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Committee approves grant‑funded staff for state lead rental registry in Newburgh and Middletown
Summary
The committee approved creation of four grant-funded Health Department positions to implement New York State’s lead rental registry in two designated communities of concern — the City of Newburgh and the City of Middletown — and amended the request to make explicit that the positions will terminate when the grant ends.
The Personnel & Compensation Committee on March 17 approved four positions requested by the Orange County Health Department to staff implementation of a New York State lead rental registry covering two designated “communities of concern” — the City of Newburgh and the City of Middletown.
The packet described the positions as: one data program coordinator (grade 13, step 2; CSCA entry rate $33.6493 per hour; $69,990.54 annually), one senior public health sanitarian (grade 15, step 2; $39.04 per hour; $81,221.71 annually) and two public health technicians (grade 11, step 2; $29.68 per hour; $61,736.90 annually). The sponsor said all four positions are funded entirely through the New York State lead rental registry grant (legislative request 057) and that the grant term is five years.
The department explained the state law creating the registry as “Public Health Law 13 77” in the packet and described the department’s required tasks: outreach to landlords and tenants, registration of affected rental units built before 1980 with more than two rental units, annual inspections, and auditing 10% of inspections each year. The presenters said the software registry is scheduled to go live in November and that the county must do preparatory outreach and coordination with municipal building and code enforcement offices ahead of rollout.
Committee members asked whether the program duplicates existing local efforts. Staff said the registry is distinct from the county’s lead‑abatement programs (including the CLIP Plus program), though local programs will work in parallel to identify and remediate hazards. Committee members also asked about RUPCO’s role: presenters said RUPCO will administer a separate “Leading and Lead” grant program that will allow qualifying landlords to apply for up to $40,000 per unit for remediation; RUPCO is not the county inspection agency.
Legislators asked for clarity about geographic selection; staff said the state designated Newburgh and Middletown as communities of concern based on historical data about elevated pediatric blood lead levels and that the county did not make that selection. A deputy explained the state anticipates roughly 8,200 units in the two zip codes will fall into the registry with the county responsible for auditing 10% of inspections.
The committee approved an amendment to the request to explicitly state the positions are grant-funded and will terminate when grant funding ends. The amended request then passed on a recorded voice vote. The packet indicated the grant provides $728,600 per year for five years (approximately $3.5 million total). Presenters said the program is meant to reduce lead exposure through registration, inspection, outreach and facilitating remediation funding for landlords who apply.
