Archive: News

Amie Hendrix Named Youth Services Director

The Legislature confirmed County Administrator Joe Mareane’s appointment of Amie M. Hendrix as Director of Youth Services.  Confirmation was unanimous, with Legislator Kathy Luz Herrera excused.

Ms. Hendrix, who currently resides in Interlaken, holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Niagara University and a Master’s degree in Strategic Leadership from Roberts Wesleyan College.  Since 2007, she has led community-based programming as Community Partnership Director for the American Lung Association, based in Rochester, and from 2004-2007 was Youth Action Coordinator at Rochester’s Huther-Doyle Memorial Institute.  Before that, Ms. Hendrix served as Senior Assistant and Director of Youth Programming for the American Red Cross of the Finger Lakes, located in Seneca Falls.

Administrator Mareane told Legislators they will find the new director to be “very bright, very energetic, very engaging, and very committed to the lives of young people.”  Ms. Hendrix begins service October 20 and will replace retiring Youth Services Director Nancy Zahler.

Recycling and Solid Waste Center Gets Ready for Upgrade

Nearly a year after a Request for Proposals was issued, Solid Waste Management Division Director Barbara Eckstrom told Legislators that a County review team is ready to recommend a preferred vendor to upgrade and operate the Recycling and Solid Waste Center (RSWC), once the current contract expires next February.

Following lengthy review of six proposals received last February and negotiations with prospective vendors, it is recommended that the service agreement be awarded to FCR Recycling, a firm based in Charlotte, NC owned by Casella Waste.  Eckstrom said the recommendation is based on facility capital and operating costs, anticipated revenues, and the greatest potential for waste diversion.  “If my projections are correct, we will be doubling the amount of recyclables, and the costs will go down eight to ten times,” Eckstrom said.

The Legislature’s Facilities and Infrastructure Committee recommends that a five-year service agreement, with option for another five years, be finalized for approval by the Legislature. The proposed agreement is expected to foster significantly greater reuse and recycling at a long-term cost savings, permitting new waste reduction programs and reduction in the Solid Waste Annual Fee when current debt is retired in 2014.

Under the recommended agreement, the site will be dramatically improved to provide safer and more efficient public access.  As part of the effort to meet the goal of diverting 75% of materials from landfills by 2015, Eckstrom said functions will include conversion to single-stream recycling without large capital equipment investment.  It would also separate residential from commercial recycling, with different methods for handling different types of materials and much commercial recycling baled on site and shipped directly to market.

It’s hoped the agreement can be finalized by end of the year, with the new center opened by August 2011.


Legislature Supports Intermunicipal Cell Tower Initiative

The Legislature, by unanimous vote Legislator Kathy Luz Herrera was excused) authorized County participation in an intermunicipal project, initiated by several municipalities through the Tompkins County Council of Governments (TCCOG) to examine a more coordinated approach than currently exists to the issue of cellular tower sitings.  The municipalities have selected the firm of Silverberg Zalantis, of Tarrytown, NY, to provide legal advice on issues related to the siting of cellular towers and related ordinance issues.

The Legislature’s action “recognizes that issues of cellular communications affect all residents and visitors and that coordinated action of multiple municipalities is more efficient and effective than separate and disconnected efforts.”  It expresses the County’s desire to participate in the intermunicipal project “to support enhanced cell service with the fewest possible new cell towers at the most appropriate locations;” pledges to contribute up to $1,500 as share of the $10,250 base contract; and offers to serve as fiscal agent to collect municipal contributions and handle contract administration.


Bob Nicholas Appointed to National Research Panel

County Administrator Joe Mareane announced that the Transportation Board of the National Academies of the National Research Council has nominated Airport Manager Bob Nicholas to serve on an advisory panel which will provide counsel and technical guidance, in a project entitled Sustainability for Airports:  Best Practices, Success Metrics, and Beyond.  The project will be administered by the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP), in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration, Airport Council International-North America, the American Association of Airport Executives, the National Association of State Aviation Officials, and the Air Transport Association of America.  Panel members are appointed to the National Academies based on their personal expertise regarding research topics.

Under Manager Nicholas’ leadership, Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport initiated the nation’s first “green” master plan, the first plan of its type authorized and funded by the FAA.

Administrator Mareane called the appointment “a real honor for our County and especially for our Airport Manager who has guided us in that effort."

Among other actions, the Legislature

• Authorized the Sheriff’s Office and Department of Emergency Response to accept more than $200,000 in New York State Homeland Security Grants to be applied toward the new Computer Aided Dispatch/Mobile Data /Records Management System project.
• Approved a contract with Clough Harbour Associates LLP, of Albany, NY, for design services related to the Covered Bridge Preservation Project in the Town of Newfield, at a cost not to exceed $70,000.  Under an agreement with the State of New York approved by the Legislature earlier this year, the federal government will furnish approximately 80% of the design funds.

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