County forms ethics commission
NORWICH – In a rare move, Chenango County Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard B. Decker, R-N. Norwich, called for a motion before the full board on Monday that would expedite the creation of an ethics commission.
The county’s ethics law is dated 1990, and in order to update it, Safety & Rules Committee Chairman Janice O’Shea was poised to take up the matter at a meeting this month.
While the county is currently being audited by the New York State Comptroller’s Office due to an “ethics oversight,” Decker has repeatedly said it did not concern any issue before the board and was “routine.”
However, Decker’s suggested list came following a nearly 40-minute executive session prompted by a request from Natural Gas Committee Chairman Peter C. Flanagan to discuss “offers on county land.” While the particulars of the discussion were kept private, Flanagan has informed members of his committee and the Ag, Buildings and Grounds Committee that Norse Energy Inc. would be making a compulsory integration or leasing offer for a pipeline easement on county-owned land at Preston Manor. The gas committee has proposed changing a current county law that, they say, prohibits taxpayers from taking advantage of a source of income.
The board chairman came prepared with a list of three names, two from the county’s business community and one representing the board. He also directed the Safety and Rules Committee to return in a month with a recommendation concerning the hiring of the county’s appointed natural gas consultant.
The consultant, Preston businessman Steven Palmatier, was officially appointed in September; however controversy surrounding his personal relationship with the natural gas company Norse Energy Inc. have impeded a contract resolution between his own counsel and Chenango County Attorney Richard E. Breslin. At issue appears to be specific wording in the contract that would prohibit Palmatier from talking to energy companies or pipeline developers in the scope of his duties.
Decker’s list was in response to one offered and put into a motion by Town of Smyrna Supervisor James Bays. The Smyrna supervisor offered five names of individuals whom he thought should be contacted to serve, and made a motion to form a temporary commission that would expedite the consultant’s hiring.
“We’ve been waiting on Rich forever,” Bays said, referring to county attorney Richard Breslin. “We’ve needed an ethics committee for five years. We need to create a temporary commission to expedite and resolve the issues dealing with the official hiring of our consultant. We need to do this at the board level now, not through committee, and remove the county attorney from this matter,” he said.
Bays’ motion died for lack of a second.
Oxford Supervisor Lawrence Wilcox moved Decker’s motion. It was seconded by Pharsalia Supervisor Dennis Brown. During discussion, Brown supported the committee system process and pointed out that the county’s attorney “can’t be circumvented” in the process.
“Whatever the ethics committee decides comes back here to the board,” said Brown.
Supervisor Flanagan asked the county’s attorney to define the commission’s responsibility. Breslin said it makes recommendations only.
“Ultimately, the board has the authority to make the decision,” said Breslin.
Prior to the vote, Safety and Rules Committee Chairman Janice O’Shea and City of Norwich Supervisor Linda E. Natoli suggested not limiting the commission to three individuals, and combining Bay’s and Decker’s names to form it. Breslin said only three were needed to form the commission.
Town of New Berlin Supervisor Ross Iannello, who supported Decker’s suggestion and the motion on the floor, said Safety & Rules Committee should address the issue “immediately.”
“We need to contact these individuals and initiate the process, or we are going to lose an opportunity to take advantage of our unofficial consultant’s expertise,” he said.
Decker suggested former NBT board chairman and longtime banking executive Daryl Forsythe, Peter Kwaznik, owner of Service Pharmacy drug stores, and Town of Pitcher Supervisor Jeffrey Blanchard.
In a weighted vote count, Decker’s motion passed 1,482 to 735 with 143 absent and Supervisor Blanchard abstaining.
2010 budget
A public hearing on the 2010 Chenango County budget will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 1 in the County Office Building on Court Street in Norwich. In a discussion of the budget, Finance Committee Chairman Lawrence Wilcox, R-Oxford, said the committee’s budgeting task was “the most difficult in 12 years.”
Wilcox said departmental directors had been “diligent in not asking for things they don’t need which made the decisions even more difficult.”
But applying surplus, $340,000 more than the usual $1 million, isn’t sustainable over the long term, he said. Supervisors and department directors will be directed to cut expenses, including personnel.
“The sky isn’t falling, but we have to hold the line and stay within the limits of what we can pay,” said Wilcox.
The county used Consolidated Highway Improvement Program funds to shelter the levy and “to rob Peter to pay Paul,” said Supervisor Brown, who also serves as vice chairman of the finance committee. Brown suggested cutting staff, creating a shorter work week, and consolidating departments.
Supervisor Flanagan expressed disappointment with the board for not raising tipping fees at the landfill. “Our plan would have shaved $400,000 of the levy. I hope that the board would think of this in the future and reconsider that,” he said.
The county is also counting on farming in revenues to be higher than they were this year despite only $400,000 taken in this year versus more than $1 million in 2008. Brown said the county’s sheriff “feels confident that he can bring the numbers back up.”
Also at the meeting, Town of Plymouth Supervisor Jerry Kreiner objected to using drug forfeiture proceeds to pay the salaries of two employees within the District Attorney’s office. The DA’s office requested the transfer when it was discovered that grant revenue from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services for 2009 would be insufficient to pay the salaries for the remaining two months of the year.
Kreiner said board policy established years ago called for positions created by grants to be “starred” and subsequently terminated once grants were depleted.
“We’re doing this just because there’s only two months left of the year? The next time it’s going to be six months, a year, two years. The funds are gone, so should the position,” said Kreiner.
