The Regular Monthly Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Brighton, Franklin County, NY, was held Thursday, September 14, 2023, 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 Deputy Supervisor Steve Tucker at 7:00pm
Pledge to the Flag was recited.

ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS
PRESENT: Deputy Supervisor Steve Tucker
Council Members: Amber McKernan, Matthew Szeliga, and Lydia Wright
ABSENT: Supervisor Peter Shrope
OTHERS PRESENT: Andy Crary-Superintendent of Highways, Elizabeth DeFonce-Tax Collector, 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

REPORTS
Highway – Superintendent of Highways Andy Crary: Mowed and weed whacked the cemeteries, Town Hall, Garage and Park; fixed turn-arounds with gravel on the Keese Mills and Bert Lafountain Roads; pulled beaver dams from culverts; Bob’s Auto fixed fire safety switch that had rotted out on the 2015 truck; hauled tar for the Town of Tupper Lake; working on the shoulders of Clark Wardner Road (overburdened); put shoulders down on Tansy Lane and Bert Lafountain Road; helped the County put shoulders on County Roads 55 and 31; would like to replace lightening outside garage, estimate is $2,625.00 from Jones Pond Electric; cleaned the shop and the trucks.

RESOLUTION #37-2023
REPLACE OUTSIDE LIGHTING AT TOWN GARAGE
Motion made by Amber McKernan, second by Deputy Supervisor Steve Tucker,
WHEREAS some of the outside lighting at the garage has burned out and should be replaced with dusk to dawn LED lighting to save on the electric bill,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board authorizes Superintendent of Highways Andy Crary to hire Jones Pond Electric of Rainbow Lake to replace all the outside lighting at the Town Garage in an amount not to exceed $3,000.
ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 4 (McKernan, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Absent 1 (Shrope)
Resolution #37 declared duly adopted.

Town Clerk – Elaine Sater: Total Revenue to Supervisor as of August 31, 2023, was $ 104.50 from 1 Marriage License and Marriage Officiant Certificate; 1 Genealogical search; 1 Park Donation, and 1 Dog License renewed.
August 3 – Received notice dated July 29, 2023, of resignation from Steve Tucker, Deputy Superintendent of Highways, effective July 31, 2023.
August 17 – Took Oath of Office from Chris Reed, Deputy Superintendent of Highways, effective August 1 to December 31, 2023.
TOWN HALL REQUESTS: Monday, August 28, 9am, Rainbow Lake Water Protection District
TOWN PARK REQUEST: August 26, 10am – 4pm, Saranac Lake Kiwanis; Mondays and Wednesdays, August 28 to October 25, 5:30 – 7:30pm, Saranac Lake Youth Soccer Association; and Saturdays, September 16, 23, and 30, and October 21, 8am to 5pm, Paul Smith’s College Rugby
RECORDS MANAGEMENT: Completed indexing Vol 13 of Minutes (1985 thru 1987), started indexing Vol 14 (1988 to 1989)
FOIL REQUESTS: None

Historian – Elaine Sater: From the Minutes of 1987
April 9, 1987, people asked for “Dead End” signs for Keese Mills Road. Request was proposed for street lighting in Gabriels, a public hearing was to be held, no record of it.
May 11, 1987, Board voted to install 35mph yellow warning signs on Keese Mills Road instead of asking for a reduction in speed from the State.
September 10, 1987: people on Clark Wardner Road asked for the seasonal road to be plowed in winter.
December 31, 1987, last day for Town Clerk Margaret Monteau, she became Secretary to Supervisor in 1988. She was in office from 1968, a total of 19 years.
Terry Monteau, son of Margaret Monteau, said he went to school in the Town Hall after the Easy Street School burned down next to his house, a new one was built on the same spot.

Tax Collector – Elizabeth DeFonce: Found out there is $5 fee from NBT bank to have copies of checks included in the monthly statements. They are available on-line so there is no need for this; they can be found for an audit. Going to reach out to Elavon about on-line payments this week. Would like to attend the Local Government Day at Potsdam University on Tuesday, October 10. Registration fee is $35.00.

Town Justice – Nik Santagate: Disposed of 21 cases during August and the Supervisor received a check in the amount of $2,606.00.

