[0:06] All in favor? I. All opposed.
Any abstensions?
[0:12] So moved. Uh you can see the emergency
service reports. Um a lot of time has
[0:18] been spent and so we want to thank our
emergency services as always. Um
[0:25] and move into our supervisor section.
Just want to say a heartfelt thank you
[0:30] to everybody who made the tube of
Eldridge 250 block partying such a
[0:35] success. It was such a wonderful event.
It was such a wonderful celebration of
[0:39] the heritage of our town. Um our
businesses in the Elder Hamlet uh
[0:44] district um and and all the people who
participated, you know, we had great
[0:48] vendors like Blue Face meeting that came
out and really made a lot of kids happy.
[0:53] Obviously, you know, the Mont Fleons
never do anything uh halfass to be
[0:58] frank. And I don't know if you guys saw
all the wonderful things that that Lou
[1:02] and Frank provided on the corner there.
They were a wonderful partner for um for
[1:07] the town of Highland, which had the uh
family cards. Um and I don't know if
[1:11] everybody has seen these before, but
these were one of the the major um
[1:15] inclusions in the initial uh time
capsule. So, um, these are they were
[1:20] family cards that were erected in 1976,
and we were able to salvage all of
[1:25] these, and we have an ongoing show that
will go up again when the construction
[1:29] is finished. But each each uh member of
the community is given the opportunity
[1:33] to include these family cards in the
1976 time capsule. And we're also doing
[1:39] this again for the 2026 time capsule.
Um, and it was really exciting because
[1:44] we were able to give uh the remnants,
about three4s of them survived. Um, all
[1:48] the time capsules in Sullivan counties
were pretty water logged. I'd say ours
[1:53] was probably in the best condition. Um,
I know that Kashkin just unveiled theirs
[1:57] and it was all pretty much
paperier-mâché. I'm very sorry for their
[2:00] community. Um, but in general, the the
the family cards were the things that
[2:04] were the most salvageable from the time
capsules. And so, we're offering these
[2:08] again. Um, and I wanted to make a motion
to the board. I really just uh want to
[2:13] um want to extend potential of free uh
family time cards to our um senior
[2:20] population. Um you know, I think this is
a really special time. You know, there's
[2:24] been so many wild changes probably from
1976 to 2026. And so we want to make
[2:29] sure to include all the people that make
this town great. So I'd like to make a
[2:33] motion to offer the time capsule cards
right now are $25 um for residents to to
[2:39] be included in this. And that's just for
production and for uh laminating the
[2:43] cards, but I want to offer these to our
senior population for free. So I was
[2:46] wondering if I have a motion to um to
extend these to all seniors uh 62 and
[2:52] older uh for free inclusion in the 2026
contest.
[2:57] » I'll make that motion.
>> Wait, wait, wait. Tom.
[3:02] » Tom. And then who?
>> I'll second it. Chris Tom. Okay. All in
[3:06] favor? Opposed?
>> Any abstensions?
[3:10] So moved. All right. Get your cards
here. The town clerks will help you.
[3:14] Everybody go ahead and pick one of these
things up. It It really is a nice piece
[3:18] of history. It was
>> All right. We'll give you a refund.
[3:22] How's that?
>> Yeah. Yeah. I know we have like three
[3:25] three or four refunds to give already,
but um I know we have a free
[3:30] I know the um but these are really
special. And what was really great about
[3:35] all these like Sony could be a testament
to this. her grandmother wrote her a
[3:39] letter in 1976 that we were able to
retrieve and give to to to everybody and
[3:43] we gave everybody the remnants of the
time capsule because we could stick it
[3:47] in our vault and it would you know
probably uh turn into paperiermâché but
[3:52] we were able to give the remnants to
everybody and their families. Um I just
[3:56] want to give a special shout out to our
outgoing um town historian Deborah
[4:01] Conway who did a wonderful job along
with Diana Marorrow. Um
[4:09] show. It was really a beautiful
experience. Um, you know, Deb first had
[4:13] all these, you know, uh, things drying
out in her living room, past Amanda, our
[4:18] long-suffering graphic designer, Diana,
um, who then was able to trans
[4:23] transition them into a digital footprint
in the show, which will go live again
[4:27] uh, once we're done with the with the
um, uh, when we're done with the
[4:31] renovations in town hall, which are
coming along really wonderfully.
[4:33] Hopefully, our September meeting will be
in I see no reason why it wouldn't. Um
[4:37] so we're really excited about that as
well. So everybody else is a $25. We'll
[4:41] laminate them. Um we are uh going to be
working with the new town
[4:47] um on a date. We have a tenative date uh
scheduled for the um for the new uh
[4:52] burial of the 2026 time capsule. Um and
he was sworn in today. So uh he's not
[4:59] able to be present. He's got some
wedding planning to do. Um, but our new
[5:03] time historian is Timothy Oset. So,
welcome to Timothy Oet. Um,
[5:11] from a wonderful family here in the town
of Highland. They were they had three
[5:15] report cards in this in the um the
original
[5:20] » Tom Caps were going to be buried back up
at the battlefield.
[5:22] » Back at the battlefield. Yes. Um, and
so, uh, Tim, I don't know if all of you
[5:28] know this, but he works in maintenance
for the National Park Service. He just
[5:32] returned from Washington DC. Um, and
he's about to get married. So, I think
[5:36] he had some wedding venue plans today to
go look at some uh preparations for his
[5:40] wedding with his um bride to be. But,
uh, we're really excited to have Tim.
[5:44] So, if you see him around town or see
him around the parks, please welcome
[5:47] him. Um, we also set our budget hearing
uh meetings at the workshop uh last
[5:54] Tuesday. So, our first budget hearing
will be on September 15th at 6 PM, uh,
[6:00] followed by September 24th at 6 PM and
we set our public hearing for October
[6:06] 6th at 6 p.m. And it's a really
important time where you get to see what
[6:11] we're spending money on. Um, I addressed
this a little bit in the workshop. You
[6:15] know, the county has nuanced, you know,
really substantial uh, tax increases
[6:20] that the town cannot really do anything
about. you know, the last two years
[6:24] we've stayed under a tax cap. Uh the
previous town board also acquired um you
[6:29] know, a a credit. So the tax cap
basically you can go over with an
[6:34] incremental um increase in cost of
living, which is somewhere around 2%.
[6:39] It's variable. Um but we've been able to
stay under that. So, we haven't
[6:42] increased taxes for the last two years
on behalf of the town with the county
[6:47] manager nuanced like we may have to
increase up to 30%. Which is an exit
[6:51] sign and we'll call a local realer and
get out of here if that happens. I'm
[6:54] sure. But um but you know, last year
they started at 9% and settled on three.
[6:59] So, I'm hoping that they don't go, you
know, too too above and beyond that um
[7:04] cost. But, you know, there were a lot of
things addressed in the in the
[7:07] comprehensive plan meeting today about
revenue streams for the town that I
[7:10] think were actually uh a really
substantive and important um discussion.
[7:15] So, we should, you know, the town board
I know is committed to looking for those
[7:19] opportunities and we'll we'll strive to
do everything we can to bring in the
[7:22] most money without, you know, um
infringing on anybody as well. But, you
[7:26] know, we've already kind of let
everybody know this is going to be a
[7:28] lean year for budgets. Um, we've gotten
a lot accomplished over the last two
[7:32] years in the way of restorations in
buildings and improvements in buildings.
