ГлавнаяMy WebLinkО нас1989-03 COUNTY CORRIDORS :.:. .::::... .. :.::... . . ...:..........:.....:.:::.:.::.:::.::......:..:........ . . .. .. ......:.:.::.....::::.:.:„...:...:....:.....:.....„...„...:...........:...:....:„...:::.:„..::.:.:.::::,:...„.„:„.:.:.:...„.,:.:::.::„.:.:.:...:...:.....„....:.....„..:.:.........:.::...„.:.... . :...::::.:::::.:::.:.:..........„:„„,:::::........„:„.:::„........:........„.:...„.....:.„ A Newsletter For Employees and Retirees of Tompkins County Vol.ll,No.l March 1989 Right To Know Education , ' No Fraud Allowed Program by Mary Pat Dolan Learn More About Hazards In Your workplace Commissioner of Social Services by J.David Ferris ' me.. A mechanism to detect and deal with per- Central Risk Management 1 .: #� sons who may be trying to cheat the system # is an important component in service ' delivery to the many people who are very All employees of the County will soon t.�. much in need. According to Ted Merritt, ` :r:. begin an education program under Senior Investigator for the Fraud Investiga- provisions of NY Labor Law Sec.28,corn- tion/Security Unit for the Department of So- , monly referred to as the "Right To Know 4 cial Services, the formula for a good inves- Law". The training will start with depart- 4 tigator is one part blarney, two parts com- ment heads,then supervisory personnel and . mon sense and three parts police work and eventually all employees. The training will '..,� investigative experience. be conducted by department in most cases, Each month the department's three In- except where it may be practical to combine vestigators,Ted Merritt,Louis Loiselle,and more than one department.All training will - / Gerry Tucker, supported by Typist Denise be during normal working hours.Some su- / Green, investigate approximately 60 new pervisors and employees will receive more referrals.These may be received from staff extensive training than others due to the na- within the agency or as calls or letters from ture of the toxic substances in their work the public. Of those, about 10% appear to place, have some element of fraud.These cases re- The Board of Representatives has al- I quire extensive follow—up and investiga- ready formally adopted the intent of the tion and the response of the department to program and a County wide survey of chemi- the situation can vary,depending on the cir- cal and toxic substances has been corn- cumstances and the violation. Some cases pleted. are referred to the District Attorney's Office The purpose of the employee education for prosecution while in some,the individual program is to educate and inform all Coun- agrees to repay the benefits which were ty employees about any exposure they may Ted Merritt is seen here holding checks for fraudulently received. have in their workplace to hazardous During 1988,35 cases were referred for materials listed by the Occupational Safety $35,000+. The checks, repayments of prosecution and convictions,or confessions Health Act. Currently, there are some fraudulently received assistance, are the were obtained in 21 of the cases. The unit 40,000 listed substances. direct result of the work of the Fraud Inves- also handles cases where other types of er- The result of the education and training tigation Unit. rors such as agency or client unintentional program should accomplish two things. errors result in an overpayment of assis- Employees will be able to make informed tance.These cause the client's budget to be decisions about exposure to any toxic sub- calculated incorrectly, but do not involve stances in their work place.They will also be `• t • ' fraud. able to observe symptoms of toxicity and un- \���,1/ The Fraud Unit collected $63,309.65 in derstand the relationship between exposure 1988 from all sources. and symptoms and consider the need for / ' Ted and his staff look at their job as work- corrective action. Upon completion of the / a ing for the taxpayers and making sure that education program all departments will this complicated and costly system is as have appropriate posting notices, proper ` D r } "honest as possible". labelling and on—site Material Safety Data V l I Sheets on any toxic substances in the depart- What's Irish and stays oudoors ment work areas. Since this education program involves all summer? every County employee,it has to be one of its success. The result will be greater the most extensive training programs on the protection for all employees and their part of the County in several years. Your families against job—related health risks. answer on page 3 cooperation in this program is essential to PUBLIC WORKS...NOT JUST A IN THE KNOW FANCY NAME FOR THE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT Department of Weights&Measures sented as seasoned, the length of time and by Cheryl Nelson,Public Works the manner of seasoning must be specified. Administrator Do you buy wood for