September 8, 2022 Regular Town 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, September 8, 2022, with the following:
Pledge of Allegiance to Flag was recited

ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS
PRESENT: Supervisor Peter Shrope
Council Members: Amber McKernan, Matthew Szeliga, Steve Tucker (Left meeting at 7:10 and returned at 7:52pm), and Lydia Wright
ABSENT: None
OTHERS PRESENT: Andy Crary-Superintendent of Highways, Elaine Sater-Town Clerk, and 2 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
Put gravel on Church Pond Road; mowed park, cemeteries, garage and Town Hall, put gravel on cemetery road; cut trees on North Brook Road; fixed washout on Keeses Mills Road, cleaned culvert on Wardner Road; used brush hog on Hobart Road, fixed brush hog, put on new wheel; replaced batteries in the 2013 truck; cleaned beaver out of culverts; raked dirt roads; hauled tar for Town of Franklin; have two new workers lined up to start in September; will get sand screened during September; will order salt for winter; waiting for word to order new pickup truck.

TOWN CLERK – Elaine Sater: Total revenue to Supervisor as of August 31, 2022, was $195.00 from 4 dog licenses: 1 new (Tag#268) and 3 renewed and 2 Building Permits (BPs#22-020 and 021).
August 30 ñ Posted notices for Special Meeting on Wednesday, August 31 at 1pm, faxed notice to Adirondack Daily Enterprise
September 1 ñ Received resignation letter dated 8/27/2022 from Christopher Reed, Deputy Superintendent of Highways, effective September 9, 2022.
Office will be closed on Thursday, October 6, 2022.
TOWN HALL REQUESTS: None
TOWN PARK REQUEST: Sunday, September 11, First United Methodist Church, 11am to 3pm; Mondays and Wednesdays, during September, Saranac Lake Youth Soccer Association, 5:30 to 6:30pm
RECORDS MANAGEMENT: Finished indexing Vol 12 of Minutes (1981 thru 1984), shredding documents as per the LGS-01 Records Retention and Disposition Schedule, shredding Court Vehicle and Traffic and Encon tickets per Court Administration schedules.
FOIL Request received August 18 from Town Supervisor, emailed scanned ìpdfî of Snowmobile Ordinance from 1977.

HISTORIAN – Elaine Sater:
From 1984 Minutes
July 12 ñ Paul Smithís College asks the Board to support their request to speak to the Governor and the Office of General Services to present a plan to operate Camp Topridge before the State disposes of it. The State would retain ownership of the Camp, but the College would use it for their Resort management and Tourism programs. Boardís concern was that the property would be allowed to run down like the White Pine Camp and Campus at Gabriels property. Board would rather the property get back on the tax rolls. NYS offered the Camp Topridge property to the Town for $1.00. Board voted to reject the offer.
August to December 1984 ñ Discussions on Paul Smithís College selling off land or putting it into Conservation Easements.
December 1984: Building Permit fees were changed. Building Inspector was paid 50% of fees collected plus a salary.

Steve Tucker left the meeting for a fire call

TAX COLLECTOR – Holly Huber: Report Provided
On 8.16.22, the last two of 850 refund checks, issued to Town of Brighton property owners that had paid their 2022 Town and County taxes prior to 4.1.22, cleared the tax collection checking account.
On 9.6.22 paid out the following: Check #1078, dated 09.01.22, to Peter Shrope, in the amount of $27.91 in bank interest. Bank interest for August 2022 was $.02. The checking account balance is now $0.00 in preparation for the annual audit and the 2023 collection season.

TOWN JUSTICE – Nik Santagate: No report provided

CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER ñ Rodger Tompkins:
Two Building permits were issued, #22-20 and 21. The office is closed to in-person visits on September 7 and 14. The Code Officer is available by phone or email.

ASSESSOR/DATA COLLECTOR – Roseanne Gallagher: No Report Received

SUPERVISOR ñ Supervisor Peter Shrope:
Charter Communications: Received notices dated August 15 and September 1, concerning upcoming changes to cable channel lineups.
Received correspondence from National Grid, dated 8/16/22, concerning converting all existing failed high intensity discharge (HID) outdoor luminaries to light emitting diode (LED) technology.
Budget update as of August 31, 2022, was provided to Town Board, budget lines that are over budgeted amounts are Tax Collector (tax warrant correction), Unallocated Insurance, Cemetery (clean/repair stones), and Highway paving. CHIPS funds have been requested in the amount of $96,000.
Revenue received: $195.00 from the Town Clerk, $27.91 from Tax Collector, and $400 from cemetery plots
NYCLASS investment interest received for August as follows: $178.49 for General Fund, Balance is $111,649.32, ($20,000 for Town Hall); $68.02 for Highway Fund, Balance is $42,549.09

