BATH – Recently-elected Steuben County Legislature Chairman Scott VanEtten, R-Caton brings a wealth of governmental and business experience to his new appointment. "An accountant by profession, I tend to analyze everything with respect to numbers," VanEtten said. "And given that I sat on the Administration and Finance committees all 12 years I’ve been a legislator I feel that I have an in-depth knowledge of how the county operates, and what it takes to keep us moving forward." Steuben has a number of projects moving forward in 2020, including an extensive overhaul of the County Office Building in order to accommodate the state’s new court requirements, balancing justice system reforms, and state demands with the county’s priorities of economic development and serving the needs of county residents. VanEtten recently told the board Steuben’s leaders have shown their ability to work through challenges, noting the joint efforts of the Steuben County Industrial Development Agency (SCIDA), county and state working together with Upstate Niagara to keep the cheese plant in Campbell open. He also noted the positive activity in Hornell’s rail car industry and supporting businesses. As chairman of the county Legislature, VanEtten will sit on the SCIDA board and appoint members. "Serving on the IDA Board will help me to learn their processes and take part in evaluation opportunities that might surface," he said. "From the county's perspective, we need to continue making Steuben County a business-friendly region by encouraging growth, providing incentives where possible, and supporting workforce development which is one of the big common issues all employers are going to be facing." The county’s sound fiscal health is built on a history of hard work by many legislators including newly retired legislative Chairman Joe Hauryski, R-Campbell, department heads and county managers such as Mark Alger and Jack Wheeler, according to VanEtten. "After many years of tightening belts, developing budgets with conservative estimates in both revenue and departmental expenditure lines, we have steadily grown our Fund Balance to a comfortable level," VanEtten recently told legislators. "Combine that with the fact that we have very little long-term debt that we need to service on an annual basis, and it allows us to be reactive, and address almost an unexpected issue with the comfort of knowing that when pressed, we can pay for it." In fact, Steuben benefits from the personal and professional diversity of its employees and county legislators, VanEtten said. "We all come from different backgrounds, which means we look at and analyze issues from completely different perspectives which is the best way to arrive at a common solution," he said. VanEtten said the excellent roadwork in Steuben encourages business opportunities and serves county residents. He credits the county Public Works Department’s Five-Year Road Plan for its consistent improvements while remaining flexible enough to deal with unforeseen problems caused by significant weather events, such as the severe damage to county roads 85 and 127 during a damaging thunderstorm in late September 2019. "It is critical that we continue to fund and maintain the road and bridge system based on an annually updated plan," he said. "Our residents and taxpayers are used to having their roads in top condition."