[7:36] So, there's not a lot of like big
structural things to do. You know, we've
[7:40] been able to um reestablish the
constabularary based on popular vote.
[7:45] Um, we've done a lot of things for the
town that seem to be big heavy reaches.
[7:50] So, I feel like if we take a year off in
big monumental projects, unless big
[7:55] monumental opportunities come our way,
we'll be in good shape. So, thank you to
[7:59] this town board and all your hard work
on um implementing all those projects in
[8:03] a big way. Um the uh library sale was
very successful. I got a rough tally
[8:09] from the treasurer over there. The
treasures and trinkets was a wonderful
[8:13] testament to our community. They raised
about $7,000 as of now. Um but we also
[8:18] transported a lot of the remnants to
local um antique. So, she's getting her
[8:23] tabulations together. So it's 7,000 and
rising uh which is very exciting. So
[8:29] thank you to all the volunteers. It was
really rewarding to talk to
[8:35] it was really rewarding to talk to the
uh library director and one of the
[8:39] librarians and they said like a lot of a
lot of new volunteers showed themselves
[8:43] this past week and what I thought was
really special and amazing is the
[8:47] average median age was about 70 and it
was Muslim female that showed up with
[8:51] their pickup trucks. Uh, and it was
amazing and I think that that's just a
[8:55] testament to both our library and our
community that people care. They lend a
[9:00] hand when they need to and uh, it was a
beautiful thing. So, can
[9:03] » I just say thank you to everybody who
came and bought.
[9:07] » Yes.
>> Yeah. Thank you. [laughter] Thank you.
[9:10] Thank you. Um,
uh, so our book sale dates are coming
[9:14] up. So, um the uh the the the setup is
on August 28th and the sale will be
[9:21] August 29th and 30th. So, again, thank
you to the library for doing everything
[9:25] they can and being scrappy, selling off
books, selling off treasures of
[9:28] trinkets. Um but they're they're in a
big fundraising swoop. So, please
[9:32] everybody attend August 29th and 30th.
uh location TBA may be at town hall uh
[9:39] or we may be in this room, but we will
uh we'll talk about it uh as
[9:43] construction rolls on. Um Laura was on
the radio today. Um she was on WJFF and
[9:50] did a wonderful job talking about our
new monarch pollinator garden. Um the
[9:54] ribbon cutting will be this Saturday at
9:00 am. Yeah. Um, so if you're buzzing
[10:00] around uh Bville, uh you can head on
down to the pollinator ribbon cutting at
[10:04] 9:00 am. Um the majority of that work
has been implemented by Mama and Po
[10:09] Garden Company and um Kate Jaxi who is
our 180 uh Sullivan County uh or Svin um
[10:17] 180 volunteer and intern this year. Um
uh she's done an amazing job. Mama and
[10:22] Co is wonderful to work with and Laura
Burell has been a champion of this
[10:26] project. So, thank you very much for all
your hard work on that. Do you have
[10:29] anything else you want to include about
the ribbon cutting?
[10:32] » Um, if you'd like to participate every
day this week, we're putting plants in.
[10:37] We've mulched the pathways. It's uh
technically Eagle Observation number
[10:41] two. And so, that's right on the edge of
the Barryville Miniync Ford line um at
[10:46] the base of the tow path that was put in
place um by the Delaware Company and for
[10:52] the Kate project. And so, there was a
eagle blind there. it fell into great
[10:57] disrepair. It had to be taken down. And
we're using that exact footprint of the
[11:01] eagle blind to put in the monarch
butterfly garden. Um there's an 88%
[11:07] decline of monarch butterflies on the
east coast and that is extremely tragic.
[11:12] It's millions of butterflies that don't
exist and so we're doing our part to
[11:16] bring them back. Um it you're welcome to
come. There's a lot of different people
[11:20] on site helping the dirt diva. Um, we
have Aguway donated plants and
[11:26] vegetation. Um, the Delaware Valley
Aguay. Um, you know, it's a partnership
[11:31] with the Greater Berryville Chamber of
Commerce. And, um, anyone's welcome to
[11:36] come and help or even ask questions. Uh,
and this will look a little funky the
[11:41] first year. By the second year, things
will have taken root. And the third year
[11:45] is really when it's going to shine, and
that's when you'll see a larger
[11:48] population of pollinators come to visit.
Um, so the ribbon cutting will be at
[11:52] 9:00. Um, I know Kevin Ferguson's
coming, photographer to the stars at
[11:57] Bethlwood Center for the Arts. Um, and
we'll have some some newspapers there.
[12:02] It'll be a really fun morning and then
head on to your, you know, farmers
[12:06] market visit.
>> So, I got a text about this after your
[12:09] radio interview and I just wanted to
clarify to the eagle blind was taken
[12:12] down also in consultation with the Eagle
Institute of the Delaware Highlands
[12:16] Conservancy. the eagle population is
soaring in our area of our of our upper
[12:22] Delaware River. Um so like these kind of
conservation projects really do work and
[12:26] and uh we simple humans can affect
nature in a bigger way. So thank you for
[12:31] doing that. Um we also have a dwindling
bee population and so this contributes
[12:36] to that as well. And if you look at all
of the indicator signs, uh, wayfinding
[12:40] signs that are at the borders of all the
towns, you know, we have a new one, um,
[12:44] in as you're coming down 97 in
Berryville. We have a new one at the
[12:48] Cape project site at Eagle Observation
2. Um, one on 55, one on Proctor. Um,
[12:53] but the the Mando has control the
planting of that. We we were able to
[12:58] hire them with a grant from Sullivan
180. Um, and in those we've used all
[13:02] native plants. said, like what Laura
said too, like that the the gardens look
[13:07] a little funky, but they're kind of
growing in and around the signs um
[13:10] because of all the rain and steamy
conditions. You'll see the plants are
[13:13] really thriving right now. So, we will
go and trim those down so you can see
[13:17] what town you're in. Um but yeah, thank
you again to Laura for all your hard
[13:21] work on that. And um thank you to
everybody who wants to lend a hand or
[13:24] just come and enjoy. It's really uh
heartwarming to see everybody using the
[13:28] activity path. Um if you haven't walked
it yet, please take a chance to do so.
[13:33] It basically goes from that eagle
observation to connects to the toe path,
[13:37] the National Park Service historic tow
path um right behind the building at
[13:41] Robing Bridge and goes onto the parking
lot just beyond the road bridge. It's a
[13:44] really nice walk. It's about um it's a
mile round trip. Uh and it's really
[13:49] pretty wonderful and there's little like
beach leech insects there too. Um so uh
[13:53] yeah, bring your dog, bring your
swimsuit, good fun. Um, we uh have been
[13:58] receiving cleaning service applications.
Uh, and the clerks are going to be
[14:02] giving tours. Uh, you guys have a set
date,
[14:05] » the 27th and 28th. So, the 26th, we'll
be calling the applicants, letting them
[14:09] know u setting up interviews and then on
one of those days, if not both, we will
[14:15] be getting the tourism.
>> Okay. And, uh, we discussed the workshop
[14:18] as well. We're going to go ahead and let
the the clerks key this because they do
[14:22] a lot of the coordination um with the um
with the maintenance staff. So, they're
[14:27] going to make a probationary hire and
then we'll be swearing in more permanent
[14:31] uh uh you know ongoing employment um or
retainer uh at the September meeting.
