Tioga County's Tioga Investigates Natural Gas (TING) Committee is an ad-hoc working group made up of various county, agency and municipal officials, as well as other members of the community, that was formed in early 2009 to prepare for the pending gas drilling industry. For the past 15 months, TING has been working diligently on a document designed to prepare municipal officials for the public sector impacts of natural gas drilling and is now pleased to announce the availability of the Natural Gas Exploration and Development Municipal Resource Binder and associated Action Item Checklists.  These documents can be found at http://www.tiogacountyny.com/ and click on the TING logo.

This extensive Resource Binder details issues and outlines actions that municipalities can take, now and in the future, to prepare for and deal with the natural gas drilling industry and associated impacts.  The Binder covers many topics in chapter format including the Drilling Process, Communications, Land Use, Environment, Water Quality, Roads, Workforce, Public Safety, Additional Impacts and Maps.  Where appropriate, Action Item Checklists accompany an associated chapter.  These checklists sort actions in terms of timeframe ranging from Now, Pre-Application, Application, Drilling and Reclamation.  Action Items also include which entity is responsible for the action and to whom they should deliver a final product. 

Implementation of the Resource Binder will be a collaborative effort of our local municipalities, the Central Point of Contact (CPOC) and the Natural Gas Coordination Team (NGC Team) at the county level.  The Tioga County Legislature has designated the Tioga County Department of Economic Development and Planning as this CPOC.  Specifically, Doug Barton, Department Director and Elaine Jardine, County Planning Director, will be responsible to outreach to natural gas operating companies who already have a presence in Tioga County, either through exploratory vertical drilling or leaseholders on record, to establish a working relationship.  The CPOC will also coordinate efforts of Tioga County's NGC Team, which the Tioga County Legislature has officially established by resolution.  This NGC Team is made up of several county department heads who will have some type of official involvement in drilling activities from local government, as well as a municipal representative.

TING presented this Resource Binder to municipal officials within Tioga County at a meeting held last month.  TING members will now meet individually with municipal boards and officials to cover in more detail specific topics and activities they are interested in pursuing.

TING, CPOC and the NGC Team are committed to making the transition to resource-based economic development in the form of natural gas drilling as smooth as possible in Tioga County.

Please direct your questions regarding TING or the Resource Binder to Elaine Jardine at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or by phone at 607-687-8257 or visit www.tiogacountyny.com/ting or click on the TING logo on the homepage.

REAP's Neighbors Helping Neighbors Project began in 2006 with a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to start other volunteer groups based on the Community Care Network of Nichols (CCNN).  CCNN helps elderly in the their community with many needed services such as transportation to medical appointments, grocery shopping, etc.  REAP was asked by other communities in Tioga County to help set up the same kind of service in their hometowns.  The 2006 ARC grant facilitated establishment of the Northern Tioga Neighborhood Network (NTNN) in Richford and furthered the efforts of the Senior Information and Referral Service (SIRS) in Spencer. 

Most recently, Tioga County REAP has partnered with the Rural Health Coalition of South Central NY to establish Tioga County Neighbors Helping Neighbors (TC NHN).  This countywide effort is a collaboration comprised of Rural Health Network of SCNY, Tioga County Rural Economic Area Partnership (REAP), and, most importantly, three local volunteer organizations: The Community Care Network of Nichols (serving the township of Nichols), Northern Tioga Neighbors Network (serving the townships of Richford and Berkshire), and the Senior Information and Referral Service (serving the townships of Spencer and Van Etten). 

These grassroots volunteer organizations are independent and diverse in their organizational structures, size and governance.  They all provide essential services to elderly, low income and disabled residents in their communities. 

In 2010, this collaboration received a grant from the NYS Health Foundation to create a Hub & Spoke Configuration.  The hub and spoke model was conceived by Sandy McCoy Cleveland, a retired Master Prepared Nurse Practitioner, and co-founder of the Community Care Network of Nichols.  It resembles the hub and spokes of a wheel. The hub consists of the core administrative services (not currently provided) that support the independent volunteer organizations, or spokes.  The hub is comprised of a Coordinator whose focus is to support partnership activities such as; collaborative fund raising and resource development; technical assistance provided to TC NHN volunteer organizations in organizational planning and development; information and referral services; client and volunteer management; development of common data reporting criteria and standards; and development of communication tools.

In addition, it is the goal of the TC NHN project to create 2 new Networks in Tioga County, as well as enhancing and expanding the services of the existing organizations.

Tioga County REAP is accepting applications to an in-depth training program entitled, Stronger Economies Together (SET), developed by the USDA Rural Development and the nation's Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDC) to assist rural economic development through regional cooperation.  With a special interest in bio-energy business developments, land owners, agri-business owners, and community development professionals are encouraged to participate.  Participants will obtain valuable economic development skills and tools and explore business opportunities for Tioga and the broader Southern Tier in the global economy. 

Tioga REAP will be working in partnership with Tioga Dept. of Economic Development and Planning, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and the Cornell University Community and Regional Development Institute (CaRDI), to connect participants with community resources.  The SET sessions will be held at the Tioga County Office Building, 56 Main Street in Owego NY, starting September 22, 2011.  There will be nine monthly sessions of 3 hours each with plenty of opportunities for networking with innovative community and business leaders across our region.  There is no cost to attend the program, but space is limited and an application is required by Wednesday, Augustl 31, 2011.  

Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to impact the economic growth of your communities.  For additional information and to download the SET program application, visit: http://www.tiogareap.org/stronger-economies-together/index.php