CAZENOVIA — During the Nov. 4 Cazenovia Town Board meeting, Supervisor Kyle Reger introduced a new series promoting the diverse services offered by Madison County.

Reger, who serves on the Madison County Board of Supervisors, plans to invite a different county department head to speak at the beginning of each monthly town board meeting.

“The more work I’ve done at Madison County, [the more it has] really become quite clear just what a well-oiled machine it is and all the different agencies that do so much incredible work,” Reger said. “I feel like it’s a fault of mine that we have not publicized some of the things being done out there as much, so we are going to change that.”

The series kicked off during the November meeting with a presentation by Teisha Cook, director of community services at the Madison County Mental Health Department.

The department is headquartered on the second floor of the Veterans Memorial Building in Wampsville.

The main site has 30 full-time staff members: two psychiatric nurse practitioners, two nurses, staff social workers, administrative and support staff, and a contract medical director, who is also a child psychiatrist with a caseload of clients.

According to Cook, the department accepts walk-in intakes ages three and up, regardless of ability to pay, Monday through Thursday, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“If someone shows up on a Friday, we don’t turn people away,” Cook said. “. . . [Also,] we collect insurance information if there is insurance information, but if there is not, we won’t turn a person away.”

Appointments may be scheduled in special circumstances.

Sessions, conducted in person, via video, or by phone, are mostly individual but sometimes family or group.

According to Cook, the department had around 800 active clients at any time before the COVID-19 pandemic; today, that number is up to about 1,600.

The department currently serves 958 clients ages 18-94 and 615 clients ages 3-17. About 50 percent of clients see a medical provider for medication.

The projected number of sessions per year for 2024 is 27,118.

“When I first started, it was not uncommon to have a $500,000 deficit or a $600,000 deficit, and now we generate revenue for the county,” said Cook, who has been with the county for 17 years and directed the department for almost 12 years. “We have really looked at every aspect of the business, top to bottom.”

The mental health department has school clinics with full-time therapists in the Cazenovia, Chittenango, Hamilton, Morrisville, and Canastota school districts.

Its satellite clinic in the Department of Social Services (DSS) building has two full-time therapists whose primary job is to serve clients referred by their DSS caseworkers, and the jail is staffed with a full-time therapist who offers clinical services to inmates with mental health issues.

The county’s Pathways Peer Recovery Center in Oneida’s Northside Shopping Plaza offers a peer-based program — versus a clinical service — through which individuals get support from employees in recovery from mental health issues. The center also offers monthly movie nights, bowling, meditation, holiday dinners, and creative workshops.

Anyone in the community, not just clients, can call the county’s main number at 315-366-2327 and press “1” to speak with one of two full-time bachelor’s degree-level crisis workers.

The crisis workers can provide de-escalation, resources, and referrals, or help callers and walk-ins to start services at the clinic. They also take calls from the police and 911 and go into the community if needed.

“[Teisha] has totally flip-flopped the whole [department],” said Reger following Cook’s presentation. “Now it is one of the staples of the county and doing tremendously well.”

Reger added that he was amazed by how organized and efficient the department is and how many people its services help.

The supervisor plans to invite the director of Madison County Tourism to present at next month’s town board meeting.

For more information about the mental health department, visit madisoncounty.ny.gov/390/Mental-Health.

The 2024 Madison County Mental Health Resource Guide can be found at madisoncounty.ny.gov/420/Resource-Directory.

Town news

During its regular meeting, the board adopted the 2025 Preliminary Budget, including the special improvement district budgets as changed, altered, and revised, as the Final Budget of the Town of Cazenovia for the fiscal year beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

The board authorized the supervisor to submit a letter of support to the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council for the Village of Cazenovia’s 2024 Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI)/NY Forward Grant application.

“With the closure of Cazenovia College in 2023, this community faced an enormous challenge,” the letter states. “Local leaders acted quickly to convene community and stakeholder meetings, secure funding for market analysis and strategic planning, and begin a thoughtful process to identify future uses for the campus. Now that a path forward is becoming clear, funding for implementation could play a vital role in helping Cazenovia serve as a model as college closures continue around the state. Cazenovia has shown leadership in planning for smart growth that is consistent with community character and is poised to build upon these efforts through needed investment in housing, health care, campus repurposing, and enhanced use of commercial and community spaces. With the assistance of a DRI or NY Forward award, these interrelated initiatives will be a catalyst for growth and allow downtown Cazenovia to continue to serve as a hub for the surrounding rural communities.”

Reger was also authorized to execute a letter of support to the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor for the village’s grant proposal for improvements to the Henry Burden municipal park.

The park is off Mill Street along the historic feeder canal originally developed to maintain the water level in the Old Erie Canal system.

The proposed project involves creating interpretive signage describing the canal-related history, installing benches, and enhancing trails.

A public hearing on the draft “Town of Cazenovia Comprehensive Plan Update 2030” is scheduled for Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the town office.

Reger will hold his next monthly office hours on Sunday, Nov. 17, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the town office. Community members are invited to sit down with him and discuss any town issue.

For more information on the Town of Cazenovia, visit towncazenovia.digitaltowpath.org or call the town office at 315-655-9213.