LEGISLATURE STUFF - Deicing Infrastructure $$$

CATSKILL - Money has been flowing even amid freezing temperatures as the Greene County Legislature frees up infrastructure improvement funds. 

Lawmakers, at a recent meeting, approved the purchase of property from the West Athens Limestreet Fire Company for relocation of the Buildings and Grounds Department.

Buildings and Grounds, “currently occupies and conducts business at a location in the Town of Catskill informally known as 90 Allen Street,” the legislative resolution states.

“90 Allen Street continues to be owned by the New York State Department

of Transportation which permits the County to use the premises for “highway use” only,” the resolution states.

Buildings & Grounds “seeks to relocate its operations due to the restrictions imposed by DOT and because the structure has become obsolete due to wear and tear and minimal maintenance,” the resolution states.

The price tag for the 2.11+/ acre lot with buildings and improvements is $550,000 which raised a few eyebrows when discussed in committee.

Former legislator Joseph Izzo, who often offers opinions and observations on legislative spending, questioned whether an adequate appraisal was performed on the property, which he said, based on his research, was assessed at only at $363,000 with a full market value of $422,000.

“I’m questioning what was used to come up with the price and who negotiated the price,” Izzo said.

Greene County administrator Shaun Groden said $550,000 was the asking price and there were no negotiations, with lawmaker Greg Davis( District 4, Greenville), noting assessments don’t always reflect true market value.

Assessment values, “really do not come into play very often when there is a sale of real estate because those numbers are out of date,” Davis said.

Izzo’s query prompted four of the fourteen lawmakers to initially vote “no” on the acquisition, with all but one changing their vote to “yes” following an executive session where the chain of events was more fully explicated.

The approved resolution states that the legislature, “has determined that based upon the type, size and condition of the structure(s) erected on the aforementioned parcel of real property, that it will appropriately house Buildings and Grounds personnel.”

Lawmakers agreed the tract will also provide, “ample garage space necessary to store required vehicles and equipment.”

Further, the site, “contains enough land to erect a building to serve as a future site for Greene County Records Management.”

Also, the acreage, “contains a 30’ x 30’ “butler” building erected thereon which can be dismantled and relocated to the site of Greene County

Veterans’ Affairs, to be used for Veterans outreach program and Vet

to Vet operation,” the resolution states.

CLARIFICATION: In the February 13 issue of this column, a story was written about sales tax revenue received by Greene County, last year.

“A recent report filed by the New York State Comptroller’s Office shows a Sales Tax inflow of $53.13 million in 2025 for the county,” an increase of $3.6 million from the previous year, the story stated.

The story tells how county officials have utilized a portion of annual sales tax income to keep the local tax levy flat seven straight budget cycles.

Legislature chairman Patrick Linger also explained how the county tapped that money to help offset ambulance expenses.

“This year we took over the full cost of emergency medical services,” Linger was quoted as saying. He was referring specifically to the non-profit Greene County Emergency Medical Systems flycars.

Over the years, the county has paid 85 percent of the yearly flycar budget, bringing a paramedic to every ambulance response scene.

Individual towns have paid the rest based on the total number of calls answered by the agency and the town’s share of those calls.

Lawmakers, in 2026, opted to pay all of the $2.7 million flycar budget. The flycars, however, do not provide patient transport to hospitals.

Those emergency medical expenses are covered by individual towns either through their own ambulance system or a contract with another town.

Lawmakers agreed to subsidize each town for those services. The one time aid totaled $2 million, split proportionally among the 14 towns.

The plan helped offset some, but not all, necessary municipal spending. We apologize for the lack off context in presenting Linger’s statement.