March 14, 2024 Regular Meeting
The Regular Monthly Meeting for the Town Board of the Town of Brighton, Franklin County, NY, was held Thursday, March 14 at 7:00pm, 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 7:01pm
The “Pledge of Allegiance” to the flag was recited.
ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS
PRESENT: Supervisor Peter Shrope
Council Members: Amber McKernan, Steve Tucker, and Lydia Wright
ABSENT: Council Member C. Tracy Santagate
OTHERS PRESENT: Andy Crary-Superintendent of Highways, Elizabeth DeFonce-Town Clerk, Russell DeFonce-Town Justice, Roseanne Gallagher-Assessor, Elaine Sater-Historian, 4 citizens.
GUESTS: None
NOTICE OF MEETING:
Notice of the meeting was posted on the Town Clerk’s Sign Board.
REPORTS
Highway – Superintendent of Highways Andy Crary: Plowing and sanding on a regular basis; attended a highway meeting; performed road checks; cleaned the shop; chipped winter brush; received 2 pallets of cold patch; asked the Town Clerk to post the road closures from March 20th through April 30th in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.
Town Clerk- Elizabeth DeFonce: Total Revenue to Supervisor as of February 29, 2024, was $410.00 from 2 building permits, #s 24-001 and 24-003.
Received Oaths of Office from the Deputy Supervisor on February 13th and the Deputy Superintendent of Highways on February 27th.
Received a Dog Seizure Report from the Tri-Lakes Humane Society on February 27th. The dog has been adopted out to another town.
Responded on February 27th to a FOIL request from American Transparency for a copy of our vendor payments.
Received the Annual Financial Report from the Supervisor on February 27th. A notice was posted on the Town Clerk’s signboard and sent to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise on the same day.
Updated contact information on the Emergency Operations Plan was sent to Franklin County on March 4th. A change requested by Paul Smith’s College on March 12th was made and resent that day.
Shared highway services agreement from the Town of Duane was received and filed on March 11th.
Sent Court audit to the Unified Court System on March 12th.
TOWN HALL REQUESTS: KLW will be holding meetings with property owners on March 14-16 and 18-20 from 11AM to 7PM. Ladies of the Evening will meet on Wednesdays from 6-8PM.
TOWN PARK REQUEST: None
Tax Collector – Elizabeth DeFonce: Collections for the month of February totaled $372,368.59; $371,990.96 in taxes and $377.63 in penalties.
Bank interest totaled $11.11.
Check #2015 in the amount of $700,000 was sent to the Franklin County Treasurer’s Office on February 16th.
Historian – Elaine Sater: Shredding old records; copying articles from 2016 and 2017; indexing minutes from volume 14.
Town Justice – Russ DeFonce: 13 cases were disposed. The Supervisor was given a check of $1,236. A lot of cases for the Town of Brighton in Monroe County have been received as have cases with the appearance date of Wednesdays instead of Mondays. As required by law these cases have been dismissed.
Code Enforcement Officer – Rodger Tompkins: Issued 1 Certificate of Occupancy.
Assessor – Roseanne Gallagher: Grievance Day hours are changing from 5-9PM to 4-8PM.
Elaine Sater will take minutes for the Board of Assessment Review on June 6th.
Some of the mailings sent out by KLW have been returned. They will be left at the Town Hall.
KLW has been holding meetings.
Supervisor – Peter Shrope:
BridgeNY: Had a Zoom conference with representatives from Barton and Loguidice and the DOT to discuss the process. They are waiting for ice out to do hydraulics for the stream section. Environmental sitework is on track. There will be a temporary detour with a motion activated light; Dan Kelting will be contacted regarding a Right of Way. Reimbursement from the DOT still needs to be figured out.
Lake Stewards: The DEC now has a contract with the lake stewards at Osgood and Buck Ponds as part of a summer job program.
Deposits: The first snow/ice payment from the county has been received in the amount of $25,523.74. $1,236.00 was received from the Town Justice, $410.00 from the Town Clerk, $467.15 from the Tax Collector, and there was a refund from Carrot Top for $80.00.
NYCLASS: For February – General Fund interest $495.74, total $119,498.3 ($20,000 for Town Hall). Highway Fund interest $188.93, total $45,540.22.
Budget: in good shape.
