St. Lawrence CountyServices Committee
Board of LegislatorsMonday, March 19, 2012
Board RoomImmediately following Operations Committee
Members Attending:Mr. Bunstone, Mr. Acres, Mr. Akins, Mr. Arquiett, Ms. Brothers,
Mr. Burns, Mr. Lightfoot, Mr. MacKinnon, Mr. Morrill, Mr. Paquin, Mr. Parker, Mr. Peck,
Mr. Putman, Mr. Putney, and Mr. Sutherland
Others Attending:Karen St. Hilaire, Ruth Doyle, Kelly Pearson, Laurie Demers, Mike Crowe, Kevin Felt, Chris Boulio, Mike Cunningham, Keith Zimmerman, Jason Pfotenhauer, Kevin Wells, Craig Ballard, Dawn Howard, Ruth Ayen, Angela Doe, Sue Hathaway, Nancy Robert, Chris Rediehs, Tom Nichols, Jennie Bacon, and Media Representative Martha Ellen – Northern New York Newspapers
1. CALL TO ORDER AND APPROVAL OF AGENDAMr. Bunstone called the meeting to order at 6:23 p.m. Mr. Parkermoved to approve the agenda, seconded by Mr. Putman and
Mr. MacKinnon, and carried.
2. INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION PRESENTATION ON PLAN BV-7
Mr. Beckhoff gave a presentation and proposed a new approach for the current and future challenges in regulating water levels in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.
Mr. MacKinnon said our interest for St. Lawrence County with the St. Lawrence River is tourism and boating on the river. The complaint he hears most often is that the water level gets too low too fast and it shortensthe boating season. He asked if this plan would make that better.
Mr. Beckhoff said yes, overall there would be a longer boating season.
Mr. Arquiett asked if water levels are consistentbetween Alexandria Bay and Robert Moses Power Dam. Mr. Beckhoff said when you get to Lake St. Lawrence there is a reservoir that was created. Mr. Arquiett saidthere is a concern as to where the water lines on the docks are and where water levelswere. He said he sees a lot of negative numbers on the graphs. He said the presentation seemed to be working against us in that regard to recreational boating and that is near and dear to us in St. Lawrence County. Mr. Beckhoff said we are looking for improvements to the ecology. He said there would be improvements for fishing and a longer boating season. Mr. Arquiett asked if all the graphs were online for review. Mr. Beckhoff said yes.
Mr. Putney said it seemsthe current plan offers more stability where the proposed plan offers more variability. He said it is a concern of his and the district he represents if the water level were to fall too low. If it stayed low for a long period of time, it could have a negative impact on tourism. Mr. Beckhoff said one reasonthis plan is being proposed is the way the water levels are regulated now are having negative impacts on the ecological system. We wanted to follow the natural trends more closely. Mr. Putney said he appreciated the presentation and would like to contact Mr. Beckhoff for more information.
Mr. Lightfoot said the graph of the water level seems to indicate that in June the levelsreach their peak and then decrease from there. He asked if there is more water going through the dam and if we were pumping more water out in July, August, and September to generate more power or is it a natural thing. Mr. Beckhoff said there is a tendency to draw down in the winter because we donot know what we will get in the spring. In the proposed plan, we will not do that as much. Mr. Lightfoot asked if his assumption is correct that it was not a lack of precipitation, but rather a result of what is going through the Robert Moses Power Dam. He said the river levels seem to be higher than in the past years. Mr. Beckhoff said yes it is just natural conditions because of runoff. Mr.Lightfoot said during the winter months the water levels have been higher, so he has a hard time believing it is runoff. Mr. Beckhoff said they have to adjust water levels to get the ice build up again.
Mr. Acres said the function of the International Joint Commissionis an amazing task as it has to provide for two Countries and account for all other activities. It is complex.
Mr. Sutherland asked about B Plus Plan and wanted to see a comparison to this new proposal. Mr. Beckhoff said what we are proposing is a variation of that. Mr. Sutherland said BV-7 really concentrates the environmental impacts on Lake Ontario, so most the benefits would be for Lake Ontario. Mr. Beckhoff said yes.
Mr. Putney asked if the overall water levels with this plan would be higher. Mr. Beckhoff said yes.
Mr. Arquiett said he agrees with Legislator Acres commentsthat the International Joint Commission has a difficult task. Mr. Arquiett said boating season usually ends around Labor Day because the water levels become too low.
Ms. Brothers said in terms of the environmental impact; is the meadow marsh better for fish to spawn, and are there any negatives possibilities that would emerge from that. Mr. Beckhoff said he thinks it is concerns like this that there has to be an adoptive management plan.
Mr. Morrill said he would like to point out that the St. Lawrence River has some of the best fishing in the world, and it would be nice to improve upon it.
3. NEW WATER LEVELS PLAN PRESENTATION – SAVE THE RIVER – JENNIFER CADDICK
Ms. Caddick gave a presentation and said the questions that the Legislators asked are the correct ones to be asking. Regulating water levels has a serious effect on the ecological system, and there have been studies done proving this. She said BV-7 is a balanced approach, and feels it is an important step forward. In 2008 there was a resolution passed by this Board on the B Plus Plan, and she encourages the Legislators to support the Water Plan BV-7 as she and Save the River believes this is a change in the right direction.
