[0:06] Algiance
[0:13] to the flag of the United States of
[0:16] America and to the republic for it
[0:18] stands one nationice
[0:25] all
[0:27] like to welcome everybody Today first I
[0:30] have business with the roll call.
[0:32] » Mr. Conover
[0:33] » Here
[0:35] » Mr. Diamond
[0:36] » Here
[0:37] » Here. Mr. Turner
[0:38] » Here. Mr. Bruno
[0:39] » Here.
[0:39] » Mr. Driscoll
[0:40] » Here.
[0:41] » Mr. Pache
[0:41] » Here.
[0:42] » Mr. Ba
[0:43] » Here.
[0:43] » Mr. Goodbye
[0:44] » Here.
[0:44] » Mr. C
[0:45] » Here.
[0:46] » Mr. Niles.
[0:47] » Mr. Stra
[0:48] » Here.
[0:49] » Mr. Ry
[0:49] » Here.
[0:50] » Mr. E
[0:50] » Here.
[0:51] » Mr. Strainer
[0:52] » Here.
[0:52] » Mr. Batty
[0:53] » Here.
[0:53] » Mr.
[0:55] Miss Ren here. Chairman Gary
[0:57] » Here. Forms.
[0:58] » Okay. First item business. I need a
[1:00] motion to approve the March 20th 2026
[1:03] board meeting subject correction by the
[1:06] clerk. Have a motion by supervisor
[1:08] strainer. Second by supervisor.
[1:10] Any discussion? All in favor signify by
[1:13] saying I.
[1:16] » Next up we have Sheriff Bar. He would
[1:20] like to give an update on the fishing
[1:22] investigation.
[1:33] Morning
[1:37] everybody.
[1:39] Morning.
[1:43] When I spoke the last few times, I
[1:44] explained that updates like this are
[1:46] very unusual, but we're at day 116 of
[1:49] this investigation. And I know that we
[1:51] are all victims. We all have a right to
[1:53] have some information. Um, essentially,
[1:56] I can say to you that we've solved this
[1:58] crime, but we're still actively working
[2:00] on it. There's much more that we hope to
[2:02] do and hope to accomplish, but I'll give
[2:04] you some information, more information
[2:05] today, a recap of some information that
[2:07] I shared previously.
[2:10] But before I do that, I want us to let
[2:12] you know, the board know that our
[2:14] sheriff's office needs to say thank you
[2:15] to many departments in this county
[2:18] because what our investigators are
[2:20] doing, it's very challenging. We know
[2:22] other county employees. They're our
[2:24] family. work with them on a daily basis
[2:26] and they're having to ask really hard
[2:27] questions and that could be tough from
[2:29] both sides from the investigator and
[2:31] from the person who is the recipient of
[2:33] those questions. But our team has been
[2:35] treated with the utmost respect and
[2:36] dignity. So when you see members of the
[2:38] treasur's office, members of other
[2:40] departments, please say thank you
[2:41] because we are working together as one.
[2:48] When I talk today, I'm not going to
[2:50] mention any specific county employee
[2:52] names, any specific county employee
[2:53] titles. Really going to talk in general
[2:55] terms. And that is because I don't our
[2:58] intent not to embarrass anybody.
[3:00] Clearly, some of the things that were
[3:01] happened were mistakes. And for the
[3:03] people who were involved, they are
[3:04] embarrassed. But I'm going to talk about
[3:06] departments, about instances, provide
[3:09] facts and findings. Simply that.
[3:13] So, we all know on December 23rd, we
[3:16] received a report of a potential fraud
[3:18] involving the Warren County Treasurer's
[3:19] Office.
[3:21] Since then, our team has been actively
[3:23] working with the New York State Police
[3:24] Forensic Investigation Unit, United
[3:26] States Secret Service, New York State
[3:28] Controllers Office, and other law
[3:30] enforcement partners. They've been doing
[3:32] exceptional work, and like I said, we've
[3:34] got it solved. We're still heading in
[3:36] the right direction, but not as fast as
[3:38] we'd like.
[3:41] Between December 10th and December
[3:44] 18th, an unknown male with a thick
[3:47] foreign accent called several
[3:49] departments at Warren County.
[3:52] Nine of these calls were made to the
[3:53] Warren County Treasur's office and the
[3:55] duration of those calls ranged between 1
[3:57] to 8 minutes.
[3:59] On November 12th, the male spoke with
[4:02] the treasur's office employee and that
[4:03] conversation lasted for about 7 minutes.
[4:06] During this call, pertinent information
[4:09] about Peekab Industries was
[4:11] inadvertently shared with this
[4:12] gentleman.
[4:14] Later on the 13th, the male called back
[4:17] and identified himself as a
[4:19] representative of Packup Industries.
[4:24] using the information that was
[4:25] previously disclosed to gain trust, he
[4:28] requested to set up a an a transfer
[4:32] account with Warren County and was
[4:34] directed to go to the Warren County web
[4:36] page. There's a form to make that
[4:38] request and submission
[4:42] at that time. And again, I want to
[4:44] reiterate that the county, the
[4:46] treasurer's office did not have any
[4:48] policies or procedures in place to
[4:51] conduct these electronic wire related
[4:54] transfers. So, it's really challenging
[4:58] if we have employees that aren't
[5:00] provided training, they're not provided
[5:02] policies and procedures, it's putting
[5:04] our our team at a disadvantage right
[5:06] from the get-go.
[5:10] On November 13th later, the form was
[5:12] submitted by a gentleman having the name
[5:14] of Raphael Diaz with a 347 area code
[5:19] phone number and a Discover Bank
[5:21] account.
[5:24] When that was received, there were no
[5:26] security steps taken, no measures taken
[5:28] to verify the validity of this caller or
[5:31] this information or the request for this
[5:33] account.
[5:35] and the uh AC account was established
[5:38] for Peekom Industries based upon the
[5:40] information that was submitted
[5:43] on December 12th.
[5:45] There was an a payment made in the
[5:47] amount of $2,132,48023
[5:52] was processed from our local Aerrol Bank
[5:54] to this Discover Bank account.
[5:59] Aerrol Bank contact the treasur's office
[6:01] because there was an established $1
[6:03] million cap for any transaction and this
[6:06] clearly exceeded the $1 million cap and
[6:09] the request was made for a temporary
[6:12] increase in that cap.
[6:15] And if you recall when I spoke last
[6:17] time, there's been a lot of conversation
[6:20] about an email notification that went
[6:22] out from Peekom Industries to various
[6:24] municipalities
[6:26] warning municipalities about potential
[6:28] for fraud.
[6:30] I shared that this really was irrelevant
[6:32] and essentially it was white. Here's
[6:34] why.
[6:37] Arrow Bank, our local bank, they have
[6:39] security systems, mechanisms in place as
[6:41] you would expect a financial institution
[6:43] would to detect fraud.
[6:46] When this transaction reached the bank,
[6:49] their systems detected it as a
[6:50] fraudulent transaction. A representative
[6:53] from Arrow Bank called the Warren County
[6:55] Treasures Office, advised the treasur's
[6:57] office that this appeared to be a
[6:58] fraudulent transaction and the request
[7:02] was made to process the transaction. It
[7:03] was approved. So when I say to you that
[7:06] July email was really irrelevant, I
[7:08] don't think you need an email when your
[7:10] own bank is calling you telling you this
[7:12] looks fraudulent.
[7:19] And again, following that, we have no
[7:21] reason to believe, no proof. We found
[7:23] nothing to indicate that the treasur's
[7:25] office did anything following that phone
[7:26] call to verify the transaction.
[7:30] I don't share this, again, I'm not
[7:32] looking to to lay any blame, to make
[7:34] anybody feel bad, to embarrass anybody.
[7:36] I really share this with you and the
[7:38] public to let you know that this was not
[7:40] a sophisticated scheme. There are no
[7:42] concerns that our county is going to be
[7:44] attacked. It was an error. Simple as
[7:46] that. An error was made.
[7:51] On December 23rd, another AC payment was
[7:54] made in the amount of $1,225,954.65.
[8:00] Again, processed from a local Aerobank
[8:03] to this Discover Bank account.
[8:06] Again, this was detected as a fraudulent
[8:08] transaction by the Aerrol Bank systems
[8:10] and mechanisms. Again, a phone call was
[8:13] made from Aerrol Bank to the Warren
[8:14] County Treasurer's Office advising that
[8:17] this appears to be fraudulent, and the
[8:19] treasur's office said, "Go ahead,
[8:20] process the transaction."
[8:24] This um
[8:26] later in that day, Pekkham Material,
[8:29] Peekom Industries contacted DPW because
[8:31] they're expecting payments of the amount
[8:33] of $3 million and they had not received
[8:35] payment for their invoices. This
[8:37] prompted a flurry of phone calls between
[8:38] DPW, the treasur's office, Peekom
[8:41] Industries, and it was early on the uh
[8:45] 23rd that it was learned that the county
[8:48] was likely the victim of fraud.
[8:52] Later in that afternoon, um on the 23rd,
[8:54] I received a call from Chairman Gity
[8:56] advising of the fraud and requesting our
[8:59] potential for interview or for
[9:00] investigation. I said, "Absolutely. Not
[9:02] only can we book, we want to spearhead.
[9:04] We want to be at the forefront of this
[9:05] investigation. And that's when we
[9:06] started. And as I state, every minute
[9:09] counts. But this one, for the first
[9:11] transaction, we were already 11 days
[9:12] behind. So to say to you that I can
[9:15] share information that we've identified
[9:17] all but about $48,000 of this money is a
[9:20] miracle because going 11 days with this
[9:23] type of crime, that's unheard of.
[9:30] On January 2nd, we know that the $1.2
[9:33] million was returned to Warren County.
[9:35] That was frozen frozen through discover,
[9:38] through Arrow, through the treasur's
[9:39] office, and that made its way back.
[9:41] Wonderful thing.
[9:45] Still left us with two $2.1 million to
[9:48] attempt to locate, freeze, and get back
[9:50] to our Warren County residents. And we
[9:52] have been working diligently ever since.
[9:54] We wanted to identify Raphael Diaz, who
[9:56] we now know is not a person, but there
[9:58] may be a Raphael Diaz, but the person
[10:00] who was calling that day is not Raphael
[10:01] Diaz. And we wanted to locate any
[10:03] accompllices.
[10:07] What we identifi who we did identify is
[10:10] a 70-year-old woman in another state.
[10:12] And I'm not withholding information from
[10:15] you because I'm concerned that
[10:18] none of you could be trusted. But if I
[10:20] share all this again, it could
[10:21] potentially be harmful to our criminal
[10:23] investigation. And at the end of the
[10:25] day, we have two focuses. A successful
[10:28] criminal prosecution and the return of
[10:30] other penny to our county. So, we're not
[10:32] going to share names. We're not going to
[10:33] share municipalities. Again, I'm going
[10:35] to speak in general terms. There was a
[10:37] 70-year-old woman who was the recipient
[10:40] of $3.3 million from Warren County.
[10:44] And this woman was what we know in law
[10:46] enforcement as a mule. Somebody who
[10:49] receives the money, illegitimate funds,
[10:51] and then funnels those out to other
[10:53] locations. Women are often recruited,
[10:56] men and women are often recruited as
[10:58] romantic schemes or for quick payment of
[11:01] money. We can give you $5,000 if you
[11:04] funnel this transaction through these
[11:05] accounts and send them elsewhere.
[11:09] This woman's been interviewed by members
[11:12] of a local sheriff's office, has
[11:14] admitted to these crimes. We have the
[11:15] recorded interview. We know who she is.
[11:17] We know where she is. We know exactly
[11:19] what she did. She's in another state,
[11:21] and at this point, our hands still
[11:23] remain tied as far as the prosecution
[11:25] goes.
[11:28] We still continue regularly with the US
[11:30] Secret Surge, Secret Service, the agent
[11:32] in that area, as well as the
[11:34] investigators and the sheriff in that
[11:35] local sheriff's office.
[11:37] I will say to you that this location,
[11:40] this district, the Secret Service
[11:42] office, it's not like what you picture
[11:43] on TV. It's a small office. There's one
[11:45] agent. There's one local agent spend on
[11:48] a protection detail. As you know,
[11:49] there's a lot going on in our world
[11:50] overseas. So, his focus right now is not
[11:54] on Warren County's crimes head. We are
[11:57] working with an assistant US attorney.
[11:59] Since this is federal, much like our
[12:00] prosecutor Jason Kerous, we're working
[12:03] with a federal prosecutor to try to see
[12:05] if we can move forward with a
[12:06] prosecution. That would be best case
[12:08] scenario to have this prosecuted
[12:09] federally.
[12:12] I will say admittedly that there's been
[12:15] a limited interest from this office,
[12:17] from this a USA because of the dollar
[12:19] amount. $3.3 million to war county is
[12:22] huge. $3.3 million to the Secret Service
[12:25] and a federal prosecutor is is really
[12:27] not a big deal. Not judging them, but
[12:29] it's just fact. We all have case load
[12:32] and this is something that it's just a
[12:34] small potato.
[12:37] Currently, this female attorney is
[12:41] working through a process to determine
[12:42] culpability of this 70-year-old woman.
[12:44] And basically, all that is is
[12:46] blameworthiness. Is this person they do
[12:48] they understand that they did something
[12:49] wrong? Did they do it intentionally? Can
[12:52] they be held accountable in a criminal
[12:54] form?
[12:56] We're waiting for that and that's going
[12:59] to I'm sure going to take some time.
[13:01] When it comes to criminal culpability, I
[13:04] am very pleased to say that again
[13:06] through our hard questions, there is no
[13:08] member of our treasurer's office or
[13:11] member of Warren County we have any
[13:12] concern as any criminal culpability in
[13:15] this crime. Nothing whatsoever. We've
[13:18] worked very hard to to make that
[13:19] determination.
[13:21] potentially could learn something down
[13:22] the fact, but I I don't see that coming.
[13:24] But those are the hard questions. If
[13:26] you're if I'm asking you if you had any
[13:28] involvement, you're going to be offended
[13:29] by that. But we got to ask those
[13:31] questions, and we're confident to know
[13:32] that no one's involved.
[13:37] People have asked me about a New York
[13:40] State penal charge for official
[13:41] misconduct, and it sounds reasonable.
[13:43] You know, official misconduct. somebody
[13:45] does something, a public servant does
[13:47] something wrong, $3.3 million, it sounds
[13:50] reasonable, but under the law, a public
[13:52] servant would be guilty of such a
[13:54] defense if acting in their official
[13:56] capacities. They do something that is
[13:58] not authorized and they do something
[14:01] that's not authorized with the intent
[14:03] for a personal gain, personal bank. And
[14:06] we know that maybe
[14:08] members were not authorized to do
[14:10] certain things, but there's no one in
[14:11] the treasur's office, no one in Warren
[14:13] County that had any
[14:16] $3.3 million boss.
[14:23] When it comes to authorization, we have
[14:26] also learned through our investigation
[14:28] that there was a meeting held in
[14:30] October, a meeting of county leadership.
[14:32] And the purpose of that meeting, it was
[14:34] a subcommittee to draft and develop,
[14:36] create, implement, have approved county
[14:40] policy for wire transfers, electronic
[14:42] transfers, a transfers because the
[14:45] county did not have one in this meeting.
[14:47] that included key members of our
[14:49] treasur's office
[14:52] in this meeting that included key
[14:54] members of our treasur's office
[14:57] members were informed that they were not
[14:58] authorized to engage in these a
[15:01] transfers
[15:02] any contracts that need to be signed
[15:04] approvals for these types of
[15:05] transactions had to come from you they
[15:08] had to be approved by the board of
[15:09] supervisors by contract and we have
[15:11] learned that that did not occur so you
[15:14] could say that the treasur's office
[15:16] technically was not authorized maybe not
[15:17] so under the eye of the law. But again,
[15:19] there was no benefit that was attempted
[15:21] for looking to be gained.
[15:25] We will continue to work forward to
[15:27] attempt to have prosecution
[15:30] either through federal means or through
[15:32] a local sheriff's office in another
[15:34] state. What will happen with that, I
[15:37] really can't say to you this day. But
[15:39] that's not the only delay. Like I said,
[15:41] there are two roads in this path. The
[15:43] criminal prosecution and the financial
[15:44] part. And I know a lot of our residents
[15:46] are probably more concerned about the
[15:48] financial part getting back that $3.3
[15:49] million for our residents.
[15:54] What I can tell you about the money, it
[15:57] went from bank, it went to this Discover
[15:59] Bank, and then in working with our
[16:01] Secret Service partners, we know that it
[16:03] was funneled through at least 10 other
[16:04] banks. And these transactions are really
[16:07] difficult to follow. If they're
[16:08] electronic transactions, easier, but
[16:10] when a check is cut, that's really
[16:12] challenging.
[16:16] The banks, it might surprise you a bit,
[16:18] it did me, have been very uncooperative.
[16:21] Secret Service, A USA, they're sending
[16:24] subpoenas out to these banks, federal
[16:26] subpoenas to a bank, and they're
[16:27] ignoring them. They're just not
[16:28] answering them. They have a timeline to
[16:30] get back by such and such a date, and
[16:32] they're just not responding, which I
[16:33] find extremely hard to believe. When I
[16:35] make that statement, please know it is
[16:37] not a local bank, none of our local
[16:39] banking institutions. This is all
[16:40] occurring outside of our region, outside
[16:42] of New York State.
[16:47] I also found it really hard to believe
[16:49] that a local bank in a small town with a
[16:53] 70-year-old woman who traditionally
[16:55] consistently has less than $1,000 in a
[16:57] checking account, receives $3.3 million,
[17:00] and that doesn't throw a red flag. That
[17:02] doesn't throw that bank a flag to stop
[17:04] and hold and contact somebody. Again,
[17:07] did that occur? Just sharing that with
[17:09] you. It was something that I was really
[17:11] surprised to learn.
[17:14] Where's the money at right now? Like I
[17:17] said, the $1.2 million came back very
[17:19] quickly.
[17:22] Looking at the December 12th
[17:24] transaction, the $2.2 million, like I
[17:26] said, we are 11 days behind.
[17:29] So, of the the I'm sorry, the $2.1
[17:32] million, $256,000
[17:36] roughly was returned from the Discover
[17:38] Bank on December 26. So, that has come
[17:40] back. That's in an account. The US
[17:43] Secret Service, they have two separate
[17:45] seizures currently held 439,000 plus,
[17:49] 176,000 plus, totaling almost $617,000.
[17:54] So, that's seized right now. the Secret
[17:55] Service. They have their hands on that.
