PRESENT: B. Blanchard, P. Penniman, R. Booth 

EXCUSED:      M. Robertson, G. Totman

STAFF: S. Whicher, County Administrator; L. Shurtleff, Director, Emergency Response; J. Wood, County Attorney; E. Marx, Planning Commissioner; M. Shakarjian, Capital Projects Coordinator; W. Skinner, Public Information Coordinator; U. Mukherjee, Administrative Services Coordinator

GUESTS: D. Kiefer, Board of Representatives 

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting opened at 11: 40 a.m. 

ADDITIONS TO/DELETIONS FROM THE AGENDA

None 

COMMUNICATIONS CENTER UPDATE

Mr. Shurtleff said that Egner Associates are finalizing the construction documents and these are expected by early December. Motorola has indicated the requirements of electrical components. Interaction with various agencies such as DEC, FAA is on for obtaining necessary permits. A waiver from FAA would be required for transfer of land from the airport to the County for non-aviation use. Mr. Whicher recently met with the Village of Lansing on tower siting issues. Ms. Kiefer requested to see the revised environmental assessment form before it is sent to the Village.

Mr. Penniman arrived at this point at 11:46 a.m.

Ms. Blanchard said that a meeting of the Building Committee would be held on December 6 at 1 p.m. and a presentation to the Board is scheduled for December 17.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF OCTOBER 22 MEETING

It was MOVED by Mr. Booth, seconded by Mr. Penniman, and unanimously adopted by voice vote by members present, to approve the October 22 minutes with the recommended changes.  

PSCS RFP STATUS REPORT

Mr. Wood spoke on Phase I of the contract, cost details of which are to be worked out. He said NYSTEC will check on the compatibility of the consoles to the system. If some vendor other than Motorola is awarded the major contract (Phase II), the consoles may have to be ultimately replaced. However, the existing Motorola system should be able to run for the next 6/7 years till we have a new system in place. Hence if Motorola does not get the major contract, the consoles may be used for 6/7 years out of a 20-year life. Phase II would be put off till we know details of the SWN contract.  

In reply to a question by Ms. Kiefer as to the possibility of any other vendor undertaking Phase I, Mr. Shurtleff said he was not comfortable with other vendors in view of Motorola’s proprietary software and equipment involved in the legacy system. In reply to another question by Mr. Booth on the possibility of delaying occupation of the new building by six months, Mr. Shurtleff said that there is no guarantee that details of the SWN system would be available in six months. Besides, he added, we need to keep the system up and running and are not confident that another vendor can run a Motorola system built over many years as is the case with our system.     

RFP EVALUATION

Ms. Shakarjian distributed the NYSTEC Progress Report on the PSCS project for September. She said that the focus is on Phase I now. SWN will open the bids in January and proceed with their evaluation thereafter. Hence our time frame for Phase II will be based on SWN’s progress.

SWN UPDATE

Mr. Whicher said that he has recently spoken to Jim Siacca, a senior SWN official. The evaluation process would start in the second week of January, 70% of which involves technical analysis.  Evaluation teams would include outside experts and SWN has indicated that Tompkins County may nominate somebody as part of the team. The group briefly discussed a possible nominee as well as the potential liability to the County if we participate in the team. Ms. Blanchard said that perhaps a NYSTEC consultant could represent us in the evaluation team. The group authorized Mr. Whicher to decide on this issue. Mr. Whicher mentioned that a draft MOU for the County to enter into a full system integration partnership with SWN is expected soon from the NYS Office for Technology.

Mr. Marx arrived at this point at 12:25 p.m.

Ms. Blanchard spoke of a recent meeting of County representatives with Senator Seward in Cortland. The senator is now the chair of a new senate committee on local emergency preparedness. She distributed a report prepared by Ms. Shakarjian to brief the senator on the PSCS project. She said Senator Seward will advise us in case SWN’s progress is impeded.

DOT RELOCATION PROJECT   

Ms. Blanchard spoke of the presentation of analysis of the two proposed sites in a public forum yesterday at the Village of Dryden Hall. Mr. Marx said that Mr. Mike Lane, however, was not in favor of either site. Instead, he suggested that the Hanshaw Road site be revisited. Mr. Marx felt the site would not be a feasible one. DOT officials are surprised at the turn of events. There was concern that the funds earmarked for the project would be utilized elsewhere if there is a sense that the project is not moving. Ms. Blanchard said she has been in touch with Town and Village officials as well as the top DOT official in Syracuse. The timeline for work on the project, such as water connection, needs to be laid down and communicated to Senator Seward. She added we should wait a couple of weeks for the Town and Village to come to a decision.       

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 12:58 p.m.

Submitted by Ujjal Mukherjee, Administrative Services Coordinator