Votes at a glance: Ulster County committee approves multiple public‑safety grants, contracts and SRO expansion
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Summary
At its Feb. 5 meeting the Law Enforcement & Public Safety Committee adopted a slate of resolutions to accept grants, amend contracts and add a school resource officer, including homeland security grants, flood equipment allocations and several vendor contracts.
The Ulster County Legislature’s Law Enforcement & Public Safety Committee adopted a series of resolutions Feb. 5 covering federal/state public‑safety grants, vendor contracts and a school resource officer agreement. Committee members approved resolutions 56 through 66 by voice vote; the transcript records adoption but does not include roll‑call tallies.
Highlights
- Resolution 63: The committee authorized the chair to execute an agreement with the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (SHSP) and amended the 2025 budget to accept the State Homeland Security Program grant. Director Erickson said SHSP funding is directed by the state for categories including public health preparedness personnel, cybersecurity/access control and law enforcement equipment; he noted the sheriff’s office plans to submit for UAS (drone) equipment. A committee member asked whether the state funds originate with the federal Department of Homeland Security; Erickson said most grants are federal pass‑throughs to the state and, at the time of discussion, the state had not identified this grant for cuts.
- Resolution 64: Authorized participation in the Local Emergency Management Performance Grant (LEMPG) FFY2024; Erickson said the grant is used for the salaries of emergency management staff.
- Resolution 65: Approved acceptance of New York State flood mitigation equipment allocations (sandbags, pumps, trailers, message boards and related equipment). Erickson said the state distributed equipment lists to municipalities and the items are intended to enable local mitigation work ahead of requests for additional state assets.
- Resolution 66: Approved a $54,783.60 contract with Motorola Solutions Inc. for yearly maintenance of the county microwave system that supports the radio and backup phone systems.
- Resolution 56: Authorized an agreement with the Division of Criminal Justice Services to fund a full‑time sexual assault victim advocate placed at SUNY Ulster and SUNY New Paltz to provide services and education to college students; the grant supplements the advocate’s salary.
- Resolution 57: Approved a contract amendment of $24,146.36 to Catalyst Courts and Land Records LLC to extend the county probation case management system for another year (aggregate now in excess of $50,000).
- Resolution 58: Authorized an amendment to the agreement with Onteora Central School District to provide one additional deputy sheriff as a school resource officer (SRO); Undersheriff Mullins said the deputy would be fully reimbursed by the district and that assigned SROs receive state SRO certification.
- Resolution 59: Amended the 2025 operating budget to purchase the Oracle Cordata Care Coordination solution for the county’s overdose response tracking (amount not specified in the committee transcript); sheriff’s staff said the purchase is reimbursed by grant funding.
- Resolution 60: Approved a $20,404 contract amendment to IDEMIA Identity and Security USA LLC (LiveScan fingerprint system), bringing the aggregate to more than $50,000. A legislator asked whether the system includes facial recognition; Undersheriff Mullins responded, “It’s fingerprints only.”
- Resolution 61: Approved a $24,705 contract amendment with OCV LLC for the sheriff’s department website and mobile app services (aggregate exceeds $50,000), including hosting and updates.
- Resolution 62: Approved an $89,831 contract with Black Creek Integrated Systems Corp. for the county jail management system, a yearly subscription that county staff described as central to jail operations and safety.
Committee action on each resolution was recorded as adopted by voice vote in the transcript; individual roll‑call tallies are not recorded in the committee minutes provided to the transcript.
