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Ulster County adds public health technician and targets 5,000 rental units in lead registry program
Summary
The Health, Human Services & Human Rights Committee approved a budget amendment to add a public health technician funded by a five-year state grant to support a lead rental registry focused on Kingston ZIP code properties built before 1980, covering an estimated 5,000 units.
The Ulster County Legislature's Health, Human Services & Human Rights Committee voted June 5 to amend the 2025 county budget to create a public health technician position for the state-funded lead rental registry program.
Director Walter, Department of Health, told the committee the program is a five-year state grant focused in Kingston because the state identified the ZIP code as high-need. "It's expected it's over 5,000 of these units," Director Walter said, referring to rental units that meet the registry criteria.
The registry targets buildings built before 1980 with more than one address, which the county uses as a proxy for rental occupancy. Director Walter said the county initially budgeted for two technicians but decided three are required to carry out the expected inspection workload. "We had only put 2 in the original budget, so this is a... it's all covered by the grant," she said.
The county plans to work with the City of Kingston's building inspection staff to coordinate inspections and train identified city inspectors to use the lead screening device the county purchased. Director Walter said the screening machines have lower radiation and the vendor will provide training to county technicians and designated Kingston staff.
Committee members said the program is intended to be proactive, identifying potential lead hazards before a child tests positive. Legislator Kitchen described the program as a way to "get out ahead of it" rather than wait for pediatric screenings through doctors, which typically focus on much younger children.
The committee voted to adopt the budget amendment. The change is funded entirely by the state grant and carries no additional county cost. Implementation steps described in the meeting include scheduling vendor training, deploying three technicians to perform inspections, and establishing coordination channels with Kingston's inspection staff for remediation referrals.
The county will also coordinate with REPCO, which has received remediation funding, to develop options for addressing identified lead hazards. Director Walter said the county will assess remediation needs and funding shortfalls at the end of the contract if houses cannot be located or remediated within the contract period.
The program is scheduled to begin training and fieldwork as vendor availability allows and to proceed through the five-year grant term.