[14:37] Um, we're also looking for a new uh
representative for the Upper Delaware
[14:42] Scenic Byway as well as the planning
board and a zoning uh board of
[14:47] alternate. Um, our long-suffering
uh vice president of the uh or vice
[14:52] chair of the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway
has put in two and a half years of hard
[14:57] work in very long, long meetings. Thank
you to Mike Edison for serving on that
[15:02] board and taking the role of vice chair.
[15:08] it. Uh it was my first kind of foray
into like representing the town in any
[15:13] capacity and we got a lot done on the
board. Um they're really still kind of
[15:17] where we left it. You know, trying to
get the visitor center off the ground in
[15:22] coordination with California Business
Association. Um and but it's an exciting
[15:26] thing. It's it's an opportunity for our
community to um promote our Hamlet, our
[15:32] town. you know, it's it's it's charged
with promoting the to towns along the
[15:35] byway and businesses along the byway and
the natural uses. Um, so if that
[15:39] interests you, please put your name in
the hat. Uh, you can email me at
[15:43] supervisor at townof islandny.com.
Um, same thing for the planning and
[15:48] zoning board alternate positions. Um,
one of our longtime um serving uh um
[15:54] alternates on the zoning board is is
moving and will not be a full-time
[15:58] resident anymore. and uh our planning
board alternative just yet with her uh
[16:03] with her full-time job. So, if if either
one of those positions interest you as
[16:07] well, please email again supervisor at
the town of Highlandny.com.
[16:12] Um I'm going to skip over this because
we're waiting for some more information
[16:16] about the reorganization meeting. Uh I
believe we may be able to do it the week
[16:20] before, but we will be getting back to
everybody. Um and uh uh we got a really
[16:26] wonderful proposal. So, for those of you
who aren't counting, it's kind of a a
[16:30] rough thing to uh to to um to celebrate,
I guess you'd say, but it's a great
[16:35] thing to honor. Um the 20th anniversary
of 911 is this year. Um we will be
[16:41] having a ceremony in Heroes Park, and we
received a wonderful proposal um from
[16:47] this lovely lady, an artist, um Sylvie.
uh her husband Joe um erected an art
[16:53] show based on 911 um celebrating the
actual buildings. It's more of a
[16:57] celebration which I really like. Yes,
it's very optimistic. So like I'd like
[17:01] to give you the floor
but yeah we live next to the World Trade
[17:08] Center and actually on 911 we escaped.
We came here but then we went back to
[17:14] city but been living here for the last
13 years and I still go back and forth.
[17:19] This is a series of painting he did as a
like for healing. Yeah. You know, he
[17:25] happened to have also major health
issue. So the doctors told him when he
[17:29] left those people say look up. And what
did they say when he looked up? It was
[17:33] the rebuilding of tow one. So he decided
to to to you know illustrate that and
[17:42] then he was very impressed by all. I
mean,
[17:49] and it was 100 of which is German and it
was inspired by that time beyond 100
[17:57] paintings and it took him 10 years but
he finally finished it and I thought 25
[18:02] years later you know it'd be interesting
to share that experience for an artist
[18:08] who live just around the corner and uh
and then when I went on Saturday with
[18:14] the garage sale at the
I was like, "Oh, there these beautiful
[18:18] white balls." So maybe there will be the
uh you know the opportunity to show it
[18:24] just just for one night of town. And
then uh but I was thinking also, oh no,
[18:30] they're not going to want me to push
people on the beautiful white wall and
[18:35] damage the wall.
>> So I'm also a painter. So my commitment
[18:41] was I'll put the push behind the
painting but I promise to restore the
[18:47] wall to its original
shape because I don't want to damage the
[18:52] wall. So uh that's my proposition and
then uh I don't need September 11 on
[19:00] Friday.
I was like oh maybe a lot of people will
[19:04] be out of town so maybe I can stretch it
to Saturday Friday Saturday. But
[19:09] whatever uh it's possible that um it
would be a a great honor, you know, to
[19:16] be able to to put that show. I was even
thinking to ask Na because it's not
[19:23] about us, you know, it's about sharing
with everybody. And I thought Na is the
[19:27] art gallery in town. So I thought maybe
she want to contribute, but I didn't
[19:33] have a chance to ask her yet. So
something to think about.
[19:37] » Yeah. Yeah, was one of our great
partners in the 250 celebration as well,
[19:40] which was great. We put a outside and
there was a main stage. I do think you
[19:44] should consult with her, but I do want
to give our building uh department uh
[19:48] the opportunity to speak to you, but I
do want to tout your credentials really
[19:52] quick. Yeah, Sylvie, for anybody who's
in New York and wants a $40 drink at the
[19:56] Carile Hotel, enroll in and see, which I
did myself. I was like, I have to go see
[20:01] Sylv's work, but I'm going to stand up
here like a creep. So, I'm just running
[20:05] out of here right now. But um anyway, uh
Sylvie is an really accomplished scenic
[20:09] painter and did all the beautiful
beautiful uh walls in Carlile what's the
[20:15] actual room called? The um
>> it's called a champagne room.
[20:17] » Yeah, the champagne. I set myself up for
but um but yeah, so she's a really
[20:23] accomplished like scenic artist. You
know that she painted this pattern on
[20:27] the walls and it was for 30 years. I
mean I go back and forth but we and and
[20:32] and if somebody wants to see I bought
two painting in case you want to have a
[20:36] glimpse they have very little painting
so I thought you know it will not take
[20:41] place but anyway you you look at it
>> well um uh just because of the nature of
[20:47] the schedule and things I like to take a
vote tonight but I also want to give the
[20:51] building department the opportunity to
ask you questions and specifics about
[20:55] how they would be hung things. So so
this is Tom's project and Thanks for
[21:00] having soul into it. So I I want you
guys to be able to ask any questions.
[21:04] » When when the time comes to hand
pictures, please reach out.
[21:08] » Say that again.
>> When the time comes for you to display
[21:11] your artwork, please reach out and we'll
have a discussion on how to do it.
[21:15] » Yeah,
>> that's all. But as viewers,
[21:17] » how many cases you have?
>> It's just conference. That's what you
[21:20] see.
>> Hundreds.
[21:22] Like I mean it could be 50.
>> Could be 25 since it's the 20th.
[21:28] » Yeah. Yeah,
>> but the the the book the first step is
[21:32] to make 100 painting,
>> but it doesn't have to be the but you
[21:35] see they're very light, very very small.
>> So maybe we can pick the best and then
[21:40] just to show you know to share with
angle I love the idea.
[21:44] » I think there's a lot of options for
hanging. Um I love the idea. I think we
[21:48] should keep it up for a month or two
because there'll be a lot of activity in
[21:53] town hall with our budget meetings and
the public hearing and all that fun
[21:57] stuff and then there'll be at least a
few meetings that people will get to see
[22:01] the work.
>> That's better than one night.
[22:03] » That's a lot of work for one night.
That's a lot of hanging for one night.
[22:08] » Um we also have our time capsule show
going up but that'll be on the days of
[22:12] the town board. Um so I I think we have
a space. Do you have any other questions
[22:16] for
>> No, not at this time. We'll we'll talk
[22:19] when it comes time for you to display
the artwork.
[22:21] » Okay. So, do I have a motion to um to
allow Joseph uh to to display his 911
[22:29] art show in town hall?
