The Tioga County Mental Hygiene Satellite Clinic in Waverly held their ribbon cutting today, a million dollar project which has been in the works for a decade.

The facility fulfills an essential need for the community after the previous facility closed a year ago.

The current facility takes up a previously abandoned wing in the Waverly Municipal Building.

Dennis Mullen, Tioga County Legislator for the Waverly Barton District, says the project could not have happened without the previous mayor, Patrick Ayres.

"When the American Recovery Act was passed, the village, as the mayor said, they spent $1 million stabilizing this wing of the building.  And after that was done, Pat took it upon himself to come to the county and say, you've got to take a look at this, And we were able to negotiate, as the mayor said, a 15 year lease with the village," Mullen said.

With single person and group therapy rooms, the legislature hopes the facility will be a close-by resource for Western Tioga County.

Village of Waverly Mayor Andrew Aronstam hopes the project leads to more joint ventures between the Village and the County.

"We have state of the art, state of the art facility that offers much needed services to tell the county residents. Number one goal from day one, the repurposing of a dilapidated, nonfunctional village property.  That was all predicated on Pat's intense work and intense belief in mental health services," Aronstam said.