William Nixon, 63, retired from retirement system

By JEANETTE WOLFBERG

HUDSON–The Columbia County Board of Supervisors tabled a proposal to create an animal abuser registry, adopted a policy for surveillance cameras, and requested OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) hold off planned reforms for possible modifications at its meeting July 10.

The board voted to send the proposal for an online registry of people who have been convicted of animal abuse back to the Public Safety Committee for fine-tuning and reconsideration (see article “Board sends animal abuser registry back to committee,” July 25).

On another matter, the board adopted a policy for using the new surveillance cameras the county is installing, based on recommendations by Supervisor Michael Chameides (see April 11 article). Since an earlier draft, the policy has specified that the county official overseeing camera access shall be the chairman of the Board of Supervisors, unless otherwise designated by the board, and that the Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office shall have their own policies with regard to camera access and use.

Meanwhile, OSHA is revising its standards for emergency responders for the first time since 1986, and the board requested it extend its public comment period and consider several specific improvements.

“We need time to determine the impact on the local fire departments,” County Fire Coordinator George Keeler said on July 15. “We aren’t opposed to upgrades,” but after issuing its 608-page proposed new standards, OSHA gave only 30 days for comment. Some of the proposed changes, Mr. Keeler continued, “we’re already doing,” but “some are surprises.” Some place “an undue burden” on small fire departments. For example, the proposed new rules require more hours of training for fire officers and more record keeping, using up more time. Mr. Keeler said he feared this would “force more volunteers out of the service.” Fire services are already concerned by a decrease in new recruits. (September 29, 2022 article).

Mr. Keeler added that some bigger fire companies have more money and can afford to hire more office staff. Furthermore, in designing OSHA’s reform proposal, “volunteer fire services was not adequately represented.”

The board’s statement suggests that the OSHA extend the public comment period; hold in-person comment sessions; negotiate with “transparency, accountability, and mutual engagement”; and ensure “equitable representation of volunteer firefighters in the proposal process, proportionate to their significant contribution to emergency services.” The county’s 31 fire departments, 750 volunteers and six fire coordinators “form the backbone of our emergency response apparatus, tirelessly working to ensure the safety security and well-being of our residents, often a great personal sacrifice.”

It also suggests, instead of big updates after a gap of almost 40 years, transforming the OSHA standard into an “adaptive living document,” changed as technology and “best practices” evolve. When asked whether such updates can occur with transparency and adequate volunteer fire fighter input, Mr. Keeler said he hopes so.

He reported that the NY State Fire Coordinators Association and the National Volunteer Fire Council support the statement’s suggestions.

Also at the meeting, the board:

•Appointed Gary Grimes of the Stuyvesant Fire Company to the Columbia County Haz-Mat team as a volunteer responding member

•Appointed William Better County Historian, for a term ending December 31, 2025

•Authorized a Memorandum of Understanding regarding relocation Copake’s Memorial Clock and memorial monuments, to accommodate road reconfiguration, with the Federal Highway Administration and State Department of Transportation

•Gave the go ahead for Master of Social Work students at Adelphi University to intern with the Columbia County Department of Human Services (DHS)

•Authorized DHS to give the Mental Health Awareness Gallery in Hudson $20,000 for operating expenses, using the county’s OASAS (New York State Office of Addiction and Support Services) Opioid Settlement Regional Abatement fund. In June, the county also authorized the DHS to use this fund to support Columbia Pathways to Recovery and People USA

•Authorized the Health Department to purchase a 2024 Toyota bZ4X for up to $46,863

•Authorized the Highway Department to purchase a 2024 Western Star 49X Dump Truck with plow for up to $ 355,000.00, in order to replace a 24 year old truck that “has outlived its useful life,” using ARPA funds. ARPA (the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021) seeks to speed recovery from the economic and health effects of the Covid-19 crisis and the recession. The county is also using ARPA to purchase surveillance cameras (mentioned above) and new door- opening software. All ARPA money not used by the end of 2024 must go back to the federal government

•Authorized the county to decommission the Philmont Non-Direction Beacon (NDB) and turn it over to the 109th Air National Guard at the Schenectady County Airport. The NBD is “no longer used for commercial or general navigation,” and there is no “resale market for the equipment,” but the 109th Air National Guard has contacted the county and told it “they are interested in the equipment for back-up and parts”

•Authorized the following departments to declare the following vehicles “no longer worthy of repair” surplus and send to auction: a 2021 Ford Focus (Health); a 2010 Gray Dodge Caravan (Human Services); and a 2016 Ford Taurus, a 2011 Chevrolet Tahoe, a 2005 Jeep Cherokee, a 2015 Jeep Cherokee, and a 2013 ChevroletTahoe (Sheriff).

In all, the board passed 42 resolutions.