BATH -Recognizing an individual or agency dedicated to preventing child abuse in Steuben County, and opposing the state’s proposed Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act top the county Legislature’s agenda when it meets at 10 a.m. Monday in the County Office Building, 3 E. Pulteney Square. The "Child Abuse Prevention Recognition Award" is part of the county’s month-long participation in the national Prevent Child Abuse campaign and recognizes an individual or group making special strides to put a stop to abuse or neglect in Steuben. Nominees from individuals, schools, government agencies, community organizations, private practitioners, churches, and other concerned individuals or groups are reviewed by the local Prevent Child Abuse Steuben. Legislators are expected to urge the state to hold local public hearings to learn more about the devastating impact state Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to extend collective bargaining rights to farm laborers through the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act. The proposal also includes overtime and unemployment insurance benefits. Opponents of the act, including the state Farm Bureau, charge the proposal would impose a crippling cost, statewide, of $300 million annually on farmers, already financially burdened by state regulations. In Steuben, some 20 percent of the county’s once-thriving dairy farms have been driven out of business during the past five years, legislators charge. Students enrolled in the county’s Youth in Government program will attend the legislative session Monday, followed by a luncheon with legislators. The biannual program for youth introduces them to county operations and encourages them to become active in their local government. Past participants include county legislators Scott Van Etten, R-Caton, and Aaron Mullen, R-Avoca, and county Deputy Clerk of the Legislature Amanda Chapman. Other agenda items include:
· Authorizing the Steuben County Sheriff to accept a donation of a K-9 from the Devin Snyder Memorial Fund. The fund will allow the sheriff’s department to enlist a Belgian Malinois, Twiggy, to fill a position left by the retirement of the German Shephard Devin. The memorial honors the memory of U.S. Army Sgt. Devin K. Snyder, who died June 4, 2011 as a result of a roadside bomb while she was on patrol in Laghman Province, Afghanistan.
· Authorizing the Director of Emergency Management to enter into an inter-municipal agreement between Steuben and Livingston county to improve for emergency communications in that region.
· Authorizing the Steuben County Sheriff to accept a donation of a K-9 from the Devin Snyder Memorial Fund. The fund will allow the sheriff’s department to enlist a Belgian Malinois, Twiggy, to fill a position left by the retirement of the German Shephard Devin. The memorial honors the memory of U.S. Army Sgt. Devin K. Snyder, who died June 4, 2011 as a result of a roadside bomb while she was on patrol in Laghman Province, Afghanistan.
· Authorizing the Director of Emergency Management to enter into an inter-municipal agreement between Steuben and Livingston county to improve for emergency communications in that region.