend Resolution 28-05, Create Communications Advisory Board

On motion of Mr. Steve, seconded by Mrs. Breed and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 3 became Resolution No. 209-05: Resolution in Support of Developing a State Park in Cortland County Mrs. Brown asked if this resolution should have come through the Planning Committee? Chairman Steve said it was a support resolution and it being sponsored by himself and was a judgement call.

On motion of Mr. Behrenfeld, seconded by Dr. DiGiovanni and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 4 became Resolution No. 210-05: Authorize Appropriation of $380,000. Fund Balance to Pay for County Share of the Initial Cost of the Implementation of the Tompkins Cortland Community College Master Plan

On motion of Mr. Behrenfeld, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 5 became Resolution No. 211-05: Designate Tourism Promotion Agency, Finger Lakes Tourism, Inc.

On motion of Mr. Ross, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 6 became Resolution No. 212-05: Authorize Participation in Joint Bid Process and Accept Bid Purchase Bus, Chemung County and Cortland County, Planning Department

On motion of Mr. Ross, seconded by Mr. Steger and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 7 became Resolution No. 213-05: Authorize Agreement to Participate in Joint Bid Process Purchase Buses, Chenango County and Cortland County, Planning Department

On motion of Dr. DiGiovanni, seconded by Mrs. Breed and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 8 became Resolution No. 214-05: Authorize Agreement, Health Department/Nursing (MOMS Programs Provider Physicians)

On motion of Dr. DiGiovanni, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 9 became Resolution No. 215-05: Authorize Agreement, Health Department/Nursing (Cortland Memorial Hospital/ Childbirth Classes)

On motion of Dr. DiGiovanni, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 10 became Resolution No. 216-05: Authorize Agreement, Health Department/Administration (Verizon Wireless)

On motion of Dr. DiGiovanni, seconded by Mr. Mckee and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No.11 became Resolution No. 217-05: Abolish/ Create, Mental Health Department, Certified Social Worker (one full-time) Certified Social Worker (two part-time)

Mrs. Brown would like to have someone explain why they are going from one full-time to two part-time. Mr. Schrader said this would give the County greater flexibility to handle what he would characterize as an overwhelming case load. There are waiting lists for the clinic and this would help address that. At the same time it provides for greater flexibility in managing what used to be consulting caseload, directing what schedule they will be performing under and meets the method of providing services to address some potential department of labor concerns. It helps us to retain one of the employees. Mrs. Brown asked if there was a waiting list. Mr. Schrader said yes there was. Mrs. Tytler asked what effort was made to fill the full-time position. Mr. Schrader said none. In positions similar to this with various titles there have been vacancies over the last year. There is significant difficulty in recruiting individuals. Mrs. Tytler asked if those positions were still vacant. Mr. Schrader said no that they had been filled. Mrs. Tytler asked if changing the position from full-time to part-time is in some way an accommodation for an employee that wishes to remain employed and cut back hours. Mrs. Breed asked if there would be any measurements that by the end of the year to show if the case load has indeed been addressed. The committee has requested that the case loads be looked at.

On motion of Dr. DiGiovanni, seconded by Mrs. Breed and adopted by all members present voting aye Mr. Allen was allowed to abstain on Agenda Item No. 12.

On motion of Dr. DiGiovanni, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No.12 became Resolution No. 218-05: Authorize Agreement, Mental Health Department (Prevention Services for Youth – CAPCO)

On motion of Dr. DiGiovanni and Mrs. Brown, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 13 became Resolution No. 219-05: Authorize Agreements, Mental Health Department and Department of Social Services (Provider Agreements)

On motion of Mr. Allen, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 14 became Resolution No. 220-05: Award Leachate Transportation, Highway Department/ Solid Waste

On motion of Mr. Allen, seconded by Mr. Armstrong and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 15 became Resolution No. 221-05: Award Material Bid, Highway Department

On motion of Mr. Allen, seconded by Mrs. Brown and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 16 became Resolution No. 222-05: Amend Budget/ Transfer Funds, Highway Department

On motion of Mr. Allen, seconded by Mr. Ross and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 17 became Resolution No. 223-05: Authorize Amendment to Change Estimated Expenditure for NYSDOT, Snow/Ice Control Agreement, Highway Department

On motion of Mr. Allen, seconded by Mrs. Brown and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 18 became Resolution No. 224-05: Transfer Funds, Highway Department

On motion of Mr. Allen, seconded by Mr. Steger and adopted with all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 19 became Resolution No. 225-05: Authorize Purchase of Right of Way, Highway Department Landfill Survey Space Study, Engineering Agreement/Highway Department

On motion of Mr. Armstrong, seconded by Mrs. Brown and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 20 became Resolution No. 226-05: Create Senior Probation Officer/Amend Budget, Probation Department

On motion of Mr. Armstrong, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 21 became Resolution No. 227-05: Abolish/Create – Alternatives to Incarceration Coordinator/Community Services Coordinator, Probation Department

On motion of Mr. Armstrong, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No.22 became Resolution No. 228-05: Amend 2005 Budget, Fire and Emergency Management (Tower Project) Chairman Steve commended Mr. Rob Corpora for all his work on this project and estimates the County saved around $25,000. because of him being involved and doing this in house.

