Planner who has tackled many projects named County Employee of the Year
Photo by Tom Rivers: Sarah Gatti, a planner in the Orleans County Department of Planning and Development, was named the county’s “Employee of the Year” today.
ALBION – The Orleans County “Employee of the Year” enjoys working with data and creating multi-layered maps to helps residents know the zoning and other characteristics of their property.
Sarah Gatti is a planner with the Orleans County Department of Planning and Department. She joined the county 2 ½ years ago and has worked on numerous projects, including the consolidation of the county’s agricultural districts into one county-wide district. That effort involved three mailers to property owners – 1,000 letters each time.
Gatti sent the letters and had categorize the results. The county-wide district has made the ag districts more efficient and much easier for farmers to manage, especially when the land in multiple districts, said Jim Bensley, director of the Planning and Development Department.
He also praised Gatti for creating “Map Orleans” – a free-, intuitive, on-line mapping tool on the county website. It allows the public to see aerial views of all parcels in the county, and see, in graphic form, information about legislative representatives, zoning districts, bus routes, garbage collection days, and lots of environmental data.
“It’s a wealth of knowledge for current and prospective residents and developers,” Bensley said in a letter, nominating Gatti for employee of the year.
She also generated a workbook for the County Emergency Management Office to help with documenting the flooding that occurred along the Lake Ontario shoreline this past spring on both private and public land.
The county’s Planning and Development Department is working on a comprehensive plan update in western Orleans County. The department has sent out surveys and is compiling that feedback. Gatti, again, has been instrumental in the effort, Bensley said.
Gatti, in her first year on the job, also created a map of local farm markets and produce stands.
Bensley praised Gatti for tackling many of the tasks “with remarkable speed and precision.”
Gatti was picked employee of the year by a committee in the Employee Assistance Program. The committee chose from employees of the month, including October 2016, Danielle Champeney (social services); November, John Rich (public health); December, Julie Papalia and Jennifer Hazel (social services).
January 2017, Connie Ferris (public health); February, Scott Dugan; March, Sarah Gatti (planning); April, IMA employees in social services, Mary Barnard, Marilea Greean, Julianne McGrath, Julie Papalia, Christine Pask, Angel Slick, Jennifer Szalay and Lisa Thrash; May, N/A; June, Amberlyn Robinson and Liz Milazzo (social services); July, Patricia Eick (emergency management); August, Elizabeth Liebert (mental health); and September, Rose Michaels.
Provided photo: Sarah Gatti, center, is congratulated on her award by, from left: County Legislator Ken DeRoller, Legislator Lynne Johnson, Personnel Director Jack Welch and Legislature Chairman John DeFilipps.
