October 10, 2022 Regular Town Meeting (Draft)

CALL TO ORDER
Meeting was called to order at 6:35pm by Supervisor Peter Shrope at the Brighton Town Hall, 12 County Road 31 (aka Jones Pond Road), Paul Smiths, New York, on Thursday, October 20, 2022, following the Special Meeting held at 5:30pm with the following:
Pledge of Allegiance to Flag was recited

ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS
PRESENT: Supervisor Peter Shrope
Council Members: Amber McKernan and Steve Tucker
ABSENT: Council Members Matthew Szeliga and Lydia Wright
OTHERS PRESENT: Andy Crary-Superintendent of Highways, Roseann Gallagher-Assessor, Holly Huber-Tax Collector, Elaine Sater-Town Clerk, and 4 residents
GUESTS: Assistant Fire Chief Ben Tucker

NOTICE OF MEETING:
Notice of this meeting was posted on the Town Clerk’s Sign Board on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, written notice was provided to Town Board members, and the Adirondack Daily Enterprise was notified by fax. There was no quorum for the Special or Regular Board Meeting of October 13, 2022

REPORTS
HIGHWAY – Superintendent of Highways Andy Crary
Got the 2015 and 2021 plow trucks ready for winter; checked the roads; had to mess with beaver dams; went to Harrisville for plow parts; worked on the heater on the F350 pickup truck; salt order came in, pushed it back into the salt shed; sand has been screened; placed an ad in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise for a new worker, received one application, hired an old employee back, will be fully staffed as of Monday October 24, 2022.

TOWN CLERK – Elaine Sater: Total revenue to Supervisor as of September 30, 2022, was $219.57 from 1 Marriage License #2-2022 and 11 certified copies; 7 dog licenses renewed; 3 copies on the copier and one copy of a tape recording
September 10 – Took Oath of Office from Steve Tucker, Deputy Superintendent of Highways to finish term
October 4 – Posted notices for Special Meetings on Thursday, October 6 at 5pm and Thursday, October 13, 2022, at 5:30pm, faxed notice to Adirondack Daily Enterprise for October 6 meeting.
October 6- Published notice in Adirondack Daily Enterprise for October 13 Special Meeting and Regular Board Meeting.
TOWN HALL REQUESTS: Brighton Ladies of the Evening, changing their time from Monday evening to afternoon, 12 noon to 2pm
TOWN PARK REQUEST: Sunday, September 18, Hutchins Family, 1:30 to 3pm
RECORDS MANAGEMENT: Started indexing Vol 13 of Minutes (1985 thru 1986), completed shredding documents from 2015 including Court Vehicle and Traffic and NYS Depart of Encon tickets.
FOIL Requests: Received two Freedom of Information requests:
September 15: Request for tape of July 2022 Board Meeting and letter sent to Charles Vahsen from Town Supervisor. Copied tape and 3 pages of letter. Items were picked up on September 20, 2022
September 27: Request by email for copy of Town’s Annual 2022 Budget. Emailed “PDF” file of 2022 Budget on September 27. (It appears that only the Preliminary 2022 Budget is on the website.)

HISTORIAN – Elaine Sater: Nothing to report

TAX COLLECTOR – Holly Huber: Checking account is at $0, ready for audit; introduced her newly appointed deputy, Elizabeth DeFonce. Discussed resigning and having the Board appoint a new Tax Collector; decided to wait until the audit is completed.

TOWN JUSTICE – Nik Santagate: Supervisor Peter Shrope said he received a check for $550 and the Justice disposed of 4 cases during September.

CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER – Rodger Tompkins:
Provided a statement showing two Building Permits (BP) issued during August (BPs #22-20 and 21), two issued during September (BPs #22-22 and 27) and five issued through October 19 (BPs #22-28 through 32).

ASSESSOR/DATA COLLECTOR – Roseanne Gallagher: Will be going out one more time to collect data on properties. Will discuss the Reassessment Project under Business.

SUPERVISOR – Supervisor Peter Shrope:
Received information on the Fiscal Stress level for the Town from 2021, Stress Level is “No designation” (16.7 points out of 100.)
Charter Communications: Received notices dated September 14, 23, and 30, concerning upcoming changes to cable channel lineups.
Budget update as of September 30, 2022, was provided to Town Board, budget lines that are over budgeted will be adjusted at the end of the year.
Revenue received: $1,596 and $550 from the Town Justice; $219.57 from the Town Clerk, and $800 from cemetery plots
NYCLASS investment interest received for September as follows: $209.87 for General Fund, Balance is $111,859.19, ($20,000 for Town Hall); $80.00 for Highway Fund, Balance is $42,629.09
October 5-went out with boat on Spitfire Lake with Assessor Roseanne Gallagher for 6 hours to collect data on properties
Changed the lock assembly on the front door so the Code Enforcement Officer could use the elevator and get into the Town Hall
Received a letter from Franklin County Attorney, dated September 22, 2022, Re: Request for Reimbursement, the County is not going to reimburse the Town for the costs associated with correcting the tax bills for 2022.
Received an invitation to dinner at the Saranac Lake Adult Center for Local Officials on September 21, 2022.
Fire Department – Ben Tucker, Assistant Fire Chief: Requested the Board consider changing the “Local Law #1 for the Year 2009″ Prevention of Avoidable Alarms”. He provided the 2020 NY State Fire Code’s definition of “nuisance alarm” to replace “avoidable alarm”: (An alarm caused by mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation or lack of proper maintenance, or an alarm activated by a cause that cannot be determined.) Supervisor Shrope will send the change request to the Attorney for review.