>> I'll make that motion.
[22:36] » We're very good at this. Exactly.
>> Laura, Chris could be first. Chris could
[22:40] be okay.
>> Perfect. All in favor? All opposed. Any
[22:46] objensions?
So moved. Um I did want to um put this
[22:52] out to the community. There's a vacancy
for home health aid um in the town of
[22:57] Highland. Um one of our senior residents
has done a lot of her own footwork,
[23:01] which we're really proud of her for. Um
she's working with the office of the
[23:05] aging and she's carved out a position
for four hours a weekly at $25 an hour.
[23:10] there's a a short training class that
you have to take with the office of the
[23:14] aging for accreditation to the uh uh
home health aid. Um but again, it's four
[23:20] hours a week, $25 an hour. Um and it is
paid for by the county office of the
[23:26] aging. So I just wanted to put that out
there somebody you know um has four
[23:31] hours a week to get. She's a lovely
person. Um we work with her in different
[23:36] capacities. She's very active in town
whenever possible. She lived up here for
[23:39] over 40 years without a vehicle. So
that's a testament to her strength and
[23:44] perseverance, but she's a really really
interesting and fun person. Um so that
[23:49] vacancy is out there. And um if there's
somebody you know who does need that
[23:53] kind of help as well, um the office for
the aging does extend these type of
[23:58] physicians out in general. Um so if you
need more information, please contact me
[24:02] or speak to Joe's local who can give you
more information on that as well. Um and
[24:08] uh we also put it out to um targeted
community members for our health
[24:12] officials in our gantry. Um but we still
have I believe four or five remaining
[24:17] SNAP vouchers. Um as you guys may know
there's been a lot of cuts to the
[24:22] federal uh budget. So the SNAP program
at large u for um seniors
[24:28] um coordinating with our farmers market
has been reduced greatly. Um we were
[24:32] given 10 vouchers. Um, so we still have,
I think, four or five left. Uh, we're
[24:38] just waiting on somebody's schedule to
see if they can pick them up, but
[24:41] they'll be available this Saturday at
the information tenant, the variable
[24:44] farmers market. This will enable people
to use their vouchers for fresh produce.
[24:49] Um, and the farmers market manager Nancy
um will will administer those to people.
[24:54] So, if you are interested in that
program, uh, the threshold is very uh
[24:59] low, I guess, for the median income. Um
uh so a lot of people are eligible. If
[25:04] you have any questions about SNAP
requirements, you can see it on the
[25:07] Office for the Aging, uh website, but if
you are interested or would like to
[25:12] nominate somebody, text me, call me,
email me, uh whatever you need, but we
[25:16] only have 10. Uh and I believe five are
spoken for at this point. Um so that's
[25:21] all I have. Uh right. So that's where
was the other.
[25:27] agenda. All right, you're up, Joe B.
>> All right. Um, well, the agenda, the
[25:32] paving report, the contract paving is
all completed. The cost of that was
[25:39] $297,54257.
[25:45] Um, the speed change request that was
granted and I'm waiting for Charlie
[25:51] Kosher with the county to install the
signs. I've already spoken to him about
[25:55] it. So that's the that's in the works.
>> Can you mention are no parking signs on
[26:02] River Road again too cuz he came and
took them down because they weren't
[26:05] official uh you know by the green space
next to Jules property.
[26:08] » Yeah.
>> He came and took them down last summer
[26:10] when we got the rest of the signage up
with the promise that he was going to
[26:14] come with the New York State official
one that looks identical to it. So if
[26:17] you could poke him and he'll shut up the
damn sign that he took down. We'd love
[26:20] that. Um because the residents on River
Road are you know there there is an
[26:25] indicator on the rules of the green
space but I know we don't want anybody
[26:29] to park their stakes there and you know
the new so if you could mention the
[26:34] great
>> okay
[26:34] » that would be awesome.
>> Yeah
[26:36] » he was nice about it be
>> um great uh Laura and Frank can you
[26:42] report on your emergency services
meeting?
[26:47] Sure. We uh split the meeting with our
emergency services responders um between
[26:53] two days because it's a lot of people's
schedules to coordinate. Uh and so first
[26:58] we'd like to thank the Fire Department
and the Highland Lake Fire Department as
[27:01] well as the Highland uh ambulance
services for carving out some time to
[27:05] tell us about their experiences working
with campgrounds throughout the town,
[27:09] which was the point of the meeting. We
really wanted to do some factf finding
[27:12] and information gathering. Um there's
been um incidences, wayfinding issues,
[27:20] communication issues,
um lighting issues, understanding the
[27:25] layout of the campgrounds and their maps
and how they've upgraded and changed.
[27:29] And there are some campgrounds that are
are held to a higher standard. They're
[27:32] doing an outstanding job and I think
that they lead by example and um they
[27:37] were able to communicate to us who's
doing an awesome job and where there's
[27:40] areas to improve upon. And what we'd
really like to do is just forge a
[27:43] stronger partnership with our
campgrounds, especially the commercial
[27:46] campgrounds in our town, to make sure
that when an incident happens, um which
[27:51] we hope doesn't, but it, you know, does
um that our ser our service providers
[27:56] can get into the affected person as
quickly as possible, as seamlessly as
[28:00] possible, and that we know who's going
to be on site to help guide those
[28:04] professionals to those spaces um and
tighten things up a little bit. So, we
[28:08] are going to put a a report together for
the rest of the board to review um which
[28:13] will be including a call for a end of
season meeting where we're going to ask
[28:17] our campground um managers to join our
our uh emergency service professionals
[28:23] as well as town board members who any
anyone who'd like to come at the end of
[28:27] this season. So, we're thinking uh
November, maybe after the election and
[28:32] the budget has passed um to really
debrief what was this year like and I
[28:36] think that it would really be a helpful
and well-guided conversation to share
[28:41] resources and talk about, you know,
implement things that have been
[28:44] implemented that are working really
well. Uh and it's something we'd like to
[28:47] continue. And more importantly, we
invited our code enforcement team to
[28:51] those meetings uh so that they could
think about when they're going for their
[28:55] annual visit to these commercial
entities and they're doing their fire
[28:58] and safety check and walk through. There
might be some more things they could
[29:03] look for and offer guidance to um in
terms of how to protect our guests in
[29:08] those spaces.
Anything else? Did I miss?
[29:11] » Covered it. That's about it.
Thank you both for for the ideation of
[29:17] the actual meet up in general. Um and
yeah, I think it's really important to
[29:22] connect connect with commercial entities
that we, you know, maybe don't have, you
[29:26] know, control over, but we are the we're
their resource like if there is an
[29:30] emergency. So, I really appreciate your
work and getting everybody together and
[29:33] I think it's great that you're following
up with the camps like offseason to the
[29:36] end of year, end of season
>> kind of wrap up. That would be that'll
[29:41] be nice.
>> That's great. Well, thank you for doing
[29:43] that. Um, Tom, can you please give us an
update on the town hall renovation?
[29:48] » Yes, the town hall has come along uh
fairly well. We're at the trimming and
[29:52] painting stage. I suspect uh we should
be completed by midepptember. That's
[29:58] what we're shooting for 100%. That would
include the conference room as well as
[30:02] the main hall. And if you have a chance,
stop in. It's looking really good in
[30:06] there.
