I understand
the crucial importance of increasing broadband Internet access
in underserved rural areas, which describes a large percentage
of my constituents.
Broadband Internet access is vital for educating our young people
for the 21st century, and for making our area an attractive site
for smart growth. As the economy becomes more and more dependent
upon high-speed access, providing this service becomes as much
a part of vital infrastructure as more traditional "highways."
To develop the verifiable need in our area, I started by conducting
a survey, at my own cost, in a targeted area of the 9th District.
Response overwhelmingly highlighted the need.
Under my leadership,
we immediately formed a public / private partnership to apply
for the grant funding, and in addition, I formed an advisory committee
consisting of interested parties from across the district.
This committee
will keep me informed and will be integrally involved in the planning
for viable solutions to getting our district served with quality,
high speed access.
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The community formed by the Village of Deposit and the Towns of
Deposit and Sanford has an important need for a community center.
Groups in the area have been making do with borrowed spaces for
meetings and the like but the community has no designated area
for groups such as Scout troops, service organizations, Senior
groups, and other public meetings.
Community planners
believe that at least a portion of the maintainance costs of such
a community asset could be raised by renting the center for weddings,
banquets, reunions, and the like.
I have pledged
my support for this initiative and have worked to be a liason
between my consitutents and the Broome County administration.
I have organized several meetings at which county officials, such
as County Executive Barbara Fiala, the Broome County Economic
Development Team, and the Broome County Office for the Aging shared
their expertise and made committments of supplemental funding
to aid in this important project.
The proposed
Deposit Community Center will be of particular significance to
seniors. It will provide a base for Meals on Wheels to prepare
and distribute meals, as well as providing both meeting space,
and space for senior-targetd exercise programs. I am especially
enthusiastic about this project because I am committed to working
to increase services that improve the quality of life for seniors
in rural areas.
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Read
the 10/5/08 article on this issue at PressConnects.com.
In response to concerns within the community, I have been engaged
in discussions with Broome Transit and the current adminstration
about the viability of re-instituting a daily bus route between
the municipalities of Windsor, Deposit, and Harpursville and Binghamton.
We have had a strong show of interest from the communities and
when I made a presentation on this issue at a legislative session,
the proposal met with a favorable response from the Legislature,
the County Executive, and the Commissioner of Transporation, however,
because of the burgeoning costs of fuel and parts, the County
Transportation Budget is already deeply in the red. This new initiative
cannot be funded in 2008 but we are
working hard to at least have a trial
run to Eastern Broome in 2009. I'll
keep you posted.
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Fire Departments |
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At
present I am at work on identifying likely funding sources
to aid both the Harpursville-Colesville Fire Department
and the Oquaga Fire Department in procurement of necessary
equipment.
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