[17:59] A little over $1.2 million has been
[18:02] identified. We We know the institutions
[18:05] where they went. There are names labeled
[18:06] in these institutions, but much like
[18:08] Rafael Diaz, they're I'm confident
[18:10] they're not legitimate names. But if we
[18:13] can't get cooperation from the banks,
[18:14] the Secret Service can't get cooperation
[18:16] to try to figure out where this money
[18:18] and again, we're on day 116. The chances
[18:20] of that money still being in any of
[18:22] these banks is slim. not being honest
[18:23] with you, but we are still actively
[18:25] working and we are pushing. We are
[18:27] making calls and I know that the Secret
[18:29] Service, even though this agent is on
[18:31] protection out of state, our local
[18:33] Albony Secret Service partners are
[18:34] working very hard to help us. So, we are
[18:37] we're doing our best to push forward.
[18:39] There's roughly about $49,000 that is
[18:42] just never going to be found. What
[18:44] happens is when you have these mules and
[18:46] they start making these transactions and
[18:47] if you look at it it's like trees and
[18:49] branches, everyone gets a little piece
[18:51] of that $1,000 here, $2,000 there.
[18:54] $48,000 likely went to these fuels.
[19:00] So much is outside our control. I wish I
[19:03] really I had more answers for you. I
[19:05] will have more answers with great
[19:07] certainty.
[19:08] Um, one thing that I want to share is I
[19:11] know again there are two separate tracks
[19:13] that are occurring simultaneously right
[19:14] now. We have the the criminal
[19:16] investigation and I'm sure you're aware
[19:18] some of you may even be a party to
[19:20] administrative
[19:22] ethics meetings or internal proceedings
[19:26] that are occurring within Warren County.
[19:28] I want to assure all of you that the
[19:29] Warren County Sheriff's Office is not a
[19:31] part or party to any of those. We are
[19:33] working criminally. If there are
[19:35] interviews to be had, our interviews are
[19:37] not being shared. They're being done
[19:38] independently outside our sheriff's
[19:39] office. We have nothing to do with any
[19:41] of it. We don't want anything to do with
[19:42] any of it. A best practice is to keep
[19:44] those two separate.
[19:50] I can't share any more information. I'm
[19:52] not going to answer any questions.
[19:54] Again, I'm not trying to intentionally
[19:55] withhold information, but if I get
[19:57] before some of you and you ask me a
[19:59] question that could be harmful to our
[20:01] investigation, I think at the end of the
[20:03] day, we all want to see someone held
[20:04] accountable. We want to see our money
[20:06] out. And in the interim, I'm just going
[20:09] to continue to ask you all to be
[20:10] patient. At some point, when we either
[20:13] have a prosecution or we're told that a
[20:16] prosecution is not going to occur, we
[20:18] will conclude. We'll close. I'll make
[20:20] notification to the board. will make
[20:22] notification to the public. I'm
[20:23] confident I will do a press release and
[20:26] I will make myself available to continue
[20:27] to answer additional questions.
[20:33] » That's all that I have at this time.
[20:35] Thank you very much.
[20:37] [clears throat and cough]
[23:50] I'm not alone. I'm not just this
[23:53] emotional veterinarian, although I am.
[23:55] This is really something I'm passionate
[23:58] about. This is about a community behind
[24:01] me. We have over 5,000 current
[24:05] signatures growing day by day. This is
[24:09] now a crusade. This is something that is
[24:12] right. We know that this works. We see
[24:15] it in our neighboring county, Saratoga,
[24:19] where they have a beautiful municipal
[24:21] animal shelter which is supported by a
[24:24] 501c3
[24:26] um organization. That is exactly the
[24:30] template that we are putting before um
[24:33] the board as a request. Please, we would
[24:36] like the time, we would like the
[24:38] acknowledgement. We would like this to
[24:40] go before the county attorneys that we
[24:43] could see this be something that's
[24:46] brought before the residents. We would
[24:49] like this to be a ballot. We would like
[24:52] to know that the residents have a
[24:55] choice. We as taxpayers deserve what our
[24:59] money goes to. That we have resources
[25:03] that are allocated that you have
[25:06] somewhere to turn. We all at the end of
[25:09] the day work our butts off for every
[25:12] dime that we have. I'm now funding many
[25:16] of Warren and Washington counties animal
[25:19] abuse cases coming directly out of my
[25:21] family's pocket. That is not
[25:23] appropriate. Nonprofits are being tapped
[25:26] into and they cannot do it alone. They
[25:29] should not do it alone. That is not the
[25:31] role of a nonprofit organization. We
[25:34] will work alongside nonprofit
[25:36] organizations. They are behind me. They
[25:39] are coming to the forefront and saying
[25:43] we want this to succeed. We want to
[25:45] support them. We will support the law
[25:49] enforcement agents. They need our
[25:52] training. they need support. Um, most
[25:55] recently I dealt with a very awful case
[25:58] that put me in jeopardy, my staff in
[26:02] jeopardy. It was a dangerous situation.
[26:04] I aided uh Warren County uh or yeah,
[26:08] Warren County uh sheriffs with a dog
[26:11] that uh was owned by a drug addict. This
[26:15] lady has been arrested 11 times within
[26:18] three years. She's not a law-abiding
[26:21] citizen. She's not a good citizen. She
[26:24] ran from another county in New York
[26:27] State um where she had abused a dog,
[26:31] left it for four months on its own where
[26:34] it had nobody to care for it. Probably a
[26:38] toilet bowl open saved it. She had cats
[26:40] in there and ferrets in there. When
[26:42] people finally realized that these
[26:45] animals were left behind, there was
[26:47] nothing left of the cats and the
[26:50] ferrets. They were eaten. So, I had to
[26:52] deal with this woman whose dog was hit
[26:54] by a car. I stepped in for um the
[26:57] sheriff's department and I took care of
[27:00] this dog. Her nose was completely ripped
[27:03] off.
[27:03] » Doctor, can you wrap this up so we can
[27:06] » I will wrap it up, but I think that I
[27:08] think the residents need to know
[27:10] » About your proposal so we can take it to
[27:12] the committee.
[27:13] » Okay. But I would like to get before you
[27:16] guys. The crux of this is that I was in
[27:19] jeopardy. I was threatened by on social
[27:22] media by this drug addict. I was
[27:26] threatened and my staff was threatened.
[27:29] Other organizations were threatened that
[27:31] aided this dog. I took and still am
[27:35] taking care of that dog and did a
[27:37] massive surgery on that dog and that was
[27:39] all on behalf of Warren County. I'm not
[27:43] going to see anything back from that.
[27:45] And that's not appropriate. That dog
[27:47] should have been brought to a shelter.
[27:51] Let's get one more fact out here.
[27:54] Taxpayers are paying for a countyfunded
[27:58] organization, the SPCA.
[28:01] This dog was supposed to go there. They
[28:05] were turned away. I've had numerous
[28:08] cases turned away from the tax paid
[28:11] Warren counties, SPCA.
[28:14] They are not there to deal with animals
[28:17] from domestic violence, animals from
[28:19] DSS, animals that the owner is being
[28:23] incarcerated. He's a sex offender. That
[28:26] dog Khesi has remained under my care.
[28:30] These are cases that the taxpayers have
[28:33] a right to know about. These are cases
[28:35] that people need to know. When you turn
[28:38] to your county funded SPCA and they can
[28:43] get back to you in 48 hours, is that
[28:45] sufficient? It's not. Animals need to be
[28:48] dealt with in the heat of the moment.
[28:51] Those cases, we need to have a support
[28:54] right then and there. That dog that was
[28:56] hit by a car that I had to do surgery
[28:59] on, that dog needed to help then and
[29:02] there. She was not aided by the SPCA.
[29:06] We are spending in this county well over
[29:10] $300,000
[29:12] for a countyf funded organization that
[29:15] is not doing anything to um aid the the
[29:22] main crux of the problem here from cats
[29:26] at um Northshore. They're working
[29:30] tirelessly on feral cat populations,
[29:33] cats that are abandoned. We have fact
[29:36] organizations with trap and release um
[29:39] programs on their own dime.
[29:42] When is the county going to realize that
[29:45] this budget proposal is sound? It will
[29:48] cost the bonded structure of this for
[29:52] Warren County roughly 40 to 65,000
[29:56] annually. You're currently paying
[29:58] taxpayers well over $300,000 and you
[30:01] will not get the aid that you need.
[30:03] Should your house burn down and you have
[30:06] a puppy and you don't know where to
[30:08] bring it, you will be going in some
[30:10] ciruitous fashion trying to find a home
[30:14] for that puppy. That is not appropriate.
[30:17] Let's do what is fiscally right and what
[30:20] is morally right. We as human beings
[30:23] have to take care of the vulnerable and
[30:26] that is what a municipal by county
[30:28] shelter will in fact do. We will take
[30:31] care of the vulnerable. We will help
[30:33] support the residents when they have
[30:36] nowhere else to turn. Thank you.
[30:46] Morning. Deoly, Northshore Animal League
[30:49] America, 115 Maple Street, Glenn Falls.
[30:54] Our organization has been in Warren
[30:56] County for 10 years. During that time,
[31:00] we have helped over 8,000 felines in
[31:02] dire need from many terrible situations.
[31:07] This is an amazing feat. accomplished by
[31:09] a dedicated group of staff and
[31:11] volunteers who care deeply about these
[31:14] animals that are dependent on us to do
[31:16] the right thing.
[31:18] 8,000 felines is huge, but it is only a
[31:21] drop in the bucket animals that need our
[31:23] help.
[31:25] Northshore Animal League America is a
[31:26] nonprofit no kill rescue. We are not
[31:29] animal control, not law enforcement, and
[31:33] certainly not a municipal shelter.
[31:36] We do what we can, but there is a great
[31:38] need for municipal animal welfare
[31:40] infrastructure
[31:42] in Warren and Washington counties. A
[31:45] need for an animal shelter to house
[31:46] animals so law enforcement can do their
[31:48] jobs to hold people accountable for
[31:51] actions that cause the suffering of
[31:53] these animals.
[31:56] So, the public do not feel the need to
[31:58] just open the door and let domesticated
[32:00] companion animals out to fend for
[32:03] themselves. This is a real and ongoing
[32:05] huge issue.
[32:07] There are even incidences that we are
[32:09] aware of firsthand where law enforcement
[32:12] have done the same. Let animals out to
[32:15] fend for themselves following an
[32:17] eviction.
[32:19] Despite the no pet left behind law,
[32:21] which states that officers must
[32:24] determine if animals are involved prior
[32:26] to issuing an eviction warrant, then
[32:29] provide shelter for them if left behind.
[32:34] Why do you some feel compelled to do
[32:35] this? Because there is no shelter for
[32:37] the animals to go.
[32:40] Since I only have a short time to speak,
[32:42] I'm going to highlight an incident that
[32:43] occur occurred in Queensberry in May
[32:45] 2023.
[32:47] The town of Queensberry called us to ask
[32:49] for help for a situation involving many
[32:52] cats. We offered to meet them at the
[32:54] trailer park to assess the situation.
[32:57] [laughter]
[32:58] Code enforcement and town
[33:00] representatives did not want to enter
[33:02] the home due to the offensive odor
[33:04] emanating from the small trailer. We put
[33:07] on our face masks, gloves, and booties,
[33:09] and entered the home to find, as
[33:11] expected, a horrific scene of filth and
[33:14] neglect.
[33:15] 106 cats in a small trailer, no litter
[33:18] boxes because the owner could not afford
[33:21] the litter. Four adult cats stuffed in
[33:23] the same crate together left to sit in
[33:26] their urine in pieces.
[33:28] Long story short, it took our
[33:30] organization 52 days and $40,000 to help
[33:35] every single cat on that trailer.
[33:38] We began immediately to attempt ease of
[33:40] suffering as much as possible throughout
[33:42] those 52 days while space gradually
[33:45] became available for each cat.
[33:48] We did this by providing needed supplies
[33:50] like litter and litter boxes, larger
[33:52] crates to separate the animals to
[33:54] individual crates, toys for enrichment
[33:57] opportunities, etc.
[33:59] We were finally able to get each cat
[34:01] out, provide veterary medical care, spay
[34:04] and neuter, lots of TLC, which they had
[34:07] been severely lacking.
[34:09] We had zero help in the town of
[34:11] Queensberry, either physically or
[34:13] monetarily.
[34:15] When told by town representatives there
[34:17] was no funding available for the
[34:18] situation like this, he then asked them
[34:20] instead to help by doing a donation
[34:23] drive to collect need of food, litter,
[34:25] other supplies to help out. They did
[34:28] nothing.
[34:29] Shortly after the situation was
[34:31] resolved, I reached out to the
[34:33] supervisor's office to discuss ideas of
[34:35] how we could better work together in the
[34:36] future. This burden should not have been
[34:39] left entirely to us. The supervisors
[34:43] refused to meet. His secretary called to
[34:45] let us know he had no interest in
[34:47] speaking to us about the cats. This is
[34:50] not acceptable.
[34:52] Here's what should have happened. It
[34:54] should have been a collaborative effort
[34:55] by the town, law enforcement, and a
[34:58] municipal shelter and of course our
[35:01] organization needed to remove those cats
[35:04] from that situation immediately to
[35:06] prevent continued suffering.
[35:08] Even better, the situation could have
[35:10] been prevented had funding been
[35:11] available for local lowcost family and
[35:14] food programs
[35:16] other than the ones that we are able to
[35:18] provide.
[35:19] The owners in this case and many other
[35:21] similar cases meant well and had taken
[35:24] in just a few cats in need. In this
[35:26] case, nine cats, but unfortunately could
[35:29] not afford to spay or neuter them,
[35:31] leading to the 106 cats in a few years
[35:34] time.
[35:36] The bottom line is a humane
[35:38] collaborative municipal plan must be set
[35:40] in place to help more animals in our
[35:43] community. It will be a process, but the
[35:46] sooner we get started, the sooner it
[35:47] will come come to fruition. What a
[35:50] wonderful day that will be.
[35:58] Morning
[36:05] everybody. My name is Dr. Lisa Potitz. I
[36:08] am an experienced um boots on the ground
[36:11] shelter and GP veterinarian. Um I am
[36:14] here in support of either Warren County
[36:17] Municipal Shelter or Warren and
[36:19] Washington County Municipal Shelter.
[36:22] Since I graduated from Cornell Vet
[36:24] School in 1988, I have either worked in,
[36:27] observed, or evaluated about 15 um
[36:31] animal organizations,
[36:33] including both private nonprofit and
[36:35] also municipal shelter organizations. Um
[36:38] I I am an Albany resident and I
[36:41] currently split my time between a
[36:43] private nonprofit with um local law
[36:46] enforcement. That's Mohawk Hudson Umain
[36:49] which also has a very active um law
[36:52] enforcement division that works with
[36:54] Albony County and I also split my time
[36:57] in an enormous municipal shelter in Palm
[36:59] Beach County, Florida, which does have
[37:01] great resources.
[37:03] I just wanted to simplify um three quick
[37:06] statements. This will not be a
[37:08] threeminut talk. I am more here as an
[37:10] experienced um testimony veterinarian.
[37:14] New York State Agen Markets, it's
[37:16] article 26, if anybody's interested,
[37:19] codifies what is considered animal abuse
[37:22] and neglect.
[37:24] um when local law enforcement like in
[37:26] Warren and Washington County identifies
[37:29] a case of neglect or abuse and again
[37:32] this is very clear in agot markets
[37:34] article 26. If they have no place to
[37:38] bring these animals to, if they do not
[37:41] have adequate evaluation of animals and
[37:43] their abuse and neglect, then in
[37:46] essence, you're continuing on with a
[37:48] process that has already started that is
[37:51] codified in New York City and Markets
[37:53] 26.
[37:56] With all the organizations that I've
[37:58] worked for, there truly is no onesize
[38:01] municipal shelter that fits all. I know
[38:04] Dr. Herring, who I've worked with. We
[38:06] have worked together since we both
[38:08] graduated over 30 years ago in various
[38:11] other hospitals. I know she has a budget
[38:14] that she will bring forth to you guys.
[38:16] But what I will say with my experience
[38:19] is whether it's a municipal shelter or
[38:22] whether it's a nonprofit, you can start
[38:24] very small. You can start small and you
[38:27] can build up as your resources, as your
[38:30] staff, as your technical expertise
[38:34] grows. So, it doesn't have to be an
[38:36] enormous thing. You can start very small
[38:38] with this and and bridge on and go
[38:41] greater. Um, I do have with me um the
[38:46] codified, again, this is Palm Beach
[38:48] County Animal Care and Control where I
[38:50] work. Now, again, this is a very
[38:52] different situation than you, but
[38:54] everything starts as codified into law
[38:56] and codified into ordinance. Now, just
[38:59] be aware, Palm Beach County has been
[39:00] working on this for over 50 years, but I
[39:03] do have the list of ordinances of where
[39:05] they start from everything. And then
[39:08] once they start, they bridge on and they
[39:10] keep on building with more codified and
[39:13] if you want, I'm willing to share that
[39:14] with you. I just printed it all from the
[39:16] computer. The last thing that I wanted
[39:18] to say is like Dr. Herring, I am very
[39:20] passionate about this. I mean, you know,
[39:23] people will say, well, animals are
[39:24] animals. They will fend for themselves.
[39:27] But all of us who have pets know that
[39:29] um, you know, they can't fend for
[39:32] themselves, and animal abuse should
[39:34] should not continue on. So, I, like Dr.
[39:37] Herring, do believe that there is
[39:38] somewhat of a moral obligation at least
[39:40] to help these guys.
[39:42] Lastly, I will share with you guys
[39:44] although I spend my predominant amount
[39:46] of time in Palm Beach County, we all
[39:48] have internet. We all have Zoom. Um, I
[39:52] have advised and other organizations
[39:54] before and I'm more than willing to help
[39:56] you guys out if you want to start this
[39:58] as an advisory board. I'm here. I go
[40:01] back and forth between Palm Beach County
[40:03] and the Capitol District and I'd be more
[40:05] than willing to help anybody. Anybody
[40:07] who's interested, I will help. I will
[40:09] help Dr. Herring. Thank you very much
[40:11] for your time, Andrew.
[40:28] » I know you're on the other people. Um,
[40:31] yes, my name is Amy McCarthy. I live at
[40:33] 91 Street, Glenn Falls. And what I have
[40:36] to pass around to you is my daughter.
