ALTAMONT — Daniel McCoy is making his annual tour of municipalities in Albany County to highlight services provided in the county’s $651 million budget.

He took the mayor’s seat at the center of the village board’s table last week, teasing Mayor Kerry Dineen by saying, “You gave up your seat too easy.”

No one, on the board or in the gallery, had questions for the county executive, and his spiel had the ring of a campaign speech.

McCoy, a Democrat in a Democrat-dominated county, recalled that, when he first ran for office six years ago, “I said, ‘We have to treat county government as a business.’”

He noted that the county budgets during his tenure had stayed under the state-set levy limit and that there had been no tax hike in the last three years.

“We have a $60 million rainy-day fund,” said McCoy.

He praised the work at Lawson Lake, property owned by the county. “We’ve really turned it around,” he said. The county’s sheriff and district attorney teamed up with McCoy to refurbish the neglected 420-acre property; initial clean-up work was done largely by jail inmates and volunteers. People can now fish in the lake from wheelchairs, he said, and 11 Boy Scouts had completed Eagle projects there.

McCoy said a new initiative is to create a county recreation department, housed in Voorheesville in space formerly used by the sheriff’s office. Youth programs are offered across Albany County, McCoy said, not because the kids are expected to become professional athletes but because it helps make them good citizens. “When there’s nothing to do, they get in trouble,” he said.

At the other end of the age spectrum, McCoy said $60 million will be spent to revitalize the county nursing home, 85 percent of which will be reimbursed by the federal government. He noted that Albany County is one of 100 communities that have been identified as “Age Friendly” by the World Health Organization and AARP.

“Our senior population is growing, especially in Altamont and the Hilltowns,” he said, stating there is a need for outreach programs. He listed several programs to help elderly residents. “We owe a debt of service to our seniors,” McCoy said.

He also highlighted a $30 million project at the former Ann Lee nursing home, near the county airport, where Soldier On, a not-for-profit organization that works with the Department of Veterans Affairs and other government agencies, will house and train homeless veterans. McCoy said there are 2,000 homeless veterans in the Capital District. The 220-unit housing development will include treatment for alcohol abuse “serving their needs to get back in society,” McCoy said.

McCoy also said that Albany County is the 10th largest employer in the Capital District. He said Rockefeller College had been hired to survey workers. “We want to change the philosophy of the workforce,” he said.

“I’ve said ‘partnership’ all the time for the last six years,” said McCoy. “It’s been tough, coming out of the recession.” Nevertheless, he said, services have been improved by measures such as early intervention.

The new state law on shared services and consolidation requires McCoy to meet with the leaders of all the county’s municipalities and to submit a plan — which includes a blueprint for tax savings — to the county legislature by Aug. 1. “We’ll contract with Rockefeller College. We’ll invest $250,000,” McCoy said, calling it “another unfunded mandate.” Mary Rozak, director of communications for the county, explained later that Rockefeller College will be paid $75,000 to develop the shared-services plan, while the balance is for other anticipated costs related to time and implementation by the county.

Three public hearings must be held by Sept. 15 and the plan for shared services in the county is to be presented to residents by Oct. 15.

McCoy said consolidation will be tough. “People like their little identities, their villages,” he said.

McCoy concluded his comments in Altamont by saying, “I work for you. I really need to hear from the people.”

The score of onlookers in the gallery applauded.

Other business

In other business, the board:

— Heard from Dineen that Loyalty Day will be celebrated on May 13 at 1 p.m. at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post, where veterans who have continued to serve as politicians, firefighters, police officers, emergency medical service workers, and other first responders will be honored. She also noted that a Memorial Day ceremony will be held on May 21 in Orsini Park at 1 p.m. with a reception for the public following. No parade will be held this year; organizers of the annual event said at an earlier board meeting there was not enough support to run the parade.

The board later approved the Altamont Fire Department’s participation in the Voorheesville Memorial Day parade on May 27 and the Berne and Knox parades on May 29;

— Received a report from Altamont Fire Chief Paul Miller stating that, in April, the department responded to four false alarms, performed two pump-outs, stood by in the New Salem firehouse as those firefighters worked to put out a brush fire in Selkirk, provided mutual aid for a fire on Curry Road, and responded to one car accident at the corner of Western and Maple avenues;

— Heard from Jeffrey Moller, superintendent of Public Works, that spring flushing was complete and the “whole system is back to normal.” He noted, “It’s one of the few times we’ve made it through without breaking a pipe.”

Moller also reminded residents, “The creeks are not for dumping yard waste.” If the practice continues, he said, “We’ll have to enforce our code; people won’t like it.”

Finally, he said, his crew is picking up yard waste. Bags should not be overfilled, and brush should be securely tied in bundles no longer than four feet. “If a bag weighs 200 pounds with dirt and rocks, we’ll leave it,” he said. Also, if string on a bundle breaks, he said, “We’ll leave it where it falls”;

— Authorized Dineen to sign a renewal contract with Blue Shield of Northeastern New York and Delta Dental Insurance for village workers;

— Authorized Dineen to sign a mutual-aid agreement with the Albany County Fire Coordinator, the Albany County Fire Investigation Team, and the Albany County Sheriff to allow Katherine King, an Altamont firefighter, to be a member of the team. The agreement allows King to be covered as long as she is an active member of the Altamont department, Dineen said;

— Agreed to having Chief Miller attend the New York State Fire Chiefs conference in Verona, New York on June 16;

— Approved Steven McNiven of Altamont for membership in the Altamont Fire Department;

— Approved support for the Altamont Farmers’ Market, to be held in free space provided by the Altamont Free Library at the train station; and

— Agreed to hold a workshop on June7 at 6 p.m. in the village hall to discuss the purchase of a new fire truck; and

— Met in executive session to discuss litigation but took no action.

Clarified on May 12, 2017: Mary Rozak's explanation of how $250,000 for shared services will be spent was added.