February 13, 2020 Regular Meeting

The Regular Meeting for the Town Board of the Town of Brighton, Franklin County, NY, was held Thursday, February 13, 2020, 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 7:00pm

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, Elaine Sater-Town Clerk and 1 resident
GUESTS: None

NOTICE OF MEETING:

Notice of this meeting was posted on January 30, 2020, on the Town Clerk’s Sign Board and in three local post offices. A notice was published in the January 30, 2020, issue of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

REPORTS

1. Highway – Andy Crary, Superintendent of Highways: Report provided prior to meeting

a. Plowing and sanding of roads on a regular basis
b. Adjusted chains on both 2013 and 2105 plow trucks
c. Boilers at Town Hall and Garage were inspected
d. Putting up salt and sand
e. Pushing back banks on County and Town Roads with loader.
f. Cutting banks with plow trucks
g. Attended a County highway meeting
h. Plowed out Camp Gabriels for the Fire Department and for Governor’s visit.
i. Proposed the purchase of a third plow truck with only a single axel that is available on a “Mini-bid” as only two companies make them to order. It takes up to a year before delivery. 2015 Plow Truck and loader will be paid off this year.

RESOLUTION #16-2020
PURCHASE OF PLOW TRUCK
Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Lydia Wright,

RESOLVED that the Town Board authorizes Superintendent of Highway Andy Crary to initiate procedures to purchase a new plow truck for delivery in February 2021 Not To Exceed $185,000.

ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 5 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0
Resolution #16 declared duly adopted.

2. Town Clerk – Elaine Sater: Report provided prior to meeting

a. Total Revenue to Supervisor as of January 31, 2020 was $796.25, from 3 Dog Licenses: 1 new (Tag#231) and 2 renewed, 4 Building Permits (#20-001 thru 004), and 20 copies (16 from a FOIL request and 4 copies)
b. Jan 16 – Appointed Kathy Hall as Deputy Town Clerk and Deputy Registrar of Vital Statistics. Took her Oath of Office for the term January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2023.
c. Jan 21 –

i. Received notice from the Tri Lakes Humane Society concerning dogs seized in the Town of Brighton during 2019. There were three and all were returned to owner after licenses were purchased.
ii. Took an Oath of Office from Tom Huber for Deputy Tax Collector of the term January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2023.
iii. Mailed Oaths of Office to Franklin County Clerk for Tax Collector and Deputy, Town Clerk and Deputy, Town Justice, and Notification of Appointment of Registrar of Vital Statics.
iv. Mailed notice to Franklin County Board of Elections according to Election Law Section 4-106 that there are no positions in the Town to be voted on during the General Election in November 2020.

d. Jan 23 – Mailed Polling Site Agreement for 2020 to Board of Elections.
e. Feb 4 –

i. Received request from NYS Department of Motor Vehicles for Annual Issuing Agent Report for 2019 for number of parking permits issued to the disabled residents of the Town. Issued 12 permanent and 2 temporary permits during 2019.
ii. Received notice from Franklin County Treasurer of payments to Town during 2019. All payments were reflected in the 2019 Final Budget. The payments were for Mortgage Tax, Snow and Ice and Mowing Contracts.

f. Feb 6 – Received Annual Financial Report (AUD) for 2019
g. Town Clerk’s Office will be closed Tuesday, February 18 and Thursday, February 20
h. TOWN HALL REQUESTS: Saturday, February 22, Smith Family, 1 to 4pm. Saturday, February 29, 2020, Franklin County Conservative Party, changed time from “10am” to “2 to 6pm”

i. RECORDS MANAGEMENT: Indexing Vol 8 minutes from 1973 to 1974, shredding records that can be destroyed per MU-1 schedule.
i. Jan 14 – Received check from Empire Center for Public Policy from a December 20, 2019, Freedom of Information (FOIL) request concerning the 2018-2019 Collective Bargaining Agreement and other correspondence. Sent 16 pages of documents
ii. Feb 4 – Received a FOIL request by email from New York Open the Books for the 2019 files of expenditures. Sent the files of abstracts for 2019 on February 6 by email.

3. Historian – Elaine Sater: Report provided prior to meeting

a. Received email request dated January 9, 2020, for some articles concerning family history for the William Mace family. Sent reply that Mary Ellen Salls has the family history information and provided her email address.

4. Tax Collector – Holly Huber: Report provided prior to meeting

a. Payments received by 1/31/20 totaled $1,383,958.07. Bank interest for January was $3.10 and will be paid to Supervisor Shrope with February’s penalty income by 3/15/2020
b. Paid out the following during January: Checks #1028 through #1033 to Peter Shrope for a total of $671,052.00. Check #1034 to Franklin Co. Treasurer for $600,000.00.
c. As of 1/22/20 the Town’s portion of the warrant $671,052.00 has been satisfied.

5. Justice – Nik Santagate: Report provided prior to meeting

Supervisor received a check in the amount of $2,212.00 for 23 cases disposed during January 2020.

6. Code Enforcement Officer – Paul Blaine: Report provided prior to meeting

a. Four (4) building permits (BPs#20-001 thru 004) were issued during January
b. Five (5) Certificates of Completion were issued for BPs#18-010, 19-022, 19-026, 19-034 and 20-002.
c. Met with Paul Smith’s College about converting buildings
d. May be 2 new houses in Split Rock Road area

7. Assessor – Roseanne Gallagher: Report provided prior to meeting

Equalization rate is going back up to 84%, busy with paperwork.