[40:38] Uh, she came from a county shelter in
[40:40] Texas. Um, she was told by person who
[40:44] brought her in that she was a stray. If
[40:47] you knew Die, I know some people here
[40:48] do, there's no way she could survive on
[40:50] her own. Um, it could have been someone
[40:52] just picked her up that day. So, either
[40:54] she was dumped or the owner brought her
[40:56] in and just called her astray. She had a
[40:58] broken hip in six places. It was left to
[41:01] heal on its own. So, she never got the
[41:03] medical treatment she needed. She was
[41:04] not using that leg. She was taken care
[41:07] of. She was given the help she needed.
[41:09] She was put on Petfinder where I saw her
[41:11] and said, "She's mine." At that point,
[41:13] they did an amputation on that leg. She
[41:15] is now been with me for two years. She
[41:19] back in the day was scared of the dark
[41:21] and scared of a leaf. Now she tells me
[41:23] when the brown bear has entered our
[41:24] neighborhood. She keeps track of all the
[41:27] neighborhood children and also puts
[41:29] their pets in order when they misbehave
[41:30] in front of the children because that's
[41:32] not going to happen on her watch.
[41:35] She came from a county shelter. When I
[41:37] found out we didn't have anything for
[41:39] two very large counties, it broke my
[41:42] heart that I had to go to Texas. The
[41:44] close counties we have of Saratoga,
[41:46] Albany, and some places south. I would
[41:50] feel it would be appropriate for us to
[41:52] have here. I worked for the Department
[41:54] of Corrections as a teacher for 27
[41:56] years. I got to work with the people who
[41:59] abuse their animals and were
[42:01] incarcerated for it. But when I find out
[42:03] that some abuse cases because of the
[42:06] legal issues, they don't remove the
[42:08] animal from that situation because I
[42:10] have no place to take them. If they took
[42:12] them someplace, they can evaluate the
[42:14] health and that would help the
[42:15] prosecution.
[42:17] It's adding to the abuse, leaving the
[42:19] animals in an abusive situation. We need
[42:22] to be able to take them out of there,
[42:24] give them the care they need, assess
[42:25] what care was needed, and prosecute
[42:27] people who are doing this so it can stop
[42:30] happening and not becoming more and more
[42:32] pre prevalent as we're seeing in the
[42:34] news every single day. I thank you for
[42:37] your time.
[42:44] » Anyone else wish?
[42:49] » My name's Tim Leonard. I look at 62
[42:51] Overlook Drive in Gren Falls.
[42:54] Um,
[42:57] just a general statement, you know,
[43:01] in an
[43:03] increasingly
[43:04] cruel world, where do we want to be?
[43:09] Right?
[43:11] Take a look around and see what's going
[43:12] around in the world around us. We want
[43:15] to be part of that cruelty crowd or do
[43:17] we want to be on the right side and give
[43:21] compassion, generosity
[43:24] and uh just love
[43:28] to
[43:31] the elements of society that can't fend
[43:34] for themselves
[43:36] which are you know the elderly, the
[43:39] sick, the young and our adults.
[43:45] The most innane statement
[43:50] I've heard
[43:53] is that dogs and cats
[43:56] will take care of themselves.
[43:59] And I find that absolutely preposterous.
[44:04] If you're a farmer and you're selling
[44:07] eggs, you got to take care of your
[44:09] chickens. If you're selling wool, you
[44:12] got to take care of your your sheep
[44:14] cows. You know, you got to go. There is
[44:18] no animal out there that we domesticated
[44:21] that can take care of itself. That's
[44:24] like saying 2-year-old
[44:26] saying, "Good luck, son. You can take
[44:29] care of yourself."
[44:30] Insane.
[44:32] Insane.
[44:34] Why am I passionate?
[44:36] I rolled into Kuwait City.
[44:40] They shot the animals in the zoo.
[44:43] That's cruel. We want to be part of
[44:46] those people. We're part of a society
[44:49] and culture that takes care of what?
[44:54] That's all I have to say. So, it's not a
[44:57] hard decision, right? And it has nothing
[44:59] to do with nothing. Zero. It's this
[45:03] right here.
[45:06] Anybody
[45:10] else on any subjects?
[45:26] » Good morning. My name is Molly. I'm a
[45:28] resident lstone kindly.
[45:32] Thank you for uh everybody being here
[45:35] today and thank you for uh Dr. Herring,
[45:38] all the uh other people that have showed
[45:41] up, all the nonprofits, just people that
[45:44] realize that we have a problem. I am a
[45:47] resident of Warren County obviously, but
[45:48] I uh watch the news and I sure you're
[45:52] all familiar with the massive amount of
[45:56] abuse and neglect that have gone on in
[45:59] these two counties. And to turn a blind
[46:01] eye to that, uh it's it's wrong. It's
[46:05] just wrong. And uh we can't we can't do
[46:09] it. And on paper it looks as though
[46:12] Warren County is fulfilling their
[46:15] legalities of having a shelter,
[46:19] but in reality
[46:22] it's not fulfilling uh the needs that
[46:29] are happening in in the county. Um
[46:34] I came today to speak on something
[46:36] different, but this morning I read the
[46:38] chronicle. I don't have a chance to read
[46:41] it yet. Um, but what struck me as uh was
[46:45] a response, I'm sure you all read it, is
[46:48] u
[46:50] the upstate SPCA executive director
[46:53] Kathy Clutter said that uh people say a
[46:57] county shelter is a great idea, but it
[46:59] is a great idea without having
[47:01] background information on the use of a
[47:03] shelter and who is going to use it. What
[47:06] are your restrictions? How big does it
[47:08] have to be? What are your hours? The
[47:10] first thing that jumped out at me is
[47:12] like having a shelter is not something
[47:15] new. There's so many shelters around the
[47:19] country, around New York State. Like to
[47:21] me that jumped out like just hit me like
[47:24] unbelievable.
[47:26] So, um it's not a new idea.
[47:29] Uh even our surrounding counties like
[47:31] Sarah C Saratoga County right next door
[47:34] has a has a wonderful shelter. The
[47:36] question being asked, who would use it,
[47:38] what services would it provide, and what
[47:41] hours would be, how large would it be,
[47:43] are exactly the questions that are
[47:46] answered during the planning process for
[47:48] every county shelter. That is not a
[47:50] reason to dismiss the idea. It is a
[47:53] reason to begin a conversation.
[47:55] For years, Warren and Washington
[47:57] counties have relied on a Patrick system
[48:00] of residents, police, rescues,
[48:03] veterinarians, social media, volunteers
[48:08] trying to fulfill fulfill fill the gaps
[48:11] when there is nowhere for animals to go.
[48:15] We already know there is a need.
[48:18] We have seen injured animals, strays,
[48:20] the the cruelty, wasp pets with no clear
[48:25] protocol and nowhere to bring them.
[48:30] This is not a radical or untested idea.
[48:34] It is a public safety and animal animal
[48:37] welfare need whose time has come.
[48:41] Um,
[48:43] talk about money. I know everything
[48:45] comes down to money. Um, I guess I I'm
[48:48] just going to put this question to the
[48:50] board. Um, that there are grants that
[48:54] come out every year that can be applied
[48:57] for Just give me a moment
[49:02] on the Yeah, the capital the capital
[49:06] campaign every year. Yeah. Through uh
[49:09] Governor Hokll every year comes out and
[49:11] counties can apply for up to $500,000. I
[49:15] have a list of counties that have
[49:17] applied and have received them. Warren
[49:20] and Washington County never even
[49:21] applied. Now, these can be used to build
[49:23] new shelters, put new kennel kennels in,
[49:26] update HBAC. I mean, it's a start, but
[49:30] not to apply when the money is there.
[49:33] That shows me really a lack of like we
[49:36] don't want to know, you know, if we
[49:38] don't see it, we don't have to know
[49:40] about it. So I think the group here I
[49:43] think you know are the people that are
[49:45] in support of this this we we want you
[49:48] to realize that there is a problem you
[49:50] know and there are solutions and we hope
[49:54] to work together to uh start
[49:58] conversations move forward.
[50:00] » Okay. Thank you.
[50:01] » Thank you.
[50:06] What
[50:06] » Else?
[50:38] letter I sent last year. This looks like
[50:41] a letter to the Warren County Sheriff's
[50:43] Office. It says, "Dear Jim Lavar, I was
[50:46] at the Crannle Public Library yesterday
[50:48] because I could not get on the internet
[50:50] from using my home computer. I've tried
[50:52] to call your office several times and of
[50:54] course you are well aware of I have gone
[50:57] to Lake George and make an appointment
[50:59] with you again to discuss what Donald
[51:00] Trump has been doing to me. Told me you
[51:03] would help me. Officer O'Brien told me
[51:05] you would help me. Was the first officer
[51:07] I have ever encountered. Now Donald
[51:09] Trump is terrorizing me. I was there at
[51:12] the store target with a protest sign
[51:14] when Officer O'Brien showed up many
[51:16] years ago. There are drones outside my
[51:18] home. There are hidden cameras in my
[51:20] home. And I have told you before that I
[51:22] am being monitored, which is illegal,
[51:24] and my civil rights are being taken away
[51:26] from me. I'm sorry to bug you into this
[51:29] or sorry to bring you into this uh and I
[51:31] know this is not your normal
[51:33] circumstances but you have to know that
[51:34] this has gone so far from being normal
[51:37] it's unprecedented and I would usually
[51:39] write after that but there's nowhere
[51:42] near fun I have been put on social media
[51:44] naked toothless and be sick have gone as
[51:48] far as to put a camera in my toilet how
[51:50] sick is that I've already told you I am
[51:52] being followed by Trumpies who use one
[51:54] headlight to let me know I'm being
[51:56] watched. This is something I cannot
[51:58] ignore because Donald Trump has
[51:59] infiltrated every aspect of my life.
[52:02] Both my fathers were police officers and
[52:03] if either one of them were alive today
[52:05] would be so upset with what is being
[52:06] allowed to be done to me by Donald
[52:08] Trump, which by the way for the four
[52:11] years that he was not president was
[52:12] doing this spying on me also between
[52:15] 2020 and 2024 and I have believed since
[52:19] 2018.
[52:21] I hope to hear from you to discuss my
[52:22] next options are no American like myself
[52:25] deserves to be treated this way because
[52:26] of politics more
[52:45] to Anyone
[52:51] else wish to address the board?
[52:55] » A couple more speakers.
[53:08] » Morning. My name is Jacqueline Lutz. I
[53:10] reside at four iron.
[53:13] I believe some of you received letters
[53:15] from me a couple weeks ago regarding the
[53:18] situation with animals in this county.
[53:21] Um, first I'm just going to mention a
[53:24] couple recent situations I've dealt
[53:26] with. The first is uh my former boss at
[53:30] Cumberland Farms at exit 18 contact me
[53:32] back in February regarding the dog that
[53:35] Dr. Herring had mentioned.
[53:38] The girl and her dog had been dropped
[53:40] off by the sheriff since the middle of
[53:41] the night. it was a domestic violence
[53:43] situation. Sheriffs were called
[53:45] repeatedly to come back and forth. They
[53:46] appeared three times, told her there's
[53:48] nothing they can do.
[53:51] Um, eventually the dog got hit by a car.
[53:55] So, that poses a public safety issue.
[53:57] That dog could have caused a serious
[53:59] collision. I also have a situation
[54:02] currently going on in my neighborhood.
[54:04] The neighbors across the street from me
[54:06] have two very large dogs that are
[54:08] continuously running the neighborhood.
[54:10] Dogs have already One of my neighbors
[54:12] destroyed his screen door, left bloody
[54:14] paw prints on porch. He's called the
[54:17] sheriff's three times. Dog control,
[54:20] whatever that consists of in this area.
[54:22] Everyone shows up says we can't do
[54:24] anything. And incidentally, nobody ever
[54:26] mentions call the SPCA, right? So I I
[54:29] Googled Queensbury Animal Control and it
[54:32] says it's permanently closed
[54:35] and it says contact the SPCA for all
[54:38] this stuff. Well, nobody seems to be
[54:40] able to get a hold of the SPCA.
[54:42] Um,
[54:44] I my parents have been homeowners and
[54:47] taxpayers in Queensberry for 33 years.
[54:50] My mother has rescued dozens of cats
[54:53] over the years. I've taken two of those
[54:56] cats back to New Jersey with me previous
[54:59] to moving up here because there was
[55:00] nowhere she had to take these cats.
[55:02] After she passed away two years ago, I
[55:05] took over taking care of her home and
[55:07] seven cats that she had. That's how I
[55:09] became involved in this and I'm totally
[55:12] unaware
[55:13] of this situation. That I think is a
[55:15] problem too. So many people are unaware
[55:18] how bad it is. Like we just assume
[55:20] because there's a sign that says in SPCA
[55:22] that services are actually being
[55:24] rendered. In my humble opinion, and this
[55:27] is only my opinion, it's a money
[55:28] laundering operation because they're
[55:30] rendering minimal services
[55:33] to say that they're doing something to
[55:36] justify collecting a quarter of a
[55:38] million dollars from taxpayers. I
[55:40] understand money is an issue everywhere.
[55:43] Where is it not an issue? Right?
[55:46] So maybe start with maybe we can look at
[55:49] what's being done with this money that's
[55:51] being funneled by Warren County,
[55:53] Queensberry, and Lance Falls to this
[55:57] SPCA.
[55:58] Um,
[56:01] and as I said, this public safety, so
[56:03] these dogs continue to run the
[56:04] neighborhood. I've also had a
[56:06] conversation with two officers who have
[56:08] come to my door regarding the neighbors
[56:10] and I've mentioned these dogs like
[56:12] nobody can do anything about these dogs.
[56:13] So we have to put up with this. So now I
[56:16] can't let my cat out the front door now
[56:18] because I have to worry about her
[56:19] getting attacked by the dog. I have to
[56:21] worry that I'm going to get bit by a
[56:23] dog. I have to worry about neighbor
[56:26] visitors,
[56:27] delivery people, you know, I don't know
[56:29] what kind of liability that could fall
[56:31] back on our family who outright owns our
[56:34] home because the neighbor across the
[56:35] street doesn't have anything, you know,
[56:38] and there's there's I think it's called
[56:40] vicarious liability. Someone's going to
[56:42] get sued. So, I also have to worry about
[56:44] future liabilities. These dogs have
[56:46] already attacked people and we're being
[56:49] told nothing can be done
[56:51] and um
[56:55] you know for nothing at all for the for
[56:57] the sake of public safety and the animal
[57:01] welfare. You know, I I hear all that
[57:03] well people don't care. People don't I
[57:04] don't like cats. I I don't care if you
[57:07] don't like cats or animals. They don't
[57:08] deserve to suffer. You know, there
[57:10] there's a lot of humans I don't like. I
[57:12] don't think they deserve to suffer
[57:13] either. So that's irrelevant.
[57:16] And uh thank you for your time.
[57:24] Anybody else
[57:26] on this subject? I'm not dogs or cats.
[57:29] » Yes.
[57:30] » That's it.
[57:36] » Hello, my name is Linda Clark and I live
[57:37] here in Warren County. I attended a
[57:40] committee meeting uh not too long ago
[57:42] and listened to Dr. Herring talk about
[57:45] the problems with the animals and in
[57:48] turn I foiled the Warren County
[57:50] contracts and the Queen's Berry
[57:53] contracts
[57:55] and in reading over those contracts
[57:58] these services are supposed to be
[58:00] provided.
[58:01] In fact, Warren County signed a contract
[58:05] on October 3rd of 2025
[58:08] with the uh contractor address as being
[58:12] 588 Queensbury Avenue, which is the SPCA
[58:16] location, which is what I thought was
[58:18] the SPCA location. I say that because
[58:22] I've since found out that it no longer
[58:25] exists.
[58:26] So, we pay $8,000 plus additional
[58:31] charges. That's Warren County. That's
[58:33] not Queensberry. Queensberry pays more
[58:36] to the SPCA
[58:38] and we're not getting any services.
[58:41] What's going on?
[58:44] And my question to you today is, where's
[58:47] the SPCA today? Where are they? How come
[58:50] they're not here? How come they're not
[58:53] being held accountable for the services
[58:55] they're supposed to be providing? Thank
[58:57] you.
[59:04] » Anyone else?
[59:19] My name my name is Debbie Paw at Buds
[59:22] Falls. I'm here I've had personal
[59:25] experience with a lot of these issues
[59:27] that are going on here and I will say
[59:30] that service is being provided. I have
[59:33] seen it. I have called the sheriff
[59:35] department, the local Guns Falls Police
[59:37] Department. They've showed up for dogs
[59:40] that are running loose and um find the
[59:44] owners and do talk to them about it. And
[59:46] also the SPCA that did have before was
[59:50] all by donations.
[59:53] When we had CO,
[59:55] everybody, excuse me, wanted to have an
[59:58] animal.
[1:00:00] They were do brought in. Once CO was
[1:00:02] over, you can socialize with people.
[1:00:05] They were abandoned and they were
[1:00:07] brought back there. I was part of that
[1:00:10] as a volunteer. We could not even get
[1:00:13] volunteers.
[1:00:15] You want animal shelter. Now, you can't
[1:00:18] just have an animal shelter. You've got
[1:00:20] to support it. Not just financially, but
[1:00:24] you have to put in some kind of work in
[1:00:26] it. Kathy has done everything. The
[1:00:31] sheriff's department has done
[1:00:33] everything. I have seen it myself. It's
[1:00:36] 247.
[1:00:38] They have keys where if they have a
[1:00:40] problem with an animal, they will bring
[1:00:43] it there because they can do it.
[1:00:46] I just want to say that everybody needs
[1:00:48] to open their eyes to what we had and we
[1:00:51] gave up. Thank you.
[1:00:55] » Anyone else
[1:00:58] on any other topic? Okay, we'll close
[1:01:01] the public comment and I thank you all
[1:01:04] for participating.
[1:01:17] We'll go to by committees chairs. I'll
[1:01:21] start with my report of course.
[1:01:24] On uh March 20th, I attended four
[1:01:26] supervisors meeting. On the 23rd, I
[1:01:29] attended committee meetings criminal
[1:01:30] justice, health services, human
[1:01:32] services, birth and oxy.
[1:01:35] On the 24th, attended committee
[1:01:37] meetings, higher education, county
[1:01:39] facilities, public works, parks
[1:01:41] operation, real property tax and
[1:01:43] environmental concerns, economic growth
[1:01:46] and development.
