Schenectady County legislature reports a slate of grant acceptances, equipment purchases and staffing changes to the floor

Schenectady County legislators on March 3 reported a package of routine resolutions to the full legislature after brief committee consideration, including acceptance of several state grants for housing support and public safety, capital budget amendments for Department of Public Works equipment, and contracts for crash-scene and body‑camera data services.

The most substantial awards included a $250,480 grant from the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) for a shelter-arrears eviction forestallment program and two grants from the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES): a competitive $609,599 award to maintain the county radio system and a $175,533 noncompetitive award for public-safety dispatch personnel costs. DSS Commissioner Brandy Hillard Bowden told the Health, Housing and Human Services committee the OTDA funds will be run by SCAP and “is to prevent evictions, people from being evicted in the city of Schenectady.”

The Legislature’s public-safety committee also moved several items supporting emergency response. Kevin Spahn, director of the county’s Unified Communications 9‑1‑1 Center, described the DHSES radio grant as covering maintenance of the radio system. The committee additionally accepted a $10,000 grant from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services for search-and-rescue equipment and moved a 10‑year agreement option with Axon Enterprises for criminal discovery services related to body-worn camera data; the Axon item was described as a cloud-based solution for the district attorney’s office to obtain footage for court proceedings.

Other committee actions included a three‑year agreement with Faro Technologies to provide software and equipment used by the sheriff’s crash-scene investigations unit; the chair reported the county saved 27% by extending the contract to three years. The Public Works director, Paul Sheldon, asked the Public Facilities, Transportation and Infrastructure committee for an additional $10,000 toward a tandem snow‑plow truck and $25,000 for a post‑pounder used in guide‑rail installation, citing higher chassis and parts costs.

In personnel and staffing matters the Legislature’s labor committee authorized extending pay increases previously adopted for the public defender’s office to the county conflict defender’s office and approved a staffing reorganization in the County Attorney’s Office that splits a deputy county-attorney slot into two part-time positions and adjusts assistant county-attorney pay to match recent bargaining outcomes, County Attorney Chris Gardner said.

Smaller program acceptances reported to the floor included a $70,000 Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) grant to fund a part‑time nurse to support families affected by substance use disorders, a $25,000 OCFS award for foster-parent recruitment and legal-guardianship outreach, and an $800 Office for the Aging stipend to support Catholic Charities’ volunteer Medicare counseling program.

The Tourism, Arts and Special Events committee authorized a license agreement for the county’s annual children’s fishing derby, scheduled for May 10. The county also moved a Ways and Means item correcting clerical errors on the municipal tax roll for the Town of Glenville and approved a lease agreement for a replacement postage machine with Quadient Leasing USA.

All items were reported out of committee to the full Legislature for floor consideration; committee chairs indicated unanimous voice approval at the committee level or moved the items to the floor. No final votes adopting ordinances or resolutions were recorded in the committee transcripts provided.

Votes at a glance

- CJCA 1 — Resolution establishing election worker compensation rates (baseline poll worker pay increased from $250 to $255; chair and voting-machine specialist pay increased from $270 to $275; Spanish translator stipend adjusted). Outcome: reported to the floor in committee. - HHHS 4 — Acceptance of $250,480 from OTDA for a shelter arrears/eviction forestallment program (administered by SCAP). Outcome: reported to the floor. - HHHS 5 — Acceptance of $70,000 from OCFS to fund a part‑time nurse for substance‑use case coordination and plans of safe care. Outcome: reported to the floor. - HHHS 6 — Acceptance of $25,000 from OCFS for foster-parent recruitment and related outreach. Outcome: reported to the floor. - HHS 3 — Acceptance of $800 from NYSOFA for Health Insurance Information Counseling & Assistance (contract with Catholic Charities). Outcome: reported to the floor. - LCS 6 — Authorization to extend the same pay increases from the Public Defender’s Office to the Conflict Defender’s Office. Outcome: reported to the floor. - LCS 7 — Salary adjustments and position reclassifications in the County Attorney’s Office (split one deputy slot into two part‑time roles; assistant attorney adjustment). Outcome: reported to the floor. - Public Facilities item — Capital budget amendment: additional $10,000 for a tandem snow plow truck and $25,000 for a post pounder (DPW). Outcome: reported to the floor. - PS 2 — Agreement with Faro Technologies for crash‑scene software and equipment (three‑year term). Outcome: reported to the floor. - PS 3 — Acceptance of $10,000 from DCJS for public‑safety search and rescue equipment. Outcome: reported to the floor. - PS 4 — Acceptance of $609,599 (competitive) from DHSES for radio-system maintenance. Outcome: reported to the floor. - PS 5 — Acceptance of $175,533 from DHSES for public‑safety dispatch personnel costs. Outcome: reported to the floor. - PS 6 — Agreement option with Axon Enterprises (criminal discovery services for DA; 10‑year). Outcome: reported to the floor. - TASE 1 — License agreements for the county fishing derby (partners listed). Outcome: reported to the floor. - WAM 4 — Lease agreement with Quadient Leasing USA for a postal machine. Outcome: reported to the floor. - WAM 5 — Resolution correcting clerical errors on the Glenville municipal tax roll under state real‑property law. Outcome: reported to the floor.

What happened next and what to watch

Committee chairs moved the items to the full Legislature for consideration; the committee transcripts record committee-level reporting and unanimous committee voice approval in most cases. Items that involve state grant funding (OTDA, OCFS, DHSES, DCJS) and contract agreements (Faro, Axon, Quadient) will return to the full Legislature for final action and appropriation on the floor calendar. Funding that will be administered through third parties (for example, SCAP administering the eviction‑forestallment funds) was described in committee but did not include implementation details beyond the administering agency and basic eligibility criteria described in committee remarks.

Sources: Committee transcripts, Schenectady County Legislature committee presentations and remarks by Commissioners Brandy Hillard Bowden, Laura Franck, Darlene Harris, Paul Sheldon, Kevin Spahn, County Attorney Chris Gardner, County Manager Rory Fluman, and Purchasing Agent Tom Bellick.