fuel? Do you ever Wood may be sold by weight if the quantity There still seems to be some confusion in wonder if you're getting what you paid for? exceeds two cords. Packaged wood for fuel people's minds over the difference between If the answer is yes to one or both of these containing less than four cubic feet shall be the"Highway Department"and the"Public questions,the following information should sold by volume. Processed wood, such as Works Department".If it were 1980 or ear- be of interest to you. wood chips,hogged bark,slabs and edgings, lier, you wouldn't be able to have noticed Wood for fuel refers to kindling, logs, pelletized wood and shavings, may be sold much of a difference.However,things have boards,timbers or other wood, split or not by weight or volume.Whole logs may be sold changed since then! split, and similar products advertised, of- by weight, by log scale, by length and William Mobbs is the Commissioner of fered for sale or sold in a form or size diameter,or by the volume of the truck bed, Public Works. Under his direction are the suitable for use as fuel. plus count. A single artificial compressed five divisions of the Public Works Depart- Cord means the amount of wood which is fireplace log shall be sold by weight, and ment.Each division has a"Division Head" contained in a space of 128 cubic feet;four packages of such individual logs containing that is responsible for the daily operation of feet in height, eight feet in width and four less than four cubic feet(1/32 of a cord)may that division.The divisions are: 1.Airport- feet in depth,when the wood is ranked and be sold by net weight,plus count. Robert Nicholas,Airport Manager 2.Build- well stowed (the placing of pieces of wood When you purchase unpackaged wood ing & Grounds - Donn Williams, General in a row,with individual pieces touching and for fuel,the law requires that a delivery tick- Building Supervisor 3.Engineering-James parallel to each other,and stacked in a corn- et, sales invoice or receipt be presented to Kazda,Sr.Civil Engineer 4.Highway-Ward pact manner).Face cord means the front of you by the seller, and must contain the fol- Hungerford, County Highway Manager 5. a standard cord(4 ft.by 8 ft.)with the depth lowing information: the name and address Solid Waste - Barbara Eckstrom, Solid being defined by the length of the cut wood of the seller;the date of the sale;the quan- Waste Manager. expressed in inches (a measurement other tity or dimension of the wood sold;and the The latest employee count was 102 for the than the standard 4 ft.). One—half cord price of the quantity sold. entire Public Works Department. means the front of a standard cord with a The above is a condensed version of Sec- The two newest Division Heads are depth of 24 inches. lion 221.13,Circular 905 as put forth by the Robert Nicholas and Ward Hungerford. Whenever wood for fuel is advertised,of- State of New York Department of Agricul- Mr.Nicholas replaced John Joubert as Air- fered for sale, or sold at retail, the three ture and Markets, Bureau of Weights and port Manager upon John's retirement in dimensions of the wood shall be stated in Measures.If you have any further questions January.Ward Hungerford has, within the feet and inches and may be accompanied by regarding the sale of wood for fuel, please last month, filled the County Highway the appropriate descriptive word(cord,face contact the County Director of Weights and Manager position that was created in the cord, truckload, etc.). If wood is repre- Measures. 1989 budget.He served as General Highway Supervisor for several years prior. y, _ - The Buildings and Grounds Division ' ; relocated to the Biggs"A"Building during .< the first week of January.Before that,their • administrative offices were located on Bostwick Road in the Highway facility. y, 4 WS 11.1,111 Highway, Engineering, Solid Waste and i*_ i Commissioner Mobbs'office are all still lo- cated at the Bostwick Road facility. So,I hope this little rendition has helped any of you that have been under the assump- tion that "Public Works" was just a fancy • , name for the"Highway". Unclassifieds $t � FOR SALE 12 x 65 Mobile Home, 2 bedrooms. Located in small Dryden Park. $ 5000. neg. Call --, evenings-844-8953 On March 9,a Credit Union meeting was held to elect three new members to the Board of Directors. FOR SALE: 1984 S-10 Pick-up, fiberglass cap, The new members are,from left: Dave Burbank,the new President of the Board of Directors,currently tahe package,includes many extras.$4000.neg. employed with the Ithaca City Fire Dept.; Betty Rochelle,employed with the Ithaca Housing Authority; Call evenings-844-8953 and Bill Corbin,emloyed with Tompkins Community Hospital. FOR SALE: 1966 Harley-Davidson Police Trike, Photo by Bill Chaos complete/needs work. $1200. or B.O. Call Paul. 272-5288 C.U.S.C.O.