St. Lawrence County Finance Committee

Board of Legislators Monday, January 28, 2013

Board Room 5:30 P.M.

Members Attending: Mr. Morrill, Mr. Acres, Mr. Akins, Mr. Arquiett, Ms. Brothers,

Mr. Bunstone, Mr. Burns arrived at 5:38 p.m., Mr. Lightfoot, Mr. MacKinnon, Mr. Paquin, Mr. Parker, Mr. Peck, Mr. Putman arrived at 5:41 p.m., Mr. Putney, Mr. Sutherland

Others Attending: Karen St. Hilaire, Ruth Doyle, Kelly Pearson, Kevin Felt, Chris Boulio, Mike Crowe, Mike Cunningham, Darren Colton, Toby Bogart, Chris Rediehs, Joe Gilbert, Deb Christy, and media representative, Martha Ellen – Watertown Daily Times

1. CALL TO ORDER AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA – Chair Morrill called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Ms. Brothers moved to approve the agenda, seconded by Mr. Bunstone, and carried.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Ms. Brothers moved to approve the August 27th Finance Committee Meeting minutes, seconded by Mr. Paquin, and carried. Ms. Brothers discussed changing the system we have been using for minutes. She would like to have the minutes posted digitally on line and the minutes taken by the Deputy Clerk could be a general composition of the meeting.

3. UPDATE FROM ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY TRAIL COORDINATOR – DEB CHRISTY – Ms. Christie handed out a copy of a land user information brochure, and she is open to suggestions on the brochure. She thanked the Board for all the support given to the Trails Committee. She said there has been an unbelievable amount of support for the trail system.

Mr. Burns arrived at 5:38 p.m.

4. HIGHWAY – TOBY BOGART

A. Abandoning Sections of County Highways, County Route 27, Town of Clare (Res) – Mr. Bunstone moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Ms. Brothers and Mr. Putney. Mr. Bogart said this is land that the County owns, and for liability sake, he is recommending it be abandoned it to the adjoining landowner.

Mr. Putman arrived at 5:41 p.m.

Mr. Parker asked if the landowner is a willing participant. Mr. Bogart said yes, he has spoken with them. Mr. Parker asked what the value of the property was. Mr. Bogart said no, it is just outside the Park and next to the wild and scenic waterway and a wetland, so the value of anybody being able to do anything with this property is very little.

Mr. Sutherland asked if the bridge was completed. Mr. Bogart said yes. Motion carried.

B. Abandoning Sections of County Highways, County Route 36, Town Of Louisville (Res) – Mr. Putney moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Bunstone. Mr. Bogart said it is a section of highway where there was a realignment of the County road. The section of land is now being used as a private driveway. There is also a large box culvert on this property that is in disrepair, and this is a liability. He said he is recommending it be abandoned and given to the adjacent landowner.

Mr. Akins asked if the landowner knew about the box culvert, and if he was in agreement with taking the culvert. Mr. Bogart said yes.

Mr. Parker asked the County Attorney if we would retain any residual liability from the culvert. Mr. Crowe said if the County no longer owns the culvert, we would not be responsible. Motion carried.

C. Authorizing the St. Lawrence County Department of Highways to Reallocate 2013 Capital Projects Appropriations (Res) – Mr. Peck moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Ms. Brothers and Mr. Parker. Mr. Bogart said due to a change in methodology the State Department of Transportation (DOT) is now pushing for preservation and away from replacement project. Mr. Bogart said he met with the DOT and it was determined to push out the Lazy River Road Bridge and they inserted two preservation projects in its place.

Mr. Burns asked if these two projects were selected by the State or if we selected them. Mr. Bogart said it was discussed and we selected them off the County’s priority list.

Ms. Brothers asked if this was going to cost more money. Mr. Bogart said no.

Mr. Morrill asked how long the Lazy River Road Bridge would be expected to last. Mr. Bogart said the risk is minimal. There are minor things we can do to prolong its life. Motion carried.

