[0:10] Good evening everybody. It is 7:00. I'm
going to call this organizational
[0:14] meeting of 2026 to order. We
[clears throat] can all rise to the
[0:19] flag.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[0:25] United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation
[0:30] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
[0:37] [clears throat]
[0:46] » Thank you.
[0:52] » All right. Our first order of business
is going to be to approve the audited
[0:56] bills. Um this abstract is 01-26A.
It includes vouchers 2025-1259
[1:07] to 2026-090.
[1:12] Out of the general fund, $87,128.79.
[1:19] Out of the highway fund, $112,6467.
[1:26] Out of water one, $17,57910.
[1:32] Out of water 2, $5,56051.
[1:37] Out of water 3, $4,19212.
[1:44] out of the sewer fund, uh, $14,127.
[1:50] Out of the wastewater treatment project,
$39,18
[1:56] out of the Grove project count,
$252,540.95.
[2:04] Out of the energy um grant fund, it is
$7,476.95.
[2:14] Out of the highway solar account,
$14,92120.
[2:20] Out of the CDBG housing grant, $4,460.
Out of the uh community assistment fund
[2:29] for uh Christmas gifts was $1,856.58
[2:35] for a grand total of $561,351.14.
[2:41] Have a motion to pay the audited bills.
>> I move it.
[2:45] » Mr. McDonald, a second by Mr. Forbes.
Any discussion?
[2:50] Be none. All those in favor signify by
saying I.
[2:54] » Anybody opposed? Motion carries.
Next thing on the agenda, we have um the
[3:02] minutes from the December 11th, 2025
regular board meeting, which are in
[3:07] front of you.
A motion by Mr. sour to accept the
[3:11] minutes as presented.
>> Second.
[3:13] » A second by Mr. McDonald. Any
discussion?
[3:17] Be none. All those in favor signify by
saying I.
[3:20] » Anybody opposed? Motion carries.
All right, we are at our first audience
[3:26] comment period. If anybody would like to
comment, just stand up, state your name
[3:30] for the record. Um, and you may address
board. [clears throat]
[3:36] All right.
>> Okay.
[3:44] Santo and I live at Ken.
Um,
[3:50] » we can't ask questions. Is that what
you're telling me?
[3:53] » You may address the board, which yes,
you can. If you got something to tell
[3:57] the board, you're more than welcome to.
>> Okay. So, um I was wondering just how
[4:03] much of the ticket sales from the recent
show went into the art.
[4:10] That's where they were supposed to go.
Is that right?
[4:16] » We charge 15% for the event
>> of the ticket sales
[4:20] » of the ticket sales.
>> And you don't have the number for that?
[4:26] $852
[4:30] or something was the amount.
>> And that does go into the art fund.
[4:35] » There is no art fund that it goes into.
It goes into the building use fund.
[4:52] Okay. Um, my other question is what is
being done as far as revitalizing Main
[4:59] Street? I've heard that or I've seen on
the J community news that they want to
[5:05] try and get Main Street to be an
historic
[5:11] place because of the buildings, but most
of those buildings are empty.
[5:17] They're not bringing anything into the
community. How can how can making them a
[5:24] [sighs]
[5:29] Yeah.
[5:32] historic. After making them historic,
do anything to preserve those buildings
[5:40] when they're all empty and they look
terrible?
[5:45] you can't answer because I can't
question because it's a comment.
[5:52] So, I would still like to um find out
what is being done for the
[5:57] revitalization on Main Street and um if
those B buildings are
[6:04] owned by the private sector, which I
understand they are,
[6:11] then how does that person go around go
about
[6:17] getting the building
to be
[6:24] be eligible
[6:27] for this.
So if you can't get
[6:34] if you can't get businesses in there
because of the rent or the cost of
[6:41] utilities.
Um,
[6:45] I don't understand how it can be
considered
[6:48] an historic building.
It just sits there on rocks because
[6:54] nothing's being done to build.
So, um,
[6:59] and this question or this comment goes
to Mr. Sour. Are you involved? No, I
[7:07] can't see.
[7:11] I'm assuming. Hale wants to die. Matt is
a relative of yours
[7:19] and he does the
the installment of the splits
[7:26] from what I understand and you being the
energy officer.
[7:32] Do you have any involvement in that
business?
[7:36] Say that again. So,
I'm going to try to point you in the
[7:40] right direction for a lot of your
questions because all that information
[7:42] is out there. So, the historic district,
we had a public meeting for the historic
[7:47] district. The district is the district.
The buildings are historic from the year
[7:53] that they were built. The money that
people can get from those grants are
[7:58] from ex tax incentives, exemptions that
they get off their income tax for New
[8:04] York State. If it goes into if it gets
approved as a national uh historic
[8:10] district, then there are other grants
that open up for commercial businesses,
[8:14] for um private homeowners.
