Chemung County committees approve packages of contracts, grants and staffing changes; sewer rate differences and Trinity funding discussed

Committees of the Chemung County Legislature met in a sequence of standing-committee sessions and approved a package of resolutions covering airport contracts, building and grounds procurement, public-safety grant acceptances, health- and social-services contracts, public-works contracts and multiple central-services and sewer-district items.

The votes, taken across several committee hearings, approved acceptance of state grants, purchase agreements for information-technology equipment and services, multiple change orders on sewer projects, procurement awards for county public works and contracts for social-service providers. Committee chairs called for the grouped roll-call approvals and the motions carried by voice vote each time the items were presented.

Why it matters: The grouped approvals move forward county contracting, capital projects and staffing changes that touch multiple departments — from the Elmira/Corning Regional Airport and the Department of Public Works to the Department of Health and the Chemung County Sewer Districts. Several discussions accompanying those approvals flagged budget shifts, revenue sources and a multi-year plan to consolidate sewer districts that will affect rates in coming years.

What passed (selected items reported and approved by committee)

- Aviation Committee: a resolution to extend a short-term agreement related to the Elmira/Corning Regional Airport; a resolution rejecting all bids received for RFB 26-39 and authorizing re-advertisement for those bids. Both motions were approved by voice vote.

- Buildings and Grounds Committee: a resolution declaring certain county-owned property surplus; a resolution extending agreements with multiple vendors for lumber, HVAC supplies and building materials for the Department of Buildings and Grounds. Both motions passed by voice vote.

- Law Enforcement / Public Safety: a package of resolutions accepting grant funding from New York State agencies on behalf of county public-safety offices, authorizing agreements with landscaping and emergency-management vendors, and applying for Office of Indigent Legal Services funding for defender/advocate services. The package was approved by voice vote.

- Health and Human Services Committee: resolutions confirming appointments to the county Board of Health and Human Services panels; authorizing agreements for coroner services (including an agreement naming Megan Westervelt, DO); an agreement with Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations for Department of Health work; a resolution approving an increase in fees for certified documents and genealogy records; and multiple agreements with social-service providers, including Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse (doing business as Trinity) and Catholic Charities. The committee approved the items by voice vote.

- Highway and Public Works Committee: award of a bid to Dalrymple Grama & Contracting for a public-works contract and extension of agreements with local towing/roadside vendors on behalf of the Sheriff’s Office and DPW. Both motions carried by voice vote.

- Multi-Services (central services, planning, transit and sewer) Committee: the committee considered 25 grouped resolutions. Notable approvals included: calling a public hearing for the county agricultural district open enrollment; purchase and amendment agreements for central-services vendors (Toshiba, Staples, Xerox and others); acceptance and application for New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation water/green-infrastructure and green-innovation grant programs for the Chemung County Sewer Districts and the Planning Department; change orders and purchase orders for sewer projects (Vackerick Construction, Insituform Technologies, Larson Design Group and others); designation of Trojan Technologies as a sole-source provider for the sewer districts; amendment of the 2024 capital plan and the establishment of new scales of charges for Chemung County Sewer District No. 1. The grouped resolutions were approved by voice vote.

- Personnel Committee: resolutions confirming appointments to the county jury board and property development board and amending staffing plans for the Department of Health and the Department of Social Services. The committee approved the items by voice vote.

Votes and procedure: In most committees the chair read grouped items, a legislator moved, another seconded, and the committee approved by voice vote with “aye” recorded and no roll-call tallies provided in the transcript. Where a motion and second were named in the record, those names are recorded in the official minutes; where not, the transcript records only “so moved,” “second,” and the voice vote result.

Discussion highlights recorded alongside the votes

- Trinity funding: During the Health and Human Services Committee review of social-services agreements, a legislator said, “I noticed that the budget for Trinity was down by about $300,000. Is that because there's less money to go around, or is that because there hasn't been, thankfully, as much of a need?” A county staff member replied they would need to review details but noted the budget reduction reflected elimination of an adolescent drug- and alcohol-counselor position and a recent state aid communication indicating a cut of roughly $200,000–$300,000. Staff said the state offered the option to revert funds to opioid-specific funding or another state payment stream; the county recommended using opioid funds in that instance. The staff member said the state notice arrived about three weeks earlier.

- Sewer rates and consolidation timeline: In the Multi-Services committee a legislator raised a difference between rates in Chemung County Sewer District No. 1 (reported as $117.75 per year for 60,000 gallons in the discussion) and the Elmira district (reported as about $48.93 for the same usage). County staff explained that differences stem from assumed water use and from Elmira’s access to additional revenue streams that offset customer charges. Staff said Sewer District No. 1 receives revenue from septage acceptance at the Milton Street facility (fats, oils and grease and other hauled waste) and now receives industrial surcharges from a local high-strength discharger; those revenues will help offset costs for Sewer District No. 1 going forward. On consolidation, staff said earlier consolidation was delayed because grant applications and cash-flow needs were prioritized; they now expect financing closing possibly by the end of 2026, but more likely in early 2027, with consolidation work targeted for 2027.

- Route-slip and agenda timing: The legislature’s route-slip and resolution timing policy was discussed. The change under consideration would move committee agendas to be distributed on Wednesdays (allowing more time for review) and require route slips for standing committees to be submitted with 17 days’ lead time. Purchasing staff requested implementation be delayed until July because of active bids that would be affected.

What was not decided: The transcript records voice approvals of the grouped items but does not include detailed roll-call tallies for individual resolutions, specific vendor names for some airport or procurement actions (vendor names were sometimes garbled in the transcript), nor precise ordinance or resolution numbers for every item beyond the committee numbering. Where the transcript did not list a specific figure or vendor, the minutes record that detail as not specified.

Ending note: Committee chairs adjourned after completing the grouped votes; follow-up staff reports and formal minutes will contain the full text of each approved agreement, final resolution numbers and any contract exhibits.