ACCEPT/AMEND MINUTES

Regular Board Meeting ñ August 11, 2022
Motion made by Amber McKernan, second by Lydia Wright, to accept the minutes of the Regular Board Meeting of August 11, 2022, with the following correction: Page 1 Highway Report: Date of retirement for Forrest Pennington is July 23.
Aye 4 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga, Wright), Nay 0, Absent 1 (Tucker)

Special Board Meeting ñ August 31, 2022
Motion made by Amber McKernan, second by Lydia Wright, to accept the minutes of the Special Board meeting of August 31, 2022, with the following correction: Page 1, ìMî in MEO stands for ìMachineî.
Aye 4 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga, Wright), Nay 0, Absent 1 (Tucker)

CITIZEN COMMENTS:

Tom McKernan ñ Volunteers are needed for the University Games in January 2023; people have to get a background check to participate.
Amber McKernan ñ attended a meeting via ZOOM concerning the security for athletes.

Jeremy Asmus ñ Paul Smithís College: College has signed the contract to house athletes for University Games. The Resident Halls and cafeteria will be used by the athletes. They will be bussed to where they need to be. The age range is from 17 to 25 years old. They will have their own security.
There is a reception for the new President Nicholas Hunt-Bull on Tuesday, September 13, from 4 to 7.

Steve Tucker reentered the meeting

BUSINESS

BUDGET 2023 ñ Supervisor Peter Shrope: Budget sheets for 2023 budget were distributed to department heads, submissions are due by September 20 to the Bookkeeper. Dates for tentative budget discussion are Thursday, October 14 at 5:30pm before the Regular Board Meeting and Thursday October 20 at 7pm if needed and Public Hearing for Preliminary Budget on Thursday, October 27 at 7pm.

Code Enforcement Officer Advertisement ñ Supervisor Peter Shrope: Received one application for the Code Enforcement Officer position for January from the three ads placed in the Malone Telegram, Press Republican and Adirondack Daily Enterprise. Applications were due August 26.

Building Permit Application Form ñ Supervisor Peter Shrope: The form for the Building Permit Application needs to be updated to clarify what type of projects need a Building Permit.

Motion made by Matthey Szeliga, second by Amber McKernan, to add ìSepticî and ìWellî under ìProject Typeî on the Building Permit Application form.
Aye 5 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0

Tax Collectorís Financial Records Audit ñ Supervisor Peter Shrope: Need a date from the three Board members when they can audit the Tax Collectorís Financial Records for 2022, now that there is a ìzeroî balance in her checking account. Tax Collector said she would be available in November or December. Date will set at November meeting after Budget is completed.

Credit Card Application ñ Supervisor Peter Shrope: Town Clerk has asked for a Town credit card to use for purchasing an on-line subscription for computer programs, she is not comfortable using her personal card for a recurring expense.

RESOLUTION #49-2022
CREDIT CARD APPLICATION
Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Matthew Szeliga,
RESOLVED that the Town Board authorizes the Supervisor to apply for a credit card to be attached to the General Fund checking account at Community Bank. The credit card will be locked in the Vault and a voucher will be approved by the Board before it can be used.
ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 5 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0
Resolution #49 declared duly adopted.

Town Hall Roof ñ Supervisor Peter Shrope: Andy Crary and he went up into the attic of the Town Hall to look for any damage from water leakage. There was no evidence of current leakage, no one had been up in the attic since the insulation was installed during the renovations.

COMMITTEES: No Reports

CITIZEN COMMENTS: None

AUDIT OF VOUCHERS

RESOLUTION #50-2022
AUDIT OF VOUCHERS
Motion made by Amber McKernan, second by Lydia Wright,
RESOLVED that the Supervisor be authorized to pay the audited vouchers as listed on the abstracts as follows:
PREPAID FUNDS: Abstract #9 for Voucher #s 9A through 9C for 2022 GENERAL FUND in the amount of $463.25 and Voucher #9C for 2022 STREET LIGHTING FUNDS in the amount of $73.93
GENERAL FUND: Abstract #10 for Voucher #143 through #158 for 2022 funds in the amount of $3,815.08
HIGHWAY FUND: Abstract #9 for Voucher #71 through #80 for 2022 funds in the amount of $6,018.93
ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 5 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0
RESOLUTION #50-2022 Declared Duly Adopted.

ADJOURNMENT
Motion to Adjourn at 8:20pm made by Amber McKernan, second by Lydia Wright; Aye 5 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0

Respectfully Submitted, Elaine W. Sater, Brighton Town Clerk