[1:01:48] » On the 25th, I attended an APA local
[1:01:51] government uh meeting was held at
[1:01:55] On the 26th. I attended department head
[1:01:58] meeting here at the county. On the 27th,
[1:02:02] I met with the Saga City Japanese
[1:02:04] delegation here in our May along with
[1:02:07] DIS Paris. We had a good time with the
[1:02:11] with the kids. Uh they really like
[1:02:14] Dodger baseball. Just in case you didn't
[1:02:16] know, they're all fans of the Dodger
[1:02:19] baseball. March 30th, they attend a
[1:02:21] meeting with Mayor of Glaw, Diane
[1:02:23] Palmer, county administrator. On the
[1:02:26] 31st to welcome new members of the
[1:02:28] ethics committee to their organization.
[1:02:31] On April 1st, I attended retirement
[1:02:33] party for Janelle Jones, public health
[1:02:35] director. On the second, I attended a
[1:02:37] higher education now finance and budget
[1:02:40] committee meetings. On the 3rd, I
[1:02:42] attended a going away party for former
[1:02:44] county attorney Larry Elman. On the 8th,
[1:02:47] I attended a meeting with cash fest
[1:02:49] personnel along with the treasur's
[1:02:51] office. On the 13th, I attended a
[1:02:53] meeting with Arrol Bank. On the 14th, I
[1:02:56] attended I attended county uh attorney
[1:02:59] interviews and on the 15th, I attended a
[1:03:02] meeting with Asant Matt Simpson and
[1:03:04] National Personnel. very very very
[1:03:07] informative meeting. So we will go to
[1:03:11] start with Sterling. Any reports? There
[1:03:13] are no reports. Mr. CO thank you Mr.
[1:03:17] Chairman. Um
[1:03:20] on March 23rd, occupancy tax committee
[1:03:23] met from that there's two resolutions
[1:03:27] resolution 141
[1:03:42] that has moved sorry thank that has
[1:03:45] moved on to finance
[1:03:48] for funding resolution 142
[1:03:52] that is to extend a contract North
[1:03:54] Warren Chamber of Commerce for the three
[1:03:56] town bonding
[1:03:58] um
[1:04:00] or three three uh three town uh branding
[1:04:03] I'm sorry and uh resolution 143 of
[1:04:07] funding for the 2026 spending plan of
[1:04:10] 450,000
[1:04:13] um parks in operation met on March 24th
[1:04:18] one resolution out of there for to
[1:04:22] reimburse the village for replacement on
[1:04:23] the slide that was damaged. That's also
[1:04:25] in front of finance for funding. Um
[1:04:30] occupancy tax will meet on April 21st on
[1:04:33] Tuesday and
[1:04:35] park and operate joint park and will on
[1:04:39] 22nd on Wednesday. So thank you.
[1:04:48] Supervisor
[1:04:50] » No committee report this month. Thank
[1:04:52] you
[1:04:53] » Supervisor Wild.
[1:04:54] » Mr. Chairman, thank you. On March 14th,
[1:04:56] the economic growth of development on
[1:04:58] had our committee meeting three
[1:05:00] resolutions 137 138 139
[1:05:04] is an award grant by conservation
[1:05:08] organization for Bay Road Culver. 38 is
[1:05:12] a submission for a culvert placement
[1:05:15] current road and 139 is also a grant
[1:05:18] application for local apprehens
[1:05:21] comprehensive plans. Uh that one's
[1:05:23] special because there's no batch
[1:05:24] associated
[1:05:26] on April 2nd uh met uh one resolution
[1:05:31] and that's surging New York State to
[1:05:33] increase funding for community college.
[1:05:35] That's
[1:05:37] » Supervisor.
[1:05:38] » Thank you Mr. Chairman. Finance and
[1:05:40] budget met on April 2nd. Resolutions 130
[1:05:43] to 131 161 to 168 from that meeting. 130
[1:05:49] mix supplemental appropriations. 131
[1:05:51] amends the Mor County budget for
[1:05:53] transfers within our departments. 161
[1:05:57] um
[1:05:58] uh reappropriates money from different
[1:06:01] departments about 80,600
[1:06:03] um into our insurance reserve fund.
[1:06:06] 162 increases capital project H376. We
[1:06:10] have $22,360
[1:06:12] using federal grant money. 163 increases
[1:06:16] capital project 8428 Bay Road near
[1:06:19] Lockheart Mountain. Uh and that
[1:06:21] increases that project increases by
[1:06:23] almost $240,000.
[1:06:26] 164 increases capital project H448 Dix
[1:06:29] Avenue reconstruction uh by over $1.2
[1:06:32] million.
[1:06:34] 165 authorizes $200,000 in Octax
[1:06:38] proceed. I touched on that for the civic
[1:06:40] center. Um and same with 166
[1:06:43] reimbursement to George Village for
[1:06:46] slide that was damaged. 167 accepts
[1:06:50] grant funding $535,41
[1:06:54] to be used for a screw lake uh screw
[1:06:57] river access improvements
[1:07:00] and 168 accepting grant funding. Uh both
[1:07:03] of these are from New York State. This
[1:07:05] is for $300,000
[1:07:08] uh for improvements to the Miller and
[1:07:10] County Pway. We meet again uh next
[1:07:12] Thursday the 30th. Thank you.
[1:07:15] » Supervisor Stranger.
[1:07:16] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh health
[1:07:19] services met on March 23rd. Uh from that
[1:07:22] Deanna uh from office of the aging gave
[1:07:24] us her annual report. Uh very
[1:07:26] comprehensive. Um you can see that her
[1:07:30] department is keeping very busy. Uh
[1:07:32] there was some changes, if you've seen
[1:07:34] this report before, there was some
[1:07:35] changes in geographics and how many
[1:07:38] people in each different town are
[1:07:39] getting the services. I found that kind
[1:07:41] of interesting. Uh welcome Pat Belton
[1:07:44] for uh health. Uh also on April 13th, I
[1:07:49] met with the jury board. Um that was a
[1:07:53] very short meeting. I believe the report
[1:07:56] is with Amanda. Um kudos to Wanda Smith,
[1:08:00] our commissioner of jurors. Um she has
[1:08:02] done a really nice job of outreach going
[1:08:05] to different schools and uh letting
[1:08:07] people get informed about what jury
[1:08:09] dubbie is actually about. Um and uh she
[1:08:12] was lauded by the judges. She does a
[1:08:14] great job over there. So we're very
[1:08:16] lucky to have her. Uh and that's it for
[1:08:18] me.
[1:08:19] » Supervisor B.
[1:08:20] » Uh no committee report, but I do have a
[1:08:23] couple comments. Thank you, Mr.
[1:08:24] Chairman. Um I I had to miss my uh
[1:08:27] committee meetings uh uh the day of my
[1:08:30] committee meetings due to bad tooth.
[1:08:33] Thank God that's all taken care of now.
[1:08:35] So I just want to let everybody know
[1:08:36] those who are concerned. Um I was able
[1:08:40] though to uh get to the uh next day the
[1:08:42] uh higher education committee meeting uh
[1:08:45] our newly formed higher education
[1:08:47] committee and just a couple comments
[1:08:49] because I've been pretty involved with
[1:08:50] that with Sunni Aderondac. Um, I believe
[1:08:54] that this new president uh will be
[1:08:58] fiscally responsible
[1:09:00] as well as the vice president of their
[1:09:03] finance uh department. Uh I am though
[1:09:07] concerned
[1:09:09] that their first real act was to
[1:09:11] discontinue the hotel management major
[1:09:15] with 94 majors at Sunni Aderandac. I
[1:09:17] found it rather disconcerting to be
[1:09:21] honest with you that we would eliminate
[1:09:24] a major that is our third highest
[1:09:27] employment industry which is tourism.
[1:09:31] Uh that was disconcerting to me. I
[1:09:35] believe that she'll be fiscally
[1:09:36] responsible but then yet the first one
[1:09:39] of her first acts
[1:09:41] is to eliminate the hotel management
[1:09:43] major. That to me doesn't make sense.
[1:09:47] Um, so I just want to get that out
[1:09:50] there. I attended the CDTA meeting on
[1:09:53] April 6th. Uh, Supervisor Etu was there.
[1:09:58] Our county administrator, um, Mr.
[1:10:01] Tafflon was there, uh, as well as other
[1:10:03] people. Um,
[1:10:06] we all knew, well, we and all, but it's
[1:10:10] a financial boondoggle
[1:10:12] that's being polite and to the point.
[1:10:16] The CDTA is hundreds of thousands of
[1:10:19] dollars in debt already. They can't
[1:10:22] support yearly services. They they are
[1:10:26] good people,
[1:10:28] but this is no way in any shape or form
[1:10:32] financially advantageous to the county
[1:10:36] or to the residents. There are other
[1:10:39] options that we can give the same or it
[1:10:42] better services much less expensively.
[1:10:46] And I've explored some of those. Uh
[1:10:48] they're not real receptive. Some people
[1:10:50] aren't because you know, hey Doug, we're
[1:10:52] already in it. And as the former county
[1:10:55] attorney said, once you get in the CDTA,
[1:10:58] it's like the mafia.
[1:11:00] You don't get out. You can't get out.
[1:11:03] So, you know, we've got to look at this
[1:11:05] and say, are there better options
[1:11:08] financially?
[1:11:10] And can we get the same, if not better,
[1:11:12] service? And I know there I know there
[1:11:15] are so hopefully some of the supervisors
[1:11:17] here on this board will be uh somewhat
[1:11:20] open to uh uh changing a path that is
[1:11:24] financially devastating to the county.
[1:11:26] We spent 1.1 million
[1:11:29] last year and we'll spend as you know
[1:11:33] it's 25 cents on the dollar or $100 of
[1:11:36] our mortgage tax goes directly to them.
[1:11:38] So if we bring in 1.4 4 million in
[1:11:40] mortgage tax goes directly to CDTA. If
[1:11:43] we only bring in 800,000 only, goes
[1:11:46] right to CDTA. They're not bad people.
[1:11:49] It's a model that won't work up here.
[1:11:52] We're 64,000 people in Warren County.
[1:11:55] That's an inner city model. It won't
[1:11:58] work. It never will be fiscally
[1:12:00] accountable or responsible. And then one
[1:12:02] final comment is the IRS this week said
[1:12:05] that New York State has lost over $1
[1:12:08] trillion
[1:12:11] in assets due to people moving out and
[1:12:14] with their businesses. Think about that
[1:12:16] for a second. One trillion over one
[1:12:19] trillion. And New York State has lost
[1:12:22] billions and billions
[1:12:25] from people moving out and their uh
[1:12:27] their income. So, we are in a dire
[1:12:31] situation around here, not just in
[1:12:33] Warren County, but in the state. And we
[1:12:36] can all pretend like it's not happening.
[1:12:38] You know, hey, everything's rosy. It's
[1:12:40] not roying. I don't like being the
[1:12:42] bearer of uh of bad news, but we need a
[1:12:45] reality check around here about spending
[1:12:47] because we don't have a revenue problem.
[1:12:49] We've got a spending problem. And we've
[1:12:51] got a major spending problem, not just a
[1:12:54] little one. And I won't accept breaking
[1:12:57] that tax cap next year. I wasn't on the
[1:12:59] board last year, the year before, but
[1:13:01] last year broke the tax cap. And I, you
[1:13:05] know, you can override me, but I'll be
[1:13:07] very vocal about that. We've got to cut
[1:13:09] back spending. And I know Mr. E2 is
[1:13:11] trying to, as the budget officer, I just
[1:13:14] hope a lot of us around this room start
[1:13:16] taking this very seriously. Thank you,
[1:13:20] » Supervisor O'Neal.
[1:13:22] » I have no report at this time.
[1:13:24] Supervisor.
[1:13:25] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The personnel
[1:13:27] committee met on April 2nd, and there
[1:13:29] are four resolutions resulting from that
[1:13:31] meeting number 157, which is amending
[1:13:34] the table of organization and Warren
[1:13:36] County salary and compensation plan to
[1:13:38] create the lead positions within the
[1:13:40] planning and community development
[1:13:42] department and increase the salary
[1:13:44] within the county attorney's office for
[1:13:46] the property and casualty risk
[1:13:48] management. number 158 which is amending
[1:13:51] resolution 380 of 2025 regarding an
[1:13:54] agreement with Asentis Corporation for
[1:13:57] the NOVA time 5000 program to include up
[1:13:59] to two database exports. Number 159
[1:14:03] which is adopting the Warren County
[1:14:04] first amendment audit protocol policy
[1:14:07] and number 160 adopting the Warren
[1:14:09] County family and medical leave policy.
[1:14:11] Our next meeting will be April 30th at
[1:14:14] 10 a.m.
[1:14:18] » Thank you Mr. Mr. Chairman,
[1:14:21] public works met on uh March 24th
[1:14:25] represented in your packet by
[1:14:26] resolutions 144 through 150. I just
[1:14:31] would like brief comment on 144 to just
[1:14:34] take a moment and I know everyone in the
[1:14:36] panel uh agrees with this how uh what a
[1:14:40] wonderful uh department head we have
[1:14:42] Kevin Hos uh not only in terms of
[1:14:46] running the highway department building
[1:14:48] and grounds department uh but uh he's
[1:14:51] been at the forefront of uh uh efforts
[1:14:54] to try to get Albany to put more money
[1:14:57] into our infrastructure. He was uh
[1:15:00] president of the highway association
[1:15:02] recently. He has been uh very aggressive
[1:15:05] as you know in the bridge New York
[1:15:07] program and other types of federal and
[1:15:09] state programs to bring resources into
[1:15:11] this area to help us with our
[1:15:13] infrastructure. Um
[1:15:17] when there's an emergency,
[1:15:19] he is there. And I know I see a lot of
[1:15:23] supervisors shaking their heads. Yes. I
[1:15:25] mean it it could be 3 o'clock in the
[1:15:26] morning. I mean he's up. he's there. You
[1:15:29] make that call, he answers. And um so I
[1:15:33] would uh I'm very pleased that he wants
[1:15:35] to continue as our public works director
[1:15:37] and for an additional four years. And
[1:15:39] that's for representative packet by
[1:15:41] resolutions 144. The other resolutions I
[1:15:45] think are are self-explanatory.
[1:15:48] Um and uh I just would like to comment
[1:15:50] quickly on 150. Um
[1:15:54] what a wonderful organization we have a
[1:15:56] non forprofit that was formed to support
[1:15:58] uh the programming going on at UP yanda.
[1:16:01] They do fundraising and then they take
[1:16:03] their funds that they gather and they
[1:16:06] put them into helping us maintain our
[1:16:08] infrastructure and uh to deliver the
[1:16:11] kind of wonderful programming that we do
[1:16:12] at. So kudos to them and and their
[1:16:15] efforts out on the facility. And uh our
[1:16:19] next uh public works meeting will be on
[1:16:22] April 22nd. And that concludes my
[1:16:24] report. Supervisor Mayday,
[1:16:28] » The criminal justice and public safety
[1:16:30] emergency services committee met and
[1:16:32] there are three resolutions that come
[1:16:34] out of that uh 134 and 135 are
[1:16:38] appointing or reappointing members of
[1:16:40] the uh EMS and fire advisory boards and
[1:16:45] 136 is uh interest
[1:16:49] county correctional for procurement with
[1:16:53] uh with their corrections. Department of
[1:16:56] Corrections decision.
[1:16:58] That's concludes.
[1:17:02] » Supervisor Diamond.
[1:17:03] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. No reports
[1:17:05] today.
[1:17:06] » Supervisor Go.
[1:17:08] » Uh, thank you, Chairman. Support
[1:17:09] services met on March 23rd. There's five
[1:17:12] resolutions. Uh, 151 is introducing
[1:17:16] proposed local law five of 26 and
[1:17:20] replacing local law number three of
[1:17:23] 2010. and local log two of 2017.
[1:17:28] Uh 152 is authorizing an agreement with
[1:17:31] call one for installation of audio
[1:17:34] equipment in the boardroom.
[1:17:36] Uh 153 is authorizing participation in
[1:17:40] opioid settlement uh settlement
[1:17:42] agreements with the globeies.
[1:17:45] 154 is accepting donation of personal
[1:17:48] property to the Warren County Attorney's
[1:17:50] Office and authorizing um a letter of
[1:17:54] appreciation.
[1:17:56] 155 is approving revisions to the
[1:17:59] purchasing policy for one county. Our
[1:18:01] next meeting will be April 21st. Um I'm
[1:18:05] not short of the time. That's all I
[1:18:08] have. Thank you,
[1:18:09] » Supervisor Turner.
[1:18:10] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[1:18:12] » Excuse me. The tourism committee met on
[1:18:16] March 21st and out of that meeting we
[1:18:19] have one resolution number 156 and it's
[1:18:22] amending the agreement with Grove
[1:18:24] Marketing Inc. to purchase a
[1:18:27] subscription of data for inclusion into
[1:18:30] the destination insights platform and to
[1:18:33] increase the not to exceed amount to
[1:18:35] $31,114.
[1:18:38] Our next meeting is April 21st.
[1:18:42] Thank you,
[1:18:44] » Supervisor Burrow.
[1:18:45] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. County
[1:18:47] facilities met on March 24th
[1:18:50] and uh we have two resolutions from that
[1:18:53] meeting. One is 13 resolution 132.
[1:18:58] That's awarding a bid and authorizing
[1:19:01] Kingsley Incorporated for the
[1:19:04] general construction
[1:19:06] demolition and replacement of the tea
[1:19:09] hanger. This is for the general
[1:19:11] construction portion of that and 133
[1:19:15] awarding a bid and authorizing Herald
[1:19:18] Park Bloom incorporated for the same
[1:19:21] project um demolition and place hanger
[1:19:25] and this is the electrical portion of
[1:19:27] that project. Uh this additionally in
[1:19:32] case you're interested if not we
[1:19:35] discussed the uh we've been looking at
[1:19:38] the regional board for one or two years
[1:19:41] now and just for your information we
[1:19:44] were looking at
[1:19:46] uh Al County
[1:19:49] for a large
[1:19:51] regional board but due to cost they are
[1:19:55] they can scale that back
[1:19:58] or they have chosen will cover their
[1:20:02] area only. So, uh unless there's another
[1:20:06] option available, Warren County will
[1:20:08] continue to contract Lance Falls
[1:20:10] Hospital for services.
[1:20:13] And uh additionally an update on the
[1:20:17] exant project if you're all not aware
[1:20:19] that is the construction of two solar
[1:20:24] generator electrical field tap Warren
[1:20:27] County Airport County property out
[1:20:29] there. And uh so the anticipated
[1:20:33] activation for the southern site is the
[1:20:36] second quarter which is for now we're in
[1:20:39] this year and a third or fourth quarter
[1:20:43] for the northern site. As soon as those
[1:20:44] are activated online county will realize
[1:20:48] they come from those two. I can't
[1:20:50] remember broad hand but the toes for
[1:20:52] that I think it's $60,000 plus per year.
