CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

The county owns about 6,000 acres, including its landfill, parks, flood-control impoundments and the campus of Broome Community College in the Town of Dickinson, said Mark Whalen, chairman of the county legislature.

Whalen said he'd also ask legislators to consider reserving ownership of mineral rights when properties are sold at auction for nonpayment of taxes.

The county put more than 200 Chemung-owned properties out to bid for mineral rights and royalties two years ago, the finance director said.

"We were the first New York county to do a Request for Proposal (or bid) for mineral rights," Hoover said.

Legal research showed Chemung's parks could not be drilled, but property surrounding the parks could be, said Hoover, a Conklin native.

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