A busy day of five committee meetings in Belmont today
Will the Public Safety committee react to school safety concerns
Alfred State College President Dr. Steven Mauro to address full board
By Andrew Harris
The top elected officials in Allegany county will hold five committee meetings that will offer some key insight into ‘what’s next’ in the county. A Public Works meeting starts at 1pm and a Committee of the Whole(COW) will be the last meeting of the day starting at 3pm.
The Public Works meeting agenda has been just recently updated to reflect the most interesting part of the meeting. The committee will vote to hire Hunt Engineers to perform multiple studies on the “Friendship Shop Project.” Those studies will assess potential geothermal energy systems, local water line issues, and take a look at the structural integrity of the existing building. Read the full agenda
What should be the most interesting meeting of the day, considering the tragedies in Buffalo and Uvalde, is the Public Safety Committee, chaired by Wellsville legislator and Majority Leader Steven Havey. The committee has some fairly standard business to attend to: Jeff Luckey of Emergency Management will ask for an agreement with Volunteer Fireman’s Association of Allegany County. Robert Starks, Director of Probation will present a memo of understanding with Healthy Families, and the department needs approval for a new desk. Weights and Measures will file a report and Sheriff Rick Whitney will request approval to hire a new cook for the jail. Beyond the typical business of the Public Safety committee, will this aptly named group of legislators have a urgent discussion on school safety in Allegany County ? Read the Public Safety Agenda for today.
The Personnel Committee shapes up to be one of the most “cut and dry” meetings of the day. Committee members will be reviewing the counties insurance plan and are being asked to approve a wage change for the Maintenance Supervisor. To read the details of the insurance plan see the Personnel Agenda.
Human Services will meet and receive reports from several key departments like Health, Social Services, and Office of the Aging. In a sign of the times, many action items within the reports to the committee are to fill jobs. Edna Kayes, Director Social Services will request a contract renewal with many different foster care facilities. See that list and the Human Services Agenda.
The Committee of the Whole, which is the entire board of legislators, will end the day with a visit from Alfred State College President Dr. Steven Mauro. It will be interesting to hear what Dr. Mauro has to say after the recent call by Legislator Healy to severe all ties with the college. The meeting will also feature an introduction of the current members of the Allegany County Industrial Development Agency(IDA.) Dr. Craig Clark, who is the the current Director of the IDA board, and Vice President/Acting Provost of Alfred State College, This intertwining relationship between Clark, Alfred State, and Allegany county gets complicated and contentious.
Healy recently called for the termination of the contract between the county and Alfred State of which Dr. Clark is the point man. Will President Mauro be requesting that Allegany County renew its contract with Alfred State today as rumored?
Anyone can tune in and watch the meetings live online, visit the Allegany County Facebook videos page.