[1:20:58] That's a good thing. And uh additionally
[1:21:00] Mr. Hos superintendent public works
[1:21:03] notified us that they the county will be
[1:21:06] doing an assessment all county public
[1:21:08] buildings to determine what is required
[1:21:12] on those buildings that are
[1:21:16] well along in age if you will.
[1:21:19] Our next meeting is Wednesday, April
[1:21:22] 22nd, 26 at 11 a.m.
[1:21:30] » Supervisor Dress.
[1:21:32] » Thank you, Chairman. Uh the human
[1:21:33] services committee did not meet last
[1:21:35] month. Uh but we will uh this month uh
[1:21:38] this coming uh Tuesday, April 21st at
[1:21:42] 9:10 immediately um after the criminal
[1:21:46] justice, public safety, and emergency
[1:21:48] services meeting concludes. We'll be
[1:21:51] hearing from social services and the
[1:21:54] countryside adult home. I just want to
[1:21:57] um remind people of of the u the
[1:22:02] important but very um difficult work
[1:22:05] that social services uh does, but
[1:22:07] especially uh this year with uh with
[1:22:10] federal cutbacks and and changes in the
[1:22:13] um funding formulas um primarily with
[1:22:18] SNAP, Medicaid and a number of the other
[1:22:20] services. Um it really uh requires that
[1:22:24] they are are reacting to to those
[1:22:28] changes on a daily basis and and making
[1:22:30] appropriate um uh staff decisions and
[1:22:34] and um program decisions that uh so that
[1:22:39] residents of the county aren't impacted.
[1:22:41] Um the uh home energy assistance program
[1:22:45] uh ended yesterday. That's for the
[1:22:47] heating program. The um the cooling
[1:22:50] program which is available for seniors
[1:22:53] and um individuals uh with um disabled
[1:22:58] uh situation where um
[1:23:02] cool air uh air conditioning is
[1:23:05] required. um with a a doctor's note and
[1:23:09] and other types of um um
[1:23:13] referrals from organizations, they may
[1:23:15] be eligible eligible for um an air
[1:23:18] conditioner uh as well as um uh
[1:23:21] financial support for that program. Um
[1:23:27] again, we'll be meeting uh this coming
[1:23:30] Tuesday at 9:10. Uh Cornell Cooper of
[1:23:33] Extension uh will be meeting uh this
[1:23:36] coming Monday the 20th at 6 PM um in
[1:23:40] Warrenburg. Uh John Bo, who was here
[1:23:42] earlier, had to attend another meeting,
[1:23:44] but he dropped off um the uh the monthly
[1:23:48] program update. That concludes my uh
[1:23:50] presentation. Thank you,
[1:23:52] » Supervisor Miller. Uh Chairman Gerby, no
[1:23:55] report at this time. Looking forward to
[1:23:56] attending committee meetings next week.
[1:23:58] Thank you.
[1:23:59] » Report of County Administrators. Thank
[1:24:01] you, Mr. Chairman. Uh 417 off April
[1:24:05] 2026, uh March 26, we had our first
[1:24:08] department head meeting. Uh we discussed
[1:24:10] the 2027 budget and highlighted the
[1:24:12] overall budget challenge faced next
[1:24:14] year. I asked the department heads to
[1:24:17] carefully evaluate open positions before
[1:24:19] filling them this year and to try to
[1:24:22] conserve funds this year uh and look for
[1:24:25] creative ways to address next year's
[1:24:27] challenges. Thanks to the chairman at
[1:24:29] the budget office for attending.
[1:24:31] Uh, as the chairman mentioned, March
[1:24:33] 30th, we have Mayor Palmer uh to discuss
[1:24:36] a possibility of a shared services
[1:24:40] agreement with the Glenn Smalls Fire
[1:24:42] Prevention and Building Codes office.
[1:24:44] Uh, we've had several follow-on meetings
[1:24:47] with that. We're still working out the
[1:24:49] particulars of what the cost would be uh
[1:24:52] on the part of the county uh and how
[1:24:55] that would operate, but we have that on
[1:24:57] the facilities agenda as an item for
[1:25:00] April 22nd.
[1:25:03] On April 2nd, I attended the monthly
[1:25:05] regional strategic alliance meeting
[1:25:07] hosted by the EDC. And this alliance
[1:25:10] includes ARCC, EDC, city of Glenn Falls,
[1:25:14] Lake Samplain, Lake Lakes Shores
[1:25:15] Regional Planning Board, Saratoga County
[1:25:17] EDC, Warren Washington, uh IDA, uh
[1:25:22] Warren and Washington County
[1:25:23] administrators. We discussed mutual
[1:25:25] initiatives that impact economic
[1:25:27] development and growth in our counties.
[1:25:29] Uh pretty uh good meetings. Uh we had a
[1:25:33] farewell celebration April 1st and April
[1:25:35] 3rd for Janelle Jones and Larry Elman.
[1:25:37] Thanks to the supervisors who attended
[1:25:39] uh and to express your appreciation. It
[1:25:42] meant a lot to them. On April 6th, uh
[1:25:45] supervisor Batty mentioned it attended
[1:25:48] the CDTA town hall atrandle. Thanks for
[1:25:51] the other supervisors who attended. Uh
[1:25:54] basically CDTAs they said showed the
[1:25:57] average ridership of about five to seven
[1:25:59] riders
[1:26:01] uh per hour on most of their routes.
[1:26:03] Their target is 15. So we're far from
[1:26:06] that. Uh they're not getting the
[1:26:08] wrership. It's doubtful that they'll be
[1:26:10] able to do any additional routes and
[1:26:12] over the summer they're probably going
[1:26:14] to be looking at the the existing roots
[1:26:16] to see what modifications they could
[1:26:18] possibly make.
[1:26:21] April 8th, we met with a team from
[1:26:22] Cashfest who's advising us on ways to
[1:26:25] increase the interest we're getting for
[1:26:26] our funds and various accounts primarily
[1:26:28] with Aerrow Bank. They provided some
[1:26:30] interesting insight on our investments.
[1:26:32] We have follow-on meeting with Aerrow
[1:26:34] Bank on April 13 where we reiterated our
[1:26:37] intent to continue our 60 year
[1:26:39] relationship with Arrow, discuss ways we
[1:26:42] could maximize the return on the funds
[1:26:43] we have with them. Uh there will be more
[1:26:46] follow-on discussions uh at the support
[1:26:48] services committee and the finance and
[1:26:50] budget committee.
[1:26:52] April 11th, I attended the 250th
[1:26:54] celebration kickoff gayla at Fort
[1:26:56] William Henry. Our own John Stra was
[1:26:59] present as Dr. Joseph Warren and many
[1:27:02] supervisors were in attendance. Uh
[1:27:04] thanks to those who participated
[1:27:06] particular note was a speech by Doug
[1:27:07] Bradburn, CEO of Mount Vernon.
[1:27:10] interesting talk about George Washington
[1:27:12] and the role he played in preserving
[1:27:14] this republic. Uh it could have easily
[1:27:17] gone in another direction. Uh the
[1:27:19] anniversary committee has a number of
[1:27:21] interesting events planned over the
[1:27:23] summer and I encourage everyone to
[1:27:24] attend some of them particular the
[1:27:26] reinterment of 44 revolutionary war era
[1:27:29] patriots who were found almost seven
[1:27:32] years ago at a construction site on
[1:27:34] Court Street in Lake George. The event
[1:27:36] will take place on May 22nd in
[1:27:38] Battlefield Park at 11:00 a.m. Last
[1:27:41] night, I attended Mayor Diana Palmer's
[1:27:44] 100th day briefing at Heritage Hall.
[1:27:46] Thanks to the supervisors who attended,
[1:27:48] uh she's made some solid impacts in 100
[1:27:50] days. As a lifelong student of
[1:27:53] leadership, I noticed that she wo
[1:27:55] callouts to each of her department heads
[1:27:58] into her speech, and I thought that was
[1:28:00] pretty cool.
[1:28:01] Uh this month I'm having my monthly
[1:28:04] check-ins with department heads. Uh they
[1:28:06] all appreciate the fabulous support
[1:28:08] they're getting from you and the
[1:28:10] guidance they get from the committee
[1:28:12] chairs. Uh they believe they have a very
[1:28:15] solid relationship with the board of
[1:28:17] supervisors. They're thankful for every
[1:28:19] for that relationship.
[1:28:21] On May 7th, I will be hosting our first
[1:28:24] conversation with the county at 12:30.
[1:28:26] Uh it's lateern, our first conversation
[1:28:29] with the county this year. Uh we had
[1:28:31] three last year. Uh and I look forward
[1:28:34] to doing those again.
[1:28:37] Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't offer
[1:28:39] some clarification to the misstatements
[1:28:41] that I heard made earlier. Okay. I told
[1:28:45] upfront, I have three rescue dogs in my
[1:28:48] house right now. Uh we all love animals.
[1:28:51] Uh I told the SBCA they did not have to
[1:28:54] come and defend themselves because
[1:28:55] They're doing everything we want with
[1:28:57] the contract we have with them. Uh they
[1:29:00] do exist. Uh I'm not sure about their
[1:29:02] address, but uh I've been there roughly
[1:29:05] every quarter. We have a contract for
[1:29:07] animal abuse cases that cost us $8,000 a
[1:29:10] month. For that, we get 247 access to
[1:29:14] the facility where our road patrol
[1:29:16] officers can take animals after hours.
[1:29:19] The following day, if it was not an
[1:29:21] abuse case, the SPCA rehomes the animals
[1:29:24] in appropriate facilities. They provide
[1:29:26] quarterly training to our road patrol
[1:29:28] officers because it's not easy to pick
[1:29:31] up stray animals and we want our patrol
[1:29:33] officers. A bite to a hand could ruin a
[1:29:37] career. So, we have to be very careful
[1:29:38] and they provide really great training
[1:29:40] for that. In the spring of 2025, the
[1:29:43] SPCA was informed by the court they had
[1:29:45] to collect 139 boa constrictor type
[1:29:49] snakes and over 900 rats. Uh I was there
[1:29:53] when they wiped down each of these
[1:29:54] snakes with ivormectton every day
[1:29:57] because of the mites the snakes had. And
[1:30:00] they kept those snakes and those rats
[1:30:02] for three months while they were waiting
[1:30:05] for the court to give them further
[1:30:07] instruction. that the court finally did
[1:30:09] and they were able to rehome all of the
[1:30:11] reptiles. Uh
[1:30:15] they handle about 8 to 10 animal abuse
[1:30:18] cases per year for Ward County. That's
[1:30:20] what we contracted with them for. Uh
[1:30:23] it's not a pretty facility. We don't
[1:30:26] have a lot of money to renovate it, to
[1:30:28] do anything with it, uh, beyond what
[1:30:31] they do. But right now, they're
[1:30:33] accomplishing everything we've asked
[1:30:35] them when it concerns animal abuse
[1:30:37] cases, and they work very closely with
[1:30:39] dog control officers across your various
[1:30:42] towns, uh, who
[1:30:46] it's a good partnership there. So, uh, I
[1:30:49] just wanted to mention that. Thank you.
[1:30:52] » Acting County Attorney Ryan Dicki. Yeah.
[1:30:54] So I just want to touch on a few
[1:30:56] resolutions that are before you today.
[1:30:58] First two resolutions 159
[1:31:01] 160 those are proposed policies drafted
[1:31:04] by the risk and safety committee. Uh
[1:31:07] resolution 159 is the person audited pro
[1:31:10] protocol policy which is a new policy
[1:31:13] that outlines employee procedures for
[1:31:15] handling difficult situations
[1:31:18] uh with a first amendment audit so that
[1:31:20] we remain compliant with federal and New
[1:31:22] York state law and it serves to protect
[1:31:25] confidential information that may be
[1:31:27] exposed during an audit. Second
[1:31:29] resolution 160 updates our current FAA
[1:31:32] policy. So, I would like to recognize
[1:31:34] the risk safety committee and in
[1:31:37] particular Jackie Figaro and Neil Baker
[1:31:39] at Maryland Rivers for their time, part
[1:31:43] of drafting these two policies. Um,
[1:31:47] resolution 161 uh requests excess
[1:31:51] general liability insurance funds be
[1:31:53] transferred from the various department
[1:31:56] codes into the insurance reserved. Uh,
[1:31:58] this is a very positive thing. These
[1:32:00] excess funds are savings
[1:32:04] property and casualty renewal budget
[1:32:06] cycle. So the original proposed budget
[1:32:08] was for an 18% increase. However, due to
[1:32:11] the hard work of the risk and safety
[1:32:13] committee, it came in at only a 5.4%
[1:32:16] increase, which left the savings about
[1:32:18] $8,000.
[1:32:20] So this transfer is being done in
[1:32:22] accordance with the New York State
[1:32:23] Controller Standards. for the purpose of
[1:32:25] establishing a solid insurance reserve
[1:32:28] to fund claims no with with insurance
[1:32:32] deductance. Um
[1:32:34] there are two more on both our floor
[1:32:36] resolutions. So, floor resolution two uh
[1:32:39] requests authorization to reappropriate
[1:32:42] funds uh from the sex to abuse lawsuit
[1:32:45] fund balance to the social services
[1:32:47] budget to cover the cost of settlement
[1:32:49] in the Michael Easterber books lawsuit
[1:32:52] which is one of the three child victim
[1:32:54] cases filed against the county. So, to
[1:32:56] give a brief overview, this case was
[1:32:58] filed against the county of August 2021.
[1:33:02] In September of 2021, our office filed a
[1:33:04] pre-answer motion to dismiss which was
[1:33:07] denied by the trial court. The matter
[1:33:09] was appealed to the appellet division uh
[1:33:12] and overturned uh the trial court's
[1:33:14] decision. It limited our li our
[1:33:17] liability as county to the plaintiffs.
[1:33:20] In November of 2025, a settlement was
[1:33:23] reached for the county to pay a sum of
[1:33:25] $15,000.
[1:33:27] The board authorized at that time the
[1:33:29] appropriation of these funds from the
[1:33:31] sexual abuse uh fund balance u since
[1:33:35] they were not expended uh by January 1st
[1:33:38] uh due to uh plaintiff uh dying and
[1:33:41] there was some surrogate or issues at
[1:33:43] that point with plaintiffs council
[1:33:45] having authorization to settle the case
[1:33:48] they were placed back into the sexual
[1:33:49] abuse fund balance
[1:33:52] uh on April 7th uh
[1:33:56] the report direct the settlement be
[1:33:58] completed in May. So we're asking to
[1:34:01] reallocate those funds so that we may
[1:34:03] participate in settlement.
[1:34:06] Uh and lastly uh for resolution 4 is
[1:34:10] requesting an agreement to engage
[1:34:12] outside counsel to provide legal
[1:34:14] services related to the SAG retaining
[1:34:16] project. So prior to Larry Elman's
[1:34:19] departure, we recommend that outside
[1:34:21] counsel be retained as on this matter as
[1:34:24] it pertains to not contract contractor
[1:34:28] non-performance
[1:34:29] uh but issues with performance bond and
[1:34:31] property access rights as well. So this
[1:34:33] resolution is coming before this board
[1:34:35] today in attempt to expedite the process
[1:34:38] so that construction beed prior to the
[1:34:40] start of the season. So that's that's
[1:34:43] all I have.
[1:34:43] » Okay.
[1:34:46] Reading communications
[1:34:48] the county auditor's report of real
[1:34:50] property tax corrections for March 2026.
[1:34:53] Commissioner of Jur's annual report for
[1:34:55] 2025 letter from the New York State
[1:34:58] Office of Parks, Recreation, and
[1:34:59] Historic Preservation advising points in
[1:35:02] the town of B was listed on the national
[1:35:04] register of working places effective
[1:35:06] March 6th. And we received a card from
[1:35:09] the family service association of Hunts
[1:35:11] Falls thanking the board of supervisors
[1:35:13] for SNAP relief funding made available
[1:35:15] to local entries through the regional
[1:35:17] bank of North.
[1:35:20] » Okay. Reading of resolutions.
[1:35:22] Proclamations number 18 through 23,
[1:35:24] resolution numbers 130 through 160 for
[1:35:27] resolution numbers 1-6 were distributed
[1:35:30] to the members of the Warren County
[1:35:31] Board of Supervisors and posted to the
[1:35:32] Warren County website on April 13th. The
[1:35:35] proclamations before you are number 18,
[1:35:37] public safety telecommunicators week 19,
[1:35:40] crime victims rights week, 20, donate
[1:35:43] life month, 21, sexual assault awareness
[1:35:46] month, 22 law day, 23 mental health
[1:35:49] awareness month.
[1:35:51] Then a motion is needed to bring floor
[1:35:53] resolution number one.
[1:35:55] » Motion by supervisor. We have second
[1:35:58] floor. Second by supervisor turner for
[1:36:01] resolution number one. Any discussion?
[1:36:04] All those in favor signify by saying I.
[1:36:06] I.
[1:36:08] » Resolution number one will now be
[1:36:09] resolution 169. Motion to bring floor
[1:36:11] resolution number two.
[1:36:12] » Motion by supervisor on second by
[1:36:17] podio.
[1:36:18] Any discussion?
[1:36:21] All those in favor signify by saying I.
[1:36:23] I.
[1:36:24] » I. Resolution number two will now be
[1:36:26] resolution number 170. Motion floor.
[1:36:28] Resolution number three for the floor.
[1:36:31] Motion by supervisor.
[1:36:34] Second by supervisor run.
[1:36:37] Any discussion? All those in favor
[1:36:39] signify by saying I.
[1:36:41] » I.
[1:36:42] Resolution number three will now be
[1:36:44] resolution 171. Motion bring resolution
[1:36:47] number four to the floor.
[1:36:48] » Motion by supervisor onion. Second by
[1:36:51] any discussion.
[1:36:53] All those in favor signify by saying I.
[1:36:56] I. Resolution number four will now be
[1:36:58] resolution number 172. Motion to bring
[1:37:01] floor resolution number five.
[1:37:03] Supervisor O'Neal, second by Supervisor
[1:37:05] Run. Any discussion?
[1:37:08] All those in favor signify by saying I.
[1:37:10] » I. Resolution number five will now be
[1:37:13] resolution number 173. Motion to read
[1:37:15] floor resolution number six to the
[1:37:16] floor.
[1:37:17] » Motion by supervisor Turner. Second by
[1:37:20] Supervisor Rang. Any discussion?
[1:37:23] All those in favor signify saying I.
