Chairman
Curt Crandall’s Statement
May
26, 2020 – Legislative Board Meeting
Yesterday was Memorial Day, a time that we typically
celebrate in each of our small towns with parades, services, barbeques, and family
gatherings. With the weather as it was
this past weekend, time certainly would have been spent at our parks and
beaches and enjoying outdoor activities.
Please take a minute to reflect on the true meaning of Memorial Day to remember
the men and women in the armed forces that have given the ultimate sacrifice
and have died for our freedoms. With all
the other festivities associated with Memorial Day, that is the true meaning.
This year due to the COVID-19 crisis, many of our typical
activities were curtailed. I would like
to thank the people of Allegany County for doing their part in following the executive
order for social distancing and limiting the number of people at celebrations
and gatherings. These are indeed unique
and unusual times. At today’s Ways &
Means meeting, a proposal was put together in which this Board would need to
vote as individual legislators whether or not to defy the current executive
orders by Governor Cuomo. I answered
that suggestion by reminding the members of this Board of Legislators that when
we become duly elected, we take an oath of office and that oath of office
states that we will uphold the laws of the State of New York. While the rules, regions, metrics, and
timeline may not agree with some members of this Board or others in our
positions across New York State, and we may have written those rules
differently, they are at this time the rules that we must follow.
As of today, Allegany County is in Phase I of the NYS
COVID-19 Opening Plan (Forward NY). The
businesses that are allowed to be open under Phase I can be found on the
website: forward.ny.gov. This site
defines what businesses can be open and the terms they would need to follow in
order to conduct business. Those terms
are outlined, and businesses can electronically submit an affirmation of
compliance. With continued social
distancing, wearing of a mask when unable to social distance, and proper
hygiene, we are hoping that the rate of those infected will continue to decline
and that Allegany County will soon advance to Phase II in the opening
plan. The businesses allowed to re-open
in Phase II can also be found on:
forward.ny.gov. In the Governor’s
plan, complaints for non-compliance are submitted to New York State where they
are screened, and then, if warranted, notification is given to local
authorities. Again, I would like to
thank the people of Allegany County for their diligence in compliance as there
have been very few formal complaints.
Many questions have come in beyond the outlines from the
state mostly to do with recreational activities. One recent question concerned the Allegany
County public beach at Rushford Lake. At
this time, the beach will not be open for several reasons:
·
First, with limited revenues and concerns going
forward on meeting revenues for our County Budget, the physical clean-up and
preparation of the beach and surrounding area by our Public Works Department
has been put on hold.
·
Second, the guidelines for beach operation from
NYS require social distancing, face masks, and other requirements making a
facility this size impractical to operate.
·
Third, are the concerns over the public
bathhouse and the constant cleaning and sanitizing requirements.
In Allegany County let’s each do our part and work
together to overcome this COVID-19 crisis.
Let’s work to get our businesses, educational facilities, and outdoor
recreation areas back to normal as soon as possible, and let’s keep those
directly affected by COVID-19 and their families as well as our frontline
personnel in our thoughts and prayers.
