Southern Tier Extension Rail Authority

A B O U T S T E R A

Mission
The purpose of the Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, and Steuben Southern Tier Extension Railroad Authority is to fulfill the intent of the NYS Legislature in creating it, which was "to preserve and enhance the system of railroads serving Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, and Steuben Counties in NYS and Warren and Erie Counties in the Commonwealth of PA, so as to insure a healthy economy for these counties". >> MORE

Board Members and Officers

CHAIRMAN, John Margeson	VICE CHAIRMAN, Joseph Eade	ASST VICE CHAIR, James Griffith

ALLEGANY COUNTY	CATTARAUGUS COUNTY	CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
John Margeson	Michael Brisky	William Daly
Karl Kruger	Terry Everetts	Jay Gould
Timothy O'Grady	Joseph Eade	Mark Wilcox

STEUBEN COUNTY	STW RP&DB	SNI (Non-voting member)
Seth Corwin	James Cooper	Vacant
James Griffin
Thomas Ryan

Board Committees

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE	AUDIT COMMITTEE	GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE
John Margeson, Chairman	James Griffin, Chairman	Joseph Eade, Chairman
Joseph Eade	Karl Kruger	Seth Corwin
James Griffith	Jay Gould	William Daly
Vacancy	Vacancy	Timothy O'Grady

Corporate Officers and Staff
Executive Director (Chief Executive Officer) and Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer
Richard Zink

Secretary and Program Manager
Tom Barnes

Contracting Officer and Records Retention Officer
Richard Zink

History
The Southern Tier Extension is a 145-mile long mainline that connects Corry, Pennsylvania to Hornell, New York. It passes through Jamestown, Falconer, Randolph, Salamanca, Olean, Cuba, Friendship, Wellsville, and Alfred Station. Once a part of the Eire Lackawanna system, the Southern Tier Extension has a rich history as a 75 mile-per-hour mainline freight and passenger line. The economy of southwestern New York State was in large part developed because of its rail system, of which the Southern Tier Extension was a primary part >> MORE

Real Estate
Real Estate issues for the Southern Tier Extension Railroad Line are administered by the Lakeville main office of the Western New York and Pennsylvania's parent company Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad: PO Box 190-B, 5769 Sweeteners Boulevard, Lakeville, NY 14480. For inquiries concerning construction permits, property leases and sales, private crossing, billboards, or other real estate, please send a letter to this address. Due to the complexity of real estate matters and the necessity to research most questions, all inquiries should be made via letter.

Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad has retained a professional property services company, RelTEK, to provide quality administration of pipeline and wire line crossing applications. Contact: RelTEK, Operations Group, 1314 Oxmead Road, Burlington, NJ 08016, (609) 387-4357, www.reltekservices.com

Policies
The following documents are in PDF format.
Audit Committee Charter
Compensation, Reimbursement and Attendance Policy
Property Disposition Guidelines
Defense and Indemnification Policy
Government Committee Charter
Investment Policy
Procurement Guidelines
Records Retention Policy
STERA Standards of Conduct Policy
Travel Policy
Whistleblower Policy

NYS ABO Resources
This information is provided by the NYS Authority Board Office:

LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF PUBLIC AUTHORITY BOARD MEMBERS
Public Authority Board Members Duties by NYS ESDC
Board Members Responsibilities under Public Authorities 2005 Accountability Act

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF PUBLIC AUTHORITY LEADERS
NYS Commission of Public Integrity
Ethics Guide for Unpaid State Officers

GOVERNANCE PRACTICES
Model Governance Principles for Public Authorities
Model Code of Ethics
Model Audit Committee Charter
Model Assessment of Internal Controls
Model Finance Committee Charter
New Board Member Orientation

PUBLIC ACCESS LAWS - NYS DOS
Open Meeting Laws
Freedom of Information Laws
Model Public Access to Records Regulation

PUBLIC AUTHORITY BOARD COMMITTEES
Resource Guide for Public Sector Audit Committees
Best Practices Checklist for Audit Committees
Model Governance Principles for NYS Public Authorities

NYS AUTHORITY BUDGET OFFICE POLICY GUIDANCE
06-01 Board Member Training, Issued 9-1-2006
06-02 Understanding Corporate Governance Policies, Issued 10-1-2006
07-01 Independence of Board Members, Issued 3-1-2007
07-02 Local Financial Disclosure, Issued 5-1-2007
07-03 Compliance Review Requirements, Issued 7-23-2007
09-01 Appropriate Use of Executive Session
10-01 Acknowledgement of Fiduciary Duty
10-02 Public Authority Mission Statement and Measurement Reports
10-03 Posting and Maintaining Reports on Public Authority Board Members
10-04 Fiduciary Duty of the Designee of a voting Ex Officio Board Member

PUBLIC AUTHORITY BUDGETING
Economic Development Handbook by Harris Beach

TAX EXEMPT BONDS
Booklet: An Elected Officials Guide to Tax Exempt Debt

Enabling Legislation (pdf)
Bylaws (pdf)
Map (pdf)