Nevertheless, after the day’s second weighted vote count on a resolution, it carried 1281 to 977 with 143 abstained.
The county’s ethics law is dated 1990, and in order to update it, Safety & Rules Committee Chairman Janice O’Shea was poised to take up the matter at a meeting this month.
While the county is currently being audited by the New York State Comptroller’s Office due to an “ethics oversight,” Decker has repeatedly said it did not concern any issue before the board and was “routine.”
However, Decker’s suggested list came following a nearly 40-minute executive session prompted by a request from Natural Gas Committee Chairman Peter C. Flanagan to discuss “offers on county land.” While the particulars of the discussion were kept private, Flanagan has informed members of his committee and the Ag, Buildings and Grounds Committee that Norse Energy Inc. would be making a compulsory integration or leasing offer for a pipeline easement on county-owned land at Preston Manor. The gas committee has proposed changing a current county law that, they say, prohibits taxpayers from taking advantage of a source of income.
The board chairman came prepared with a list of three names, two from the county’s business community and one representing the board. He also directed the Safety and Rules Committee to return in a month with a recommendation concerning the hiring of the county’s appointed natural gas consultant.
The consultant, Preston businessman Steven Palmatier, was officially appointed in September; however controversy surrounding his personal relationship with the natural gas company Norse Energy Inc. have impeded a contract resolution between his own counsel and Chenango County Attorney Richard E. Breslin. At issue appears to be specific wording in the contract that would prohibit Palmatier from talking to energy companies or pipeline developers in the scope of his duties.
Decker’s list was in response to one offered and put into a motion by Town of Smyrna Supervisor James Bays. The Smyrna supervisor offered five names of individuals whom he thought should be contacted to serve, and made a motion to form a temporary commission that would expedite the consultant’s hiring.
“We’ve been waiting on Rich forever,” Bays said, referring to county attorney Richard Breslin. “We’ve needed an ethics committee for five years. We need to create a temporary commission to expedite and resolve the issues dealing with the official hiring of our consultant. We need to do this at the board level now, not through committee, and remove the county attorney from this matter,” he said.
Bays’ motion died for lack of a second.
Oxford Supervisor Lawrence Wilcox moved Decker’s motion. It was seconded by Pharsalia Supervisor Dennis Brown. During discussion, Brown supported the committee system process and pointed out that the county’s attorney “can’t be circumvented” in the process.
“Whatever the ethics committee decides comes back here to the board,” said Brown.
Supervisor Flanagan asked the county’s attorney to define the commission’s responsibility. Breslin said it makes recommendations only.
“Ultimately, the board has the authority to make the decision,” said Breslin.
Prior to the vote, Safety and Rules Committee Chairman Janice O’Shea and City of Norwich Supervisor Linda E. Natoli suggested not limiting the commission to three individuals, and combining Bay’s and Decker’s names to form it. Breslin said only three were needed to form the commission.
Town of New Berlin Supervisor Ross Iannello, who supported Decker’s suggestion and the motion on the floor, said Safety & Rules Committee should address the issue “immediately.”
“We need to contact these individuals and initiate the process, or we are going to lose an opportunity to take advantage of our unofficial consultant’s expertise,” he said.
Decker suggested former NBT board chairman and longtime banking executive Daryl Forsythe, Peter Kwaznik, owner of Service Pharmacy drug stores, and Town of Pitcher Supervisor Jeffrey Blanchard.
In a weighted vote count, Decker’s motion passed 1,482 to 735 with 143 absent and Supervisor Blanchard abstaining.
2010 budget
A public hearing on the 2010 Chenango County budget will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 1 in the County Office Building on Court Street in Norwich. In a discussion of the budget, Finance Committee Chairman Lawrence Wilcox, R-Oxford, said the committee’s budgeting task was “the most difficult in 12 years.”
Wilcox said departmental directors had been “diligent in not asking for things they don’t need which made the decisions even more difficult.”
But applying surplus, $340,000 more than the usual $1 million, isn’t sustainable over the long term, he said. Supervisors and department directors will be directed to cut expenses, including personnel.
“The sky isn’t falling, but we have to hold the line and stay within the limits of what we can pay,” said Wilcox.
The county used Consolidated Highway Improvement Program funds to shelter the levy and “to rob Peter to pay Paul,” said Supervisor Brown, who also serves as vice chairman of the finance committee. Brown suggested cutting staff, creating a shorter work week, and consolidating departments.
Supervisor Flanagan expressed disappointment with the board for not raising tipping fees at the landfill. “Our plan would have shaved $400,000 of the levy. I hope that the board would think of this in the future and reconsider that,” he said.
The county is also counting on farming in revenues to be higher than they were this year despite only $400,000 taken in this year versus more than $1 million in 2008. Brown said the county’s sheriff “feels confident that he can bring the numbers back up.”
Also at the meeting, Town of Plymouth Supervisor Jerry Kreiner objected to using drug forfeiture proceeds to pay the salaries of two employees within the District Attorney’s office. The DA’s office requested the transfer when it was discovered that grant revenue from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services for 2009 would be insufficient to pay the salaries for the remaining two months of the year.
Kreiner said board policy established years ago called for positions created by grants to be “starred” and subsequently terminated once grants were depleted.
“We’re doing this just because there’s only two months left of the year? The next time it’s going to be six months, a year, two years. The funds are gone, so should the position,” said Kreiner.
Nevertheless, after the day’s second weighted vote count on a resolution, it carried 1281 to 977 with 143 abstained.
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