[1:37:26] » Resolution number six will now be
[1:37:27] resolution 174. Also floor resolution
[1:37:31] number two. Now resolution 170 and floor
[1:37:33] resolution number six. Now resolution
[1:37:36] 174 will be roll call.
[1:37:39] » Any other request for roll call votes?
[1:37:43] » Any request for recol
[1:37:49] 165 please.
[1:37:57] » I'm sorry. I I I yourself
[1:38:01] from Are you refusing from I thought I
[1:38:03] had a
[1:38:05] 141
[1:38:06] » That was the contract authorizing
[1:38:08] agreement with the Adam Civic Center
[1:38:10] told us
[1:38:12] » I just I got that fixed up.
[1:38:16] » 141 is authorizing the contract and
[1:38:21] is authorizing the appropriation of
[1:38:23] reserve.
[1:38:25] » Should I probably do both?
[1:38:31] I think if you were going to
[1:38:36] finish
[1:38:37] » Any discussion on resolutions supervisor
[1:38:40] made
[1:38:41] » Uh thank you Mr. Chairman um resolution
[1:38:44] 151 uh the uh support services the
[1:38:47] county administrator were replacing
[1:38:49] local laws and adding a new one. So, I'd
[1:38:53] like to know what what do we why do we
[1:38:55] need to replace two uh older local laws?
[1:38:59] What what are the new additions or or
[1:39:02] deletions?
[1:39:06] I might be able to speak to that.
[1:39:07] » Okay. Thank you.
[1:39:10] Local law three of 2010 established the
[1:39:14] position of the county administrator. In
[1:39:15] that uh it listed uh qualifications,
[1:39:20] duties uh and uh functions of the
[1:39:24] position cutting. Uh local law 2 of 2017
[1:39:28] amended that original local law. Amended
[1:39:31] that original local law by uh several of
[1:39:35] those qualifications to functions and
[1:39:37] creating more broader ambiguous
[1:39:40] position. Uh it's our recommendation
[1:39:42] that uh we transition more towards the
[1:39:48] local law 3 of 2010 uh which lists
[1:39:52] delineated specific duties, functions
[1:39:56] and powers of the county administrator.
[1:39:58] So, it's our recommendation, and I
[1:40:00] believe Larry Elman spoke about it as
[1:40:02] well, that we amend local law 2017
[1:40:08] um to realign ourselves with the
[1:40:10] original local law from 2010.
[1:40:13] » Thank you. So, we're not adding any
[1:40:15] additional power or just
[1:40:18] going back to 2010. Basically,
[1:40:21] » There are minor clarifications, but for
[1:40:23] the most part, the majority of the
[1:40:25] functions are uh realigning with that
[1:40:27] original 2010 local because while I I
[1:40:32] understand the importance of the county
[1:40:33] administrator, uh I really do it is an
[1:40:36] appointed position, it's not an elected
[1:40:38] position. And I always have a little bit
[1:40:41] of a ace on giving so much power to an
[1:40:46] appointed position and not one that's
[1:40:48] not responsible right to directly to the
[1:40:50] people elective. So that's why I have
[1:40:52] concerns all the time and I would
[1:40:54] nothing personal against Mr. Tavl. It's
[1:40:56] just that position in per se. So uh
[1:40:59] you're saying we're go we're rolling
[1:41:00] back to 2010 basically what we had in
[1:41:03] that local law
[1:41:05] » It's without any additional powers. It
[1:41:07] aligns more with New York state law. It
[1:41:10] does provide protections uh to the
[1:41:11] county as well and and having delineated
[1:41:14] powers, duties and functions of the
[1:41:15] position. Correct.
[1:41:18] Okay. Okay. Thank you. And and I do have
[1:41:22] a diff another resolution too if I may.
[1:41:24] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um
[1:41:27] 157 which is uh
[1:41:31] uh amending the table of organization
[1:41:32] war county salary and compensation plan
[1:41:34] for 2026. We're deleting a couple but
[1:41:37] one position. We're increasing a salary
[1:41:39] within the county attorney's office. So
[1:41:41] my question was and is uh uh
[1:41:47] looking at the uh supporting uh
[1:41:50] documentation we're going to increase
[1:41:52] the uh base annual salary of the
[1:41:57] property and county risk manager uh
[1:42:00] 14.4%.
[1:42:02] Now, why would we be doing that during
[1:42:05] the year? I uh can somebody give me some
[1:42:08] input on that?
[1:42:09] » Yes, I I believe it was an error at
[1:42:12] budget time, but I'll
[1:42:13] » Thank you, Mr. Chair. That that was kind
[1:42:16] of an error. It was primarily on my part
[1:42:18] at budget time. Uh the person were we're
[1:42:22] talking about works 30 hours a week and
[1:42:25] I calculated
[1:42:28] uh incorrectly. this the request that
[1:42:30] came from the county attorney at the
[1:42:33] time and I calculated it based on an
[1:42:37] already calculated 30hour a week
[1:42:41] um salary and when you applied that at a
[1:42:45] 40hour a week salary it reduced the
[1:42:48] salary even further to almost what the
[1:42:50] person just about what the person was
[1:42:52] making previously. So, just trying to
[1:42:55] correct that error. That's all.
[1:42:58] And trying to figure out what you just
[1:43:01] said. So, uh,
[1:43:06] we we knew we were going to pay 58,381.
[1:43:11] Did Larry Elman in his budget say he was
[1:43:14] proposing 66,86?
[1:43:17] » No. Uh, in his in his request, he
[1:43:20] requested a salary of $90,000.
[1:43:24] uh and that would be prorated down to 30
[1:43:30] hours a week and that's the amount that
[1:43:32] you see on this. So what happened when I
[1:43:37] entered it on my spreadsheet as we were
[1:43:39] going through the salary issue, I took
[1:43:42] the already prorated salary down I
[1:43:46] believe and entered that in the
[1:43:48] spreadsheet and it caused it to prorrate
[1:43:51] down to 30 hours because whenever I put
[1:43:54] a salary in it's at 40 hours. So
[1:43:58] » Is there any way uh I'll ask this to the
[1:44:00] budget officer. Can we wait till the
[1:44:02] budget round to to make that increase or
[1:44:05] are you recommending that we do the
[1:44:07] increase right now?
[1:44:11] » Thank you, Mr. Chair. Are no the funds
[1:44:12] are available in the county attorney's
[1:44:15] budget. So that we're not asking for
[1:44:16] additional funds for this.
[1:44:20] » I'd reiterate that. I mean, it was
[1:44:21] planned to be at what it's now prepared
[1:44:23] to be at and it was a clerical error.
[1:44:26] Um, and in fairness, Chief, the
[1:44:28] employee, I supported it. It was
[1:44:30] unanimously supported. It's budgeted for
[1:44:32] this year. I saw it as clear.
[1:44:34] » All right. So, it was budgeted already
[1:44:36] in this current budget. So, it's not
[1:44:38] additional dollars. Okay. I can live
[1:44:41] with that.
[1:44:43] » Any other discussion on resolutions?
[1:44:54] » Resolution 130 making supplemental
[1:44:57] appropriations.
[1:44:58] Mr. Goodspe. Yes,
[1:45:00] » Mr. Cedo.
[1:45:01] » Yes,
[1:45:02] » Mr. Strath.
[1:45:03] » Yes,
[1:45:03] » Mr. Wy.
[1:45:04] » Yes,
[1:45:04] » Mr.
[1:45:05] » Yes,
[1:45:06] » Mr. Strainer.
[1:45:07] » Yes,
[1:45:07] » Mr. Batty.
[1:45:08] » Yes,
[1:45:08] » Mr. O'Neal.
[1:45:09] » Yes,
[1:45:09] » Mr. Ryan.
[1:45:10] » Yes,
[1:45:11] » Mr. Connelly.
[1:45:12] » Yes,
[1:45:12] » Mr. Mik.
[1:45:13] » Yes,
[1:45:13] » Mr. Diamond.
[1:45:14] » Yes,
[1:45:15] » Yes,
[1:45:15] » Mr. Turner.
[1:45:16] » Yes,
[1:45:16] » Mr. Bruno.
[1:45:17] » Yes,
[1:45:18] » Mr. Driscoll.
[1:45:19] » Yes.
[1:45:21] » Mr. Butler,
[1:45:22] » Yes.
[1:45:23] » Chairman Gary,
[1:45:24] » Yes.
[1:45:24] » Resolution passes with 945 votes in
[1:45:27] favor. Resolution 131 amending Warren
[1:45:29] County budget for 2026 for various
[1:45:31] departments within Warren County.
[1:45:33] » Mr. Goodbye.
[1:45:34] » Yes.
[1:45:35] » Mr. Cassido.
[1:45:36] » Yes.
[1:45:36] » Mr. Stra.
[1:45:37] » Yes.
[1:45:38] » Mr. Ry.
[1:45:38] » Yes.
[1:45:39] » Mr. Eus.
[1:45:40] » Yes.
[1:45:40] » Mr. Strainer.
[1:45:41] » Yes.
[1:45:41] » Mr. Batty.
[1:45:43] » Could I ask a question, Mr. Chairman, on
[1:45:45] this?
[1:45:46] » Uh,
[1:45:48] it's we're amending the budget 2026 for
[1:45:51] these different departments and
[1:45:53] different areas. So they were not these
[1:45:56] are all additional dollars they're
[1:45:57] putting now coming out of general fund
[1:45:59] summer know these are summer grants that
[1:46:03] we received some grant funding I believe
[1:46:06] um
[1:46:08] I thought some grant
[1:46:10] » There is grant funding here so anytime
[1:46:13] we take money from the general fund it's
[1:46:15] on a separate resolution these budget
[1:46:17] amendments are all new money coming in
[1:46:19] » So these are all already funded through
[1:46:21] grant money
[1:46:22] » Not everyone is granted
[1:46:24] The majority are grants. Like if you
[1:46:25] look for department of assoc of
[1:46:27] emergency services, that's all new grant
[1:46:29] money coming in.
[1:46:31] » Um the sheriff's office is adjusting for
[1:46:33] an amount um for their SRO contract with
[1:46:37] the town with
[1:46:40] parks and wreck. They have more money
[1:46:41] coming in from a donation.
[1:46:43] » They're just putting it in their the
[1:46:45] money's coming in as a $500 donation.
[1:46:47] They're putting it in their advertising
[1:46:49] fees. So this is mostly new money that's
[1:46:51] coming in. If we were taking money from
[1:46:53] the general fund to these, it would be a
[1:46:55] separate resolution and it would say was
[1:46:56] appropriating from the general fund.
[1:46:58] It's very clear where that money comes
[1:46:59] from.
[1:46:59] » So we have the funding from mostly the
[1:47:01] grants. Okay.
[1:47:02] » Mostly grants, insurance recoveries.
[1:47:05] » Okay. I contracts with
[1:47:08] » My votes. Yes.
[1:47:11] » Mr. O'Neal.
[1:47:12] » Yes.
[1:47:12] » Miss Ry.
[1:47:13] » Yes.
[1:47:14] » Mr. Con?
[1:47:14] » Yes.
[1:47:15] » Mr. Mayday.
[1:47:16] » Yes.
[1:47:16] » Mr. Diamond.
[1:47:17] » Yes.
[1:47:18] » Yes. Mr. Turner.
[1:47:20] » Yes.
[1:47:20] » Mr. Bruno. Yes,
[1:47:22] » Mr. Driscoll.
[1:47:23] » Yes,
[1:47:24] » Mr. Ba.
[1:47:25] » Yes,
[1:47:25] » Chairman Gary.
[1:47:26] » Yes.
[1:47:26] » Resolution passes with 945 votes in
[1:47:29] favor.
[1:47:30] » Resolution 141 authorizing agreement
[1:47:32] with the aderond civic center
[1:47:36] promotion and prevention development
[1:47:38] services. I'm noting that Mr. Driscoll
[1:47:40] is leaving the room as he intends to
[1:47:43] Mr. Goodbye.
[1:47:45] » Yes.
[1:47:45] » Mr. Garc,
[1:47:47] » Yes.
[1:47:48] » Mr. Stra,
[1:47:48] » Yes.
[1:47:49] » Mr. Yes,
[1:47:51] » Mr. E2.
[1:47:52] » No,
[1:47:53] » Mr. Strainer.
[1:47:54] » Yes,
[1:47:55] » Mr. Batty.
[1:47:59] » Uh,
[1:48:00] is this for the uh uh funding of
[1:48:03] contract for the refrigeration?
[1:48:06] » Yes.
[1:48:08] » Uh, yes,
[1:48:10] » Mr. O'Neal.
[1:48:12] » Yes,
[1:48:13] » Mr.
[1:48:15] Mr. Conover.
[1:48:16] » Yes,
[1:48:16] » Mr. Mayday.
[1:48:17] » Yes,
[1:48:18] » Mr. Diamond. Yes,
[1:48:20] » Miss Gilligan.
[1:48:21] » Yes,
[1:48:21] » Miss Turner.
[1:48:22] » Yes, Mr. Bruno.
[1:48:24] » Yes,
[1:48:26] » Mr. B.
[1:48:26] » Yes,
[1:48:27] » Chairman Gary.
[1:48:28] » Yes.
[1:48:28] » Resolution passes with 811 votes in
[1:48:31] favor. Resolution 157 amending table of
[1:48:34] organization county salary compensation
[1:48:37] plan for 2026 decree defeat positions
[1:48:40] within the planning and community
[1:48:41] development department and increase
[1:48:43] salary in the county attorney's office.
[1:48:46] Mr. Goodbye.
[1:48:47] » Yes.
[1:48:48] » Mr.
[1:48:49] Yes.
[1:48:49] » Mr. Stra.
[1:48:50] » Yes.
[1:48:51] » Mr. Wild.
[1:48:51] » Yes.
[1:48:52] » Mr. Eel.
[1:48:52] » Yes.
[1:48:53] » Mr. Strainer.
[1:48:54] » Yes.
[1:48:54] » Mr. Batty.
[1:48:56] » Uh, yes.
[1:48:57] » Mr. O'Neal.
[1:48:58] » Yes.
[1:48:58] » Mr.
[1:48:59] » Yes.
[1:49:00] » Mr. Conover.
[1:49:01] » Yes.
[1:49:01] » Mr. Mayday.
[1:49:02] » Yes.
[1:49:03] » Mr. D.
[1:49:04] » Yes.
[1:49:04] » Miss Gilligan.
[1:49:05] » Yes. Turner.
[1:49:06] » Yes.
[1:49:06] » Mr. Bruno.
[1:49:08] » Yes.
[1:49:08] » Mr. Driscoll.
[1:49:09] » Yes.
[1:49:10] » Mr. Ba.
[1:49:11] » Yes.
[1:49:11] » Chairman.
[1:49:12] » Yes.
[1:49:12] » Resolution passes with 945 votes in
[1:49:15] favor. Resolution 161. Authorizing the
[1:49:18] reappropriation of excess general
[1:49:20] liability insurance funding from various
[1:49:22] department codes and amending the Warren
[1:49:24] County budget for 2026. Mr. Goodsby
[1:49:27] » Yes.
[1:49:27] » Mr. Dto.
[1:49:28] » Yes.
[1:49:28] » Mr. Stra.
[1:49:29] » Yes.
[1:49:30] » Mr. Ry.
[1:49:30] » Yes.
[1:49:31] » Mr. Eu.
[1:49:31] » Yes.
[1:49:32] » Mr. Strainer.
[1:49:32] » Yes.
[1:49:33] » Mr. Batty.
[1:49:33] » Yes.
[1:49:34] » Mr. O'Neal.
[1:49:35] » Yes.
[1:49:35] » Miss Rian.
[1:49:36] » Yes.
[1:49:36] » Mr. Conover.
[1:49:37] » Yes.
[1:49:37] » Mr. Mayday.
[1:49:38] » Yes.
[1:49:38] » Mr. Dy.
[1:49:39] » Yes.
[1:49:40] » Miss Gilligan.
[1:49:41] » Yes.
[1:49:41] » Mr. Turner.
[1:49:42] » Yes.
[1:49:42] » Mr. Bruno.
[1:49:43] » Yes.
[1:49:44] » Mr. Driscoll.
[1:49:45] » Yes.
[1:49:46] » Mr. Butler. Yes.
[1:49:47] » Chairman Garrett.
[1:49:48] » Yes.
[1:49:48] » Resolution passes with 945 votes in
[1:49:51] favor. Resolution 162, increasing
[1:49:53] capital project number H376, Hudson
[1:49:56] Street over Mil Creek Bridge
[1:49:58] replacement.
[1:49:59] » Mr. Goodbye.
[1:50:00] » Yes.
[1:50:01] » Mr. Cedo.
[1:50:02] » Yes.
[1:50:02] » Mr. Stra.
[1:50:03] » Yes.
[1:50:03] » Mr. Wy.
[1:50:04] » Yes.
[1:50:05] » Mr. Eu.
[1:50:05] » Yes.
[1:50:06] » Mr. Strain.
[1:50:06] » Yes.
[1:50:07] » Mr. Batty.
[1:50:08] » Yes.
[1:50:08] » Mr. O'Neal.
[1:50:09] » Yes.
[1:50:09] » Miss Ryan.
[1:50:10] » Yes.
[1:50:10] » Mr. Conover.
[1:50:11] » Yes.
[1:50:12] » Mr. Mayday.
[1:50:12] » Yes.
[1:50:13] » Mr. Diamond.
[1:50:14] » Yes.
[1:50:14] » Gilligan.
[1:50:15] » Yes.
[1:50:15] » Sterner. Yes, Mr. Bruno.
[1:50:17] » Yes,
[1:50:18] » Mr. Driscoll.
[1:50:19] » Yes,
[1:50:19] » Mr. Bus.
[1:50:20] » Yes,
[1:50:20] » Chairman Gary.
[1:50:21] » Yes.
[1:50:21] » Resolution passes with 945 votes in
[1:50:24] favor. Resolution 163 increase capital
[1:50:27] project number 428 Bay Road over on
[1:50:30] water course south of Lockart Mountain.
[1:50:33] » Mr. Goodbye.
[1:50:34] » Yes.
[1:50:34] » Mr.
[1:50:35] » Yes.
[1:50:36] » Mr. Stra.
[1:50:37] » Yes.
[1:50:37] » Mr. Wild.
[1:50:38] » Yes.
[1:50:38] » Mr. Eel.
[1:50:39] » Yes.
[1:50:39] » Mr. Shraer.
[1:50:40] » Yes.
[1:50:40] » Mr. Batty.
[1:50:41] » Yes.
[1:50:42] » Mr. O'Neal.