D. Approving Standard Federal Aid Highway and Marchiselli Aid Project Agreement for Preliminary Engineering and Right-of-Way (ROW) of Hewittville Road over Raquette River, BIN 3221650, PIN 775341 (Res) – Ms. Brothers moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Putney and Mr. Peck. Mr. Bogart said this is for preliminary engineering and right-of-was of the Hewittville Road over Raquette River. Motion carried.

5. REAL PROPERTY – DARREN COLTON

A. School/Village Corrections/Refunds Recommended to School/Village Boards December 2012 (Info) – Mr. Colton said there was one correction submitted by the Town of Gouverneur.

B. Correction of Errors (Info) – Mr. Colton said this is a correction of bills.

6. EMERGENCY SERVICES – JOE GILBERT

A. Modifying the 2013 Emergency Services Department Budget to roll over Unspent Grant Monies for Grants from New York State Office of Homeland Security (Res) (Info) (Note: the information following this resolution are copies of the three resolutions referenced in the first whereas.) – Mr. Parker moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Ms. Brothers. Mr. Gilbert said these are grants we have received, and we are asking for the unspent monies to be rolled over to the 2013 Budget. Motion carried.

B. Modifying the 2013 Office of Emergency Services Budget to roll over Unspent Funds from Reimbursement from SUNY Canton (Res) – Mr. Putman moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Lightfoot and Mr. MacKinnon. Mr. Gilbert said we received the funds from SUNY Canton three months ago, and $5,000 was to go into the SLC HazMat training funds and be rolled over to the 2013 Budget. Motion carried.

C. Modifying the 2013 Office of Emergency Services Budget to Accept Reimbursement from Kunoco Oil Company (Res) – Mr. Parker moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Ms. Brothers and Mr. Putman. Mr. Gilbert said Kunoco Oil Company had a truck roll over and the hazmat team responded. The Kunoco Oil Company reimbursed the costs incurred and this resolution allows the money to go to the hazmat emergency fund.

Mr. Parker asked if the County billed for and received the entire amount. Mr. Gilbert said this is exclusively for the County as the hazmat team was the ones to respond. Motion carried.

Mr. Parker complimented Mr. Gilbert on getting surplus food and water left over from Hurricane Sandy. Ms. St. Hilaire also congratulated Mr. Gilbert. She said he was able to accept 27,648 meals, and a truckload of bottled water with a shelf life of seven to nine years at no cost to the County.

Ms. Brothers asked where it is being stored. Mr. Gilbert said at the IDA in Potsdam. He said he could not have done it without the help of the Highway Department as they unloaded the items and stored them in the building. Ms. Brothers thanked Mr. Bogart and the Highway Department for their participation.

7. COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

A. Authorizing the Closure of a Capital Project for the St. Lawrence County Website Project and Moving Remaining Funds to the Board of Legislators Budget for the Website and Modifying The 2013 Board of Legislators Budget (Res) – Mr. Putman moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Ms. Brothers. Ms. Doyle said capital projects are kept open for five (5) years. There is $4,255.50 left, and we want to use this to finish up things we are doing with the website and identify with the Departments things they would like to see done.

Ms. Brothers asked who manages the website. Ms. Doyle said it is set up so it can be done internally by each department. Motion carried.

B. Encouraging and Supporting Governor Cuomo’s Proposal of Increasing the New York State Minimum Wage (Res) – Ms. Brothers moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Putman, Mr. Burns and Mr. Bunstone. Ms. Brothers said it is a hard decision to make regarding raising the minimum wage, but the people in St. Lawrence County are facing incredible increases in expenses. She said we need to take care of our citizens, and she supports it completely.

Mr. MacKinnon said when you raise minimum wage the company then has to raise the cost of its product. While it is a noble gesture, increasing the minimum wage will not decrease the plight.

Mr. Peck said he was concerned that the increase was by such a high percentage increase, but when he has checked with businesses in Gouverneur there were many that are already paying over $8 an hour now. Most did not seem to have complaints at the wage. He said he is going to support the resolution.

