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Tuesday, April 6, 2021 - 9:28 am
BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week
CANTON – Following a split vote and a heated debate, St. Lawrence County legislators voted 8-6 to give control of the county’s Department of Social Services legal team to the county attorney.
Those in favor of the transition cited past problems at the department which included a buildup of legal paperwork that county Legislator Joseph Lightfoot said was keeping kids stuck under county care, when they should have been eligible for adoption or foster care.
Lightfoot said as many as 350 children were under custody care at one time and said that numbers could rise up to 400 this year. He also said that DSS Legal had sought help from the county attorney s office in previous situations after judges raised issues and cases began piling up.
Sunday, January 31, 2021 - 7:51 am
BY ANDY GARDNER
North Country This Week
CANTON – St. Lawrence County legislators questioned if they could clear a debt of over $800,000 that the City of Ogdensburg owes the county from unpaid property taxes 18 years ago.
The discussion took place during the legislature’s Jan. 25 Finance Committee meeting when County Treasurer Renee Cole was asking the board to approve a budget change to accommodate sales tax revenue in 2020 that was $1.8 million more than anticipated.
The budget modification passed unanimously.
Legislator Joe Lightfoot, R-Ogdensburg, said Ogdensburg City Manager Stephen Jellie “at one time mentioned that the city owed the county, I think the figure he used was over $800,000” and asked Cole to clarify how that happened.