The Regular Meeting for the Town Board of the Town of Brighton, Franklin County, NY, was held Thursday, November 13, 2025, at 6:45pm at the Brighton Town Hall, 12 County Road 31, Paul Smiths, NY, with the following:

CALL TO ORDER: 

Meeting was Called to Order by Supervisor Peter Shrope at 6:45pm

The “Pledge of Allegiance” to the flag was recited.

 

ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS

PRESENT: Supervisor Peter Shrope

Council Members: Amber McKernan, C. Tracy Santagate, Steve Tucker, Lydia Wright

OTHERS PRESENT: Andy Crary-Superintendent of Highways, Elizabeth DeFonce–Town Clerk/Tax Collector, Russell DeFonce–Town Justice, Elaine Sater-Historian, 1 resident

 

NOTICE OF MEETING:

Notice of this meeting was posted on the Town Clerk’s Sign Board.

 

REPORTS

 

Highway – Superintendent of Highways Andy Crary: Upstate Doors came and fixed the overhead doors at the Town Garage, on door needs a new bottom piece, they will send an estimate – they offer an annual maintenance contract, Andy will look into it; took the 2013 truck to 5^th Wheel Diesel for a complete sander rebuild; performed plowing and sanding; went to Harrisville for sander parts; fixed the lights on the 2015 sander; the salt has all been delivered; cleaned the shop; performed road checks.

There are currently only 2 members of the Highway Department.

The Fire Department dug out the dry hydrant at the bottom of Mill Hill and would like the area to be plowed to maintain access throughout the winter.

 

Town Clerk Elizabeth DeFonce: Total Revenue to Supervisor as of October 31, 2025, was $2,475 from 8 copies of vital records, 2 dog licenses, and 7 building permits.

October 14: Attended Local Government Conference in Potsdam.

October 20: Process dog license sent from Tri-Lakes Humane Society.

October 28: Compiled spreadsheet of credit card automatic renewals and disseminated to board members.

November 3: Prepared and sent notice of Preliminary Budget Hearing to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and to board members’ mailboxes.

The Town Clerk rescinded the request for a software package due to financial concerns and dissatisfaction with the company.

TOWN HALL REQUESTS: None

TOWN PARK REQUEST: None

 

Tax Collector – Elizabeth DeFonce: Asked for permission to use the town credit card to order envelopes from the Post Office. The total would come to $971.05, including shipping. A conversation regarding the town’s credit card policy ensued. The town is trying to be cautious; however, a review of this policy may be necessary.

 

RESOLUTION#30-2025

USE OF CREDIT CARD FOR TAX COLLECTOR

Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, seconded by Lydia Wright,

 

RESOLVED that the Town Board authorizes Tax Collector Elizabeth DeFonce to use the Credit Card to purchase envelopes with postage from the US Post Office for the 2026 Tax Collection season in an amount Not to Exceed $1,000.

 

ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 5 (McKernan, Santagate, Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0

Resolution #30 declared duly adopted.

 

Historian – Elaine Sater: Still cutting our articles from the newspaper and is currently working on 2023.

 

Town Justice – Russ DeFonce: Disposed of 29 cases,. The Supervisor received a check in the amount of $2,527, $685 of which was from the previous Justice’s account.

The jury trial has been postponed. A different location may be necessary due to the lack of a chambers or place for the jury to deliberate.

The judge’s robe has been received. It arrived with a second, smaller one. The justice will contact the company and if they don’t want it returned he will contact the Franklin County Magistrate’s Association to see if anyone could use it.

 

Code Enforcement Officer – Rodger Tompkins: no report

 

Assessor – John Stack: Got some pictures from a parcel on Spitfire but there was no corresponding building permit. Since he was uncertain how to handle the situation he emailed the Code Enforcement Officer for guidance.

 

Supervisor – Peter Shrope:

ARPA: Requested use of the town credit card to repay monies but it was repeatedly rejected; only a debit card was allowed. The bookkeeper was contacted for information on how to proceed using ACH. This information was provided and the payment was successfully made.

BridgeNY: The reimbursement request from October 18 has been sent.

Deposits: Town Clerk – $2,475, Town Justice – $2,527, Mowing – $3,184.

Budget: Everything’s fine. There’s not quite $950,000 in all accounts with one month remaining in the year.

NYCLASS: For October – General Fund interest $428.89, total $128,957.29 ($20,000 for Town Hall). Highway Fund interest $163.46, total $49,145.03.

 

ACCEPT/AMEND MINUTES

October 9, 2025 – Special Board Meeting Minutes

Motion made by Amber McKernan, seconded by Lydia Wright, to accept the minutes of the October Special Board Meeting with the following change: the time in the header should be changed from 6pm to 7pm. Aye 4 (McKernan, Santagate, Shrope, Tucker), Nay 0, Abstain 1 (Wright)

 

October 9, 2025 – Regular Board Meeting Minutes

Motion made by Amber McKernan, second by Tracy Santagate, to accept the minutes of the October 9 Regular Board Meeting with the following changes: number of Audit of Vouchers Resolution should be changed from 25 to 28; minor typos in Highway Report. Aye 4 (McKernan, Santagate, Shrope, Tucker), Nay 0, Abstain 1 (Wright)

 

CITIZENS’ COMMENTS: A question about the bridge funding arose. It was explained that there is a reimbursement system in place and this latest one has taken longer than usual but it is in the works. The planning and design stage is coming to a close; the timing of the building phase is unclear. A traffic diversion will need to be installed while the work takes place.

 

Old Business:

There has been no movement so far on the Jones Pond/Local Law issue.

The issue of internet speed came up again. The Town Clerk mentioned that it has been problematic at times, including when acting in capacity as Court Clerk, but noted that the stability of the signal was more the issue. The national standard minimum speed is 35Mps; Supervisor Peter Shrope has done speed checks several times in the past few weeks and found it to be above this. Adirondack Techs has recently done an evaluation at the Town Hall and installed new equipment but the problem continues. Current internet access is free due to a deal made with Spectrum while a business account costs around $130/month. Some of this could be covered by canceling the Code Enforcement Officer’s phone as he prefers to use his cell phone. Another appointment will be made with Adirondack Techs during which the Town Clerk will express her concerns.

 

AUDIT OF VOUCHERS

 

RESOLUTION #31-2025

AUDIT OF VOUCHERS

Motion made by Amber McKernan, seconded Lydia Wright,

 

RESOLVED that the Supervisor be authorized to pay the audited vouchers as listed on the abstracts as follows:

PREPAID FUNDS: Abstract #11 for Voucher #11A through #11C for 2025 in the amount of $904.68 and Voucher #10C STREET LIGHTING FUNDS in the amount of $187.70

GENERAL FUND: Abstract #11 for Voucher #167 through #182 for 2025 funds in the amount of $9,513.37

HIGHWAY FUND: Abstract #11 for Voucher #109 through #117 for 2025 funds in the amount of $25,631.51

 

ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 5 (McKernan, Santagate, Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0

Resolution #31 declared duly adopted.

 

CITIZENS’ COMMENTS: A question arose as to whether or not the tentative budget should have been on the website. Copies were available at the Town Hall.

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

Motion to Adjourn at 7:52  made by Amber McKernan, second by Lydia Wright,

Aye 5 (McKernan, Santagate, Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Elizabeth DeFonce

Brighton Town Clerk