The point of making it a historic
[8:19] district is to encourage people to
invest in the district to revitalize
[8:24] those historic structures to keep them
as they were. Um, a lot of that
[8:29] information can be discussed or is
discussed and was discussed at that that
[8:34] public information meeting which was
held by Shipo in October. And I believe
[8:42] that that video is up on our website
that you can watch to see that meeting.
[8:47] um the revitalization stuff. If you
would like to know more about what we're
[8:51] doing about our revitalization of Main
Street, I would encourage you to watch
[8:55] any and all of our economic development
meetings which are videotaped and are on
[9:00] our website as well. All of that stuff
is on our website under our meeting
[9:05] minutes tab and you can watch and um get
answers to just about every one of your
[9:09] questions there. Um your comment that
you're making about Mr. Sour and the
[9:15] heat pumps. I think you I'm going to
assume you are talking about the person
[9:20] that Mark sour who is um actually
posting stuff on the J community news.
[9:25] Um I don't believe there's any relation
between Mr.
[9:28] » Sour the name Mark Sour Sle.
[9:37] [clears throat]
>> Are there any other things you would
[9:38] like to present to the board?
>> No. Would you tell me where that is?
[9:43] » Uh, if you give me your email, I will
drop you the exact link to it. It's
[9:48] right from our website, town ofjny.gov.
[9:53] And across the top there is um an info
um tab.
[10:06] I'll actually show you right here and
you can look up at the screen.
[10:17] » [clears throat]
[10:21] » You go across to about it is the me uh
meeting minutes tab. You click that that
[10:26] will show you and you can watch all of
our board meetings, all of our planning
[10:30] board meetings. There's an archive um
back um the last three years, four years
[10:36] for some of those committees. Um the
other committees, the parks and open
[10:40] spaces, economic development, climate
smart task force, human services
[10:44] committee, comprehensive plan, special
board, all that stuff is on on that site
[10:48] if you'd like to review it.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[10:50] » You're welcome. Have a great day.
[11:00] If I can figure out how to get back to
[laughter]
[11:12] there we go.
All right. Any other um audience
[11:17] comments?
All right. We will move on to
[11:21] organizational resolutions.
[clears throat]
[11:27] The first resolution is going to be for
the 2026 Town of J appointments. Um, and
[11:34] I will read through all of these just
for the record and then we can have a
[11:39] motion in a second.
[11:47] » There are catchup.
[11:54] I can probably catch you as you go
through.
[11:56] » Yeah.
>> Um, [clears throat]
[11:59] dog control officer, um, Dan McDonald,
deputy control, uh, the deputy dog
[12:06] control officer, Trevor Carl, code
enforcement officer, Roger Tomkins,
[12:11] deputy highway superintendent Cody
Garren, deputy town clerk, Tamber
[12:15] McCabe. Our disaster committee will be
made up of myself as the chair, Tom
[12:21] McDonald as the deputy chair, um Chris
Surell, Cody Garren, and then of course
[12:26] as part of that committee, we will be
including all of the um emergency squads
[12:30] in the town of Jay. I'm the registister
of vital statistics. Um, Carol Greenley
[12:36] Hackle, deputy registister of vital
statistics, Tamber McCabe. Uh, sewer
[12:41] rent biller, Michelle Axtel. Uh, sewer
rent collector, Carol Greenley Hackle.
[12:46] The attorney for the town of Jay, uh,
Dan Manning. The town bank will be
[12:51] community bank NA. The town newspaper
will be the Press Republican. Uh, water
[12:56] rent biller, Michelle Axto. Water rent
collector Carol Greenley Hack Hackle. Uh
[13:02] ambulance board liaison will be myself
and Tom McDonald. Uh climate smart task
[13:08] force chairman Mr. Canute Sauer. Budget
officer will be uh myself and Carol
[13:15] Greenley Hackle. Building committee uh
will be me as the chair, Paul Benway,
[13:20] Brooke uh Paris. Highway committee, Tom
McDonald will be the chair. Steve
[13:26] Forbes, Jesse McDonald, uh Chris Serell,
Cody Garren will be on that committee.
[13:31] The sewer and water committee, Steve
Forbes will be the chair. Tom McDonald,
[13:35] Jesse McDonald, Paul Mintz will be on
that committee. Water uh we already
[13:39] that's where we already did the water
and sewer water sewer. Essex County
[13:47] Youth Bureau, I will be um the chair uh
being assisted by Carol Greenley Hackle.
[13:53] Historian will be Sharon Houston.