Mr. Lightfoot said he will not support this resolution. A twenty percent (20%) increase for companies is excessive. It has unintended consequences. He has talked to companies, and they say when the minimum wage is raised, wages of others working there who make more than minimum wage will also have to be adjusted. This in turn will have effects such as raising the price of the products or laying people off. He said this is not the answer. People with businesses can choose to pay their employees more, if they choose. He said this is not the time to do this considering the economic fix we are in.

Mr. Parker moved to amend the resolution to strike the fourth whereas, seconded by Mr. Bunstone and Mr. MacKinnon. Mr. Parker said the fourth and fifth whereas do not make sense.

Mr. Akins asked where this information came from. He said the statement seems haphazard unless printing money. Mr. Morrill said there are always multiplying factors. Mr. Akins said he understands that when producing something, but this is not bringing anything in.

Ms. Brothers said she requested this resolution, and she believes in it. She does not agree that raising the minimum wage will affect the small business man.

Mr. Putman called the question, seconded by Ms. Brothers and carried. Amendment carried.

Mr. Putman said generally when minimum wages are raised the fear of job loss is rarely realized. People at that end of that spectrum spend every penny they get so it does tend to put money back into the economy.

Mr. Morrill said he will support this.

Mr. Lightfoot said a no vote is not against people making minimum wage. He said people do deserve raises, but giving the circumstances, this is not the time.

Mr. Sutherland said he could support this in concept, but it seems bipartisan the way it is put out there. He would prefer it not have come from the Governor. Motion carried.

C. Resolution to Lease Space to the Children’s Home of Jefferson County (Res) – Mr. Putman moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Parker. Ms. St. Hilaire said the Children’s Home of Jefferson County has rented a number of cubicles over the years and are now expanding and need more space. They would like to move into the old IDA area. She said she discussed a lease amount with the Space Committee. It was determined because they are a not for profit organization, they would pay sixty-five percent (65%) of what the IDA was paying. They want to put up divider walls, but will return it to the original state when they vacate.

Mr. Burns asked what the reimbursement rate of the Department of Social Services is. Mr. Rediehs said the Children’s Home is contracting with the County, and they are paid based on the number of children in foster care, and the level of care needed. The reimbursement rate is set by the State. Mr. Burns asked what the going reimbursement rate was of other departments in Social Services. Mr. Rediehs said 62% in Children’s Services. It could be higher, depending on the funding available.

Mr. Peck asked if anyone has talked to the Children’s Home to see what kind of space they need, and if they wanted to be a part of the process.

Mr. MacKinnon said when the building was built State reimbursement for rent was more than County offices. Mr. Rediehs said we are allowed to charge maintenance in lieu of rent.

Mr. Lightfoot said he has seen the difficult condition the Department of Social Services people work under. The IDA gave a sixty (60) days notice and now three months that have gone by and rather than moving an agency that needs the space we are looking at farming out the space to an out of county agency. Mr. Morrill said the Space Committee and this Board has authorized Beardsley to do a space study. That is underway, and we want to make wise decisions, not fast decisions. Ms. St. Hilaire said there is a conference call with Beardsley on Wednesday. Mr. Lightfoot asked for information after the meeting. Mr. Cunningham said our needs changed during the budget season and we are moving cautiously. The data collection has been done; it is just a matter of putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Mr. Lightfoot said his concern is making the best moves in the best time practical. Mr. Morrill said there was a change in priorities during the budget season.

Mr. Putman said he agrees our first responsibility is to our employees, but the Children’s Home works hand in hand with Social Services. Motion carried.

D. Resolution to Evaluate Suggestions from the New York State Comptroller’s Office for Potential Savings for St. Lawrence County (Res) – Mr. Peck moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Parker. Ms. St. Hilaire said we met with members of the Comptroller’s Office, and this is resolution is to move forward to evaluate the potential savings.