July 14, 2022 Regular Town Board Meeting DRAFT

CALL TO ORDER
Meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Supervisor Peter Shrope at the Brighton Town Hall, 12 County Road 31 (aka Jones Pond Road), Paul Smiths, New York, on Thursday, July 14, 2022, with the following:
Pledge of Allegiance to Flag was recited

ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS
PRESENT: Supervisor Peter Shrope
Council Members: Matthew Szeliga and Steve Tucker
ABSENT: Council Members Amber McKernan and Lydia Wright
OTHERS PRESENT: Elaine Sater-Town Clerk and 7 residents
GUESTS: None

NOTICE OF MEETING:
Notice of this meeting was posted on the Town Clerkís Sign Board.

REPORTS

HIGHWAY – Superintendent of Highways Andy Crary: Report Provided
Mowed cemeteries, Town Hall, garage and park; raked dirt roads, changed blades and oil on mowers; fixed stove pipe on garage; cleaned culverts of beavers on Keese Mills Road; replaced spring on road rake; put gravel on shoulders on Tebbutt and Vosburgh Roads; hauled tar for Town of Franklin; helped Town of Santa Clara haul sand; fixed lawn mower; took broom off tractor to get ready for mowing roadsides; MEO employee Forrest Pennington will retire on July 22, 2022, need to publish notice for job opening for MEO or laborer in Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

TOWN CLERK – Elaine Sater: Total revenue to Supervisor as of June 30, 2022, was $170.00 from 10 Certified Copies Vital Records, 1 Park donation and 3 dog licenses renewed.
June 28 ñ Primary Election was held, 68 people voted in person,
June 30 ñ Received copy of the Final Assessment Roll for 2022 from the Assessor Roseanne Gallagher
Town Clerkís Office was closed July 5 and 7. Will be closed on Tuesday, July 26. Thursday, August 4, office will open late.
TOWN HALL REQUESTS: None
TOWN PARK REQUEST: Tuesdays and Wednesdays, July 5 to August 10, 5:30 to 8pm, and Saturday July 30, 9:30am to 12:30pm, Saranac Lake Youth Soccer Association, (insurance certificate received); Saturday, July 23, Whitcomb Family, 9:30am-3:30pm; and Sunday, July 24, First United Methodist Church, 12-3pm
RECORDS MANAGEMENT: Indexing Vol 12 of Minutes (1981 thru 1984), shredding documents as per the LGS-01 Records Retention and Disposition Schedule.
FOIL Request received July 12, 2022, by email from Angel Tormis, Steep Steel, LLC dated July 3, 2022, records concerning ownership/leases for cell towers, etc., on Town owned property and two years payment history. Sent reply of ìNo Records Exist in Townî on July 12 by email.

HISTORIAN – Elaine Sater: Nothing to report

TAX COLLECTOR – Holly Huber: Report Provided
Tracked property tax refund checks as they clear the checking account. Returned checks I received when refund mailing was mistaken for a new billing. Explained mailing to confused callers. On 7.5.22 began reaching out to refund recipients that had not yet cashed their check. I started with those for whom I already had contact info or who have phone number printed on the checks used to pay their taxes. Purpose was to ascertain whether or not they had received the mailing and, if so, request they cash the refund as soon as possible. I continue searching for contact info for those I did not have contact info (411.com, Facebook, LinkedIn, neighbors, google searches, etc.) as well as make personal visits to local residents for the same purpose. To date, of the 850 checks sent, 789 have been cashed, 43 are promised to be cashed within the next 1-2 weeks., 11 have owners for whom I could not find alternative contact info and will, therefore, receive follow up notices via USPS shortly and 8 may be lost and will need to be re-issued. The balance in my checking account is down to $15,367.76 from $195,695.71 when the checks were first mailed. Bank interest for June 2022 is $1.34.

TOWN JUSTICE – Nik Santagate: No report

CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER – Paul Blaine: Report Provided
Issued 6 building permits (BPs) (BP#22-012 thru 017) for June and 2 BPs (#22-018 and 019) for July. Issued one Certificate of Occupancy (BP#22-001). Last day to work was July 13, 2022.

ASSESSOR/DATA COLLECTOR – Roseanne Gallagher: No Report Received
Supervisor Peter Shrope said she was working on the ìRFPî for a Re-Evaluation

SUPERVISOR – Supervisor Peter Shrope:
Budget update as of June 30, 2022, was provided to Town Board
Revenue received: $170 from the Town Clerk
NYCLASS investment interest received for June as follows: $73.48 for General Fund, Balance is $111,356.69, ($20,000 for Town Hall); $27.98 for Highway Fund, Balance is $42,437.55

ACCEPT/AMEND MINUTES
Regular Board Meeting/Public Hearing for Cable Television Agreement – June 9, 2022
Motion made by Steve Tucker, second by Matthew Szeliga, to accept the minutes of the Regular Board Meeting and Public Hearing for Cable Television Agreement of June 9, 2022, as written. Aye 2 (Szeliga, Tucker), Nay 0, Abstain 1 (Shrope), Absent 2 (McKernan, Wright)

CITIZEN COMMENTS:

Council Member Matthew Szeliga brought up a letter written by Supervisor Peter Shrope to the property owner of 427 County Road 60, concerning signage on the house that people complained to the Supervisor about. He said the letter was not from the Board, just the Supervisor.