Insurance committee will be myself,
[13:57] Carol Greenley Hackle, Michelle Axtel.
The Jay Blackbrook Youth Commission
[14:02] liaison will be myself and Michelle
Axtel. Clerk to the supervisor will be
[14:06] Michelle Axtel. Clerk two will be Tamber
McCabe. Clerk three Carol Greenley
[14:11] Hackle. The parks and open open space
committee chair will be Olivia Dwire.
[14:17] Personnel committee chair Tom McDonald.
Human Services Committee will be chaired
[14:22] by Robin McCari and I will uh sit on and
be the board representative on that
[14:27] committee. Economic development chair is
myself.
[14:31] Um
and
[14:35] we had already done those two.
[14:40] So if I could have a motion to approve
the 2026 Town of J appointments
[14:44] » by Mr. Sour,
>> second by Mr. McDonald. Discussion
[14:51] » be none. All those in favor signify
second
[15:03] » discussion.
I thought Steve was going to be with you
[15:06] on the
[15:10] » or just put just put both of us.
>> Um it can be the two of you and then
[15:15] like I can be your alternate. Do you
want me to say the alternate?
[15:19] » You can be the alternate. That would be
fine with me.
[15:23] » Yeah.
>> So, the ambulance liaison.
[15:27] » Ambulance leazison. Alternate Steve
Forbes.
[15:35] Any other discussion?
Being none. Are Mr. S, you okay with the
[15:41] amendment? And Mr. McDonald, are you
okay with the amendment?
[15:44] » Yes.
>> Um, any further discussion?
[15:48] None. All those in favor signify by
saying I.
[15:50] » Anybody opposed?
>> Motion carries.
[15:57] » Uh the next resolution will be uh the
2026 authorization for payment. Um now
[16:04] therefore the salary set forth below are
hereby established for the year 2026 and
[16:08] be further resolved that the supervisor
be hereby authorized to pay said
[16:13] salaries from the appropriate town
funds. Animal control officer, $3,90.
[16:21] Deputy dog control officer, $1,545.
Board of assessment review will be $100
[16:29] per um B member, and there will be three
of those. Budget officer,
[16:36] um it'll be $2,000 and that will be
split between myself and Carol. building
[16:42] inspector, which is our code officer,
$26,525.
[16:47] Uh, building maintenance park laborer
have one of those at $2426
[16:53] an hour. The other building maintenance
park labor is $228
[16:58] per hour. Councilman, we have four at
$6,685.
[17:05] Historian, um, one at $2,000. Justice
one at $13,265.
[17:13] Court clerk one at $5,300.
For youth commission, um we have four
[17:20] recreation specialists. Um one for
baseball, one for basketball, one for
[17:24] soccer, one for skiing. Each one of
those are $1,000. The town of Jay is
[17:29] responsible for one half of that at $500
per.
[17:34] Um the registar of vital statistics, one
of those at $275.
[17:39] Deputy registar of vital statistics,
$275.
[17:44] The sewer red biller, one of those at
$600. Sewer red collector, one of those
[17:49] at 600, I'm sorry, $660.
And the collector is $666
[17:54] or $660.
sewer treatment plant operator. Uh, one
[18:00] of those at $36, uh,7 per hour. An
assistant plant operator at $27.40
[18:07] per hour. We have an another assistant
sewer plant operator at 27.86 per hour.
[18:14] And the third assistant sewer plant
operator 2228 per hour.
[18:20] The superintendent of um highways
um
[18:26] is at a salary of $74,265.
The deputy superintendent has a
[18:31] statement of $2,500.
Clerk to the superintendent is $26.75
[18:38] per hour. Um the highway department will
have one labor at $20.76 hours an hour.
[18:45] [clears throat]
an MEO at um this is the PDM position at
[18:50] $25 per hour. An MEO one at 2475 per
hour. Another MEO at 2705 per hour.
[18:59] Another MEO at 2586 per hour. Another
MEO, this is an MEO 2. Those were MEO1s
[19:07] at 2624.
We have an HO, which is a heavy
[19:11] equipment operator at 2562
per hour. another uh HO
[19:18] um one at 2386 per hour. Another HO1 at
2732 per hour. We have an HO2
[19:26] um at 2925 per hour. Um the supervisor
um one of those at $55,160.
[19:37] The deputy supervisor gets a stipen of
$1,500. The clerk to the supervisor is
[19:42] at $26 an hour. Clerk two is at $24 an
hour. Clerk three is at 2855 per hour.
[19:49] The tax collector um is a salary of
$9,000. The town attorney is $100 per
[19:56] hour. The town clerk is uh a salary of
$15,500.