Code Enforcement Officer – Rodger Tompkins: Issued 3 Building Permits (BP#s 23-041 through 043) during August.

Assessor – Roseanne Gallagher:
REVALUATION: KLW held two informational meetings about the revaluation project, August 22nd and 23rd. Robert Koszarek from KLW did the presentation, then people were given the opportunity to ask questions. Both meetings were quite well attended. John Stack, our ORPTS representative, was able to come to the August 22nd meeting and share some information also.

Finally was able to get permission to data collect two properties in McCollums that are on a road with a locked gate. Will be doing that Friday this week.
Wanted to let the board know that there will be a large subtraction ($568,782) to the total taxable value for 2024. The assessment was inadvertently increased to the full value assessment that the state had listed. This was done for the final roll, but not the tentative roll, so the property owner will file for a correction to the school tax roll. The parcel belongs to Lyme Timber. It has a state conservation easement on it as well as a 480a property tax
exemption.

Supervisor – Deputy Supervisor Steve Tucker:
BRIDGENY: Supervisor Peter Shrope and Superintendent of Highways Andy Crary met with representatives for the project. There is a permit process that must be completed before culvert work on Keese Mills Road can begin; NYS Department of Environmental Conservation will have to do an Environmental Study
Budget: Copy provided to Town Board members as of August 31, 2023, revenue received since last Regular Monthly meeting: $60.24 refund from Unifirst for overpayment; $2,606 from Justice, and $104.50 from Town Clerk
NYCLASS: For August – General Fund interest $510.55, total $116,405.69 ($20,000 for Town Hall). Highway Fund interest $194.59, total $44,361.66

ACCEPT/AMEND MINUTES
August 10, 2023 – Regular Board Meeting
Motion made by Amber McKernan, second by Deputy Supervisor Steve Tucker, to accept the minutes of the August 10, 2023, Regular Board Meeting, with the following change: Page 2, Assessor Report; delete the first and second sentences, and the word ìalso” in the fourth sentence; Aye 4 (McKernan, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Absent 1 (Shrope)

CITIZENS’ COMMENTS:
Amber McKernan – Was called by a resident who asked why the information about the KLW informational meetings was not posted on the website.
Information was not provided to the Town Clerk to post.

BUSINESS

Even Year Election Resolution – Deputy Supervisor Steve Tucker: Received a notice for a resolution to not support the Even-Year Election Bill passed by the NYS Senate and Assembly, waiting for the Governor to sign or veto. No further information was available as to the status of the bill. No action taken.

Setbacks from Property Linesñ Matthey Szeliga: Has had questions about setbacks in the Town. Some property deeds have setbacks in them. Would like to see a Local Law establishing setbacks for the Town. Will look further into process as no further information was available.

Paul Smiths Gabriels Volunteer Fire House Water Filtration – Deputy Supervisor Steve Tucker: Supervisor Peter Shrope contacted an individual who will check the water when in the area. No further information has been provided.

COMMITTEES:
Adirondack Regional Airport – Amber and Tom McKernan: There was trouble with the keypad on the East Ramp, paving is to start on the taxi way.

CITIZENS COMMENTS: None

AUDIT OF VOUCHERS
RESOLUTION #38-2023
ADUIT OF VOUCHERS
Motion made by Amber McKernan, second by Matthew Szeliga,
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 through 9C for 2023 GENERAL FUND in the amount $565.15 and Voucher #9C for 2023 STREET LIGHTING FUNDS in the amount of $69.41
GENERAL FUND: Abstract #10 for Voucher #169 through #180 for 2023 funds in the amount of $14,455.72
HIGHWAY FUND: Abstract #9 for Voucher 87 through #94 for 2023 funds in the amount of $8,365.34
ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye 4 (McKernan, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Absent 1 (Shrope)
Resolution #38 declared duly adopted.

ADJOURNMENT
Motion to Adjourn at 8:10pm made by Amber McKernan, Second by Lydia Wright, Aye 4 (McKernan, Szeliga, Tucker, Wright), Nay 0, Absent 1 (Shrope)

Respectfully Submitted, Elaine W. Sater, Brighton Town Clerk