In this episode, we talk with Yates County Administrator Nonie Flynn.
We discussed the latest redistricting plan, which involves staying with 14 legislative districts and moving fewer residents into new districts than the previous plan. The current plan seems to have widespread support. A public hearing has been set to discuss it, after which, it will go to the voters for their approval.
The county will receive another $150,000 in a settlement between the state and opioid manufacturers. We talked about how the money will be spent.
The legislature voted to cap the county gas tax at the two dollars per gallon level, beginning June 1. The cut will coincide with the 16 cent per gallon state gas tax reduction that begins the same day.
The county signed a lease agreement with Cayuga County for tower space on the eastern side of Seneca Lake as part of a $5 million communications upgrade.
The county is launching a training program that will allow county employees to attend classes for free to allow them to get their Class B or A commercial driver’s licenses.
We discussed the county’s contract with a fiber supplier as part of the county-wide broadband rollout. Many suppliers have up to a yearlong waiting list for fiber, but Yates County found a supplier that had just had a customer cancellation, making fiber available almost immediately.
The legislature also set the date for a public hearing on extending its authority to hold meetings virtually. The state authorization for teleconferencing, enacted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, expires at the end of June.