[20:01] The deputy town clerk gets a stipend of
$2,000. Um water treatment plant
[20:07] operator. Um we have one of those at
3607 per hour. an assistant uh water
[20:12] treatment plant operator at 2740 per
hour. Another uh assistant water
[20:18] treatment plant operator at 27.86 per
hour. Another water treat plant another
[20:24] assistant water treatment plant operator
at 2228 per hour. Water rent biller um
[20:31] is a onetime um statement of $710 and
the water rent collector is a onetime
[20:37] stipen of $710.
Can I have a motion to accept the salary
[20:41] schedule as presented?
>> Move. Second, Mr.
[20:44] » O'Donnell, second by Mr. Sour.
Discussion
[20:49] [cough] be not. [clears throat] If we
can have a roll call vote, please.
[20:53] [snorts]
[20:55] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[21:00] » Yes. Motion carries.
[21:05] The next list of resolutions will be
quick resolutions that I will need a
[21:10] motion, a second, and then there'll be
discussion. Um,
[21:18] » um, we can do um,
[21:25] » I can do that. I can read all of them.
Then we can make motion and if somebody
[21:29] has a problem with one, stop. Yeah,
[clears throat]
[21:34] » please see the attached listing of
regular monthly meetings um of the town
[21:38] of J um town board for 2026
um which includes the organizational
[21:46] meeting today, January 8th. The February
meeting will be fe all of these are the
[21:50] second Thursday of every month. February
12th, March 12th, April 9th, May 14th,
[21:55] June 11th, July 9th, August 13th,
September 10th, October 8th, November
[22:01] 12th, December 10th. All meetings are
held at 7 p.m. here at the Town of Jay
[22:06] Community Center unless otherwise noted.
The Pass Republican is designated as the
[22:12] official newspaper of the town of Jay
for the calendar calendar year of 2026.
[22:18] The community bank is designated as the
official bank of the town of Jay for
[22:21] calendar year 2026. The proceedings of
the town of Jay board shall be conducted
[22:26] according to Robert Trule's order. The
town of Jay board shall adopt the town's
[22:32] procurement policy.
All fees collected for birth and death
[22:37] certificates by the local registar shall
be turned over to the town on a monthly
[22:40] basis. All town officials shall be
reimbured for mileage at the rate of
[22:45] 72.5 cents per mile in necessary
expenses incurred in performing their
[22:50] duties of office according to the 2026
IRS rates. I think we got to change
[22:54] that.
We're only just Should we even do 72 and
[22:58] half cents and just put per IRS?
>> 72.5
[23:03] cents is the new IRS rate,
>> right? But wouldn't it make more sense
[23:09] just to put the IRS the IRS rate? It can
change at any given time.
[23:14] » No, it's an annual
year.
[23:19] » Yeah.
And if it does change, if it does
[23:24] change, we should know that exact rate
so that it actually is
[23:28] is changed by the board.
>> I mean, I I just other towns are putting
[23:34] per IRS rate.
>> The rate does change.
[23:39] » It can change at any time. [snorts] It
doesn't matter.
[23:41] » No, it's an annual.
>> It can change in a year, but I'm not
[23:44] going to read about it. Whatever. There
you go.
[23:49] The supervisor shall submit to the town
clerk within 60 days after the close of
[23:53] the fiscal year a copy of the AFR to the
state controller required by section 10
[23:59] of the general municipal law. Upon
receipt, the town clerk shall publish in
[24:03] the official town newspaper. A notice of
copy of such report is on file in the
[24:07] town clerk's office and available for
public inspection and copying.
[24:11] The deputy supervisor is authorized to
sign all checks for the town of Jay
[24:15] during the absence or inability of the
supervisor. The deputy town clerk is
[24:19] authorized to sign checks on behalf of
the town clerk. There shall be charges
[24:23] of $35 for any return check to the town
or any officer or employee for
[24:29] insufficient
funds.
[24:33] [cough]
[24:36] » [clears throat]
>> The supervisor is authorized to enter
[24:39] into contracts on behalf of the town
board for calendar year 2026 as
[24:44] presented in the 2026 budget adoption.
North Country Rural Development $4,000
[24:50] APA Review Board $300. Oable Forks
Ambulance Service $452,855.
[24:59] Oable Forks Fire Department 300,735.17
[25:07] Oel Forks Library $10,000 BTI treatment
$19,900
[25:14] Dave Bushy for rental of his space where
the J meter pit is $300. The Jefferson
[25:21] Lewis Bo Bosey's drug and alcohol
program, $600. The J community news,
[25:28] $1,000.
Um Jay Entertain Entertainment and Music
[25:33] Society, $7,500.
The [clears throat] J Fire Department,
[25:39] $246,400.