>> Great. Thank you so much. Um, Frank, can
[30:11] you please give us an update and
present?
[30:14] » Um, yep. We put together Tom and I went
over plans and we put together a scope
[30:21] with a bid package to be submitted to
the public for bids on the uh the
[30:26] various tasks that we're doing at the at
the courthouse. Um, we just have a
[30:31] couple of things to clean up on it. some
changes were um were made and people
[30:37] were ready to submit and get going with
uh get going with that project.
[30:41] » Yes. So, we we we hired our um we hired
our architect through the bid process
[30:47] back in January of 2025. Um we put the
bid out and we were we found a really
[30:52] wonderful um architect who used to be a
resident. We came up here and bid on
[30:56] him. Um he's been working with us over
the last two years to really perfect the
[31:00] plans. Uh and then we implemented the
reestablishment of the constabularary
[31:04] and they gave us some feedback as well.
We've gotten a lot of feedback from the
[31:08] court justices and the court clerk um
the long-suffering uh snake bearing code
[31:13] clerk. Uh so we made sure to put all the
remediation for sinks and building
[31:19] information there. You know taken a
little bit longer. Um you know you guys
[31:23] saw this the project happened very fast
with the commercial kitchen and the
[31:26] renovations in here. Same thing with
town hall. The um the courthouse
[31:30] renovation is, you know, combined even
larger than all the renovation. It's
[31:35] it's about all the renovations put
together. We have a $250,000 budget to
[31:39] uh to uh um make that courthouse great
and also work within the historical
[31:44] accuracies of it. So, it's a lot more um
it's a lot more uh uh high stakes and
[31:51] difficult project to sort of like pull
the pull the um lever on. Um especially
[31:56] because we're trying to stay
historically accurate. Stuckco work is
[32:00] um something that's pretty rough. Sherry
Chris, thank you for finding our
[32:04] wonderful long-suffering uh Stuckco
remediators. They they've been on the
[32:10] project uh since the beginning, too. Um
they're really wonderful Polish family.
[32:15] They're a son and father duo. Pardon?
>> They're still hanging with us.
[32:20] » They're still hanging with us. Thank
God. Yeah, we met with them after Sherry
[32:25] suggested them in more chip of 2025 and
they've come out and talked to every
[32:29] architect, every builder, every
proposed, anybody who's been interested
[32:33] or looked at the project and um I think
they've come up with a really wonderful
[32:37] plan. So, between Larry and those guys,
and we also have um uh where is what's
[32:42] Steve's last name?
>> Which Steve? Lane.
[32:45] » Steve Lane um is a wonderful architect
that is moving up here full-time and
[32:50] he's volunteered his services up to this
point. Um we've been able to forego
[32:54] using an engineer because of the um
professional prowess of Larry and Steve.
[32:59] They've been working in tandem um to
work out some of these things with AB
[33:03] Stuckco. And so we feel really confident
that once we put this big package out,
[33:09] uh, that we'll hopefully find talent
that can match everybody we've already
[33:12] included in these projects. Um, so with
that, I would like to make a motion to,
[33:17] um, adopt, uh, the bid package that was
put together and put, um, this up to bid
[33:22] uh, for courthouse um, renovations. Do I
have a motion?
[33:27] » I'll make a move.
>> Okay. Do you have a second?
[33:29] » I'll second it. Okay. All in favor?
>> All oppose? Any extensions? So moved.
[33:37] Um
I also want to um uh move on to our
[33:43] emergency services uh committees. Um as
we go through the bond process, you
[33:48] know, uh we basically are starting from
ground zero with the constabularary. You
[33:53] know, the town popular vote was that we
would reestablish the constabularary. At
[33:57] the time when the town when the previous
town board dissolved the constabularary,
[34:00] they moved several vehicles off for a
very low amount. Several weapons were
[34:04] given out to the sheriff's department.
It was a very um was kind of a clearing
[34:08] house. It was done very rapidly. Uh and
we didn't make any money on it. It was
[34:11] almost like a sort of zero in zero out
um uh sort of service. So as we were
[34:17] thinking of reestablishing these things
based on popular vote, uh it was decided
[34:21] that we had to bomb this out. And so we
spread this out over five years. Uh the
[34:26] bond the total bond package was for
$240,000.
[34:30] Um and that was voted on back in May, I
believe. Um and we worked with Green
[34:35] Bank, so we got the lowest interest rate
at 3.8%. Uh we have a 5-year payment. Um
[34:41] and uh it will be it will be a town
cost. Um but you know, breaking it up
[34:47] over five years enables us to get two
new vehicles upfitted. Um Jason and Mike
[34:53] have been uh scrapping, you know, beyond
beyond compare for trying to get this
[34:59] thing restarted. You'll notice if you go
by the courthouse in Constabularary now
[35:02] that there's a work trailer out there.
So we've moved we've moved the uh office
[35:07] functions out of Jason's basement. Um
and it's now has a life. It's getting
[35:12] more real. The vehicles are going to the
upfitter. Um uh he was able to get um
[35:17] equipment from the state troopers uh
within the vehicles. all the printers
[35:21] and computers or um sorry Paul Kay was
able to get us a grant for 10,000 for
[35:28] three-way cameras and uniforms. So we're
really off to a great start with this
[35:31] program. But within that I do want to
keep a closer tab on the expenditures so
[35:37] we know what we're looking at and so we
can look at um all the money that we
[35:40] pulled in plus all the money and holes
and and upcoming costs that we may have.
[35:44] So I think it would be important for us
to break off for the first time and
[35:47] start their own constabularary bank
account, pull those money out of
[35:50] general, look at the expenses that we
paid out of general already, and just
[35:54] have those numbers at a quicker glance
for us to manage. So with that, I would
[35:57] like to make a motion to set up a
dedicated constabularary bank account.
[36:03] » I'll make a motion.
>> Okay. Do I have a second?
[36:08] » I'm happy to second that.
>> Okay. All in favor?
[36:11] » All oppose? Any extensions?
So moved. Um I would additionally like
[36:17] to make a motion to make myself a signer
with deputy supervisor Frank Montorer,
[36:24] excuse me, and Jason Sarnoff as well.
>> I'll make a motion to Okay. Do I have a
[36:32] second? I'll second. Okay. All in favor?
>> I.
[36:36] » All opposed. Any abstensions? So moved.