ACCEPT/AMEND MINUTES
Regular Board Meeting –  September 8, 2022
Motion made by Amber McKernan, second by Steve Tucker, to accept the minutes of the Regular Board Meeting of September 8, 2022, with the following correction: Page 3, Business, Budget 2023, change “October 14” to “October 13”. Aye 3 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker), Nay 0, Absent 2 (Szeliga, Wright)

Special Board Meeting – October 6, 2022
Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Amber McKernan, to accept the minutes of the Special Board meeting of October 6, 2022, as written. Aye 2 (McKernan, Shrope), Nay 0, Abstain 1 (Tucker), Absent 2 (Szeliga Wright)

CITIZEN COMMENTS: None

BUSINESS
Credit Card Use Policy – Supervisor Peter Shrope: Provided a draft policy for the Board to review.
RESOLUTION #52-2022
CREDIT CARD USE POLICY
Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Steve Tucker,
RESOLVED that the following policy for the use of the credit card is hereby approved by the Town Board:
The Town Supervisor, with Town Board approval, may enter into a contract with any banking institution the Town has accounts with who are authorized to issue credit cards in the State of New York, in order to obtain a credit card, which may be used to make authorized purchases of goods or services.
All purchases made pursuant to this policy shall comply with the Procurement Policy adopted by the Town Board. When applicable, purchases must be made in accordance with the Town purchase policies and any other applicable policies adopted by the Town.
Only Town employees who have authorization to sign the Department approval line on the Town voucher may use the credit card.
Use of the Town credit card must be pre-approved for a specific product, vendor, and estimated amount, by the Town Board prior to use. The credit card may not be used for personal services or cash back purchases.
The Town prefers the use of our current system of authorizing vouchers, getting Town Board approval, writing, signing, and sending out checks; therefore, the Town credit card shall be used only for purchases where there is not other reasonable or convenient form of payment due to: Timing of purchase, Vendor location, Policies of the vendor, or where the Town makes periodic payments as a subscriber for services.
The Town will maintain one general purpose commercial credit card account.
Receipts from a credit card purchase shall be attached to a voucher by the purchaser and submitted for payment to the credit card issuing company prior to the next Town Board meeting after the receipt has been received. This will be included in the list of Audited Vouchers and approved by the Town Board.
Any used will reimburse the Town for fraudulent purchases. The Town will use payroll deduction for the unauthorized or fraudulent amount charged if the user does not reimburse the Town within the billing period of the purchase.
The Town Clerk will keep the credit card securely locked up in the Town Hall “Fire King” file cabinet and release it to an individual when requested and after approval. After each use, the credit card must be immediately returned to the “Fire King” file cabinet.
If the credit card has been lost or stolen, it must be reported to the Supervisor immediately. Misuse of the credit card will result in the inability to use it for 6 months.
ROLL CAL VOTE: Aye 3 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker), Nay 0, Absent 2 (Szeliga, Wright)
Resolution #52-2022 declared duly adopted.

Tax Collector’s Financial Records Audit – Supervisor Peter Shrope: Setting date deferred due to absence of people who must perform the audit.

Reassessment of Town Real Property Project – Supervisor Peter Shrope: Roseanne Gallagher created a “Request for Proposal” (RFP) dated July 22, 2022, for a Real Property Reassessment Project to take place during 2023 and 2024. She sent out the RFP to several companies who do this type of work and received three quotes back by the deadline of September 20, 2022, so they could be considered for the Annual 2023 Budget. The Board will interview the candidates with the Assessor to determine which company will do the Reassessment.

Credit Card Use – Supervisor Peter Shrope: The Code Enforcement Officer’s computer needs more memory (RAM) and the company is an on-line company that takes credit cards for payment.
RESOLUTION #53-2022
USE OF CREDIT CARD FOR EXTRA MEMORY FOR CEO COMPUTER
Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Steve Tucker,
RESOLVED that Supervisor Peter Shrope is authorized to use the credit card to purchase 16 gigabytes of memory (RAM) for the Code Enforcement Office’s computer from “the Computer Memory Co.”, for approximately $300.
ROLL CAL VOTE: Aye 3 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker), Nay 0, Absent 2 (Szeliga, Wright)
Resolution #53-2022 declared duly adopted.

COMMITTEES:
Adirondack Regional Airport – Amber McKernan/Tom McKernan: Attended a meeting at the airport concerning the grant funding they received. There are no matching funds required for the grant. The cafeteria is being moved to a larger space at the opposite end of the building from where it is now. The new airplane for Cape Air was on display.

Park & Recreation – Peter Shrope/Amber McKernan: The port-a-potty will be removed after November 1.

CITIZEN COMMENTS: None

AUDIT OF VOUCHERS
RESOLUTION #54-2022
AUDIT OF VOUCHERS
Motion made by Amber McKernan, second by Steve Tucker,
RESOLVED that the Supervisor be authorized to pay the audited vouchers as listed on the abstracts dated October 13, 2022, as follows:
PREPAID FUNDS: Abstract #10 for Voucher #s 10A through 10C for 2022 GENERAL FUND in the amount of $506.25. and Voucher #10C for 2022 STREET LIGHTING FUNDS in the amount of $85.54
GENERAL FUND: Abstract #11 for Voucher #159 through #179 for 2022 funds in the amount of $7,590.56
HIGHWAY FUND: Abstract #10 for Voucher #81 through #85 for 2022 funds in the amount of $13,120.26
ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 3 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker), Nay 0, Absent 2 (Szeliga, Wright)
RESOLUTION #54-2022 declared duly Adopted.

ADJOURNMENT
Motion to Adjourn at 8:45pm made by Amber McKernan, second by Supervisor Peter Shrope; Aye 3 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker), Nay 0, Absent 2 (Szeliga, Wright)

Respectfully Submitted, Elaine W. Sater, Brighton Town Clerk