Michael Humberstone said people did not have his permission to take pictures of his children. He told the Supervisor to call off the people who were stopping and taking pictures of his house. He read information concerning his right to free speech. He was aware of the content of the letter sent to the property owner. He told the Supervisor to resign and left the meeting.

Supervisor Peter Shrope said he received several complaints from people coming to the area for the summer concerning the signage posted on the house on the property at 427 County Road 60, so he sent a letter to the property owner to see if they were aware of the issue. One of the signs has been removed from the house.

BUSINESS

Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) ñ Supervisor Peter Shrope: Paul Blaine submitted a letter of resignation effective July 13, 2022. Contacted four CEOs from neighboring Towns to see if there was any interest in the position. In the interest of getting the position filled immediately, he asked the Salary and Benefits Admin Committee member Amber McKernan to interview them with him. He has names to discuss in Executive Session.
Matthew Szeliga said he only received the resignation letter dated June 16 in his box this week. He would like to see an interim person hired first so the Town can look at more people for the position.

Motion made by Matthew Szeliga, second by Steve Tucker, to have Council Member Matthew Szeliga reach out to local Code Enforcement Officers to see if there is any interest in filling the position of Code Enforcement Officer on an interim basis. Aye 3 (Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker), Nay 0, Absent 2 (McKernan, Wright)

Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) Recognition – Supervisor Peter Shrope: Would like to recognize Paul Blaine for the 14 years he has worked for the Town.

Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Matthey Szeliga, to recognize the dedicated service Paul Blaine provided to the Town for 14 years as the Code Enforcement Officer.
Aye 3 (Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker), Nay 0, Absent 2 (McKernan, Wright)

Wild Forest Roads ñ Supervisor Peter Shrope: Distributed information to the Board for review from Adirondack Association of Towns and Villages and Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board attorney addressed to the Adirondack Park concerning the State Land Master Plan-Wild Forest Roads ñ No Material Increase Policy, dated July 11, 2022.

Town Park Ball Field ñ Supervisor Peter Shrope: Met with James Tucker of Paul Smithís College concerning the turf condition of the ball field at the Town Park. The College has a contract with Turf Management of Lake Placid to maintain their soccer field. They are willing to look at the park field. The College would like lightning and signage added to the field.

Town Hall Roof Project ñ Supervisor Peter Shrope: NY State funds were granted to the Town in 2010 to renovate the Town Hall. There is a 20-year oversite by the NY State Historic Preservation Office. He contacted the preservation architects Crawford and Stearns who did the work for the Town Hall Restoration Project for information on replacing the roof. The roof can be replaced with shingles if there is proof shingles were on it at one time. The estimate for a standing seam replacement is $100,000 plus architect fees. Repairs can be done if needed in case of an emergency. Town Clerk said there was sawdust on the steps of the Town Hall possibly
from the roof or ants.

COMMITTEES:
Cemeteries and Town Buildings ñ Amber McKernan/Steve Tucker: Repair work on stones by Pine Haven Tree Farm is competed.

CITIZEN COMMENTS:

Carolyn Rupp: Recommended the Town Board use Crawford and Stearns for the replacement of the roof on the Town Hall. She recommended Orkin for ants.

Jeremy Asmus ñ Paul Smiths College: The contract with the University Games in January 2023 has been finalized. There will be 550 athletes on the campus from January 6 to 24. There are about 270 new students signed up for the fall semester. A donor has been found to reestablish the church on the corner of State Routes 30 and 86.

AUDIT OF VOUCHERS

RESOLUTION #44-2022
AUDIT OF VOUCHERS
Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Matthew Szeliga,
RESOLVED that the Supervisor be authorized to pay the audited vouchers as listed on the abstracts as follows:
PREPAID FUNDS: Abstract #7 for Voucher #s 7A through 7C for 2022 GENERAL FUND in the amount of $459.44 and Voucher #7C for 2022 STREET LIGHTING FUNDS in the amount of $60.67
GENERAL FUND: Abstract #8 for Voucher #113 through #133 for 2022 funds in the amount of $19,622.91
HIGHWAY FUND: Abstract #7 for Voucher #55 through #61 for 2022 funds in the amount of $10,207.42
ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 3 (Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker), Nay 0, Absent 2 (McKernan, Wright)
RESOLUTION #44-2022 Declared Duly Adopted.

ADJOURNMENT
Motion to Adjourn at 8:25pm made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Matthew Szeliga; Aye 3 (Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker), Nay 0, Absent 2 (McKernan, Wright)

Respectfully Submitted, Elaine W. Sater, Brighton Town Clerk