Um, budget letters have gone out uh to
[36:43] the emergency services, to the library,
and anybody that has a budget that they
[36:47] set outside of the town in highway
general budgets. Um, I do want to
[36:51] clarify something as well. It within the
budget letter, it was defined that the
[36:55] BOSAP program needs to be included in
the uh in the fire department and uh
[37:01] ambulance budgets. But all that means
we're not we're not asking them to pay
[37:05] for something additional. Um it was
suggested by Cooper Aras that we show
[37:09] the low SAP payments in the actual total
budget. So we're not asking them to
[37:14] supplement anything. We're just asking
for full transparency so that the public
[37:18] knows what they voted for back in 2011
for the low south program. um the clerks
[37:23] and our actuary and fire chiefs and
everybody involved with emergency
[37:28] services and the captains and the
president of the Ohio ambulance,
[37:32] everybody's been working very very hard
to really clean up the LOAP program. For
[37:36] anybody who doesn't know, LOAP stands
for length of service program. Um it's
[37:41] something that was implemented in
originally in 2005. They backdated it to
[37:47] 2000 in or sorry 1999. So, it's
basically an award program for
[37:52] volunteers who aren't compensated uh for
volunteering for um the fire department
[37:56] and for the ambulance. Most of the
ambulance workers have moved off of LOA
[38:00] because they are paid and compensated
hours in most cases. I think we only
[38:04] have about five volunteers at this at
this point and it's mostly a paid
[38:08] operation and we're doing really
wonderful doing that. Um but the uh fire
[38:12] department uh both of them, Highland
Lake and Eulan are still volunteered. So
[38:16] this is our token of appreciation that
we give to them. But we just want to be
[38:20] transparent. We want to know what it
looks like, what the total cost of each
[38:23] program is so that there are no hidden
numbers in our budget. Right now it's
[38:27] just sort of tied in with insurance and
workers comp and of the things. So we're
[38:30] just going to break that out, but it's
in no way asking the departments for
[38:33] anything else. It's no decrease in any
of their budgets. Um we've been going
[38:38] back and forth. There was calls to the
accountant and she was confused as to
[38:42] why she was receiving those. So, we're
going to send around the diagram that
[38:45] she sent out uh to us internally just to
show them what it'll physically look
[38:50] like on the budgets moving forward. So,
I just wanted to make that
[38:53] clarification. Um,
additionally, um, Linda Anderson's uh,
[38:58] service uh, points need to be corrected
for the Highland Ambulance Service for
[39:02] Penflex. Uh, so I would like to make a
motion um to make that um correction uh
[39:09] for Linda Anderson's service points uh
via Penflex for the Highland Ambulance
[39:14] Service and her work on that um on that
on that ambulance service uh lung lung
[39:20] servant. Um do I have a motion?
[39:27] I'll make a motion. Okay. Do I have a
second?
[39:37] I'll second it.
>> Okay. All in favor? All opposed?
[39:42] Any abstensions?
>> I'd like to abstain.
[39:45] » Okay. Thank you. So moved.
Uh Frank and Chris, can you please give
[39:51] us an update on your insurance
committee?
[39:55] » Sure. Uh we met at the the insurance
provider
[40:00] uh broker. We as many of you know we
have to update every year to just make
[40:05] sure that we're not overinsuring in some
places and underinsuring in others. So
[40:10] Frank and I met with with Chris who's
the our firm and uh we're still in the
[40:18] process of of making sure that the
amounts that we're insuring for our
[40:23] active. It looks like we might have
overinsured in some places and it looks
[40:28] like we may have underinsured in other
places. How high will go for it? And so
[40:34] we are just doing this calibration and
making you know just so that we're not
[40:38] overpaying if we don't need to but also
so that we don't increase our liability
[40:43] in [clears throat] in any way. Um, we
found out after the meeting, you know,
[40:47] that we can do this virtually even
though we enjoyed meeting Nellia in
[40:51] person and had a nice conversation, but
we'll be doing this in the future in a
[40:56] much a little bit more of a graphic way.
[41:05] » No. Yeah, we pretty much understand
what's pretty much out, you know, the
[41:10] it's the contents. Like if you took a
building and shook it upside down, what
[41:13] are those values? And some of the values
were extremely high like in town hall
[41:18] that we're insuring, but then again the
high was kind of low. We recognize that
[41:24] and we're we're in the process of
getting that cleaned up done. So the
[41:28] other thing is is that even if we are
underinsuring, learn that if something
[41:33] happens, we're covered to the full
amount. So we're insured for about seven
[41:37] and a half million dollars. And so even
if we had, god forbid, an accident or
[41:42] something or something that happened
inside the highway department, he still
[41:45] wouldn't recover it. So it just means
that we're not actual.
[41:50] » Well, next month I'll be giving the
groups.
[41:55] » I think they were vehicles, whatever
ones they operated.
[42:01] » Yeah.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
[42:04] » Great. Um that leads me to the gateway
sign. Um, so we have insurance on all of
[42:10] our signage, right? And so we basically
turned in a claim. Um, the total claim
[42:16] insurance was for 5,000. We have quotes
for $4,000 from our um from our
[42:22] contractors to remediate the sign um and
replace it with something that's in line
[42:28] with all the other gateway signs, but
still honors the traditional HAN. We had
[42:32] a couple of residents who I will not
name right now who really wanted the
[42:36] Laurel Hamlet inclusion uh uh there
because as many of you know Yulen in
[42:43] Japanese means Laurel. Um so they went
with the Japanese uh uh phrase and
[42:48] that's where the town or the the hamlet
of Yulin's name comes from. So they
[42:52] wanted to just add to Bin's design that
we shared last month um with with that
[42:57] uh with that moniker included. but she's
come up with a really wonderful sign.
[43:01] Her and um Nicole from Finehand has done
an amazing job kind of redoing our signs
[43:06] since 20 I've been working with them
since 2017 when we got our first um
[43:12] gateway signs project which was the um
the former business directory in
[43:17] Barryville. You know, it used to be like
one of those old Catskills map that had
[43:20] all the businesses there. during the
pandemic, we kind of fell out of favor
[43:24] uh where people didn't have the extra
money for advertising and somebody else
[43:27] swooped in and now it's kind of more of
a um it's more of a art project at this
[43:32] point that has a couple businesses
featured but no longer part of the the
[43:35] signs but the burial sign is the first
of all the updates to those hamlets uh
[43:41] gateway signs and then we've been able
to work with solvent 180 to fund the
[43:45] signs all along. So, I was really
excited although the sign was um
[43:49] destroyed in the storms over the 4th of
July that we would potentially be
[43:53] covered under our insurance. Our
insurance has this very strange
[43:56] provision in it that it has to be within
1,000 ft of a town building. And so, we
[44:01] really went for a long stretch here
because we have a a relationship with
[44:05] St. Anony's um parish center to be our
storm shelter and charging station and
[44:10] cooling station. He said, "Hey, doesn't
this count? We have individual insurance
[44:14] on this thing and it's within a th00and
feet. What can we do here? They turned
[44:18] us down uh last week. So, I took a look
at our finances and specifically at our
[44:25] um at our buildings department finances
uh and we're doing really well. So, we
[44:30] have $425,000
in grants right now for our highway
[44:35] budget that we're looking to um that
we're looking to be recompensated for.
[44:40] Um, based on the grant programs, we have
$75,000 coming in for the town hall
[44:44] technology in town hall conference room
grant. We have 250 at the courthouse and
[44:50] we have a hundred at the Highland Health
Initiative uh building site. So, we've
[44:55] been spending out of this. Um, some of
these, if you look at the profit and
[44:59] loss budget versus actual identify, um,
we basically still have 179750 left of
[45:06] our budgets. Um, which, you know, we've
only spent $17,254
[45:12] on personal services, which are hourly
employees who cut up the grass, who
[45:16] assist with the contractors on some of
the work, and we really do a lot of
[45:19] wonderful maintenance and cleaning of
our buildings. Um, so I feel like we're
[45:24] in a pretty wonderful position. Uh,
total savings in our New York class
[45:28] account is 3,585,82
[45:33] which is more than our town budget.
Sorry, do you have to leave?
[45:39] Okay. Um but so we have you know more
than more than our town budget available
[45:45] in just our general savings account um
in our um in our general budget
[45:56] with Jeff thank
[46:09] We have a lot of them, but I can't
[clears throat] see this. Anybody else?