- Custom Upholstery Services.We're Save September 24, 1989 For available for all your uphostery needs. Call Bill at 273-2993 FOR SALE: Large solid oak teachers desk-$50 The County Picnic! neg.273-2757 leave message. 1982 TOYOTA COROLLA HATCHBACK,silver,5- speed,62,000 mi.,NC,AM/FM cass.,factory sun- ' ' roof(2 tops),•$2300 or BO.Call 546-8476 after 5:00 Employee of the Month' <::::> :>:>:: ><:: ::::;:; :::::i :::::> ... She Keeps the Health mogiimpp; law!, - Department "Healthy"! by Brenda Vasalotti $ 1 Twenty two years ago, on February 13, 1967,Peggy Kopsa began her first job work- ing for Tompkins County at Tompkins - County Hospital as a Clerk/Typist. Her "� salary was less than$2 per hour,and did not 4110.00-11 a include working on a computer,managing a greater than $2.2 million budget, keeping track of 71 staff, and the necessary paper 1989 PLAN A MONTH a 19444 mill that keeps the Tompkins County Health 4 -- Department operating. - During the past 16 years at the Tompkins County Health Department, Peggy has "';, d oriented and worked with four Commis- sioners/Directors and five administrators. When Peggy first arrived there was a staff of �' -` 15 nurses, 9 clerical and 9 environmental ,,, - :_' health personnel.Today,Peggy has oriented Peggy Kopsa,Employee of the Month. and processed all but one of the 71 Peggy has worked for the Tompkins County Health Department,for the last 16 years! employees of the Health Department cur- rently on staff. Photo by Bill Chapp One of the first friendly faces all employees meet will be Peggy Kopsa's, she signs up each employee for payroll, retire- Milestones ment, health insurance, and other various fringe benefits.Her knowledge and ability to ONLY SEMI—RETIRED work with a variety of people makes the orientation process run smoothly and effi- ciently. She willingly answers questions to On February 28, 1989, the Division of .s.' the best of her ability and if necessary,con- . Buildings and Grounds held a retirement • tacts the appropriate department for addi- lunch for Theodore Bliven,better known as tional information. "Ted". After 15 years with the custodial -4 In addition to her personnel respon- staff,Ted says,"Enough is enough",and on to something different; part—time work to sibilities, Peggy monitors our greater than $2.2 million budget.The needs of the corn- keep busy and productive. munity have generated such programs as Ted joined Tompkins county in 1974 and ! WIC,CASA,EISEP,IHAP,PERS and the has worked in all county owned buildings at ii . . . Healthy Heart Program.While the Depart- one time or another.He was stationed at the -. ment has expanded in programs and person Courthouse Complex for 14 years and the 11111* Mr nel (41 to 71 employees since 1985),Peggy Biggs complex Building A for 1 year. has the sole responsibility and command of Before coming to the County, Ted was all the accounts receivable and payable. In employed at Cornell for 10 years.A Korean I War veteran,Ted served 2 years in the 729th the past two years Peggy has taught herself fit` . _ ,_.`i i i a great deal about computers and now uses Transportation Corps Railway Operating x Battalion and 5 years in Reserves in the ' " Displaywrite,LOTUS,and DBase III corn- It~ petently, and offers to teach other 369th Field Artillery Battalion. 1I employees how to use the different software. Only semi—retired, Ted still feels he'll 4 Peggy is responsible for seeing that the State have more time now with his wife, Lucille, Aid claims are made for the various son Ronald, and his 3 grandchildren. He . programs funded by the State,as well as the also plans on being more active in church ac • regular Health Department claims,and that tivities. He is a certified Lay Speaker with these claims are filed in a timely fashion. the Methodist Church in Mecklenburg. ' Peggy is always willing to go that extra Whatever he decides to do, we want to BgY Y 8 g After 15 years of working for Tompkins mile when you need her.She is most general- wish Ted and Lucille happy retirement,and County Buildings and Grounds,Ted ly found at her desk during lunch reading a the best of luck in their new endeavors. Bliven has decided to retire. mystery novel and doesn't mind the usual in- terruptions such as distribution of pay answer from page 1 continued on page 4 PATIO FURNITURE This paper is recyclable • r f FREE UNCLASSIFIEDS TRAVELING AND Classified ads up to 25 words in length are free to County employees,retirees and their im- LEARNING FOR OLDER mediate families.Ads may be for any purpose except no personal ads will be accepted. No ADULTS 1 County addresses or telephone numbers may be listed in the ads.Use this coupon to send your ad to Corridors c/o Central Services. by Marilyn Strassberg Two special low—cost academic programs are being offered to older adults this coming summer at over 1,000 different colleges and universities both in the U.S. t and overseas. » continued from page 3 The Northeastern Senior