[1:50:42] » Yes.
[1:50:43] » Miss Bren.
[1:50:44] » Yes.
[1:50:44] » Mr. Conover.
[1:50:45] » Yes. Mr. Mayday,
[1:50:46] » Yes.
[1:50:46] » Mr. Diamond,
[1:50:47] » Yes.
[1:50:47] » Miss Gilligan,
[1:50:48] » Yes.
[1:50:49] » Miss Turner,
[1:50:49] » Yes.
[1:50:50] » Mr. Bruno,
[1:50:51] » Yes.
[1:50:51] » Mr. Driscoll,
[1:50:52] » Yes.
[1:50:53] » Mr. Butler,
[1:50:54] » Yes.
[1:50:54] » Chairman Gary,
[1:50:55] » Yes.
[1:50:55] » Resolution passes with 945 votes in
[1:50:58] favor. Resolution 164, increasing
[1:51:00] capital project number eight48th Avenue
[1:51:03] reconstruction.
[1:51:04] » Mr. Goodbye.
[1:51:05] » Yes.
[1:51:06] » Mr. Garc,
[1:51:07] » Yes.
[1:51:07] » Mr. Stra,
[1:51:08] » Yes.
[1:51:08] » Mr. Wy,
[1:51:09] » Yes.
[1:51:09] » Mr. Au,
[1:51:10] » Yes.
[1:51:10] » Mr. Strainer,
[1:51:11] » Yes.
[1:51:11] » Mr. Batty,
[1:51:12] » Yes.
[1:51:12] » Mr. O'Neal,
[1:51:13] » Yes.
[1:51:14] » Mr. Run,
[1:51:14] » Yes. Mr. Conover,
[1:51:15] » Yes.
[1:51:16] » Mr. Mayday,
[1:51:17] » Yes.
[1:51:17] » Mr. Diamond,
[1:51:18] » Yes.
[1:51:18] » Miss Gilligan,
[1:51:19] » Yes.
[1:51:20] » Mr. Turner,
[1:51:20] » Yes.
[1:51:21] » Mr. Bruno,
[1:51:22] » Yes.
[1:51:22] » Mr. Driscoll,
[1:51:23] » Yes.
[1:51:24] » Mr. Butler,
[1:51:25] » Yes.
[1:51:25] » Chairman Gary,
[1:51:26] » Yes.
[1:51:26] » Resolution passes with 945 in favor.
[1:51:29] Resolution 165 authorizing appropriation
[1:51:32] of funds from the act tax reserve for
[1:51:35] the tourism budget to cover the cost of
[1:51:37] funding to assist in the design phase to
[1:51:39] replace the ice probe chiller plant and
[1:51:41] machine room of the Harding Mazi Arena.
[1:51:44] And for the record, Mr. Driscoll has
[1:51:46] receded and left the room.
[1:51:48] » Mr. Goodbye.
[1:51:49] » Yes.
[1:51:50] » Mr. Casso,
[1:51:51] » Yes.
[1:51:52] » Mr. Stout,
[1:51:53] » Yes.
[1:51:53] » Mr. Ry,
[1:51:54] » Yes.
[1:51:55] » Mr. E2,
[1:51:56] » No.
[1:51:56] » Mr. Strainer,
[1:51:58] » Yes.
[1:51:58] » Mr.
[1:51:59] Yes,
[1:52:00] » Mr. O'Neal.
[1:52:01] » Yes,
[1:52:01] » Miss Ren.
[1:52:02] » Yes,
[1:52:02] » Mr. Conover.
[1:52:04] » Yes,
[1:52:05] » Mr. Mayday.
[1:52:05] » Yes,
[1:52:06] » Mr. Diamond.
[1:52:07] » Yes.
[1:52:07] » Skeleigan.
[1:52:08] » Yes.
[1:52:08] » Mr. Turner,
[1:52:09] » Yes.
[1:52:10] » Mr. Bruno,
[1:52:11] » Yes.
[1:52:13] » Mr. Butler,
[1:52:14] » Yes.
[1:52:15] » Mr. Chairman Gary,
[1:52:16] » Yes.
[1:52:16] » Resolution passes with 811 votes in
[1:52:18] favor.
[1:52:20] » Resolution 166 authorizing appropriation
[1:52:23] of funds from deferred revenue Gas Light
[1:52:25] Village Parkway.
[1:52:27] » Mr. Goodbye. Yes,
[1:52:28] » Mr.
[1:52:29] » Yes,
[1:52:30] » Mr. Stra.
[1:52:30] » Yes,
[1:52:31] » Mr. Wild.
[1:52:31] » Yes,
[1:52:32] » Mr. Eu.
[1:52:32] » Yes,
[1:52:33] » Mr. Strainer.
[1:52:33] » Yes,
[1:52:34] » Mr. Batty.
[1:52:35] » Yes,
[1:52:35] » Mr. O'Neal.
[1:52:36] » Yes,
[1:52:36] » Mr. R.
[1:52:37] » Yes,
[1:52:38] » Mr. Conover.
[1:52:39] » Yes,
[1:52:39] » Mr. B.
[1:52:40] » Yes,
[1:52:40] » Mr. Diamond.
[1:52:41] » Yes,
[1:52:42] » Yes, Mr. Turner.
[1:52:44] » Yes.
[1:52:44] » Mr. Bruno,
[1:52:45] » Yes.
[1:52:46] » Mr. Driscoll,
[1:52:46] » Yes.
[1:52:47] » Mr. Butler,
[1:52:48] » Yes.
[1:52:48] » Chairman Gary,
[1:52:49] » Yes.
[1:52:50] » Resolution passes with 945 votes in
[1:52:52] favor. And
[1:52:55] uh this is for um
[1:52:58] number 170 which was for resolution
[1:53:02] number two authorizing reappropriation
[1:53:04] of funds from the assigned sexual
[1:53:06] lawsuit fund balance to the department
[1:53:08] of social services budget
[1:53:10] » Mr. Vitzby
[1:53:11] » Yes
[1:53:11] » Mr.
[1:53:12] » Yes
[1:53:13] » Mr. Stra
[1:53:14] » Yes
[1:53:14] » Mr. Ry
[1:53:15] » Yes
[1:53:15] » Mr.
[1:53:16] » Yes
[1:53:16] » Mr. Strainer
[1:53:17] » Yes
[1:53:17] » Mr. Batty
[1:53:18] » Yes
[1:53:18] » Mr.
[1:53:19] » Yes
[1:53:20] » Mr. Ryan
[1:53:21] » Yes
[1:53:21] » Mr. Conover
[1:53:22] » Yes
[1:53:22] » Mr. Mayday
[1:53:23] » Yes
[1:53:23] » Mr. Diamond.
[1:53:24] » Yes.
[1:53:24] » Miss Gilligan.
[1:53:25] » Yes. M. Turn. Yes. Mr. Ba.
[1:53:27] » Yes.
[1:53:28] » Mr. Driscoll.
[1:53:29] » Yes.
[1:53:29] » Mr. Butler.
[1:53:30] » Yes.
[1:53:31] » Yes.
[1:53:32] » Resolution passes with 945 votes in
[1:53:34] favor.
[1:53:37] » Resolution 174 making supplemental
[1:53:39] appropriation. Mr. Goodbye.
[1:53:42] » Yes.
[1:53:42] » Mr. Cass.
[1:53:43] » Yes.
[1:53:44] » Mr. Stra.
[1:53:45] » Yes.
[1:53:45] » Mr. Wild.
[1:53:46] » Yes.
[1:53:46] » Mr. E.
[1:53:47] » Yes.
[1:53:48] » Mr. Strainer.
[1:53:48] » Yes.
[1:53:49] » Mr. B.
[1:53:50] » Yes.
[1:53:50] » Mr. O'Neal.
[1:53:51] » Yes.
[1:53:52] » Mr. Rick.
[1:53:52] » Yes. Mr. Conover.
[1:53:54] » Yes.
[1:53:54] » Mr. Mayday,
[1:53:55] » Yes.
[1:53:55] » Mr. Diamond,
[1:53:56] » Yes.
[1:53:56] » Miss Gilligan,
[1:53:57] » Yes. Mr. Turner,
[1:53:58] » Yes. Mr. Bruno,
[1:53:59] » Yes.
[1:54:00] » Mr. Driscoll,
[1:54:01] » Yes.
[1:54:02] » Mr. Butler,
[1:54:03] » Yes.
[1:54:03] » Chairman Gary,
[1:54:04] » Yes.
[1:54:04] » Resolution passes with 945 votes in
[1:54:07] favor.
[1:54:09] All those f the remaining res saying I
[1:54:18] would like to
[1:54:21] address
[1:54:27] public comment. Yes. Thank you.
[1:54:41] Linda Clark again. I live in Warren
[1:54:44] County. I just want to thank you, Mr.
[1:54:46] Tavlon, for your SPCA report and update
[1:54:49] today on their services.
[1:54:52] I am only sorry that the people that
[1:54:54] filled this room did not hear it.
[1:54:57] I am hearing that uh you say that you
[1:54:59] are very satisfied with the services
[1:55:01] provided by the SPCA.
[1:55:04] But I'm also hearing lots of complaints
[1:55:07] and you have a public outcry.
[1:55:10] How can you account for these issues?
[1:55:14] I think this warrants a committee
[1:55:16] investigation into the public concern.
[1:55:20] There's a lot of money being spent here
[1:55:23] and by the town and the county and the
[1:55:26] public deserves to know what services
[1:55:29] are being met. Thank you. Anyone
[1:55:34] else?
[1:55:39] » Thank you for report
[1:55:42] talks about sports and our children. Um,
[1:55:46] I want to add a little more information
[1:55:48] in regards to the city around uh and
[1:55:52] their elimination of the hospitality
[1:55:56] degree. Um, it's true it's happened um a
[1:56:00] number of reasons. Um one is that uh
[1:56:04] there's only nine or 10 registered
[1:56:06] students
[1:56:08] very big for both degree program. um
[1:56:12] those three courses
[1:56:14] um and actually free program has a
[1:56:17] metric from New York State uh and it
[1:56:20] says that if someone's taking uh and
[1:56:24] getting a degree in hospitality,
[1:56:26] their wages have to be 30% higher than
[1:56:30] other uh employees that don't have
[1:56:33] degrees. uh and it's been proven uh at
[1:56:36] least that's what I was told that
[1:56:38] they're not meeting that threshold and
[1:56:40] for not meeting that threshold um they
[1:56:43] have a problem with funding the state
[1:56:45] for the program so um three classes that
[1:56:49] I mentioned are going to remain students
[1:56:51] won't be able to uh tie this in part of
[1:56:53] a business program
[1:56:55] but at the same time uh there's
[1:57:00] little concern for the tourism industry
[1:57:04] And one of the things I hope to take
[1:57:06] care of very near very near future is to
[1:57:07] sit down with some of the leaders and
[1:57:08] understand what else we might be able to
[1:57:10] do whether it's a certification program
[1:57:12] or the like but try to make sure that we
[1:57:14] have the needs of onethird of our
[1:57:17] economy are being addressed by college
[1:57:21] as best we can. So just one thing.
[1:57:26] » Anybody else wish
[1:57:29] we round or we'll start with supervisor
[1:57:32] Russ down.
[1:57:34] » My comment has to do with the shelter
[1:57:36] situation as well. Um one thing I'm
[1:57:39] aware of is all of our municipalities
[1:57:42] are required to have animal patrol and
[1:57:44] they're required to have shelter. Now,
[1:57:46] other than Queensberry and Glenn's
[1:57:48] Falls, I'm sure every other town has
[1:57:51] contract with the shelter. When an
[1:57:54] animal is picked up, even if it's left
[1:57:56] vacant in the home and or whatever
[1:57:58] neighbor complains, our animal control
[1:58:00] officer goes out. And if that animal is
[1:58:03] deemed to need to be taken, he will
[1:58:05] remove it and bring it to the animal
[1:58:07] shelter we contract with already. Um, we
[1:58:10] did have a case two weeks ago where an
[1:58:12] animal was running loose. The sheriff
[1:58:14] picked it up. It was brought to the
[1:58:15] SPCA. Our animal control officers said,
[1:58:18] "No, our animals do not stay there and
[1:58:21] the sheriff had to go pick it up and
[1:58:22] bring it to the shelter we contract
[1:58:24] with." So, it seems to me that Lynville
[1:58:27] Falls and Queensbury are the two towns
[1:58:29] that do contract with the SPCA. None of
[1:58:33] other towns do. We all have separate
[1:58:36] shelters. So, municipal shelter,
[1:58:40] if if those two towns have the problem,
[1:58:43] maybe they ought to get together and
[1:58:45] create their own municipal shelter. The
[1:58:47] second thing is I don't know if a
[1:58:49] municipal shelter would only do cats and
[1:58:52] dogs, whereas the SPS handles all
[1:58:55] animals, forces snakes, ra I'm not sure
[1:58:59] if a municipal shelter would be able to
[1:59:01] handle hund some snakes. um the SPCA do
[1:59:06] that. So, while I'm in favor of
[1:59:08] municipal shelters and I wish I had one
[1:59:10] in my town, I'm not sure that all towns
[1:59:14] should contribute to that if we already
[1:59:16] have shelter and they do not like, you
[1:59:20] know, they're when their five days are
[1:59:21] up, they're not put down. Our shelter is
[1:59:24] a shelter that does not ever kill the
[1:59:28] animals. They hold it until it's
[1:59:30] adopted.
[1:59:33] right now. I know his name.
[1:59:35] » Yeah. So, he's right after me. So, not
[1:59:37] to steal his thunder because you know,
[1:59:40] uh
[1:59:40] » How'd you know I was going to speak
[1:59:41] about thunder?
[1:59:42] » The thunder. You can uh Britney Duffy,
[1:59:45] and I know the Duffies fairly well.
[1:59:47] She's a uh uh junior, I believe, at West
[1:59:50] Point. She comes from Dr. Duffy and his
[1:59:53] wife. They're West Point grads. Uh
[1:59:55] family of nine kids. Anyway, she they
[1:59:58] had the lacrosse women's lacrosse uh
[2:00:02] draft two days ago. She was drafted
[2:00:04] third person to be drafted third pick uh
[2:00:09] to be drafted into the women's
[2:00:10] professional lacrosse league. Now, she's
[2:00:12] not going to be leaving school for that,
[2:00:14] but I think that's quite the honor. And
[2:00:17] Dr. Duffy happened to be my podiatrist,
[2:00:19] so I had to give him a shout out for
[2:00:21] that. So, Dave, I leave it to you now.
[2:00:24] » Has he been reading your notes?
[2:00:25] » No, I wasn't. I didn't want to upset
[2:00:28] » I don't want to read Dave's notes.
[2:00:29] » I didn't want to ups while there was no
[2:00:32] sports for me to speak about because
[2:00:33] it's mid-season, but it's Bridget Duffy
[2:00:35] and she was number three and that's
[2:00:37] amazing.
[2:00:38] » Yes, she was.
[2:00:38] » Uh my
[2:00:39] » Thanks for confirming
[2:00:40] » While helping you out, you know. Uh I
[2:00:44] wanted to bring up some facts about the
[2:00:45] civic center. I know that we all took it
[2:00:48] kind of hard to vote for doing the uh
[2:00:50] resolutions we did, but I want to give
[2:00:52] you some figures that make this quite a
[2:00:54] unique spot and make it a great thing
[2:00:56] for our community. Um this year with the
[2:00:58] 50/50 and the Chucka Puck uh nonprofits
[2:01:02] use this to get money for themselves to,
[2:01:03] you know, so they keep their
[2:01:04] organizations going to and this year
[2:01:07] alone they raised $190,000 for these
[2:01:11] nonprofits. Uh that's phenomenal. Uh,
[2:01:14] also they had the cancer fundraiser
[2:01:18] which was paint the ice. This year the
[2:01:20] cancer fundraiser because of this civic
[2:01:23] center raised $60,000
[2:01:26] which is huge. That was very nice. And I
[2:01:29] don't know if any of you painted the ice
[2:01:30] like I did. It takes a long time to get
[2:01:32] on there. But uh, and the other thing
[2:01:34] too is they've partnered with Price
[2:01:36] Chopper Supermarkets. and Price Chopper
[2:01:38] supermarkets. For every 32 shots on goal
[2:01:41] that the Thunder have, Price Chopper
[2:01:43] donates a thousand meals to local food
[2:01:45] pantries in our area. This year alone,
[2:01:48] it was 10,000. So, that's that's quite a
[2:01:51] big thing. And I know it's difficult to
[2:01:53] take the money from occupancy tax, but
[2:01:55] you know, it's a line thing with me. You
[2:01:56] know, it's right on the line. And I can
[2:01:58] go this way because of what it does for
[2:02:00] our community and the fact that it's
[2:02:02] brick and mortar and it's not going
[2:02:04] anywhere. Uh my next thing was we've
[2:02:07] been thinking about
[2:02:09] gaining more revenue and uh I've looked
[2:02:11] at asked by the chairman to look at
[2:02:13] different part properties that the
[2:02:15] county owns and I zoned in on the old uh
[2:02:19] social services building across the
[2:02:21] street up next to uh the old west. Um
[2:02:25] it's about a 20 acre parcel. Uh it's
[2:02:28] worth a few hundred,000.
[2:02:30] Uh I'm trying to get some feedback from
[2:02:33] people because it's rare that we have
[2:02:34] every supervisor here. So uh I'm looking
[2:02:37] to see if there would be support of
[2:02:40] doing a 55 or older community up there.
[2:02:44] Uh finding a contractor that would build
[2:02:47] it. Um and I've talked to Jen Siplon.
[2:02:51] there's um some money available from the
[2:02:54] LDC that the contractor could possibly
[2:02:57] get to put in a project like this. Uh
[2:03:01] it's a big undertaking because there's,
[2:03:02] you know, infrastructure that you have
[2:03:03] to do and all this and but it would give
[2:03:06] us uh a good chunk of money towards our
[2:03:09] budget with land that we aren't going to
[2:03:11] do anything with. Uh but the good part
[2:03:13] of it is it would also be housing and
[2:03:15] these people would always be paying
[2:03:17] taxes. So instead of losing out, you
[2:03:19] actually gain money by selling the land
[2:03:21] and will gain property tax money by the
[2:03:24] people that purchase these houses. And I
[2:03:26] say 55 or older single family only
[2:03:28] because those are the people that are
[2:03:30] going to move out of a big house and
[2:03:32] went to a smaller one. So that's also
[2:03:34] going to generate more uh single family
[2:03:38] housing for families. I have heard a lot
[2:03:40] of people say, "Nobody's buying houses."
