County lawmakers will tackle issues old and new while in Dunkirk tonight.
As has become tradition, the legislature will again relocate from Mayville to the Clarion Hotel & Conference Center for its regular July business meeting.
During the meeting, which will begin at 6:30 p.m., legislators will revisit the downsizing issue as well as a resolution to accept grant money for a new boat.
A new tax collection agreement between the county and its two cities will also be put to vote, as will a number of other resolutions - from reappointment confirmations and lease renewals to adjustments of budgetary accounts.
DOWNSIZING
Though voted on a number of different times in recent years, the downsizing issue will be back before the County Legislature tonight with a new twist.
According to its Democratic sponsors, the proposed local law is the first of two necessary steps to put the issue to public vote.
As worded, the local law calls for the legislature to adopt a 17-member body after the 2010 census data is received. A second resolution would then have to be passed next month, according to Keith Ahlstrom, D-Dunkirk, in order for the proposal to be put to public vote later this year.
Though the proposal to downsize is different from past votes, Majority Leader John Runkle said little else has changed regarding the issue.
"I've discussed it with members of our caucus and I believe, generally speaking, our position remains the same," Runkle said. "So I wouldn't expect any gigantic changes at the upcoming legislative meeting."
TAX COLLECTION
County Legislator Lori Cornell, D-Jamestown, said last week that she will "remain steadfast" in pursuing a tax collection agreement which addresses Jamestown revitalization.
None of Cornell's proposed amendments made it into the agreement which was approved by the Administrative Services Committee last Monday.
Despite the defeat in committee, Cornell said she "probably will" be reintroducing her amendments during the full legislature meeting tonight.
"With a co-sponsor or without, the legislation I proposed is important to my constituents and important to Chautauqua County residents, so I will continue to tackle the tough political issues that are out there and move forward," Cornell said after the committee meeting. "I look forward to continuing to talk with not just my caucus, but the Republican caucus as well as to how we may best move forward together. My goal would be to seek some sort of compromise. I think it's critical that we work together, that we have a final foreclosure agreement on which we all agree."
The two-year tax collection agreement between the county and the cities of Dunkirk and Jamestown passed committee in a 4-1 vote.
The proposal had initially been for a five-year agreement, but was changed to cover just 2010 and 2011 in order to work on including some of the issues raised by Cornell and Paula DeJoy, D-Jamestown.
From the county, the agreement then went to the cities - causing some confusion in Dunkirk.
As reported by the OBSERVER, some Dunkirk Common Council members were surprised by the "walk-in resolution," initially wanting more time to act on it.
"The City Council did eventually approve the proposal, giving the mayor the ability to negotiate the final agreement with the county executive," Ahlstrom explained. "It wasn't controversial with the City Council. Timing was an issue with them, but they passed it once they received an explanation and got all the information."
Legislators have said in recent weeks that a tax collection agreement has to be approved by the legislature by Aug. 1, meaning it must happen at the Dunkirk meeting tonight.
GRANT FUNDING
Money turned down last month for a new boat for the Sheriff's Office can still be obtained by the county.
Legislators will again consider accepting Homeland Security money this month, as the proposal passed both the Public Safety and Audit & Control committees last week.
During the legislature's June meeting, Ahlstrom spoke against accepting the grant funding - questioning how the county will pay to staff the boat once the grant money is spent. Other legislators explained that they were only voting against the proposal because they had unanswered questions.
Sheriff's Office officials attended the committee meetings to answer legislators' questions.
The county is eligible to accept $151,104 through Operation Stonegarden, a federally-funded, multi-year grant program. Of the $151,104 sum, a total of $136,383 will go to purchase a 32-foot boat and trailer. The remainder will cover fuel, maintenance, overtime pay and fringe benefits.
As Captain Darryl Braley told the Audit and Control Committee last month, there will be no local share associated with the two purchases.
BED TAX CHANGE
One issue which won't be coming up is a change to the 3 percent bed tax guidelines which Runkle proposed in recent weeks.
"We put it through Planning and Economic Development and it appears that there was some discrepancies in the legislation as it was submitted," Runkle said. "Legal issues which, with the county attorney not available at the time to clarify, I decided to pull the resolution."
Runkle had proposed changing the 3 percent bed tax guidelines to allow for possible additional funding for the sheriff's navigation and snowmobile patrols.
Runkle said the resolution will remain pulled until he is able to discuss it with the county attorney.
Tonight's meeting of the County Legislature will be held at the Clarion Hotel & Conference Center in Dunkirk at 6:30 p.m.