The Regular Meeting for the Town Board of the Town of Brighton, Franklin County, NY, was held Thursday, February 20, 2025, 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 Caroline T. Santagate (Tracy)

OTHERS PRESENT: Elizabeth DeFonce-Town Clerk /Tax Collector, Russell DeFonce-Town Justice, and 1 resident.

GUESTS: None

 

NOTICE OF MEETING:

Notice of this meeting was posted on the Town Clerk’s Sign Board on February 17, 2025, and a notice was published in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise on February 19, 2025.

 

REPORTS

 

Highway – Superintendent of Highways Andy Crary: Plowing and sanding of roads; mixed up salt and sand; took the loader out to push back snowbanks; fixed the clutch fan on the 2022 truck; took the 2022 truck to Plattsburgh to replace a sensor; fixed the sanding chain on the 2013 truck; had furnace problems but all fixed now; replaced bolts on the F-350 plow

 

Town Clerk Elizabeth DeFonce: Total Revenue to Supervisor as of January 31, 2025, was $321.25 from 1 Copy of Certified Vital Records, 3 dog licenses, 2 building permits

January 9: Received from the Franklin County Treasurer a list of payments made from the county to the town. Amounts and dates were double checked with Supervisor Peter Shrope.

January 14: Emailed updated Court information to the County of Franklin Probation Department. Responded to FOIL request regarding union contracts. Replied to Tammie Brooks at the Office of Real Property regarding Mike DeDivitis’ reappointment to the Board of Assessment Review. Sent notice of elected officials to be voted for at General Election to the Franklin County Board of Elections.

January 16: Took 5 dog licenses and a fee schedule to the Tri-Lakes Humane Society. The Town Clerk’s books were audited.

January 20: Took Mike DeDivitis’ Oath of Office for the Board of Assessment Review.

January 27: Sent updated contact information to Franklin County for the 2025 County Directory Booklet.

A new digital recording device is replacing the cassette recorder previously used to record meetings. The Town Clerk will look into recycling the old cassette tapes.

TOWN HALL REQUESTS: Rainbow Lake Water Protection District Board of Commissioners, Monday, February 3, 9:00am-10:00am.

TOWN PARK REQUEST: None

 

Tax Collector – Elizabeth DeFonce: Three checks were given to Supervisor Peter Shrope on January 16, 22, and 26, for a total of $755,860.

There was some confusion with Corelogic – a few properties on their escrow list didn’t match the payments sent; several emails and phone calls were exchanged. A refund of $1,839.39 was mailed to them on February 7. The issue is ongoing.

In January there were 20 transactions totaling $19,208.10 through AllPaid.

Total collected as of Tuesday, February 11: $1,511,401.23.

Tax collection hours will be changed from the Tax Collector’s house to the Town Hall. Hours will overlap with Town Clerk hours plus Saturday mornings.

More envelopes will need to be purchased before the second mailing in March. Motion by Supervisor Peter Shrope, seconded by Amber McKernan, to allow the Tax Collector to use the town credit card to order one box of postage paid envelopes from the United States Postal Service.

Aye 4 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Absent 1 (Santagate)

 

Historian – Elaine Sater: No Report

 

Town Justice – Russ DeFonce: Disposed of 15 cases during January and the Supervisor received a check in the amount of $1,485. Deposited a check in the amount of $7,165.07 closing out previous Justice Nik Santagate’s bank account. Some of these monies have yet to be credited in the Courtroom Program but a significant portion will likely be unidentified funds. It will take a few months to go through the paperwork. The Comptroller’s Office has been made aware of this issue.

 

Code Enforcement Officer – Rodger Tompkins: Issued 2 Demolition Permits in January.

 

Assessor – John Stack: No report.

 

Supervisor – Peter Shrope:

BridgeNY: Received interim project report.

Deposits: Town Clerk – $321.25, Town Justice – $1,485, Franklin County – $472.66 for stumpage, $750 for traffic abatement.

Budget: working on the Annual Financial Report.

NYCLASS: For January – General Fund interest $450.77, total $125,042.39 ($20,000 for Town Hall). Highway Fund interest $171.80, total $47,653.11.

 

ACCEPT/AMEND MINUTES

January 9, 2025 – Organizational Board Meeting Minutes

Motion made by Amber McKernan, second by Lydia Wright, to accept the minutes of the January 9, Organizational Board Meeting, as written. Aye 3 (Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Abstain 1 (McKernan ) Absent 1 (Santagate)

January 9, 2025 – Regular Board Meeting Minutes

Motion made by Amber McKernan, second by Lydia Wright, to accept the minutes of the January 9, Regular Board Meeting, as written. Aye 3 (Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Abstain 1 (McKernan ) Absent 1 (Santagate)

 

Citizen Comments: A concerned citizen commented about the buildup of ice on the stairs into the building. It was suggested that the purchase of more rugged snow removal tools would aid in ice removal.

An inquiry was made regarding whether or not the lift was tested once a month.

 

Business:

 

RESOLUTION # 7-2025

REAPPOINTMENT OF BAR MEMBER DEDIVITIS

Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Lydia Wright,

 

RESOLVED that Michael DeDivitis be reappointed as Board of Assessment Review member for a 5-year term to run from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2029.

 

ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 4 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Absent 1 (Santagate)

Resolution #7 declared duly adopted.

 

RESOLUTION #8-2025

ACCEPTANCE OF AUDITS

 

Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Amber McKernan,

 

RESOLVED that the Town Board accepts the audit of the 2024 Financial Records of the Town Clerk, Town Justice, and Town Supervisor on January 16, 2025, with no findings, as audited by Council members Amber McKernan, Tracy Santagate, and Lydia Wright.

 

ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 4 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Absent 1 (Santagate)

Resolution #8 declared duly adopted.

 

RESOLUTION #9-2025

LANDFILL MONITORING

 

Motion made by Supervisor Peter Shrope, second by Steve Tucker,

 

RESOLVED that the Town Board authorizes the Supervisor to sign an agreement with Suozzo, Doty & Associates, PLLC for monitoring, sampling and reporting on the closed landfill as required by NYS Department of Environmental Conservation in the amount of $8,933.60 for 2025.

 

ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 4 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Absent 1 (Santagate)

Resolution #9 declared duly adopted.

 

The Board does receive a report every year regarding the landfill monitoring.

 

The Adirondack Association of Towns & Villages will be holding two conferences this year. The spring conference will be held in Lake Placid on June 1 & 2; the fall conference will be held in Lake George on December 7 & 8.

 

The town’s total solar savings for 2024 amounted to $88.91

 

Citizen’s comments – after suffering an injury, a resident commented on the professional and efficient demeanor of the rescue squad.

 

AUDIT OF VOUCHERS

 

RESOLUTION #10-2025

AUDIT 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 #2 for Voucher #2A through #2C for 2025 in the amount of $827.23 and Voucher #2C STREET LIGHTING FUNDS in the amount of $127.69

GENERAL FUND: Abstract #2 for Voucher #23 through #36 for 2025 funds in the amount of $12,870.90

HIGHWAY FUND: Abstract #2 for Voucher #15 through #31 for 2025 funds in the amount of $29,854.36

 

ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 4 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Absent 1 (Santagate)

Resolution #10 declared duly adopted.

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

Motion to Adjourn at 7:48pm made by Amber McKernan, second by Lydia Wright,

Aye 4 (McKernan, Shrope, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Absent 1 (Santagate)

 

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Elizabeth DeFonce

Brighton Town Clerk