LEGISLATURE STUFF - Lula and Liquidity and the Cloud

CATSKILL - She has been very outspoken, even controversial, but Greene County Legislature members did not hesitate, renaming Lula Anderson to serve on the Advisory Council to the Department for the Aging.

Lawmakers, at a recent meeting, reappointed Anderson and her frequent sidekick Judith LoPresti to represent the mountaintop towns of Ashland, Jewett, Prattsville and Windham in talks with the county agency.

Anderson and LoPresti are joined by Linda VanEtten, chosen to speak on behalf of the hilltop towns of Lexington, Hunter and Halcott.

While all Advisory Council designees are not shy about communicating their thoughts to the county, Anderson, in her mid-90’s, has earned a respected reputation for unabashedly shooting from the hip.

She was perhaps most vocal when issues arose around the county’s meals assistance program for elderly and homebound folks, particularly in her other role as president of the mountaintop’s Golden Agers Club.

Anderson accepted no explanations for why the program was shut down, even if temporarily and even if valid financial reasons were on the table.

One of the last of the oldtyme switchboard telephone operators, there is never a busy signal when Anderson is called upon to help.

Lawmakers also picked Advisory Council representatives Ernest Armstead (District 1, Catskill), Richard Golden (District 2, Coxsackie) and Deborah Von Atzinger (District 3, Athens).

Advisory Council reps further include Charlene Mabey (District 9, Durham), legislator Sherry True (District 8, Cairo), Jillian Jenkins (county Public Health), Anne Kreig (county Department of Social Services);

Tyler Lynch (county Veterans Services director), Molly Whitbeck (Catskill Mountain Housing director), Dawn Wallant (Common Ground agency director) and Florence Ohl (county Community Action director).

In other matters related to continuance of government:

—Lawmakers authorized county highway superintendent Scott Templeton to enter into an agreement upgrading fleet management software.

“The highway department utilizes gWorks software to track and document maintenance and repairs of county-owned vehicles and equipments,” the legislative resolution states of the Boston, Massachusetts based firm.

“To ensure its software remains uninterrupted and fully supported with modern, secure technology, gWorks is migrating their existing customers to a cloud-based platform,” the resolution states.

“After investigating other software programs [Templeton] has determined it is in the county’s best interest to upgrade,” the resolution states.

The total cost will be $15,014. and 50 cents which includes implementation and training as well as the annual maintenance and support fee that will be locked in at $10,029 for one additional year, the resolution states.

—Lawmakers authorized buying two new excavators for the county’s solid waste department with funding already in the 2026 county budget.

Two John Deere 135P Tier excavators with all needed options are available through United Construction and Forestry in Clifton Park at a cost of $194,500 each, $389.000 overall, the resolution states.

Trade-in allowance will lower the price to a total of $279,000, the legislative resolution states, factoring in $55,000 for a 2020 Kobelco SK140SRLC-7 excavator and another 55 G’s for a 2021 Hyundai HX130A LCR machine.

 —Lawmakers authorized county treasurer Keith Valentine to enter into an agreement with three+one for cashVest liquidity and treasury analysis services for the year 2026.

“The treasurer has determined that three+one is best suited to provide said services…to ensure appropriate and competitive pricing is being received from financial partners pertinent to the facilitation of cash management and to define the next steps and recommendations to uncover new sources of value on identified strategic liquidity,” the resolution states.

In the agreement, the county agrees to pay an annual liquidity monitoring and reporting fee, from inception, of $34,680, in four equal quarterly installments of $8,670, the resolution states.

—Lawmakers approved a budget amendment by the county treasurer’s office, paving the financial way for the county clerk’s office to continue digitization of records.

“The Greene County Clerk’s office is now receiving payments from IQS for Image Prints they are providing to customers online,” the legislative resolution states.

“These funds are in excess of the normal fees collected and for the second, third and fourth quarters of 2025, an excess of $29,123 and 50 cents has been collected,” the resolution states.

Those funds will be added as revenue and in the the next pressing of a computer keyboard button, deducted as appropriations.