February 2, 1999 Contact: Wendy Skinner

Tompkins County Public Information, 274-5555

COUNTY RENEWS TOURISM CONTRACT WITH CHAMBER
By unanimous vote (13-0; Reps. Thomas Todd and Daniel Winch were absent), the Board of Representatives approved a three-year contract with the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce for tourism support and promotion. For 1999, the County will pay the Chamber $385,000 for the operation and programs of the Convention and Visitors’ Bureau (CVB). The annual funding, plus $6,500 for the Finger Lakes Association and $12,000 for the Central Finger Lakes Marketing Program, is provided through a local tax on hotel and motel rooms. Contacts: Rep. Stuart Stein, 273-3500; Bridgette DeBell, Director, CVB, 272-1313.

AQUIFER STUDY IS APPROVED

The Board of Representatives unanimously (13-0; Thomas Todd and Daniel Winch were absent) agreed to appropriate up to $27,000 for a project that will study and map aquifers that provide drinking water in Tompkins County. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) will provide an additional $18,000 for the project, which will be coordinated by the County Planning Department. The study will also address land-use issues that may affect the quality and quantity of water resources. In recent weeks, several town supervisors as well as representatives of the Water Resources Council have spoken in favor of the project, which the Board originally turned down during the 1999 budget process. Contacts: Rep. Michael Lane, 844-8440; Planning Director Jim Hanson, 274-5560.

By unanimous vote (13-0; Thomas Todd and Daniel Winch were absent), the Board of Representatives passed a resolution urging forward progress on a regional wastewater treatment system. Following the recommendation of the Tompkins County Planning Advisory Board, the Representatives gave their official support to a plan to consolidate waste water services among the City and Town of Ithaca, the Towns of Dryden and Lansing, the Villages of Cayuga Heights and Lansing, Bolton Point, and Cornell University, as outlined in a 1997 report by consultants O’Brien and Gere. A $7.4 million New York State Clean Air/Clean Water grant will fund the first two years of the project. Contacts: Rep. Barbara Blanchard, 277-6533; Pat Vaughan, Ithaca Common Council, 277-4889.

With no dissent (Thomas Todd and Daniel Winch were absent) the Board renewed its annual support of the Ithaca Downtown Partnership, approving a payment of $5,980, which was already set aside in the 1999 County budget. Contact: Rep. Michael Lane, 844-8440.

COUNTY Y2K COMMITTEE SETS DIRECTION

Board Chairman Barbara Mink announced that the Y2K committee she appointed earlier in the year has met for the first time. It will be called the Tompkins County Y2K Information Network, and its mission is primarily one of information gathering and dissemination. The group, which includes representation from the Red Cross, Chamber of Commerce, and the City of Ithaca, will seek first of all to provide reliable and sensible information on ways individuals can prepare for potential disruptions in their daily lives, and also to address issues of community preparedness -- and beyond that to supply referral information for issues that reach beyond the County’s borders. Contacts: Rep. Barbara Mink, 274-5434, 273-7847; Public Information Coordinator Wendy Skinner, 274-5555.