[46:20] » The Zoom has been going in and out all
night. So, there's some connectivity
[46:24] issues.
>> Okay. So, in our Jet Bank general
[46:29] account, we got $364,968.70.
[46:34] Um, so it to my mind I don't want to I
don't want to um spend money on things
[46:40] we we don't have or haven't budgeted
for. But because we do have a pretty
[46:45] boisterous grant program going on and
we've been pretty great about staying
[46:48] within budgets, I would like to propose
that we replace the hamlet signs at a
[46:53] cost of $4,000. Uh living with Dorian
Warner and Nicole from Finance Signs to
[46:59] replace the wheel H sign. Do I have a
motion?
[47:06] I'll make a motion. Okay. Do I have a
second?
[47:14] » All second. Thank all in favor. I
>> I
[47:18] » All opposed.
Any extensions?
[47:23] So moved. Excited to get that sign on
the new one.
[47:27] » Question.
>> Sure.
[47:28] » What's going to happen to the old side?
>> It's a mileage. Yeah, it's we just have
[47:33] the welcome and then I think the yulan
part broke off and I think it was just
[47:37] cleared. I'm not sure what's there now.
I don't know if you saw
[47:41] » Yeah, it just says
>> Yeah, I don't know what it Yeah, I'm not
[47:44] sure.
>> A lot of the a lot of the signs that
[47:47] have come down in disrepair were sold
during the treasures and trinket sale as
[47:52] a way to support the library their
deficit.
[47:54] » So some of that was you said it was sold
but what portions of it?
[47:57] » The ullet sign was sold.
>> Yeah. as a donation to the library.
[48:03] » Do you know who ended? Do you know who
ended up?
[48:05] » I'm not telling that.
>> Okay. I thought maybe we could all go
[48:09] stare in their yard.
>> All right.
[48:13] » The signs went to some very happy homes.
>> Yep. But um we'll be actually in the
[48:18] sign. We'll put a picture of the
proposed sign. We're we are going to
[48:21] make the changes to add the Royal Hamlet
on there. Um, so we will um we will put
[48:26] that on the town board website uh as
soon as we get that rendering from
[48:29] Dorian and um and Nicole. Um website and
technology. Uh Frank, can you tell us
[48:36] about the payroll checking system?
>> Yeah. Um last meeting
[48:41] um I indicated that they doubled the
price on the tracking for going through
[48:47] our payroll provider ADP. So I did speak
with them and I said that wasn't
[48:51] acceptable. you know, um, we would be
looking elsewhere. About a week later,
[48:57] they called back and decided to add this
$10 for paper, which I
[49:05] which they won't get even back down. And
um um it was something it's something I
[49:12] think we should go with. um and the um
the fact that it's part of ADP with our
[49:20] payroll and includes all the employees
as far as pricing other other time
[49:25] tracking software um this is the right
way to go. So um once we get it
[49:32] implemented um there'll be a quick
training Laura and I are going to get on
[49:38] with them and get all the employees set
up. It's more of a a tracking and
[49:42] location type of um system. So, you
know, anybody working in town hall or on
[49:48] any of the town properties, it's just a
it's just a record of where they are in
[49:53] case they ever needed it for, you know,
somebody claimed they were somewhere
[49:57] that's proved where they where they are
and also protects the town, too. So, if
[50:01] someone's not here, we also have record
that they're not here and they might
[50:05] have been someplace else. So it's a um
as far as our grant programs and
[50:11] allocating monies and different
locations and what you know time is
[50:15] being spent on. It's a it's a very
powerful tool that'll integrate with our
[50:20] existing payroll system
>> and it's really helpful too like you
[50:23] said like when we're working on our
grant programs to track hours even like
[50:26] our latent staff that joined the job on
those projects but also you know from
[50:31] time to time we've had questions about
you know positions that are supposed to
[50:35] be hourly that have been moved to salary
just over time you know just out of
[50:38] familiarity but like this will be this
will give us like a real world approach.
[50:42] Also, we go through these painstaking
sessions where people record their
[50:46] retirement uh as mandated by the state
and we don't have a true reflection of
[50:51] those hours and so they go back two to
three years sometimes and just fill in
[50:54] their hours and try to look in when they
were working and it's not efficient. So
[50:58] to have a digital kind of capture of all
that is pretty wonderful for the cost
[51:01] that we're at and also the reliability
that
[51:05] is pretty great. So thank you for taking
that on. I really appreciate that. Um,
[51:09] do I have a motion to implement the play
the payroll pocketing system from ADP at
[51:14] a cost of 89 $89 a month?
>> I'll make that motion.
[51:21] » Okay, I have a second. I'll second.
Okay. All in favor?
[51:24] » I.
>> All opposed?
[51:28] Any abstensions?
So moved. Um,
[51:34] we are in the midst of planning our uh
September 11 uh memorial on uh September
[51:42] 11th. It's Friday. Uh, that'll be at 6
PM. Um, I'm talking to local clergy and
[51:48] some guest speakers and I'm really
excited that we're going to have Joseph
[51:52] show up in town hall. Uh I think it'll
be a really beautiful event and uh we
[51:56] look forward to inviting everybody in to
commemorate the extreme loss and
[52:00] recovery of our country. So um I hope
you all can attend. That'll be at 6 pm
[52:05] on September 11. Yes. In his absence I
say that I spoke with him today
[52:11] and we play with Andy Boy to cover some
details
[52:18] as
[52:21] we agree on what There's a problem that
we see that we like to nip in the bug.
[52:28] We like to remind the public that it is
a memorial park. It is the solemn nature
[52:35] of the park should be respected. If not
playground
[52:41] it is to honor those who gave 100% to
the loyalty of country
[52:48] steel from 911
television. So therefore planting
[52:54] fundraiser signs around the periphery of
development we appreciate that would be
[53:00] avoided and would be somewhat semity of
the nature of the park being respected
[53:08] and being as we now have three members
of the committee including yours
[53:14] discussing the possibility of maybe
formalizing a committee with law by
[53:18] perhaps electing a chairman that remains
[53:24] Thank you.
>> Thank you very much for that. Um
[53:28] at this time, um I make a motion to
enter into executive session for the
[53:34] purposes of discussing confidential
employment matters and procedures. Uh do
[53:38] I have that motion?
[53:42] Do I have a second?
I'll second. Okay. All in favor? All
[53:47] right.
[1:16:39] Okay.
[1:16:45] » I'll make that motion.
>> Second. Okay. All in
[1:16:48] » favor. All any extensions moved. Um
uh so no um no duct decisions were made
[1:17:00] um during our executive session
draft measure
[1:17:08] for our personal staff.
Um there's a motion to pay the general
[1:17:13] abstract number eight. Oh sorry actually
we had to go back um so we need to talk
[1:17:18] about the growing soul application.