Ms. Brothers asked where the Public Hearings would be held and when. Mr. Beckhoff said there is no date set, but would like to have them in the fall.
Mr. Parker said there is significantshore line erosion between Massena and Red Mills. This is a real issue for our area, and he feels this change in plan is going to exasperate that issue and because it is on a small portion of the shoreline it will only be felt by a small number of residents. Ms. Caddick said she is not familiar with that particular stretch of river, but she noted that overall Save the River has been encouragingNew York State to develop a Shoreline Management program. Mr. Parker encourages them to go to both Federal Governments because most studies show that most shoreline erosion is due to shipping.
Mr. Morrill wished Ms. Caddick good luck as she is leaving the Save the River, and he thanked her for all her efforts.
4. LEGISLATOR JONATHAN PUTNEY
A. Supporting the Sponsoring of the Northern New York Volunteer Firemen’sAssociation Convention in St. Lawrence County by the Louisville Volunteer Fire Department (Res) –
Mr. Putney moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Parker,
Mr. Peck and Mr. Lightfoot. Mr. Putney said it is a good thing to recognize this State-wide event being held in our County, and he appreciates allthe work our volunteers do.
Mr. Parker agrees with Mr. Putney and said having such an event will be good for St. Lawrence County. Motion carried.
5. PUBLIC HEALTH – SUE HATHAWAY
A. Authorizing the Chair to Sign a Contract for the Public Health Department’s Integrated Cancer Services Program (Res) – Ms. Brothers moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Morrill, and carried.
B. Authorizing the Chair to Sign a Contract Grant for the Public Health Department’s Immunization Action Plan Program (Res) – Ms. Brothers moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Parker and Mr. Putney. Ms. Hathaway said the State has renewed,and the word renewed is missing from the resolution, the immunization action plan and program grant with the Department for the next year. Mr. Bunstone said adding the word “renewed” to the resolution will be considered a friendly amendment. Motion carried.
C. Modifying the 2011 Public Health Budget for the Pre-School Program (Res) – Mr. Peck moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Ms. Brothers. Ms. Hathaway said there was an error on the Budget modification for the Pre-School Program that was presented a few weeks ago. We, in error, took $23,000 fromHomeland Security Grant. We received some unanticipated funding from the Tobacco Grantso we were able to offset that money and put the $23,000back into Homeland Security. Motion carried.
6. SOCIAL SERVICES – CHRIS REDIEHS
A. Approving Two Temporary Positions for the 2012 Summer Youth Employment and Training Program Tutors (Res) – Mr. Morrill moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded Ms. Brothers. Mr. Rediehs said this is to get us set up for additional revenue as it becomes available. Motion carried.
B. Authorizing to Fill a Resource Agent Vacancy in the Department of Social Services (Res) (Info)–Mr. Morrill moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by
Ms. Brothers. Mr. Rediehs said this position is vacant due to a promotion, and it has tremendous valueto the County. It involves coordinating of indigent burials, and also does recovery of funds. Mr. Parker asks how successful this position has been for recovering means and filing liens. Mr. Rediehs said it has been very successful; in 2011 $818,568 was collected. Most of the money goes back to the State and Federal Government, but some goes to the County. Motion carried.
C. Modifying the PY10 Workforce Investment Act Budget for Disability Employment Initiative Funds (Res) – Mr. Morrill moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by
Mr. Peck and Ms. Brothers. Mr. Rediehs said these are funds are related to tracking of information and is related to a study the State is doing. In order to apply for the funds, we have to agree to do the data collection. Motion carried.
7. COMMUNITY SERVICES – ANGELA DOE
A. Modifying the 2012 Community Services Budget for One-Time State Aid Funding from OASAS for Can-Am Youth Services, d.b.a. Rose Hill (Res) – Mr. Paquin moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Parker and Mr. Putman. Ms. Doe said this resolution has to do with modifying the Community Services 2012 Budget.
Mr. Putman said this is a one-time Grant to fill a deficit gap, he asked if Rose Hill has financial problems. Ms. Doe said she is going to look into that, but she believes that is not the case at this point. She said this is pass-through funds for the County. Motion carried.
8. COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT – KAREN ST. HILAIRE
There was none.
9. OLD/NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Acres asked what the status and anticipated on-line date for remote field accessof the
County’s Real Property records. Mr. Peck said he asked that same question asked by some
assessors. Ms. Doyle said she will checkon that and send an email to the Legislators.
Mr. Lightfoot moved to go to Executive Session at 7:44 p.m. for personnel and appointments,
seconded by Ms. Brothers, and carried.
Mr. Morrill moved to go to Open Session at 7:51 p.m., seconded by Mr. Putney, and carried.
ADJOURNMENT – Mr. Bunstone adjourned the meeting at 7:52 p.m. as there was no further business.
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