Accept/Amend Minutes
February 8, 2024 – Regular Board
Motion made by Amber McKernan, second by Lydia Wright, to accept the minutes of the February 8, 2024, Regular Meeting as written. Aye 3 (Shrope, Tucker, Wright ), Nay 0, Abstain 1 (McKernan), Absent 1 (Santagate)
CITIZENS’ COMMENTS: Elaine noted that Main Street in Saranac Lake from the Hotel Saranac to the Town Hall will be closed during the eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024.
BUSINESS
RESOLUTION #26-2024
STANDARD WORKDAY AND REPORTING FOR ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICIALS
Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Steve Tucker,
RESOLVED that the Town of Brighton, Franklin County, NY, hereby established the following standard workdays for these titles and will report the officials to the New York State and Local Retirement based on their record of activities:
Peter Shrope, Supervisor, Term:1/1/24 to 12/31/25, Standard Workday 6 hours, Record of Activities results 5.99 days
Andy Crary, Superintendent of Highways, Term 1/1/24 to 12/31/25, Standard Workday 8 hours, Record of Activities results 21.67 days
Elaine Slater, Deputy Town Clerk, Term: 1/1/24 to 12/31/27, Standard Workday 6 hours, Record of Activities results 10.08 days
ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 4 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Absent (Santagate)
RESOLUTION #26-2024 declared duly adopted.
ARPA transfer to Paul Smiths Gabriels Volunteer Fire Department: The generator is close to being installed. Type of warranty coverage unknown at this time.
RESOLUTION #27-2024
TRANSFER OF ARPA/COVID FUNDS TO THE TOWN OF BRIGHTON FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
Motion made by Peter Shrope, seconded by Amber McKernan,
WHEREAS the town has received American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA/Covid) funding to be used to
benefit the health and public safety in our community,
WHEREAS, The Paul Smiths-Gabriels Volunteer Fire Department has a 50-year-old used generator that is used to maintain electricity in their facility in the event of a power outage. This was purchased used in 1997 from a fire department in Connecticut, who had purchased it used from a Connecticut Railroad. The generator no longer functions properly, some circuits need to be turned off in the building, there is a danger of power surges, many parts are no longer available and repair services are over an hour away,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE TOWN OF BRIGHTON, TOWN BOARD
THAT: $26,510.00 in ARPA/COVID funds be transferred to the Paul Smiths-Gabriels Volunteer Fire
Department for the purchase of a new generator that will service their facility to benefit our community as well as the readiness of our Volunteer Fire Department.
ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 4 (McKernan, Shrope, Wright), Nay 0, Abstain (Tucker), Absent (Santagate)
RESOLUTION #27-2024 declared duly adopted.
Town Clerk training: The Town Clerk would like to use the Town credit card to attend the Annual Town Clerk’s conference in Albany, New York, from April 21st to 24th. The card would be used for conference registration, a hotel room for 3 nights, and meals.
Motion made by Peter Shrope, seconded by Lydia Wright, to allow the Town Clerk to use the Town credit card for conference registration, a hotel room for 3 nights, and meals. Aye 4 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker, Wright) Nay 0, Absent 1 (Santagate)
The Tax Collector would like to collect taxes online. Supervisor Peter Shrope contacted the town’s web hosting service to inquire about the logistics.
OLD BUSINESS
Town Park: Amber McKernan will reach out to Adirondack Storage Barns to examine their products and discuss lead time and site prep.
AUDIT OF VOUCHERS
RESOLUTION #28-2024
ADUIT OF VOUCHERS
Motion made by Amber McKernan, seconded by Lydia Wright,
RESOLVED that the Supervisor be authorized to pay the audited vouchers as listed on the abstracts as follows:
PREPAID FUNDS: Abstract #3for Voucher #s 3A through 3C for 2024 GENERAL FUND in the amount $793.58 and Voucher #3C for 2024 STREET LIGHTING FUNDS in the amount of $85.22
GENERAL FUND: Abstract #3 for Voucher #44 through #62, for 2024 funds in the amount of $60,529.01
HIGHWAY FUND: Abstract #3 for Voucher #22 through #33 for 2024 funds in the amount of $6,944.51
SPECIAL FUND-FIRE DISTRICT: Abstract #2 for Voucher #2 for 2024 funds in the amount of $54,809.55
ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 4 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Absent 1 (Santagate)
Resolution #28 declared duly adopted.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to Adjourn at 8:14pm made by Lydia Wright, second by Lydia Wright
Aye 4 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Absent 1 (Santagate)
Respectfully Submitted,
Elizabeth DeFonce
Brighton Town Clerk