North Country SPCA not to exceed $3,500.
[25:46] The Red Cross $500. Senior Citizen
Organization, $1,550.
[25:53] United Way, $500. The Upper Jay Fire
Department, $117,381.
[26:01] Wells Memorial Library, $10,000.
The supervisor is uh authorized to
[26:07] accept payment for the following
community center rental agreements.
[26:11] Um rooms 2011, 202, 2077. They are the
second floor upstairs carpeted room. It
[26:20] includes heat and electricity, $500 a
month.
[26:24] [cough and clears throat]
Room 206. It's the wood floor upstairs.
[26:29] Heat and electric, $750 a month. The
senior AAP room, which is this room on
[26:34] the first floor with heat and electric,
$300 a month.
[26:39] The supervisor is authorized to enter
into a contract with the Essex County
[26:43] Department of Public Works for calendar
year 2026 on behalf of the town highway
[26:47] subject to the approval of the Essex
County Superintendent of Highways.
[26:53] The annual membership dues for the
association of the towns for calendar
[26:56] year 2026 is in the amount of $1,100
shall be paid by the supervisor.
[27:04] Um, appoint Supervisor Matthew Stanley
as the voting delegate and Councilman
[27:09] Steve Forbes as the alternate voting
delegate for the Associations of Towns
[27:13] and Villages and the Aderondack
Associations of Towns and Villages for
[27:17] 2026.
Appoint Roger Tomkins as the town of Jay
[27:21] Code officer for 2026.
Penny cash funds for various town
[27:26] officials are authorized as follows. The
supervisor $100, justice $100. Tax
[27:32] collector $30. Town clerk $100. Code
officer $100.
[27:43] [clears throat]
The town clerk or deputy clerk is
[27:45] authorized and directed to open all
competitive bids for public works and
[27:49] purchase contracts. Record the same and
report them to the town board. For
[27:53] purposes of fixed assets, a dollar value
of more than $500 per item requires
[27:58] listing in the fixed assets of the town
general ledger accounting system. The
[28:03] town board hereby authorizes supervisor
Matt Stanley to enter into a contract
[28:08] with unifers for uniform rental for each
highway department employee plus an
[28:12] additional $100 per employee or boot
allowance per the town of Jay clothing
[28:16] allowance policy. The town will offer
longevity payments to all eligible
[28:21] employees in increments based on years
of service at a rate to be stated in the
[28:26] town of J employee handbook and will be
made payable annually in December.
[28:31] The town will pay 90% of premiums and
100% of the deductibles for individual
[28:36] or family medical or dental coverage to
all full-time employees hired prior to
[28:41] 2014.
[cough and clears throat]
[28:48] Sorry, I have a little touch of
pneumonia.
[28:51] » The town will pay 75% of the premium and
100% of the deductibles for individual
[28:56] or family medical and dental coverage to
all full-time employees hired after
[29:01] 2014.
The town will offer a cash buyout in lie
[29:05] of medical benefit for any full-time
employee who is eligible for medical and
[29:09] dental coverage who can provide
documentation of current medical
[29:12] coverage in the amount of $4,000 in two
payments of $2,000 in June, one in June
[29:18] and one in December.
The town will pay 100% of a $25,000 life
[29:24] insurance policy for all full-time
employees.
[29:27] All utilities, insurance, postal and
freight charges may be paid by the
[29:31] supervisor prior to the uh town board
audit and approval.
[29:38] That brings me to the end of the
resolutions, the organizational
[29:42] resolutions. If I can have a motion um
to accept all of those resolutions as
[29:48] read,
>> Mr. McDonald. The second by Miss Dwire.
[29:52] Any discussion?
>> Yes. on the um
[29:57] uh petty cash for the tax collector. Is
$30 enough if she hasn't more than one
[30:02] person come in with big bills?
Should we make that a 100 and make the
[30:06] rest of them
or or is she okay then she been okay
[30:12] with the $30? I think she has been and I
don't know this for certain but I she
[30:19] has not come to me to request more petty
cash. I believe most people either pay
[30:23] by check or pay by She now has the
option to pay with credit and debit
[30:29] cards.
>> Okay. As long as she's good with that in
[30:31] order to have issues.
>> Yeah.
[30:32] » Okay.
>> Any other questions?
[30:37] » Be none. Um let's just since there's a
bunch of those, let's just do a roll
[30:42] call vote on all of those.
>> Yep.
[30:47] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[30:50] » Yes.
Yes.
[30:54] » Motion carries.
[clears throat]
[31:00] » That actually went pretty quick, fellas.
[clears throat]
[31:06] » All right. So, um we do not have any
guests tonight. Um, so we do have in our
[31:15] packet, um, this is the full, uh, this
is from code enforcement. Um, Mr.
