It has been a busy few weeks for the Seneca County Board of Supervisors, even though their regularly scheduled session for Jan. 12 was cancelled. 

Last week at a special session, Varick Town Supervisor Robert Hayssen, a Republican, was re-elected chair of the board. The final vote was 471-272 in favor of Hayssen, who was challenged for the second year in a row by Waterloo Town Supervisor Don Trout, another Republican. Temporary Chair Mike Ferrara, the Town Supervisor from Seneca Falls, led the reorganizational meeting. 

Supervisors Mike Enslow, Ernie Brownell, Ron McGreevy, Mike Cleere, Joe Borst, as well as Trout voted against the Hayssen appointment. “I want to get a lot of things done but one more year is enough for me,” the newly-selected chair said at the meeting. He noted water and sewer issues in the southern end of Seneca County, as well as ongoing issues related to the Cayuga Nation as drivers for the legislative year.

Supervisor Trout was recognized as majority leader for the Republican caucus, while Cindy Lorenzetti was tapped to lead the Democratic caucus.

Meanwhile, it was more of the same late last week from county health officials, who pleaded with residents day-after-day to stop gathering amid the coronavirus pandemic. There were more than 52 deaths reported, along with 218 active cases of COVID-19. “Please stop the gatherings with people that you do not actually live with,” officials said. “It is simply adding to the issue when you get together and spread the virus even further.”

They noted that there have been issues with case reporting, too, as the state continued to see dramatic increases in caseload over the last two weeks since Christmas and New Years. “There have been some issues from labs reporting the cases to the health department,” officials said. “Case investigation and contact tracing is underway. Please be patient as we continue to work through the ever-increasing caseload.”

That announcement came a little less than two weeks after the Board of Supervisors debated a unifying, internal policy for county workers. The new measure ensures that employees have their temperature taken before working. It also requires those employees to confirm that they do not have symptoms of COVID-19 before starting work. It has been standard practice in most private sector environments, and was happening in certain departments, according to Chris Wagner, the County’s Human Resources Director. 

“We feel that to be consistent, everyone should follow the same protocol when reporting for work to reduce the spread of the virus,” he told the shorthanded Personnel Committee. The measure was shot down in that committee session, but brought back before the full-board for a vote under Rule 29.

“It would be embarrassing and tragic if there was an outbreak among county employees while we’re telling the public what they should be doing to protect themselves,” Supervisor Ferrara said. Meanwhile, Tyre Town Supervisor Ron McGreevy said it was too much. 

“I feel this resolution is too invasive,” he began. “It’s too restrictive and I question whether the next step will be requiring lie detector tests for employees when they come in to make sure they are telling the truth about being symptomatic or asymptomatic. I see no end to this. It’s too invasive for the employees of this county.”

Junius Town Supervisor Ernie Brownell and Supervisor Trout joined McGreevy in opposing it, but the action passed. The debate that happened just a couple weeks before the new legislative session began proved to board watchers that many of the issues that have plagued the county to date will continue to come up at future sessions. In late-November, the same group of board members opposed a more direct policy for responding to businesses that violate COVID-19 restrictions for the same reasons.