[2:03:41] Well, I got news for you. I sell them
[2:03:43] every day. Uh the houses on this market
[2:03:46] last maybe five or six days. So our
[2:03:48] market's strong, but it's very weak in
[2:03:50] the amount of inventory we have. So I
[2:03:52] put this out here to see if anyone has
[2:03:54] some, you know, ideas, uh some thoughts.
[2:03:58] Uh I don't have it down pat on what we
[2:04:00] can do. And you know, again, if you do a
[2:04:02] 55 or older, you probably have to do an
[2:04:04] association. So, I don't know from you,
[2:04:07] Brian, if uh there's a way we can do
[2:04:09] this uh in the sales contract, but um
[2:04:13] that's it for me. Trying to keep your
[2:04:16] revenue up. Surprise.
[2:04:18] » Let's cut spending.
[2:04:20] » Sure. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We do
[2:04:22] have a proposed resolution for next week
[2:04:25] where we're forming a group that you and
[2:04:26] I are both part of to analyze such a
[2:04:28] thing and I'm excited for that. Uh with
[2:04:31] regard to the civic center, it's a
[2:04:32] massive economic engine. are very
[2:04:34] supportive of them continuing. There's
[2:04:36] just no nexus between
[2:04:38] increasing visitation and paying for
[2:04:41] half of a engineering study. Finally,
[2:04:43] the county paying for is not from our
[2:04:45] tax. They can come from our county road
[2:04:47] fund. There just be just as much of a
[2:04:49] nexus.
[2:04:51] I just want to reiterate what Supervisor
[2:04:52] Batty said. The CDTA and uh the county
[2:04:55] administrator. Yes, the wrership um my
[2:04:59] number one takeaway from that meeting
[2:05:00] was the wrership is not even close. 15
[2:05:03] rides per hour is the target. The
[2:05:05] highest was 11.1 10 different routes all
[2:05:08] the way down to 3.7 averaged over the
[2:05:10] year 3.7
[2:05:13] riders per hour per route. So not we
[2:05:16] didn't have the target on one of our
[2:05:17] routes not even close. So it's a concern
[2:05:20] that we need to keep looking into. Thank
[2:05:22] you.
[2:05:25] » Anybody [snorts]
[2:05:26] else want to speak around you?
[2:05:29] » Mr. Chairman, just in regards to the
[2:05:31] CDTA thing, uh when I was at a workforce
[2:05:34] development board, CTA spoke, they were
[2:05:36] mentioning using much smaller buses. Uh
[2:05:39] and I'm wondering if we might be able to
[2:05:41] get that to come up to the economic
[2:05:42] growth development committee this week.
[2:05:46] Great to have them come up and I think
[2:05:49] Supervisor Brady has some ideas too on
[2:05:51] that. And if you could just memorialize
[2:05:55] that to the committee so we can see what
[2:05:57] you're talking about
[2:05:58] » Next week's meeting. or not, whatever
[2:06:00] you can.
[2:06:01] » Yeah. I mean, I talked to Mike. He's the
[2:06:03] head guy of the CDTA that night. I stood
[2:06:06] around for the whole meeting and uh I
[2:06:07] said, "Why, you know, from a parameal
[2:06:10] standpoint, you got 48 seat buses. I've
[2:06:13] ridden on the buses by myself. Nobody's
[2:06:15] there." I said, "Why don't you go to a
[2:06:16] van type of situation?" I said, "And
[2:06:19] even make it uh with the today's apps
[2:06:21] and so forth, you could make even make
[2:06:22] it on a on demand type of thing." He
[2:06:25] said, "Mr. 80. We're we're that's called
[2:06:27] our flex program and we're going to
[2:06:29] implement that in Saratoga. Now, will
[2:06:33] that help with the cost? Yeah, a little
[2:06:35] bit. Little less gas, blah blah blah. Uh
[2:06:38] it helps with the environment. We go
[2:06:40] from those big buses down to the vans.
[2:06:42] Okay. But there's other ideas that I had
[2:06:45] that uh that I think are
[2:06:48] have some credence. So, uh, I at the
[2:06:51] committee meeting, I'd be glad to go
[2:06:53] into detail that any other supervisors,
[2:06:58] supervisor.
[2:07:01] Oh, thank you. All right. Well, towns
[2:07:04] are responsible for dog control. That's
[2:07:08] it. We're responsible for dog. So, we
[2:07:12] have to secure the services
[2:07:14] that will do in your towns. We've
[2:07:18] secured those services with Kathy
[2:07:21] Goodyear and SBCA states
[2:07:25] and uh believe me uh our dog control
[2:07:29] challenges are us and significant
[2:07:34] and SPCA does a great job at handling
[2:07:39] dog control
[2:07:41] just to get the
[2:07:44] and lastly just have to comment on
[2:07:47] Mike's Very nice looking score.
[2:07:55] » Was it a two for one?
[2:08:04] » Thank you, Supervisor.
[2:08:07] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted
[2:08:09] to also comment on uh Sunni Aderand's
[2:08:13] decision to eliminate the hospitality
[2:08:15] program and appreciate Supervisor Wild's
[2:08:18] comments. Um I sit on that committee and
[2:08:20] I would have hoped that before they made
[2:08:22] such a a decision like that they would
[2:08:24] have brought it up to the committee and
[2:08:26] and to the tourism industry. Maybe we
[2:08:28] could have talked about um getting more
[2:08:31] aggressive with scholarships throughout
[2:08:33] Lake George and some of the bigger
[2:08:34] hotels. We certainly would have been
[2:08:36] open for that. maybe uh more aggressive
[2:08:38] in having a feeder program to some of
[2:08:41] the four-year institutions like Cornell
[2:08:43] that offer that. Also, uh they never
[2:08:47] presented how much it cost to run that
[2:08:50] program and what happens if we weren't
[2:08:53] part of the 30% higher um um
[2:08:58] uh classification to get the funding.
[2:09:00] How much shy would they have been of
[2:09:02] that funding? Could have looked at that
[2:09:04] before they just said no to this whole
[2:09:06] program. the three classes that are
[2:09:08] there, no one's going to I mean, they're
[2:09:10] electives now. I mean, it's the first
[2:09:12] step in saying goodbye to all of them.
[2:09:14] Most of people in business and uh
[2:09:16] marketing majors and finance majors
[2:09:19] probably won't take a hospitality
[2:09:21] elective or I see one of them is
[2:09:23] hospitality accounting. It's it's, you
[2:09:26] know, it's the first step to say goodbye
[2:09:27] to it. But I just hope that we can
[2:09:29] continue um talks with with Sunni. It's
[2:09:32] such a, you know, important uh economic
[2:09:36] driver. I hope we can continue that even
[2:09:38] if it's a certification program or
[2:09:40] something. Thank you.
[2:09:43] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Briefly, um, as
[2:09:45] most of you know, I was here about 15
[2:09:47] years ago and I think there's three or
[2:09:49] four supervisors that I served with back
[2:09:51] then. So, you guys will remember that I
[2:09:54] used to talk a little bit about an
[2:09:56] economic powerhouse up in the north
[2:09:58] country called Corout.
[2:10:00] Um, probably level annoyance a few years
[2:10:03] back. But I just wanted to share more
[2:10:05] closed for the year last weekend. Had an
[2:10:08] incredible successful season. 260,000 in
[2:10:12] attendance last season. On one
[2:10:15] particular day in January, one day there
[2:10:17] were 6,800 skiers in Port.
[2:10:22] One of the goals in my professional life
[2:10:24] has been to try and link the War
[2:10:26] Mountain Ski Center to the North Ski.
[2:10:29] Uh, it's something that's been worked on
[2:10:31] for about 25 years going all the way
[2:10:33] back to the Thomas administration.
[2:10:36] We now have a Hudson chair that is a
[2:10:38] high-speed 4-minute ride to the summit
[2:10:41] of the ski bowl. It interconnects to the
[2:10:43] main mountain and it has forever changed
[2:10:46] the hamlet of North Creek. And I'm not
[2:10:48] exaggerating. On a typical Saturday in
[2:10:51] our ski bowl park, we would have 500 to
[2:10:53] 550 parked cars.
[2:10:57] Three years ago, that lift operated 33
[2:11:00] days. Two years ago, it operated 47
[2:11:03] days. This year, it operated 105 days.
[2:11:07] People are now coming to the ski bowl in
[2:11:10] North Creek to ski at the ski bowl, but
[2:11:12] also to use the Hudson lift to access
[2:11:15] Big Core and the interconnect has been
[2:11:17] completed. It's paying significant
[2:11:19] dividends at the base of the ski ball.
[2:11:22] Uh, and I know the chairman has been in
[2:11:24] this facility. I saw him there. There's
[2:11:26] a new lodge called the station uh and a
[2:11:30] new um venue which is going to be a
[2:11:33] zipline coaster that we hope will open
[2:11:35] this summer. The purpose of the zipline
[2:11:38] coaster is to make it more of a
[2:11:40] nonseasonal destination. One of two in
[2:11:43] the country the others in Colorado.
[2:11:46] Projected numbers are 40,000 visitors.
[2:11:49] It's a $45 million project with the big
[2:11:52] lodge and the zip coaster. So our little
[2:11:56] in our town is changing. If you haven't
[2:11:58] had a a chance to enjoy dinner at the
[2:12:01] station, it's a wonderful event. It's an
[2:12:03] open design building with windows that
[2:12:06] face the steering. Lights are on at
[2:12:08] night and now that we're in warm
[2:12:11] weather, windows literally roll up like
[2:12:14] car garage doors. It's a spectacular
[2:12:16] facility and it is certainly changing my
[2:12:18] hometown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[2:12:28] You're on the clock.
[2:12:28] » Thank you, chairman. Um, uh, a couple of
[2:12:31] announcements. Uh, tomorrow, uh, Glenn
[2:12:34] Falls cleanup day, um, from 9 to 11, uh,
[2:12:38] in the lot next to city hall, the
[2:12:40] Harrison Fyer Rotary 5K uh, walk run up
[2:12:45] at Sunni Aderandac.
[2:12:47] Also, uh, tomorrow is um, an open house
[2:12:51] up at Sunni Aderand. um from I think
[2:12:54] it's 9 to 12. I say that because I
[2:12:58] yesterday I attended um the uh the
[2:13:01] meeting of the Lake George Regional
[2:13:03] Convention Visitors Bureau's meeting at
[2:13:06] um Aviation Ball. I gave them a whole
[2:13:09] laundry list of um events and activities
[2:13:12] happening in the city of Glenn Falls.
[2:13:14] But I also invited um individuals to um
[2:13:18] uh to take note of a uh a letter that uh
[2:13:23] Gina M had shared with us at the uh
[2:13:26] committee meeting uh this past month and
[2:13:29] um reach out to individuals from
[2:13:31] Sunni.com.
[2:13:33] If the programs aren't going to be
[2:13:35] offered this year, maybe they'll
[2:13:38] rethink, you know, uh the situation and
[2:13:41] offer them next year. Um uh a respectful
[2:13:45] uh casual conversation with um officials
[2:13:48] goes a long way uh to uh to having them
[2:13:52] hear uh you know people's concerns and
[2:13:55] and thoughts on the matter as opposed to
[2:13:57] a um a committee meeting which sometimes
[2:14:00] can get a little bit testy and and uh
[2:14:02] things. So I I encouraged the
[2:14:05] individuals there to uh you know to
[2:14:07] reach out and um and have those
[2:14:09] conversations with the uh the college uh
[2:14:12] at their earliest convenience. Um
[2:14:16] we've got Windfest coming up the the
[2:14:19] 25th uh Saturday the 25th of April.
[2:14:23] Following week is the very popular one
[2:14:25] is Brooks Barbecue um at East Field. Um
[2:14:28] last year they sold a thousand tickets.
[2:14:31] So, if you're a chicken lover, you've
[2:14:33] got a uh two weekends when you can
[2:14:36] really uh um have some good food. Um
[2:14:41] and finally, I I want to um uh to thank
[2:14:45] the the county for uh
[2:14:49] including uh all fire departments uh and
[2:14:52] regional area for their response to uh
[2:14:55] uh Mickey Guy situation. The guy
[2:14:58] families have been constituents of mine
[2:15:02] um for many years and the fifth ward of
[2:15:04] city of Glenn's Falls. Um there's an
[2:15:08] event um at um Dan Gerard's um uh Lauren
[2:15:12] Street Tavern this Sunday uh from 2 to
[2:15:16] 5:00 p.m. And as I understand it, all
[2:15:19] branches of Arrow Bank are accepting um
[2:15:23] donations
[2:15:25] uh or you can uh I think give a donation
[2:15:27] to the uh Glenn Falls Fire Department um
[2:15:31] with the note uh for making. So that
[2:15:34] concludes my um announcements. Thank you
[2:15:37] very much.
[2:15:37] » Dan, is there anything left to talk
[2:15:40] about?
[2:15:41] [laughter]
[2:15:43] » No, I uh I just wanted to mention you
[2:15:46] all received notice of the crime victim
[2:15:49] memorial ceremony and that is Thursday,
[2:15:52] April 23rd at 2 p.m. here at the
[2:15:56] municipal center of the Supreme Court.
[2:15:58] And I strongly encourage everyone to
[2:16:01] attend that. It is informative,
[2:16:04] positive, and inspiring and really uh
[2:16:08] really helps a lot of the people that uh
[2:16:11] are victims of crime. This year's theme,
[2:16:14] as it states here, is listen, act,
[2:16:17] advocate, which is a call to protect
[2:16:19] billions victims and serve communities.
[2:16:23] It's well worth your time.
[2:16:26] Thank you, Nancy.
[2:16:29] » Thank you. I'm sorry to do this to
[2:16:31] everybody, but Ben Ben's kind of stole
[2:16:33] my thunder.
[2:16:34] » Okay.
[2:16:35] » The Glenn Falls Collaborative is
[2:16:38] actually is um sponsoring Clean Up Day
[2:16:41] tomorrow, but also we fest is next
[2:16:43] Saturday the 25th. Uh 12 to 3:00. We
[2:16:47] have six judges that'll be judging the
[2:16:51] we'll have uh judges choice best wings
[2:16:54] and one of those most of them are local
[2:16:57] media personalities.
[2:16:59] The other one is our sheriff Jim Lafar.
[2:17:02] So, um he gets to taste winks from about
[2:17:05] 15 different uh restaurants. And I also
[2:17:09] wanted to say that on Monday the 27th,
[2:17:11] Haley and I or sorry, Supervisor
[2:17:14] Gilligan and I will be attending the
[2:17:16] Pride Advocacy Day at the capital.
[2:17:21] » Gilbring
[2:17:26] to Ed. How's your team doing? My team is
[2:17:29] struggling.
[2:17:31] Very struggling.
[2:17:33] » I can't understand.
[2:17:41] » No, I know it was unfortunate accident
[2:17:44] and that the city had the other
[2:17:47] trinky guy is told by everybody in this
[2:17:50] room one way or another about her her
[2:17:53] career. Wish her all the best. Hopefully
[2:17:56] uh someone as Will you recover? Yes.
[2:18:02] » Thank you.
[2:18:04] » I have an announcement.
[2:18:05] » Sure.
[2:18:06] » So plant shrub sale is happening today
[2:18:10] behind the office building where they
[2:18:11] have a lot of surplus plants. They're
[2:18:13] going to be open until 6 pm. I already
[2:18:16] have a lot of planting to do over the
[2:18:18] weekend. Their master gardener plant
[2:18:20] sale. The orders are due by May 1st on
[2:18:23] the back of the program that you
[2:18:25] received today from Cornell. It's um
[2:18:27] requires a 50% deposit and if you hit
[2:18:31] that um QR code on the back you can see
[2:18:33] all the plans they have available.
[2:18:36] » Did you want to speak?
[2:18:41] » Christine Norton Warren County
[2:18:43] Treasurer. I could be brief. Um
[2:18:46] I am encouraged that we are getting
[2:18:49] closer to the truth regarding um the
[2:18:52] circumstances around fraud from
[2:18:53] December, but we still have a ways to
[2:18:56] go. Um the sheriff is an expert at his
[2:18:59] criminal. You know, that's his that's
[2:19:01] his forte. However, processes um and
[2:19:04] business process flows and forensics are
[2:19:06] not his his uh wheelhouse. For example,
[2:19:10] just one point from today and I won't go
[2:19:12] into there are several. I'll just give
[2:19:14] you this one. County treasurer's office
[2:19:17] has for decades um done about 2,000 wire
[2:19:22] transfers and ACS every month. So there
[2:19:26] are processes and procedures in place.
[2:19:28] They are informal, but they are
[2:19:30] documented. They are simply not a
[2:19:32] formalized policy that this um this
[2:19:36] board has approved. We're going to get
[2:19:38] there, and I'm looking forward to
[2:19:39] working with everybody to to do just
[2:19:41] that. Excuse me. Um,
[2:19:45] in closing, oh, excuse me. Every single
[2:19:48] employee um that has a direct deposit
[2:19:50] gets that direct deposit by an AC. We do
[2:19:52] have policies and procedures. I look
[2:19:55] forward to the results of the ongoing
[2:19:57] forensic investigations as well as the
[2:19:58] controller that will be coming in in
[2:20:00] June of this year. Um, they are the
[2:20:02] forensic experts. They are the business
[2:20:04] process experts. And I think um all of
[2:20:08] us working together will absolutely
[2:20:10] um make sure that this never happens
[2:20:13] again. Thank you.
[2:20:16] » One announcements.
[2:20:21] The late John Austin had a hobby of
[2:20:24] research
[2:20:26] family information. Over the years he
[2:20:29] built a wonderful library of genealogy
[2:20:31] related materials. Thankfully, he left
[2:20:34] his library to the historian's office
[2:20:36] and now we have sorted it, cataloged it,
[2:20:39] and can open it to the public. We would
[2:20:41] like to invite each and every supervisor
[2:20:43] to come to records at the county clerk's
[2:20:46] office this Friday today at the end of
[2:20:49] your meeting time. Well, we didn't hit
[2:20:51] that mark for the official of the
[2:20:54] collection. John Austin Sanjay will be
[2:20:56] in attendance. The purpose is for you to
[2:20:58] be aware of the huge collection of
[2:21:01] material that It's available to county
[2:21:04] thanks to the generosity of judge
[2:21:07] Austin. So, we can all go down to the uh
[2:21:10] record at the county clerk's office put
[2:21:14] this and
[2:21:17] we would like to give you a show you
[2:21:19] all.
[2:21:23] Anybody else have a motion to
[2:21:31] get over?