[31:21] Tommpkins, uh, gave you a print out of
all of the building permits for 2026.
[31:36] » I was trying to quickly see what was the
total number of permits, but
[31:49] Uh yeah. Um in building permit
>> is there
[31:54] » 103.
>> Oh yes, good eyes. 103 building permits
[31:59] for 2025.
[32:04] Um dog control. Mr. Carl
is not here tonight. Um, Cester Tim Gay
[32:12] had no report.
>> Yes, I will.
[32:16] » I will. Uh, Mr. Mintz, your turn for
water, wastewater.
[32:27] » Evening everybody.
>> Um, I don't come with any requests for
[32:31] money this month, so I'll just give you
a brief update.
[32:35] » Um, didn't really have a lot going on in
December. It was fairly quiet. Um, we
[32:41] had one small water breaking service
line up on Bing Mill Hill um that we had
[32:45] to dig because the shut off was
uh broken and it happened to be the
[32:51] house that had caught on fire and the
basement was spilling water. Um,
[32:57] at the wastewater treatment facility,
all the blowers are in place and
[33:02] mechanically ready to go. Uh we are
experiencing some electrical issues with
[33:06] number two motor. We've done all the
troubleshooting we can to the extent of
[33:10] our ability. So I'll be calling the
electrician to come in and kind of give
[33:13] us the final diagnosis to give it give
it a little push and get it in service.
[33:19] Uh the other thing I want to bring up
with the wastewater treatment facility
[33:22] is in the past we've had two surface
airators that could be used to augment
[33:27] the aeration or temporarily replace
entire zones of the aation lines that
[33:33] are out of service. Uh they've I think
those units they've been here ever since
[33:39] I came on my first core duty. They're
you know probably close to 20 years old
[33:44] currently. Both have deficiencies.
we can pretty much take all the working
[33:48] parts from the two and make one good
surface airator
[33:53] um and keep that as a backup. A
replacement for the second would be
[33:57] approximately $5,000.
Um I'm currently not recommending we
[34:01] replace it. The air raators were kind of
left over from a period of time in which
[34:05] we had multiple deficiencies in the
fixed aation system in the lagoons. So
[34:09] you could quickly deploy one if you lost
an entire line. Um, our aerators and on
[34:15] the wood are all working. A lot of the
older ones have been replaced in 2013.
[34:20] I'm guessing that all of them are going
to be replaced again when we do move on
[34:23] to phase two of the wastewater treatment
project in the next two to five years.
[34:28] Um,
so again, not asking for any money, just
[34:32] explaining why I'm not replacing that
one. We're just going to fix the one
[34:35] because again, if we buy it, it's just
going to sit on the shelf and that's not
[34:38] good for anything. Anyway,
uh we've had a few hiccups with our
[34:44] standby backup power at both the uh Alks
water treatment plant and the waste
[34:49] water treatment plant. Um we were able
to troubleshoot those issues in the
[34:52] house. I just bring it up to mention
that uh automatic standby power is
[34:58] fantastic and I'm glad that we have it
where we do. Uh but each generator is
[35:02] just another bucket of moving parts uh
that can and often fails and
[35:10] for the uh wastewater treatment uh
facilities upgrade project that's
[35:14] currently underway of the three
contracts uh one of which has been
[35:19] deemed substantially complete that's for
the uh the HVAC system the really the
[35:25] smallest tiniest uh contract where it
was um we are inching towards
[35:30] substantial completedness for the other
two contracts but we still have no firm
[35:34] completion date uh work will continue on
the ultraviolet system on the 12th and
[35:41] just as a reminder needs to be up and
running by May, but I think our funding
[35:47] needs it to be substantially complete
way before then.
[35:51] Uh so just a brief uh to-do list of
what's coming up this month. Uh we've
[35:56] got a lot of annual reports that we're
going to have to compile and submit in
[36:00] January and February. We need to make a
strong push on the household
[36:04] characteristic study. Um, and again, we
we want to be able to use that data uh
[36:10] in the next round of um funding
opportunities. So, we really want to try
[36:15] to get that wrapped up by I think March
or the end of March.
[36:21] Uh, again, I need to reach out to an
electrician to diagnose and repair uh
[36:24] the number two circuit at the blower
panel. Uh, the UV system should be doing
[36:29] the startup and training hopefully uh
sometime this month.
[36:33] Um, we're going to be resetting a lot of
our maintenance schedule and calendars,
[36:37] trying to streamline that a little bit.
Um, so I'm not gatekeeping the process.
