Chemung County Legislature approves multiple vendor, social‑service and sewer resolutions; rejects Flash Parking contract for airport lots

The Chemung County Legislature on March 10 approved a package of resolutions covering advertising, social‑service contracts, grant applications, provider agreements and sewer‑district hearings and approved bonding for airport improvements, while rejecting a separate award for parking‑collection software at the Elmira Corning Regional Airport.

Key outcomes: The legislature combined and passed multiple resolutions (Nos. 25‑1‑24 through 25‑1‑30 and 25‑1‑31 through 25‑1‑45) authorizing vendor agreements, social‑service provider contracts and state and federal grant applications; it also passed a resolution authorizing up to $1,036,000 in bonds for anticipated airport improvements (Resolution 25‑1‑50). A separate resolution to award a contract to Flash Parking Inc. for airport parking software (Resolution 25‑1‑49) failed after debate and a roll‑call vote.

The contested vote: Legislators raised questions about the $303,000 software purchase associated with the airport parking operation and whether grants or the existing parking contractor should cover collection tools. Mr. Smith urged more information and said he would vote no; Mr. Sweet recommended exploring state airport improvement grants before committing county funds. After debate, the legislature approved the other two information‑technology/parking‑related resolutions in the batch but rejected Resolution 25‑1‑49 (the Flash Parking award).

Other approved items included agreements with the Chemung County Child Care Council, contracts for respite services across multiple departments, an agreement with Excellus for Medicare Advantage coverage for county retirees, and applications for state and federal infrastructure grants. The legislature also called public hearings for sewer‑district scale‑of‑charges changes and approved a Type II environmental determination for several sewer capital projects.

Votes at a glance (selected items read into the record): - Resolutions 25‑1‑24 through 25‑1‑30: Advertisement and vendor agreements (approved). - Resolutions 25‑1‑31 through 25‑1‑45: Multiple social‑service and administrative agreements, including safe‑harbor funding and workforce arrangements (approved). - Resolution 25‑1‑46: (stood alone and was included in the read list) (approved). - Resolutions 25‑1‑47 and 25‑1‑48: Agreements for sheriff and IT purchases (approved). - Resolution 25‑1‑49: Award to Flash Parking Inc. for parking‑collection software at Elmira Corning Regional Airport (rejected after roll‑call vote). - Resolution 25‑1‑50: Authorizing airport improvements and issuing up to $1,036,000 in bonds for airport projects (approved). - Resolutions 25‑1‑51 through 25‑1‑53: Sewer‑district public hearing and related determinations (approved).

Legislators said the county has options to pursue grants to cover airport improvements, noting Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) restrictions and that PFCs typically fund airside infrastructure rather than parking software. The chair said county staff will research grant funding and noted capital funds for the airport had not yet been bonded.

The meeting later moved to additional committee reports and adjournment. The clerk recorded roll‑call votes for the combined slate and for the individual contested items; the official minutes will show the full roll‑call record.