8. Supervisor – Peter Shrope:

a. Boilers: Need to be inspected every two years, was not done last year due to change in insurance agent in 2018. The Town Hall and Highway Garage boilers were inspected on February 6, 2020.
b. Essex County Public Health Grant Request: Received an email dated January 21, 2020 from Linda Beers, Director of Essex County Public Health requesting a letter of support for the grant “Creating Healthy Schools and Communities”. Sent a letter of support as this grant may affect the health of people in our Town.
c. 2020 Census Materials: Destroyed all the material used to respond to the 2020 Census request. A Boundary Certification was completed; the Town’s boundaries have not changed since the 2010 Census.
d. Charter Franchise: Contacted by Charter concerning the cable contract that expires in 2022. Spectrum is now the local provider.
e. Paid Family Leave (PFL) Insurance: The Town did not Opt-In to PFL in 2018, employees have to pay into this program. Disability invoice from The Hartford had PFL listed on it.
f. Bail Reform Resolution: Received a letter of thanks from Billy Jones, Assembly Member; he received a copy of the Town’s resolution.
g. Former Camp Gabriels Property: Thursday, January 16, 2020, met with eight people from private, state, county, and local government agencies concerning the “public benefit” of using the former Camp Gabriels property for joint use purposes, such as a training facility.
h. Budget Report: Provided Board members with budget up date as of January 31, 2020.
i. Revenues: Received $671,052.00 from Tax Collector, $2,212.00 from Town Justice, $796.25 from Town Clerk, $675.00 from Franklin County Traffic Diversion Program
j. NYCLASS Investments: Interest for January was $142.07 for General, Total Amount $110,721.21 ($20,000 for Town Hall), and $54.12 for Highway, Total Amount $42,195.96.

MINUTES AMENDMENT/ACCEPTANCE – Minutes of Organizational Meeting January 9, 2020
Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Matthew Szeliga, to accept the minutes of the January 9, 2020, Organizational meeting as written.
ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 4 (Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Abstain 1 (McKernan)

– Minutes of Regular Board Meeting January 9, 2020
Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Steve Tucker, to accept the minutes of the January 9, 2020, Regular Board meeting as written.
ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 4 (Shrope, Szeliga Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Abstain 1 (McKernan)

CITIZEN COMMENTS: None

BUSINESS

Post Closure Landfill Monitoring Contract for 2020 – Supervisor Peter Shrope:
Received a new contract for 2020 from Cederwood Engineering, cost for laboratory testing has gone up, it is higher than the amount in the 2020 Budget

RESOLUTION #17-2020
POST CLOSURE LANDFILL MONITORING CONTRACT 2020
Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Amber McKernan,

RESOLVED that the Town Board authorizes Supervisor Peter Shrope to sign the contract with Cedarwood Engineering Services, PLLC, for Post Closure Landfill Monitoring for 2020 in an amount Not To Exceed $5,800

ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 5 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0
Resolution #17 declared duly adopted.

2. Trees Removal at Park – Supervisor Peter Shrope: No further action taken

3. Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) Update – Supervisor Peter Shrope: Due to changes in people the EOP needs to updating

RESOLUTION #18-2020

UPDATE OF EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN (EOP)
Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Amber McKernan,
RESOLVED that the Town Board has reviewed and accepted the changes to pages 9, 1-3, and 7-2, of the Emergency Operations Plan for 2020.

ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 5 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0
Resolution #18 declared duly adopted.

4. Outside Lights at Town Hall and Park – Supervisor Peter Shrope: National Grid still working on it

5. Committees – Supervisor Peter Shrope: Discussion held on need for Committees, Board agreed to keep Committees so people can be directed to someone other than Supervisor if needed.

RESOLUTION #19-2020
APPOINTMENT TO COMMITTEES FOR 2020/2021
Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Matthew Szeliga,

RESOLVED that the Supervisor Peter Shrope appoints the following people to the following Committees for 2020/2021:

Highway: Steve Tucker, Lydia Wright
Adirondack Regional Airport: Amber McKernan, Tom McKernan
Parks & Recreation: Peter Shrope, Amber McKernan
Insurance & Investments: Lydia Wright, Amber McKernan
Cemeteries & Town Buildings: Amber McKernan, Steve Tucker
Assessment/BAR: Matthew Szeliga, Lydia Wright
Salaries/Benefits: Amber McKernan, Peter Shrope
Website: Amber McKernan, Peter Shrope

ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 5 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0
Resolution #19 declared duly adopted.

6. Audit of 2019 Financial Records – Amber McKernan and Lydia Wright:

RESOLUTION #20-2020

AUDIT OF 2019 FINANCIAL RECORDS

Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Matthew Szeliga,

RESOLVED that the Town Board accepts the audit of the Financial Records from 2019 for the Town Clerk, Town Justice, and Supervisor, completed on January 14, 2020, by Council Members Amber McKernan and Lydia Wright with no irregular findings, documents presented were clear and orderly.

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

Resolution #20 declared duly adopted.

COMMITTEES: Nothing to Report

EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion to GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION at 8:25pm made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Amber McKernan, in accordance with Public Officers Law, Article 7, Section 105, Para e, matters relating to collective negotiations under the Taylor Law. Aye 5 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0

Motion to GO OUT OF EXECUTIVE SESSION at 8:45pm made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Amber McKernan, Aye 5 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0

AUDIT OF VOUCHERS:

RESOLUTION #21-2020
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 #2 for Voucher #s 2A through 2C for 2020 General Funds in the amount of $526.46 and STREET LIGHTING 2020 FUND Voucher #2C in the amount of $77.49
GENERAL FUND: Abstract #2 for Voucher #20 through #42 for 2020 funds in the amount of $27,370.33
HIGHWAY FUND: Abstract #2 for Voucher #15 through #27 for 2020 funds in the amount of $17,066.78

ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 5 (McKernan, Shrope, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0
Resolution #21 declared duly adopted

ADJOURNMENT
Motion to Adjourn at 8:46pm 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