Allegany County legislators approve block of grants, contracts and appointments; brief discussion on advocacy timing

The Allegany County Board of Legislators approved a slate of committee-recommended resolutions and appointments covering public-health grants, transportation funding, workforce programs and several county contracts at a regularly scheduled meeting. Most measures were adopted either by voice vote or by roll call, with tallies ranging from unanimous-style voice approvals to a roll call that recorded 11 ayes, 2 no's and 2 absent on a bus-shelter maintenance agreement.

The approvals included appointments announced by Chairman W. Brooke Harris: Richard Zink of Franklinville to the Allegany County Telecommunications Development Corporation for the remainder of a two-year term expiring Sept. 30, 2026; Brian Perrin to the Allegany County Land Bank Corporation for the remainder of a two-year term ending Sept. 30, 2026; and joint appointments to the Cattaraugus–Allegany workforce development board naming Ashley Smith (director of economic development) and Kelly Reed (coterminous with her appointment as county administrator for Cattaraugus County). Harris introduced the appointments and said they are subject to confirmation by the board.

The board approved advocacy resolutions from the Human Services and Ways and Means committees urging members of the New York State Legislature to support several state bills as cited in the resolutions. The measures were presented as committee-backed advocacy items and passed largely by voice vote. Legislator Stockton urged the board to consider streamlining the county’s approval process for state advocacy resolutions, noting delays can make local expressions of support or opposition untimely: “we as a board need to figure out at least with this type of resolution stream lining our approval process to be more nimble,” Stockton said.

Major grant and contract approvals recorded by roll call included acceptance of New York State Office of Children and Family Services funds for the county’s child advocacy center (tallied as 13 ayes, 2 absent), additional New York State unmet-needs grant funds for the Office for the Aging (13 ayes, 2 absent), and Federal Transit Administration Section 5310 enhanced mobility grant funds and related contract C006054 with the New York State Department of Transportation (13 ayes, 2 absent). The board also approved a recreational trails development grant application for the office of planning and a Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act youth program grant application for employment and training services; those measures passed by roll call with the same 13-2 attendance pattern.

Several agreements and contract amendments were approved, including an amendment to the Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings agreement for DNA testing services for the Department of Social Services (13 ayes, 2 absent); a services agreement with Allegheny Mountain Farm LLC for horseback-riding lessons for veterans under the Joseph P. Dwyer program (13 ayes, 2 absent); an agreement with Community Scale LLC for a county housing market assessment and related trail-design services for county forest lands (13 ayes, 2 absent); a Relcom Incorporated phone-system purchase for the information technology department (13 ayes, 2 absent); and an amendment with ModeShift Incorporated to purchase additional equipment for four new public transportation buses and extend the contract for one year (13 ayes, 2 absent).

The board approved a block of human-services agreements that included HEAP outreach and certification contracts for the 2025–26 season, cooperative agreements among county departments, and an agreement to deploy TIBCO automated systems for AI services in the Department of Social Services; those grouped items were approved by roll call (13 ayes, 2 absent). A separate resolution authorizing the county to maintain 11 bus shelters in the City of Olean carried on roll call with an 11-2-2 tally (11 ayes, 2 no's, 2 absent).

The meeting paused near the end for a brief recess to resolve an administrative issue; the chair said the live stream would be paused and that no action would be taken during the break.

Votes at a glance (selected items): - Resolution (intro no. as stated): acceptance of OCFS child advocacy center grant — motion by Legislator Burdick, second by Legislator Rick Swales; roll call 13 ayes, 2 absent; approved. - Resolution: acceptance of additional NYS unmet-needs funds for Office for the Aging — motion by Legislator Burdick, second by Legislator Rick Swales; roll call 13 ayes, 2 absent; approved. - Resolution: acceptance of FTA Section 5310 enhanced mobility grant (contract C006054 with NYSDOT) — motion by Legislator Stockton, second by Legislator Fenton; roll call 13 ayes, 2 absent; approved. - Resolution: approval of Recreational Trails Development Grant application — motion by Legislator Root, second by Legislator Hanchett; roll call 13 ayes, 2 absent; approved. - Resolution: WIOA youth program grant application — motion by Legislator Root, second by Legislator Hans Hanchett; roll call 13 ayes, 2 absent; approved. - Resolution: amendment to LabCorp DNA testing agreement — motion by Legislator Burdick, second by Legislator Richard Swales; roll call 13 ayes, 2 absent; approved. - Resolution: Allegheny Mountain Farm LLC agreement for veterans’ riding lessons (Joseph P. Dwyer program) — motion by Legislator Fenton, second by Legislator Hanchett; roll call 13 ayes, 2 absent; approved. - Resolution: Community Scale LLC housing market assessment and trail-design services — motion by Legislator Root, second by Legislator Hanchett; roll call 13 ayes, 2 absent; approved. - Resolution: Relcom Incorporated phone-system purchase for IT — motion by Legislator Stockton, second by Legislator Fenton; roll call 13 ayes, 2 absent; approved. - Resolution: ModeShift amendment for additional bus equipment and contract extension — motion by Legislator Stockton, second by Legislator Fenton; roll call 13 ayes, 2 absent; approved. - Resolution: City of Olean maintenance of 11 bus shelters — motion by Legislator Stocken, second by Legislator Fanton; roll call 11 ayes, 2 no's, 2 absent; approved.

The article summarizes actions taken as recorded in the meeting transcript. Where the transcript provided roll-call tallies or specific vote language, those tallies and motion/second attributions are reported above. Several resolutions cited state bill numbers or references in the text of the resolutions; the meeting record listed those numbers as read into the record (as stated in the transcript), and specifics of the underlying state bills were not further detailed in the local record.