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Public Safety Committee accepts HAZMAT, EMPG grants and approves purchase to replace totaled EMS fly car
Summary
Committee members accepted two HAZMAT grants and an EMPG submission authorization, heard an EMS update on new state planning guidance, and approved a budget amendment to replace a total-loss 'fly car' after a January accident; staff said a software tool to analyze response data will be re-requested for the 2027 budget.
The Chautauqua County Public Safety Committee voted to accept two HAZMAT grant awards and to pursue FEMA/DHS Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) funds, and it approved an amendment to the Office of Emergency Services 2026 budget to purchase a replacement for a totaled "fly car."
Deputy director of finance Sam Zafoto presented the first grant as a fiscal-year 2023 HAZMAT targeted award of $90,700 to replace EMS equipment and said no local match is required. He presented a second HAZMAT award for fiscal 2024 of $33,204 for consumable hazmat supplies and noted statewide allocations for the program are being reduced. The committee approved both resolutions. The transcript does not list a roll-call tally; the chair called the motions and members responded "aye."
Noel Gottman, director of emergency services, and EMS coordinator Jameson Justam briefed the committee on a newly released New York State framework for county comprehensive EMS plans. "The state released what they're calling their framework, which is a loose guidance for what they want their plan for the plans to look like," said Justam. The framework asks counties to address sustainability, reliability, measures such as dropped calls and dispatch-to-enroute time, and membership education. Justam said his team has begun data collection and that identifying "dropped calls" in local CAD systems is a key challenge; the working definition discussed was a dispatched call within an agency's home district to which that agency did not respond. Justam also said the county must complete its plan by December 17.
Zafoto told the committee the department had planned to buy software to help parse CAD/PCR data but had to cut that purchase from the 2026 budget; staff plan to request the tool in the 2027 budget to better analyze response metrics.
On a separate resolution, Zafoto and Gottman outlined a budget amendment to replace a flight car (M73) that was declared a total loss after an accident in January. Gottman said the vehicle was leased through Enterprise and that, because of the lease structure, the department cannot fully apply an insurance recovery toward buying a replacement. "The accident was 100% default of the other vehicle," Gottman said. The department proposed using fund balance and reducing lease expense going forward by purchasing high-mileage vehicles when financially practicable; the committee voted to approve the amendment.
The committee also approved a resolution to move forward with an EMPG 2025 submission; Zafoto cautioned the funds are on administrative hold pending DHS/FEMA review and may be included in a future budget if released.
Next steps: staff will pursue the approved grant acceptances and proceed with procurement planning for the replacement vehicle and a future software request for 2027. Several committee members suggested evaluating borrowing or bonding options for a multi-year transition away from leasing.