[36:42] One thing I don't need to do. And then
just as a reminder, uh, while it's slow,
[36:48] we'll be starting to formulate the bid
for the septic tank risers. Um, so we
[36:54] get that done early and we have those
here for when uh, the ground falls and
[36:59] we can begin work.
>> Any questions?
[37:03] Last month he mentioned that Mr. Preston
wasn't available to do electrical work.
[37:07] Wife told me that he is still working.
>> So I I've seen him out.
[37:12] » Yeah. He's back.
>> Yes. Um and and I I I will reach out to
[37:16] him. I just know that we we had a couple
of things that were, you know, that kind
[37:21] of got pushed a little far.
>> If Jack is able to
[37:25] » he's fantastic
>> in case you need it. And and certainly
[37:28] for something like this, he's he's
already done some work on our lower
[37:31] panel and it's kind of a low impact kind
of it's not like I'm asking him to set a
[37:35] pole or something. So that might be a
good test to see if Jack
[37:44] » Thank you very much.
[37:48] » Mr. Sell.
[37:56] All right.
So I have a uh like Paul I
[38:04] have body on wing edges. Um
the these on J9 is about 10 years old.
[38:15] Uh J1
um is a little bit newer, but I put that
[38:20] on. I started
[clears throat]
[38:24] um and J8.
So, uh yeah, total is $9,744.90.
[38:33] There'll be one blade for J8. That'll be
9 fter J1 and J9
[38:40] J1 J91. But these are uh winter winter
act blades. They last forever.
[38:47] Um
uh they're the ones on our trucks are
[38:52] just worn out.
>> Are these soul sourced? Because those
[38:56] plows are made by Ko.
>> Yeah, these are uh
[39:01] this is a different company that
[39:09] we bought. Oh yeah, we bought four.
>> Yes,
[39:16] » they're they're pricey, but uh means you
can't cut them anywhere else.
[39:20] » Yeah.
[39:23] » I mean, per perhaps
[39:27] policy any
purchase,
[39:31] » right? He's getting all three of them
together.
[39:34] » Yeah. Yeah. But uh
>> this ain't a state contract either.
[39:39] » No, they don't have
>> No.
[39:44] » Can I have a motion um to purchase the
blades on the wings? Mr. Forbes. A
[39:50] second.
>> Mer discussion
[39:57] being none. Roll call vote please.
Stber.
[40:01] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[40:04] Yes.
>> Yes. Yes. Motion carries.
[40:10] » Thank you.
[40:21] » Doesn't make much interest on that
9,000.
[40:25] » Good thing is they last
[40:30] got 10 years.
>> Yeah.
[40:32] » Yeah.
wind.
[40:35] » Yeah.
>> So, you can also use them for
[40:40] your regular blade, but once you get an
arch,
[40:47] you're better off either go with a new
uh
[40:52] track blade or the car.
Um
[40:57] I'm requesting a resolution
uh approve the annual uh equipment list
[41:04] for the EDW this list and just uh
do work for county
[41:13] how they pay for
>> and it looks like that Jesse updated
[41:17] this list on 106. Can
>> I have a motion to approve the town J
[41:25] equipment list for Essex County?
>> Mr. McDonald second.
[41:29] » Miss Dwire. Any discussion? See none.
All those in favor signify by saying I.
[41:35] [clears throat]
>> I.
[41:36] » Anybody opposed? Motion carries.
[41:44] » Equipment. We've had quite a few breaks.
Last year was awesome. this year
[41:51] somewhat big year.
>> That's how we got into the position.
[41:56] » So many uh many breakdown repairs of
equipment
[42:01] season. Um we're trying to get uh trying
to get them up up and going and just uh
[42:07] get parts.
Uh [clears throat] both our pipes are
[42:11] down right now.
>> Really?
[42:12] » Yeah. Uh one is a wheel bearing entire
end and the other one is actually a
[42:19] um electric uh PTO clutch that goes on a
hydraulic pump and motor. They don't
[42:24] carry on that.
>> Any warranty on those?
[42:27] » Not the new one.
And then the green one just ran on
[42:32] August.
>> So uh um but the uh they don't carry the
[42:39] gill pump. So I order them online.
>> It's You think
[42:45] » Well, we know they don't carry airbags
for me.
[42:47] » Yeah. Yeah, it's crazy.
>> Maybe better look at a different brand.
[42:51] » Exactly. Yeah, we were talking about
that.
[42:54] And then uh J8, uh we're waiting for a
hydraulic pump for that. So, should be
[43:01] here tomorrow. Um
>> cuz that white one is just over a year.
[43:05] » Yeah,
it's crazy.
[43:11] » I think uh from now on I'm just going to
have Charlie boys work on it. I feel
[43:14] like we've had more problems with the
new equipment we bought [laughter] than
[43:17] the older equipment.
