Allegany County public safety committee approves state equipment MOU, backs opposition to proposed HIPAA updates and reviews Friendship apartment fire response

The Allegany County Public Safety Committee on Feb. 5 voted to draft a letter opposing proposed updates to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s Security Rule, approved a memorandum of understanding to accept state-owned flood-mitigation equipment, reviewed the county’s response to a multi-apartment fire in Friendship and approved several staffing fills and grant reappropriations.

Committee members voted unanimously to direct staff to prepare a letter — and consider a resolution for public comment — opposing proposed HIPAA Security Rule changes that committee members said would place heavy new technology and compliance burdens on volunteer emergency responders. "It's going to be a constraint to them as far as adding all of these layers that they're asking to do," said Bonnie Vanhausen, the county's Office of Emergency Services and EMS coordinator, describing how volunteers would face added costs and technical requirements.

The committee also approved an MOU with the New York State Office of Emergency Management and the Department of Homeland Security to accept flood-mitigation equipment. Under the agreement, the equipment remains state property but will be available for county use; committee members were told the county will be responsible for upkeep. Bonnie Vanhausen listed items included in the package: sandbaggers and 10,000 sandbags; 3-inch and 4-inch portable pumps with intake and discharge hoses; a sandbag trailer; 550-gallon water tankers; chainsaws; generators; a light tower; and a 3-line variable message sign board. The committee voted to forward a resolution to the full board authorizing acceptance and signature by the board chair because the MOU is with the state.

Committee members asked about storage and maintenance; Vanhausen said smaller items could be staged on an existing county trailer and the county was working with the Department of Public Works and some fire departments to arrange storage for larger pieces. She said costs to the county would be for maintenance and insurance; a committee member asked and was told the equipment would be covered by the county's insurance.

The committee reviewed the Jan. structure fire in Friendship. Vanhausen said multiple agencies responded: Sheriff Scott Ciccarello and the sheriff's department, 11 fire departments, 13 ambulances from eight ambulance services, and Red Cross volunteers. Kevin Waters, representing MTS, said the incident involved an 11-unit apartment building, resulted in many patients being triaged and treated quickly on scene and that those taken to hospital were released within hours. "We utilized the ICS command structure, which worked flawlessly for us," Waters said. Vanhausen said the Red Cross contacted every family and that by 10 p.m. most evacuees had shelter. Committee members were told the cause remained “undetermined” because of collapse and fire damage that made origin investigation difficult.

Separately, the committee heard that an EMS leadership class recommended in a recent county EMS study will be held locally with New York State trainers; Alleghany County invited neighboring counties to participate. Jennifer Ricketts Swails and others said they are pursuing a proposal to create a one- or two-year EMT and first-responder training program through regional BOCES and local colleges; committee members discussed coordinating a possible resolution of support with counterparts in neighboring Cattaraugus County.

The committee approved several grant reappropriations and applications to spend previously awarded funds and seek new grants: reappropriation for SHSP 22 ($3,170.7 reported in the packet), SHSP 23 ($20,288), and EMPG 23 ($5,319 of $21,003.54 remaining). Members also approved resolution requests to apply for the New York Care Sub Sustainability Grant and the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services Program Development and Equipment Grant (amount to be determined).

On staffing, the committee approved a request to fill two vacant full-time corrections officer positions and a vacant corrections sergeant position (the sergeant slot was vacated by an internal promotion). The committee also approved the conflict defender's request to hire a full-time secretary; the position was reported as 100% funded by the State of New York. Several legislators questioned line-item presentation of salaries and fringe benefits; county staff said the positions are budgeted and committed.

The sheriff's office gave an update noting statewide concerns raised at a winter sheriffs' conference about cross-border narcotics (fentanyl) and suspected foreign fighters arriving via northern ports of entry; Sheriff Ciccarello flagged the northern border and fentanyl as top concerns. The sheriff also brought radio staff to brief the committee on a multi-county radio modernization effort.

Radio supervisors said the county is finishing a radio replacement rollout for local police agencies and is joining a multi-county upgrade with Steuben, Schuyler and Chemung counties to modernize the system's "cores" so sites can fail over between counties. The project will also add antennas to bring police and highway channels from 7 towers to 14 towers to improve coverage, replace two or three aging towers and install prefabricated, weather-rated equipment shelters. The county said it had just received additional grant funding described in the meeting as "somewhere between 8 and $900,000" to advance those projects; staff said a kickoff meeting with Motorola is scheduled to finalize equipment and timeline. Radio staff said the upgrades will benefit fire, EMS, police and highway communications and allow shared maintenance and cost-splitting across counties.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of minutes (Jan. 2, 2025) — carried. - Conflict Defender: approval to fill full-time secretary (100% state-funded) — carried. - MOU with New York State Office of Emergency Management to accept flood-mitigation equipment — carried; requires full-board resolution and signature by the board chair. - SHSP 22 reappropriation ($3,170.7 reported) — carried. - SHSP 23 reappropriation ($20,288) — carried. - EMPG 23 reappropriation ($5,319 of $21,003.54) — carried. - Request to fill two corrections officer positions — carried. - Request to fill corrections sergeant position — carried. - Approval to apply for New York Care Sub Sustainability Grant — carried. - Approval to apply for NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services Program Development and Equipment Grant — carried.

The committee closed with announcements about a proposed public information specialist position for emergency incidents and an upcoming executive session on a public-safety-sensitive matter. No further public business was conducted after the executive session notice.