>> Yeah. Um I had the opportunity to speak
[1:17:24] with everybody individually um except
for Chris sorry talked about it before
[1:17:29] the growing souls application. So um
basically we are a pass through it's her
[1:17:35] uh her um grant process with the DC
requires um a uh a town municipality
[1:17:42] sponsorship. Um we started the program
with her which was originally intended
[1:17:46] for here. Um the DEC awarded $70,000 to
implement educational programs um in
[1:17:52] tours uh and then move in in receipt we
will receive fertilizer and our school
[1:17:57] will receive educational programs about
composting and things of that nature. Um
[1:18:01] I reviewed this with um Frank Deo from
Liberty who was the last sponsor of the
[1:18:07] program. He let us know a pretty easy
process um that is okay with the DC for
[1:18:12] cutting checks. Um once the DC
reimbursees the checks our cash by
[1:18:16] Jessica only souls um who was a
nonprofit 50173
[1:18:21] um you know we've been talking to
Jessica for over a year and a half about
[1:18:25] this program. Uh so I would like to make
a motion that we accept uh the growing
[1:18:30] soul uh proposal for um the DEC grant
for composting educational purposes for
[1:18:36] $70,000. Uh do I have a motion? We have
some additional uh additional uh
[1:18:43] information on that before we vote.
>> I've submitted that.
[1:18:47] » I've submitted that and then she came
and presented at the last meeting.
[1:18:50] » Is she going to be doing any uh there
does it no longer involves this space?
[1:18:55] » Yeah, we're not going to use the
highway.
[1:18:56] » It the highway department. It no longer
involves this space. The hos machine
[1:19:01] where the majority of the composting
will be done will be offsite on private
[1:19:04] property. The school already has a
relationship with Jessica where they've
[1:19:08] brought people from Eldrich to the
private property for the implementation
[1:19:12] of the program and educational purposes.
And then the only thing that we're
[1:19:16] really getting or the recipient of is
the fertilizer output. Um that's
[1:19:20] something that Frank said, make sure to
get your fertilizer and push a hand
[1:19:24] there.
>> Yeah. The town
[1:19:25] » do that. We have a lot of gardeners and
farmers in town and I feel like that's
[1:19:29] that's all we're getting. I want it. you
know, I think it's a really good thing
[1:19:32] to get and the farmers market's already
really excited about it. Um, and she
[1:19:36] also agreed to increase the visibility
of the composting and messaging at um,
[1:19:42] » at the transfer station because I don't
know if you, like I said before, if you
[1:19:46] guys have ever looked for that
composting area. It's not very well
[1:19:49] marked or it's not distributed very
well. So, she's also going to try to um,
[1:19:53] get some put there as well. Um so do I
any more discussion
[1:19:58] » as far as uh as far as our involving
with the clerks? What will they have to
[1:20:03] just issue the checks?
>> Yes. So Laura will be still the the
[1:20:06] grant lead on it. Yeah. So what she does
if she submits receipts, work hours, all
[1:20:10] those things to Laura. Laura submits it
to the DEC through the SFS portal. Yeah.
[1:20:15] » SFS will then send it to the DEC. They
will then meet, you know, the council.
[1:20:20] They'll approve the cost and then it's I
think it's in four or five teams. four
[1:20:24] payments.
>> I think it's three. It's less now
[1:20:27] because it was a larger grant, 240,000.
It's three payments. Um the town clerk,
[1:20:33] Sonia, and Melissa won't have to really
have any hands on.
[1:20:36] » They will just have to cut checks based
on
[1:20:38] » we'll put a check request in and it's
it's a uncashed check.
[1:20:42] » Yeah. So, she they physically get a scan
of the check to know that we're good for
[1:20:46] the money. We have to show proof of
funds, which we're, you know, we're fine
[1:20:49] with. And then once we're reimbursed for
it, that's when we can either cancel the
[1:20:53] check or cut a new check to Jessica and
um and give the funds to her for that.
[1:20:58] » Yeah. Thank you for the explanation.
>> Um are there any other questions about
[1:21:03] cover? Okay. Do I have a motion to
accept the proposal from growing soul um
[1:21:10] for their composting educational
program?
[1:21:13] » I'll make the motion.
>> Okay. Do I have a second?
[1:21:17] » I'll second it. Okay. All in favor? All
right. All opposed. Any obstensions?
[1:21:23] So,
uh, do I have a motion to make general?
[1:21:26] Oh, and sorry,
>> sorry, I have one last thing I forgot.
[1:21:31] » Yeah, I'm trying to get better at this
and I always forget um to share with the
[1:21:35] public that we have uh monthly permits
um
[1:21:40] that we've collected from 71 2026 to
7:31 2026. There are 20 permits
[1:21:47] including additional uh additions to
residential septics, um a swimming pool,
[1:21:53] electrical, roofs, new roofs, um solar
panels on a home. Um and that brings us
[1:22:00] about $6,68
for the July period.
[1:22:06] » Now we're done.
>> Thank you, Laura.
[1:22:10] » Now we can pay the bill. Frank, you're
gonna do this report in the zone. Yeah,
[1:22:16] everything's good. A lot of roofs going
on.
[1:22:17] » Lot of roofs. Exactly. Lot of roofs.
>> Um I really uh I really appreciate the
[1:22:23] coding with the code department and like
that they're meeting more.
[1:22:27] I'm all for them. They still do work
with Fusco and so I really would like
[1:22:32] them to rely on Fusco's expertise a
little bit more um in addition to
[1:22:37] Frank's got a full-time job and put some
extra hours.
[1:22:41] because we want them to um you know use
of that relationship as well but I do
[1:22:46] think that we are associated with our
sisters and um they're both doing great
[1:22:50] and you know going to continue education
all kinds of other thank you for all
[1:22:54] your work there um motion to be general
abstract number three-2026 claims 343 to
[1:23:01] 205 in the amount of $89,000 $66.90
[1:23:07] » I had a second I'll second it all in
favor
[1:23:09] » I all oppose Any abstensions?
>> I have n.
[1:23:14] » Okay. So moved. Do I have a motion to
pay highway abstract fee- 20226 claims
[1:23:19] 99 through11 in the amount of $38,2569?
[1:23:27] » Do I have a second?
>> I'll second it.
[1:23:29] » All right.
>> Okay. All in favor?
[1:23:31] » I all oppose. Any abstensions?
>> Some move. I have a motion we pay Albert
[1:23:38] Street Flight 7-2026 claim 7 in the
amount of $14140.
[1:23:43] So I have a motion.
>> I'll make that motion.
[1:23:47] » Do I have a second? I'll second. All in
favor?
[1:23:50] » I all oppose. Any extensions? I
[1:23:59] » second.
Okay. uh resolution. The town of
[1:24:05] Highland Town Board meeting on August
11, 2026 intervenes and pass the
[1:24:09] following resolution. Whereas
modifications are required for the 2026
[1:24:13] general budget. Now therefore be it
resolved that the following budgetary
[1:24:17] transfers be made in the 2026 general
budget. Um from 960 appropriations
[1:24:23] A190.4
contingency for $6,942.
[1:24:28] uh AE uh 10.1 zoning board personal
services $7947
[1:24:34] two AA 960 appropriations um A7410.4
library contractual $100 a uh 8020.1
[1:24:44] planning board personal services $747
and A95.8
[1:24:50] 8 BFIS fireman pension for $6,842
for a total of $7,689.
[1:24:58] Do I have a motion?
>> I'll make that motion. Do
[1:25:02] » I have a second?
>> I'll second. Okay. All in favor? All
[1:25:07] opposed?
>> Any extensions? So moved. Do I have a
[1:25:12] motion to move the general meeting and
adjourn?
[1:25:16] » I'll make that. Do I have a second? May
first
[1:25:21] public comment is at the end of the
meeting.
[1:25:24] » I'll second it.
>> Okay. All in favor?
[1:25:27] » All opposed? Any extensions?
So moved.