Ways and Means Committee approves 2026 capital projects, multiple personnel fills and grant reappropriations

The Allegany County Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 11 approved a package of capital-project resolutions, budget transfers, personnel fills and grant reappropriations included in the 2026 budget.

Capital projects approved included a $459,000 transfer for a local bridge on South Broad Street in Willsville; a Crawford Creek bridge project for the town of Belfast (budget modification figure in the transcript is garbled and therefore not specified here); an $835,000 culvert project on County Road 22 in Independence; and a $450,000 culvert project in Rushford on County Road 7B. Each project sponsor said funding was included in the county's 2026 budget and each resolution was approved by voice vote.

The committee also approved multiple personnel requests. Public works was authorized to fill one full-time transfer station operator (salary range cited in the record: about $42,002 to $51,004 with benefits estimates provided). The sheriff's office received permission to fill three correction officer corporal positions and two deputy sheriff positions (salary ranges recorded in the meeting), and one emergency services dispatcher position was approved. Acting District Attorney Peter Degnan requested permission to fill an assistant district attorney position. The public defender's office was authorized to fill one legal services case manager funded with state dollars.

Sheriff Scott Ciccarello and other members noted that some public-safety positions were tied to what committee members referred to as mandated minimum staffing for the jail; in response a member asked whether that was correct and a county representative said, "That is my understanding." The committee recorded no formal challenge to the request and approved the fills by voice vote.

Grant and reappropriation approvals included transfer of $15,800 in unspent 2023 Homeland Security Grant Program funds and $27,325 in 2024 Homeland Security funds for cybersecurity and related purposes; reappropriation of $6,875 from the FY2024 Emergency Management Performance Grant (a 50/50 grant requiring a county match); and transfer of $55,000 from the Office on Violence Against Women to Allegany County pretrial services grants. The committee also accepted a two-year New York Cares Up grant totaling $60,000 to participate in a program called Onwards Ops to connect transitioning service members and veterans to local volunteer peer sponsors.

County Clerk Chrisman requested three fill actions in his office — a temporary motor vehicle cashier (reverting to part time in August) and two senior recording clerk positions to replace retirements — saying the office no longer pays a vendor for secondary verification and that staffing is down about 40% compared with earlier levels. Committee members moved and approved the clerk's fill requests.

All of the above motions were moved, seconded and approved by voice vote during the meeting. Where exact numeric details were unclear in the transcript (notably one budget figure discussed during the Belfast/Crawford Creek item), the committee record is recorded here as "not specified" and corrected spelling and agency names are used where the transcript was inconsistent.

The committee adjourned after a brief caucus announcement.