AD
HOC COMMITTEE MEETING (PROPERTY ACQUISITION)
MARCH
13, 2007 – 7:00P.M.
COUNTY
OFFICE BUILDING – ROOM 304
DRAFT
MINUTES
Committee Present: Carol Tytler, Chairperson; Mike McKee, John Steger, Tom Williams, Dan Tagliente, Larry Cornell – Absent: John Daniels
Others Present: Angie Wyatt, Ric VanDonsel, John Troy, Chad Loomis, Dave Aloi, Gigi Peterson
Carol Tytler called the meeting to order at 7:00p.m.
The minutes of the March 9, 2007 and March 12, 2007 meetings will be approved at a future meeting.
Carol Tytler provided the Committee and guests with drafts of the History of the County Space Needs; a Timeline outlining the events that occurred regarding facility needs of the County; a Summary of the Timeline; Findings; and Options for Consideration. Carol indicated that this information is based upon information that was written and people have said. She further stressed that these documents are drafts only.
SPACE STUDY – Carol asked Committee members to comment on the County’s space
study needs.
Larry Cornell: We definitely need space for the Health Department and Mental Health.
Mike McKee: Yes, the County needs space – he knows this from the recommendations from the General Services Committee (formerly Buildings & Grounds Committee).
John Steger: As a member and former Chairman of the Buildings & Grounds Committee, these space needs have been discussed in Committee for a long time.
Dan Tagliente: The Committee discussions have been the driving force for moving forward.
Tom Williams: He was a Legislator when the County space study was done in the 1990’s. He indicated that the County needed space then and it has become worse since then.
Carol Tytler: We need space for
our programs – the layout and accessibility is necessary
TIME LINE (FEBRUARY 5, 2005 TO FEBRUARY 12, 2007) – Carol ‘s Timeline has the date, action and documentation. The documentation column was added to support the action taken.
Legislator John Troy asked to correct his vote on the January 25, 2007 action (page 10). He voted no.
County Attorney, Ric VanDonsel will provide the documentation for the February
9, 2007 action (page 10) – County Attorney sends letter to property
owners or their lawyers indicating…………
John Troy asked if all the documentation provided to the Committee would be available for all the Legislators. Carol Tytler would make it available through Angie Wyatt or Katrina Spicer.
FINDINGS
There were no illegal actions by any parties involved
There were no attempts to keep it quiet
County Administrator, Scott Schrader acted within the bounds that are established by his position.
The Legislators worked within the Committee structure -
√ - The process leading to the votes on the property acquisitions was a lack of communication between the Legislators, Legislative Committees & County Administration
Based on the findings, Carol Tytler believes that the biggest problem was the lack of communication between all parties and reiterated that nothing illegal or improper was done through this process.
Larry Cornell: Carol said it all – there was no illegal doings going on. All contracts with (B & L) Barton & Loguidice should be black and white not gray.
Carol Tytler: The B & L payment was an accounting error.
Dan Tagliente: Maybe the County should not go through Realtors anymore – we should just acquire future properties by Eminent Domain Law
Tom Williams: R.F.P. (Requests for Proposals) should be used for everything the County does.
Carol Tytler: Looking for potential property was done – then the process of acquisition could be used – By using the Eminent Domain process maybe the Public with be more apprised with the process.
Dan Tagliente: The previous administration looked for areas for the Health facility and wanted it downtown.
Carol Tytler: then it is agreed that lack of communication is identified as being the main problem and that nothing in the process was illegal or improper - {No dissension from Committee members}
Other Comments:
Dan Tagliente: Only the main points are recorded at the Committee meetings we serve on.
Larry Cornell: Each Legislative Committee Chairperson should provide a short summary of the their meeting to the Caucuses
Dan Tagliente: This may encourage Legislators on the standing committees to attend.
Carol Tytler: As Chairperson of the A-P-E (Agriculture-Planning-Environmental) Sub-Committee, she provides updated reports to A-P-E Chairman Danny Ross and the Committee. Minutes of the A-P-E Sub-Committee are sent to all Legislators, Media and other individuals involved.
