County will put nursing home plan to voters this fall

Although it has been recommended that the County sell both the old and the new nursing homes, a plan has been put into motion to have the old home be occupied.

Last Tuesday, the Wayne County Board of Supervisors authorized a proposition for November's Election ballot that would allow moving the Board of Elections out of the Village of Lyons and into the Route 31 building. The Board of Elections (BOE) currently shares space with the Wayne County Action Program (Wayne CAP) on Montezuma Street. CAP has been seeking relief from cramped quarters, but the supervisors had not found a plan they could all approve. Now, with federal regulations requiring new voting machines, the BOE will also have space and storage problems.

The proposition on the November 8 ballot will read as follows:

DO YOU APPROVE OF THE RELOCATION OF THE WAYNE COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS FROM ITS PRESENT LOCATION AT 157 MONTEZUMA STREET IN THE VILLAGE OF LYONS, COUNTY OF WAYNE, STATE OF NEW YORK, TO 7376 ROUTE 31 (THE OLD WAYNE COUNTY NURSING HOME) IN THE TOWN OF LYONS, COUNTY OF WAYNE, STATE OF NEW YORK?

The county can not move the Board of Elections from the Village of Lyons without voter approval.

Late last month, the County's Fiscal Advisory Team said that the new nursing home is currently running at a $4.5 million deficit. The Team projected that for each of the next five years, that shortfall would be an average of over $9.5 million per year. Recommending that both the old and the new nursing home be sold or leased to a private firm, the team wrote: 'Wayne County should get out of the nursing home business...'

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