Legislature declines to pause Office for the Aging relocation after weeks of public pushback

The Tompkins County Legislature debated, amended and ultimately rejected a resolution to pause relocating the county Office for the Aging (COFA) to Dutch Mill Road.

Proponents of the pause, including members of COFA’s advisory board and multiple public commenters, said the proposed Dutch Mill site is too distant for many seniors and that the advisory board and clients had not been sufficiently consulted. Bill Lester, chair of the COFA advisory board, told the legislature the Dutch Mill location “is quite a distance away” and warned it would worsen access for residents with limited mobility.

Opponents stressed the county’s timeline for moving other agencies and the need to find space for the Board of Elections. County Administrator Khorsa Akomphi said the administration had to coordinate IT and deconstruction schedules and that a delay “will disrupt our timeline” for the center of government project.

The body amended the original pause resolution to require a public forum and a clear deadline for further action, but when the amended motion was put to a roll‑call vote it failed 7–6. Members later moved to reconsider the measure; debate resumed but the reconsidered motion again failed. The agenda motion to add the pause resolution to the meeting had passed earlier with one dissent, allowing the debate to occur.

Legislators on both sides said they wanted more public engagement, but disagreed on the degree of disruption a 30‑day pause would cause to larger planning. Several members urged a targeted public forum to gather feedback and for departments to outline how outreach services would be sustained if a relocation proceeded.

The immediate result leaves the executive plan to proceed pending further administrative implementation; the legislature did not adopt an official pause or policy change.