Dan Tagliente: Although he is not on the A-P-E Sub-Committee, he attended the last meeting because they were discussing an additional retention pond on Rte. 281 to mitigate flooding problems for the County, Cortlandville & the City. He had interest in this project because they are proposing to complete this in conjunction with the NYSDOT Rte. 281 Project.
Ric VanDonsel: Who will spearhead the process of the Legislative Committee Chairpersons providing a written summary of all Committee meetings?
Carol Tytler: That will probably be up to the Legislative Chairman.
Angie Wyatt: As one of the 2 secretaries that take minutes, she requested clarification of the process of providing the Committee Chairperson’s summaries.
Larry Cornell: The summaries would be written by each Committee Chairperson and forwarded to Angie Wyatt or Katrina Spicer. Angie and Katrina will consolidate the summaries into 1 or 2 pages and make them available for the caucuses prior to the monthly Legislative Session. Depending on the nature of the issue, executive session summaries may also be made available for the caucuses.
Tom Williams: There were probably no illegal acts but this goes beyond the communications problem.
Carol Tytler: It was an oversight in accounting.
Dan Tagliente: Scott Schrader has done a lot for this County in the past three years and this was only an accounting oversight.
Carol Tytler: The procedures should be tightened – how the payments to B & L are made; re-write the accounting procedures, maybe changes to the accounting system to improve it.
Mike McKee: Would like more time to advise and educate the towns he represents with issues of this magnitude.
Larry Cornell: Agreed with Mike McKee about having more time – if more time is needed maybe a special session could be called to enable the Legislators to have the extra time they need.
Tom Williams: Where did all this come from? The roll of the Legislature should be that of the “Big Paint Brush” and the role of the County Administrator should be that of the “Small Paint Brush”. This whole issue should have come from the Legislature.
Dan Tagliente: It came from the Legislative Committees – it became a focus point and that is how it all got started.
Tom Williams: The first thing that should happen is that there should be some kind of a master plan that goes 5 years. The “Biggest Paint Brush” is the piece that drives it.
Dan Tagliente: It should first be a Committee driven thing.
John Steger: We can’t do anything until we have potential properties to look at that suit our space needs. For example, Buckbee Mears was too much money and not a good location and the Rosen Brothers property may still have environmental problems. This has been going on for a long time. We know that we need a Health Facility, Jail, and Department of Motor Vehicles. Renovations started at the Courthouse because of the Court System. The amounts the Realtors were bringing in were sky high.
Carol Tytler: Basically, a master plan has already been done.
Dan Tagliente: This process was similar to the reconstruction of South Main Street and Page Green Road. The process started with the Highway Committee – then to the Budget and Finance Committee and then the Legislature. This has been the process for all major projects.
Tom Williams gave some hypothetical examples on how the County can handle the space needs issues: The City is also having space pains - why couldn’t the County interact with the City to resolve space issues; maybe building City Hall at the South Main Street site and putting DMV or the Health Department there.
Dan Tagliente: The City was not interested in South Main Street site until the motion to reconsider was made and passed. That space is not big enough for the City. They had another meeting with the City and again tried to encourage the City to accept the County’s offer to move City Court to the Courthouse. The City was still not interested. Like the County, the City receives funds from the Court System and did not want to lose that revenue.
Carol Tytler: We should continue to look for feasible opportunities with the City.
Various ideas were also offered for a jail site.
Options For Consideration
Committee Comments:
Dan Tagliente: We already gave these people our word – we should buy them all. The Health Facility Building would actual be 45,000 square feet. The basement was left out of the plan. He would still somewhat be in favor of # 5.
John Steger: Would still favor # 5 just because it is going to be a lot cheaper.
Carol Tytler: Does not want to tear the residential houses down and would support any plan to keep the houses in tack.
Further Action:
With no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 8:35p.m.
Minutes taken and prepared by Angie Wyatt, Confidential Secretary
NOTES
THE DOCUMENTS PREPARED BY CAROL TYTLER AND REFERRED TO
IN THESE MINUTES SHALL BECOME AN ATTACHMENT TO THESE MINUTES UPON APPROVAL OF
SAID MINUTES