Minutes of a meeting of the Budget Committee of the Chemung County Legislature held in the Hazlett Building, 5^th Floor, 203 Lake Street, Elmira, New York on Monday, April 1, 2024.

Members present:  Mark Margeson (Chairman), Lawana Morse, James Palmer, John Burin, Martin Chalk, William McCarthy, Rodney Strange

Officials present:  L. Thomas Sweet, Joseph Brennan, Joseph Donovan, Steven Pickering, Scott Drake, Michael Smith, Bryan Maggs 

The meeting was called to order by the Chairman of the committee, Mark Margeson.  

Mr. Chalk noted the heroic performance of a Chemung County Sheriff's Deputy who was critically injured while trying to apprehend a shoplifter at Target over the weekend.  The community needs to stand in solidarity to help the family, Mr. Chalk stated.  Mr. Drake would like the Legislature to pass a Resolution urging Governor Hochul to "do her job" and fix the problems that police officers across the state are facing due to the states "no consequences" approach to prosecuting criminals .  Attorney Maggs stated that he will put together a Resolution for consideration at the April 22, 2024 Corrections & Law Enforcement meeting.

The legislature discussed a recent audit of the Chemung County Industrial Development Agency/First Arena and a letter from the County Executive to Executive Director of the Chemung County Industrial Development Agency concerning the audit.  Mr. Sweet quoted from the letter which stated that no additional scheduled payments of ARPA funds would be released to the CCIDA for the Arena until such time as deficiencies noted in the audit are addressed.  He asked under what authority the County Executive makes these statements, noting that the IDA is an off-shoot of the governing body and the governing body is the Legislature.  Mr. Margeson noted that the CCIDA requested an audit with the idea that there would be deficiencies.  Many concerns were immediately addressed and fixed.  Mr. Margeson, the accountant , and the auditor have put together a plan to remediate the other deficiencies.  He is frustrated with the County Executive's attitude regarding the continued operation of the arena and would like to see everyone work together for the good of the community.  Mr. Margeson stated that the arena has been a challenge for twenty-four years and everyone needs to be on the same page to keep it in operation.  Even if the arena doesn't make money there is an economic benefit to the community to keeping it open (i.e. - hotels, restaurants, gas stations).  Mr. Margeson noted that the operation inside the arena has received $500 from the IDA.  The rest of the funds were used to fix/maintain infrastructure. Mr. Burin thanked Mr. Margeson for his efforts to bring the arena back which is no easy task.  He was involved with the arena since its inception, and the deal that was brokered way back then was not a good deal.  Mr. Margeson is the first one to actually bring a business plan to the table but unfortunately he inherited a lot of history and years of lack of oversight.  The arena is a facility that provides area youth with much needed activities.  Mr. Burin stated that Mr. Margeson is bringing fresh ideas and events to the community and encouraged him not to give up.  Mr. Smith noted that the arena is clean and is being well utilized, and is a real asset to the community.  Six months is not an adequate amount of time to determine success or failure.  Mr. Chalk noted that the only viable option is do whatever it takes to keep the arena operational.  He would like to see a financial report following every show that takes place at the arena.