September 10, 2020 Regular Meeting

The Regular Meeting for the Town Board of the Town of Brighton, Franklin County, NY, was held Thursday, September 10, 2020, at 7pm 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 7:00pm
The “Pledge to the Flag” was recited

A moment of silence was held in memory of Frank Appleton who died on September 9, 2020. He was a resident who frequently attended these meetings.

ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS
PRESENT: Supervisor Peter Shrope
Council Members: Amber McKernan, Matthew Szeliga, Steve Tucker, and Lydia Wright
ABSENT: None
OTHERS PRESENT: Paul Blaine-Code Enforcement Officer, Andy Crary-Superintendent of Highways, and Elaine Sater-Town Clerk and one resident
GUESTS: None

NOTICE OF MEETING:
Notice of this meeting was posted on the Town Clerk’s Sign Board and in the local post offices.

The North Country including Franklin County is still in Phase 4 of the Reopening of New York State due to the corona virus called COVID-19. People are still asked to wear masks to cover their nose and mouth when within 6 feet of other people. A limited number of people are allowed inside the Town buildings.

REPORTS

1. Highway – Superintendent of Highways Andy Crary
a. Mowed and weed whacked the Town Hall, Garage and Cemeteries lawns
b. Painted sanding spinners
c. Painted plows and wings
e. Chipped Mill Hill Road
f. Hauled tar for Town of Tupper Lake
g. Painted old “V” plow and set it up in front of garage, will add a sign
h. Put snow flaps on plow for the new F-350 pickup truck
i. Changed knives on chipper
j. Picked up logs at park
k. Picked up flags at cemeteries
l. One employee is back to work and other employee took vacation
m. Hauled rocks for the fire station
n. Need a resolution to order salt from contract to mix with sand for winter

RESOLUTION #42-2020

PURCHASE OF ROAD SALT FOR WINTER
Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Amber McKernan,
RESOLVED that the Town Board authorizes the Superintendent of Highways to purchase 250 tons of road salt for the winter season Not to Exceed $22,000.

ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 5 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0
RESOLUTION #42-2020 declared duly adopted.

2. Town Clerk – Elaine Sater:

a. Total Revenue to Supervisor as of August 31, 2020 was $ 1,536.36 from 7 Certified Copies, 6 Dog Licenses: 4 renewed and 2 new (Tag#241 and 242), 11 Building Permits #20-026 thru 036, and 8 copies on the copier
b. TOWN HALL REQUEST: Rainbow Lake Water Protection District, Monday, August 24, 9 to 10am
c. TOWN PARK REQUEST: Received a request from the Saranac Lake Soccer Club to reserve the fields, told the requester to contact Paul Smith’s College to use the fields.
d. RECORDS MANAGEMENT: Finished indexing Minutes Vol 10 (1977-1978) and started on Vol 11 (1979-1980), on Wednesday, August 26, attended a one hour on-line session (webinar) on the new Retention and Disposition Schedule for NY Local Government Records (LGS-01 for 2020); there are some changes that will affect the Towns records such as CHIPS and FEMA information to be kept for 36 years.

3. Historian – Elaine Sater: Nothing to Report

Matthew Szeliga asked about the information from the 1977 minutes on Boot Bay Lane.

No further information was in the minutes from 1978 or 1979. Copies of the 1977 minutes references will be provided to Matthew Szeliga for further investigation and to Supervisor Peter Shrope.

4. Tax Collector – Holly Huber: Nothing to report

5. Town Justice – Nik Santagate:
Disposed of 40 cases and gave the Supervisor a check in the amount of $4,531.00 for August. Court reopened to the public during August and a Plexiglas barrier was installed at both the Justice’s and Court Clerk’s desks.

6. Code Enforcement Officer – Paul Blaine:
a. Issued eleven (11) building permits (BPs) for August (BP#s 20-0026 thru 036)
b. Issued two (2) Certificates of Occupancy for BPs #19-027 and 033
c. Expects two more houses to be build, one in Split Rock area and the other in Tansy Lane area

Matthew Szeliga asked if there was a checklist for people to follow when trying to complete a building permit.
Paul Blaine said there is a list of the inspections that are needed on the cover letter of the application. If anyone has questions they should contact his office.

