Lowville, NY- The Lewis County Board of Legislators held their July meeting
last evening, with nine of ten legislators present. Legislator Bryan Moser was
absent. The meeting opened with public hearings to solicit public opinion on
applying for a $200,000 Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) for a
Community Block Development Grant (CDBG) for the County's small business
loan program, applying for a CDBG grant up to $850,000 for housing
rehabilitation, and adding a section of property in the Town of Diana managed by
the Molpus Woodlands Group to the Lewis County ATV trail system. There were
no public comments on any of the three topics.
Highlights from the meeting include:
- Sheriff Michael Carpinelli opened the public comment portion of the meeting
with a plea to legislators to take action on opposing any attempts to legalize
recreational marijuana use in New York State. The Sheriff said that if the
State should legalize such use, he would like the County to be ahead of the
issue and see if there is anything that can be done at the local level to
prevent any potential changed law from being in effect for Lewis County.
You can see the Sheriff's comments here.
- The Board approved hiring Matthew O'Connor as the next Buildings and
Grounds Supervisor at an annual salary of $59,160. The vote was 8-1, with
Legislator Greg Kulzer opposed. Legislator Kulzer expressed his
displeasure with the hiring process. A discussion on the process then took
place, which can be seen here.
- The Board recognized the contributions of recently retired Buildings and
Grounds Supervisor Frank Archer with a proclamation.
- The Board accepted the resignation of the Industrial Development Agency
Board President Craig Brennan, and appointed Lewis County General
Hospital CEO Gerald Cayer as a member of the IDA Board of Directors.
- A bid to paint the exterior of the old court house building was awarded to
Cedarcrest Construction, LLC, of Lowville, in the amount of $34,615.
- Legislator Richard Chartrand, who is the Board's representative on the
Lewis County General Hospital Board of Managers, notified the board
members that the hospital has established a policy creating their own fund
balance. The policy calls for the hospital to keep two months of operating
expenses in the fund balance. An initial amount of $13.6 million has been
put into the account, with the figure to be reviewed each December.
- The legislators approved a resolution urging the Governor to convene the
NYS Legislature into a special session to address outstanding home rule
matters, including a residency waiver for Lewis County's part-time Assistant
District Attorney. They also approved a resolution urging the Governor and
Legislature to enact state sales tax law reforms to keep pace with current
consumer marketplaces and technology.
- A late resolution was passed, appropriating $8,100 from the contingency
fund for the purchase of ballistic vests for the Sheriff's office.
- The Board approved moving the August 7th meeting to 9 AM to
accommodate the Employee Appreciation Picnic.
Full video from the meeting is included below:
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