Seminar, now checks,purchasing a stamp,and other"urgent"matters. in its thirteenth year, provides a series of i Peggy also enjoys knitting,popcorn and chocolate milk shakes.On the lighter side,Peggy week—long stimulating programs for per- enjoys a good joke,has cartoons on her office door,and when things go amuck,she truly sons aged 55 years and older at your choice believes there are gremlins out there sabotaging every effort to get ahead or catch up. of four colleges--Bard, Ithaca, Marist or Knowing this in advance she is a trouble shooter whose primary goal is to eradicate Skidmore.Your week could include courses "Murhpy's Law"in Tompkins County,or at least in her office. in the Humanities,Sciences and Fine Arts. Life at the Health Department would not be the same if it weren't for Peggy.She manages In just one day, you could learn how the to keep us all on target each day of the year,and is really the"glue"that holds the depart- brain functions, as well as the innovations ment together.It is her cheerful smile that really makes each day worth it.Our hats off to that the French brought to moviemaking in you Peggy!Thanks for all the terrific things that you do to make our life easier, the early sixties! Each college designs its own educational and recreational FREE INCOME TAX programs,giving you a chance to participate VACANCIES ASS I STANCE in diverse summer experiences.For more in- formation, please call the Office for the Asst.Director of Budget&Administration:Mental Aging at 274-5450 fora catalog. Health: MG D SENIOR CITIZENS/LOW INCOME An Elderhostel Catalog is also available Case Aide:Mental Health;LG 4 HANDICAPPED/HOME BOUND in COFA's office in the Court House.Elder- Community Mental Health Nurse: Health Dept; hostel is a similar educational program,one LG 12 ASSISTANCE PROVIDED BY RSVP specifically created for individuals 60 years Disabilities Counselor: Health Dept.;LG 6 VOLUNTEERS of ion an age or older. A companion 50 years old Garage Attendant: Public Works; LG 9 (sponsored by the IRS Tax Counseling for g p y Library Clerk: Library; LG 4 or older may accompany a participant who the Elderly Program) kept low. The is at least 60. The costs are ke Medical Social Worker: Health Dept.; LG 11 P Page: Library;Grade 1 NOW THROUGH APRIL 17, 1989 typical charge for a 6—night program in the Psychiatrist: Mental Health;Grade H U.S.is$235 and in Canada$255.The costs Public Health Nurse:Two openings in the Health include registration costs,six nights accom- Dept; LG 12 MONDAY — VETERANS OF modations,all meals,five days of classes and Registered Professional Nurse: Health Dept; PT FOREIGN WARS positions(20%and 50%time);DSS(50%time).LG 423 W.State St. a variety of extra—curricular activities. Elderhostel courses are in the Liberal 11 9:30 a.m.to 12:30 p.m. Arts and Sciences.They are not for credit, Typist: Mental Health, Dss, Budget & Finance and there are neither exams, grades nor (25%time),LG 4 THURSDAY — VETERANS OF Typist: District Attorney Office; Lansing Middle FOREIGN WARS homework! No particular previous School; LG 4 knowledge or study is presupposed! Some 423 W.State St. Public Works Drafting Technician: HWY; LG 9 participants P ants have Ph.D's while others have Automotive Mechanic: HWY; LG 12 12:30 p.m.to 5:30 p.m. never graduated from high school.All that Youth Service Specialist: (50% time) Youth FRIDAY — SENIOR CITIZENS' is needed is a lifetime of experience and an Bureau; LG 10 inquiring mind to enjoy the Elderhostel Public Health Administrator: Health,MG D CENTER program of your choice either in the U.S.or Clinic Supervisor: Mental Health; LG 17 213 S.Geneva St. in over 40 countries abroad! WIC Program Director:Health,LG 13 9:30 a.m.to 12:30 p.m. Building Maintenance/Plumber Steamfitter: COUNIV CONRIOORS Public Works,LG 11 Art)cl.s and opinion 04'`"►or C°'"y Corrldo"an seNcted by SATURDAY — TOMPKINS COUNTY the voi„n1 .da«i.I boarid based an m.ir trrt .t to Tompldrs Stenographer:LG 5 PUBLIC LIBRARY cor,nty employees nd retirees.Material Is solicited from current empi°yeas,retiree*and other. Grounds Supervisor:TC3,LG J 312 N.Cayuga St. ccurryca+iaoirtr published byCowii C«u > .e using General Highway Supervisor: Highway 10:00 a.m.to 2:00 p.m. tr N saoertd y and listroot and di. MI IIW for pub lrrk selected by the editorial board which mei*,it*VII Wild.sly submissions.The«sawn!board Is 4. FOR LOCATIONS OUTSIDE OF mites-up atKar.nNrty�Cennttte« y,B4iiQe� }st+It ITHACA,VISITS TO THE r'""� 'r" i4 itin � n' scat HIPAIllik4 . ...�� '�� HOMEBOUND minter) It i gs �� stn�ab�9tpnu to[iMl�rtjiTJt+dyrTy►Nx�velgnnaR�.�m.tq, J CALL 277-4545-RSVP and trim warnert9aadWaste). '" _ Sponsored by Retired Senior Volunteer New ""centre`,, rs"'r°"a''c°""h'inter-office mall: Program of Tompkins County or.+.us Mail to: Newsletter C/0 Purchasing&C.ntrai services Spring is finally here!! Biggs Center Bldg A 301 Hank B.Dates Dr. nhaca,N.Y.11850