7. Assessor – Roseanne Gallagher:
Organizing paperwork for the new construction on building permits, plans to get out data collecting for the end of the month

8. Supervisor Peter Shrope:
a. Census 2020: Received an email concerning the low percentage of response to the 2020 Census from residents, forwarded the email to people for circulation.
b. Community Solar/Saranac Lake Project: Need to set up direct payments from a checking account to pay the bill for Town Hall and Garage
c. Budget 2021: Requests for Tentative Budget 2021 were distributed to Town Officials; they are due back to Bookkeeper by September 20. Meeting to discuss the Tentative Budget 2021 set for October 8 at 5:30pm before the Regular monthly meeting: will bring pizza for all. Public Hearing for Preliminary Budget 2021 scheduled for October 29 at 6pm.
e. The Financial Report ending August 31, 2020, was distributed to Board members.
1.) Revenue received: $23,074.77 from Snow and Ice Contract with Franklin County, $4,531 from Town Justice, $1,536.36 from Town Clerk and $717 refund from Town Clerk’s Conference Desmond Hotel cancellation.
2.) NYCLASS interest was as follows: General $8.46 for a total of $111,125.05 and Highway $3.21 for a total of $42,349.79.

ACCEPTANCE/AMENDMENT OF MINUTES – Regular Meeting August 13, 2020

Motion made by Amber McKernan, second by Steve Tucker, to accept the Minutes of the August 13, 2020 Regular meeting, as written. Aye 4 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Abstain 1 (Szeliga).

BUSINESS

Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board – Supervisor Peter Shrope: Received a contract for 2020 dues, currently no one on Town Board is on this Board, Supervisor Peter Shrope declined an invitation to be a APLGRB member. Asked if anyone on Town Board was interested in serving; there were no volunteers.

RESOLUTION # 43-2020
ADIRONDACK PARK LOCAL GOVERNMENT REVIEW BOARD MEMBERSHIP

Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Amber McKernan,
RESOLVED that the Town Board authorizes the Supervisor to sign an agreement with the Adirondack Local Government Review Board (ALGRB) for services of the ALGRB in representing the Town of Brighton in matters relating to the Adirondack Park during 2020, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Town Board directs the Supervisor to pay the amount of $300 for 2020 to the ALGRB.

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

RESOLUTION #43-2020 declared duly adopted.

Lease for Ball Field at Park with Paul Smith’s College – Supervisor Peter Shrope:
Received a new lease agreement for the ball field at the Park from Paul Smith’s College for 5 years. Previous lease expired February 2017.

RESOLUTION #44-2020
LEASE FOR PARK FIELD WITH PAUL SMITH’S COLLEGE
Motion made by Matthew Szeliga, second by Steve Tucker
RESOLVED that the Town Board authorizes the Supervisor to sign a lease agreement with Paul Smith’s College for the ball field at the Town Park at 15 County Road 60 in Gabriels for a 5 year term with the following amendments: Page 2, first paragraph: remove references to “whereas … holding over under a lease dated February 8th, 2007, and “not been a lapse in the arrangement”, and Paragraph 2: correct spelling of “permission”, lease to start January 1, 2021.

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

RESOLUTION #44-2020 declared duly adopted.

Checklists for Building Permits – Matthew Szeliga: Would like to see the Code Enforcement Office hand out a checklist to people for inspections, such as new construction, other construction, and each stage of the building process. He will bring more information on checklists for the Board.

COMMITTEE REPORTS
Parks and Recreation – Supervisor Peter Shrope, Amber McKernan:

Amber McKernan would like to spread wild flower seeds from her yard around the park, the Board had no objection.

Website – Supervisor Peter Shrope, Amber McKernan:

New site has gone live, Amber McKernan said it was neat and clean, easy to navigate, the font in some cases is hard to read, She would like to see the Council members listed in order of their number, “Council1, council2, etc” Code Enforcement Office phone number is needed, History Page needs some typo corrections, the “Ease of Use” button on top of page needs some explanation of how to use.

CITIZENS COMMENTS: None

AUDIT OF VOUCHERS:

RESOLUTION #45-2020 – PAYMENT OF AUDITED VOUCHERS AS LISTED ON THE ABSTRACTS
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 and 9B for 2020 General Funds in the amount of $291.73 and STREET LIGHTING 2020 FUND Voucher #9B in the amount of $53.84
GENERAL FUND: Abstract #9 for Voucher #152 through #164 for 2020 funds in the amount of $7,000.11
HIGHWAY FUND: Abstract #9 for Voucher #92 through #99 for 2020 funds in the amount of $4,356.19

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

RESOLUTION #45-2020 declared duly adopted.

ADJOURNMENT

Motion to Adjourn at 8:30pm made by Amber McKernan, second by Lydia Wright, Aye 5 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga Tucker, Wright), Nay 0

Respectfully Submitted,
Elaine W. Sater, RMC
Brighton Town Clerk