Winner, Bacalles Announce Grants For Area Local Governments

Bath, N.Y.-- State Senator George H. Winner, Jr. (R-C, Elmira) and Assemblyman Jim Bacalles (R-C, Corning)have announced that numerous local governments and school districts throughout Steuben County, along with the Penn Yan Central School District in Yates County, have been awarded records management grants from the New York State Archives.

In a joint statement, Winner and Bacalles said: "We are extremely pleased that a number of the localities and school districts that we represent will benefit from this valuable grant program to help them achieve more effective and efficient systems of records management. It's imperative for New York State to provide this local assistance to ensure that these systems keep pace with new technology, preserve valuable documents and meet all of the diverse responsibilities of records management."

The lawmakers said that the New York State Archives is awarding approximately $9.65 million in grants to hundreds of local governments, school districts and community organizations statewide this year.

Winner and Bacalles announced the following local grant recipients:

STEUBEN COUNTY

> City of Hornell, $8,144 for active records. Active records grants are provided to local governments to help improve electronic filing systems, develop disaster preparedness plans and index minutes and other records. These grants can also be used to assist local governments implement new recordkeeping technologies and redesign office operations to improve recordkeeping efficiency;

> Hornell City School District, $32,214 for inventory and planning. Inventory and planning grants are provided to assist local governments survey and inventory records, assess needs, and develop and implement plans for records management;

> Town of Avoca, $19,551 for inventory and planning;

> Town of Cohocton, $19,932 for active records, and $26,621 for inactive records. Inactive records grants are provided to help local governments develop procedures for the efficient and secure storage of inactive records that must be maintained for legal purposes;

> Town of Urbana, $13,916 for active records, and $5,906 for inactive records; and

> Town of Wheeler, $7,561 for inventory and planning.

YATES COUNTY

> Penn Yan Central School District, $4,610 for active records.

The grants are provided by the State Archives through the Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund established by the Legislature in 1989. The fund derives its revenue from a small portion of the fees paid when individuals file or record documents with county clerks.