On motion of Mr. Armstrong, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 23 became Resolution No. 229-05: Amend 2005 Budget/ Authorize Memorandum of Understanding with City of Cortland, Allocating Expenses for the 2004 Weapons of Mass Destruction Grant, Fire and Emergency Management

On motion of Mr. Armstrong, seconded by Mr. Allen and adopted by a two-thirds vote with all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 24 became Resolution No. 230-05: Rescind Resolution 91-99 and Authorize County-Wide Specialty Teams Fire and Emergency Management

On motion of Mrs. Brown, seconded by Mrs. Breed and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 25 became Resolution No. 231-05: Amend Budget, Area Agency on Aging (Health Insurance Information Counseling And Assistance Program – HIICAP)

On motion of Mrs. Brown, seconded by Mrs. Breed and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 26 became Resolution No. 232-05: Amend Budget, Area Agency on Aging (Title IIE – Family Caregivers Program)

On motion of Mrs. Brown, seconded by Mrs. Breed and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No.27 became Resolution No. 233-05: Amend Budget, Area Agency on Aging (Expanded In-Home Services for the Elderly Program- EISEP)

On motion of Mrs. Brown, seconded by Mr. Allen and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 28 became Resolution No. 234-05: Abolish/Create/ Approve Salary above Midpoint, Social Services Department / Deputy Commissioner of Social Services / Director of Social Services

On motion of Mrs. Brown, seconded by Mr. Armstrong and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 29 became Resolution No. 235-05: Create Two Positions/ Amend Budget, Department of Social Services (Home Energy Assistance Program – HEAP)

On motion of Mrs. Brown, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 30 became Resolution No. 236-05: Authorize Agreement, Department of Social Services (PINS Probation Services)

On motion of Mrs. Brown, seconded by Mr. Allen and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 31 became Resolution No. 237-05: Accept Donation/ Amend Budget, Youth Bureau (Cayuga County United Way Donation)

On motion of Mrs. Breed, seconded by Mrs. Brown and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No. 32 became Resolution No. 238-05: Oppose Legislation before the Governor Bill Number S3185

On motion of Mrs. Breed, seconded by Dr. DiGiovanni and adopted by all members present voting aye Agenda Item No.33 became Resolution No. 239-05: Oppose Legislation before the Governor Bill Number A6343

On motion of Mrs. Breed, seconded by Mr. Allen and adopted by all members present voting aye except Mrs. Brown, Mr. Dafoe, Mr. Hartnett, Mr. Ross, Mr. Tagliente, Mrs. Tytler, Mr. VanDee voting nay, and Mr. Elston and Mr. Willcox recorded as absent, Agenda Item No. 34 became Resolution No. 240-05: Abolish/Create/Amend Budget Cortland County Legislature/County Administration, Confidential Secretary to the County Legislature / Secretary To County Administration

Mrs. Brown said that initially when the person left that worked for the County Attorney and the County Legislature there was a position to be filled that went through the Personnel Committee to take care of these two positions. When the Administrator was on vacation it is my understanding that there was a part-time person hired in the County Attorney’s Office which left us with only a part-time position available from the original resolution for the secretarial position. She is against hiring another full-time person. This is adding another half person and as far as she is concerned it should have been filled by one like it was in the past. Mrs. Tytler is concerned about the process that has been gone through on this resolution. When this position first became vacant we were told be Mr. Schrader that he had an idea of developing a plan to restructure the support staff on this floor and to this date she has not seen that plan. A resolution has come before us with an idea that I am not convinced has been thought out and is the best for this community. I support the idea that perhaps the staff in the County Attorney’s Office have different skills than the other half of this position so maybe having two half-time people make sense. It may even be that maybe we need a full-time person and that maybe Mr. Bardsley needs his half-time person but we have never been presented with a plan that was processed and because of that I am extremely reluctant to support this. Dr. DiGiovanni stated that this discussion was had in Budget and Finance and is satisfied, and perhaps Mr. Schrader would like to speak to this, that there is no plan and part of the reason is that the staff up here is so overburdened that it is a relatively low priority, not that it isn’t important, but because there are a lot of high priority items that need to be dealt with. It was the feeling in committee that if Mr. Schrader would go on record as saying that one of the things that this will allow him an his staff to address is the plan that Mrs. Tytler rightly asked for and present that through Personnel and part of the Budget process this fall that I would be happy to support this. I think it is a bit of a chicken and an egg problem here. We want a plan and we want to ratify that plan but we don’t have the staff to prepare the plan, or so we are being told. I am going to defer to Mr. Schrader’s judgement on that in exchange for his promise that he will follow through and the additional promise that we will have a budget out to the voters before election time. Mr. Schrader said that Dr. DiGiovanni recalls correctly that his intention as promised is to get an organizational chart and a plan of organization for the third floor by September 16^th . As far as the budget goes, there is an enormous amount of work that goes into it and this will allow me to get the budget out the second or third week in October. There are a lot of tasks that are being put aside on the third floor, in the Clerk’s Office, in my office and in the Auditor’s Office because of a lack of staff. Any staffing that you can give us is appreciated. Mr. Allen said that he is going to vote to support this. The position of County Administrator was created with the idea in mind of helping with recommendations for structure within departments. We have made it clear from the onset that we demand a budget out before the election and I believe that the people deserve to see what type of a tax increase that their representatives are going to be voting on prior to their choice in the upcoming election. With that in mind I am willing to defer to the County Administrator’s judgment and if he feels this position is necessary to get the job done than I will support it. Mrs. Breed said it is also important to note that this position will expire on December 31, therefore he does have to have the plan in place and have the chart out or this won’t exist in the new budget.

Mr. Cornell reminded everyone the CTV meeting will be in 304. Mr. Steve reminded everyone the Sports Council will be serving refreshments in room 302.

On motion of Mr. Cornell, seconded by Mrs. Brown the Legislature went into executive session at 6:45 p.m. to discuss status of litigation. Executive session ended at 7:04 p.m.

On motion of Mrs. Brown, seconded by Mr. Cornell the meeting was adjourned at 7:06 p.m.

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