>> That
[43:22] or case loader.
>> So the case that came over ended up
[43:25] being a fuse.
[43:31] » They didn't charge you though.
>> Didn't say
[43:34] » couldn't be a charge.
>> Well, he took out you had to take out
[43:36] the whole core and everything.
[clears throat and cough] Couldn't find
[43:40] any.
>> You know where the fuse is now, right?
[43:42] » Yes. There was actually a fuse that we
we looked at. It just it wasn't
[43:49] » Yeah, he had his fault finder and stuff.
>> And the cat got repaired, too.
[43:56] » Cat's all up and running. So,
[44:01] » I was worried about you guys for that
weekend.
[44:04] » Well, we got a backup. So, uh road
maintenance, we're in winter mode. Uh
[44:09] we're starting on hours now. I'm alone
now, so keep an eye on that.
[44:16] Um, everybody's working good together
and uh, you know, we're just trying to
[44:23] trying to keep the roads passible and
uh,
[44:29] um, everybody else get
[clears throat]
[44:32] um, and then other items um,
are
[44:38] we have a old salter that Jodie plates
[44:45] build himself. I don't know when it's
[clears throat] very old.
[44:52] [laughter]
>> That's pretty big.
[44:55] » And uh yeah, they we patched it, patched
it, patched it. I've got a couple salt
[45:01] seminars and stuff and meet with you,
Max, and uh probably next week. And uh
[45:09] uh I'm trying to uh get a lot of uh info
on possibly doing get a brine to jug for
[45:16] the back of it. So before a storm pre
sidewalks
[45:20] so when you put salt down one little
pebble takes forever for it to it seems
[45:26] like we're going through a lot of salt
right now on these sidewalks. So
[45:31] » hopefully now that they up after that
ice stom
[45:34] » Oh my goodness. Yeah. Um, that's all I
have other than uh Do you want to do the
[45:42] uh
time
[45:45] for uh
>> carryover hours?
[45:49] » Yeah, carry over hours.
>> Yes.
[45:51] » It's not on your list. So,
>> okay. [laughter]
[45:55] » I'm going.
>> Yes. because that was actually sent in a
[46:00] separate email to me
>> and I assumed it would have been in your
[46:03] report and I didn't print it off. So,
>> can I borrow your
[46:11] » Maybe you don't know what kind of switch
went in that
[46:17] » Well, I see it in the invoices.
There was a switch in there.
[46:24] » I'm not sure.
>> I know. I don't think there was any roof
[46:29] on it, too.
>> Yeah.
[46:33] » So, uh it was I had driven a couple
times. You barely go you can go forward
[46:40] but reverse barely get over a curve with
it or anything. So, Paul brought up
[46:45] shop.
A couple guys looked at I looked at it
[46:49] and we're just like
bent or something like Chris Boo at it
[46:54] was underneath there like two seconds.
Yep. Right here. roll pin actually
[46:59] » and [cough]
put that back in and put a new roll pin
[47:03] works great
one.
[47:07] » Yeah,
I know he's complaining about that
[47:10] tractor not having
>> power.
[47:16] » So, this is we actually all do have this
in our board packet towards the back. It
[47:20] was going to be my report. Um,
>> no, no, we'll do it now since you're
[47:26] here.
>> Okay,
[47:26] » just get it done.
>> Perfect.
[47:28] » Um, you need the board to approve um
personnel time to be moved to sick um
[47:35] carryover any remaining vacation um to
next year um and pay out any comp time
[47:42] at the end of the year. Um that is on
the sheet that is in your packet. Um, I
[47:49] can read through the hours if you'd like
or we can just make a motion um for the
[47:54] highway department personnel or personal
time to be moved sick carryover vacation
[48:00] and pay out comp.
>> A motion is made by Mr. Forbes. A second
[48:08] » second
>> by Miss Dwire. Discussion.
[48:11] » Uh, are we is sick time is all hours and
then vacation and personal are days or
[48:17] are those sick time, everything is ours
>> and they move over sick carries over.
[48:24] Got it.
>> Um it's just vacation. It's either use
[48:27] it or lose it. Unless we
>> personal go.
[48:31] » Gotcha.
>> Right.
[48:33] » Vacation time you lose.
>> Vacation time you lose and there's 13 15
[48:39] 16 20 hours worth of vacation time.
>> Yeah. They're requesting to move the one
[48:44] year um and paying out the comp which is
37 and 38 and a half hours.
[48:55] » 40.
Yeah.
[48:58] » 31.
>> Yeah. I can't add
[49:01] value. Sorry. [laughter]
>> Paid out.
[49:05] » Yes. The cop is paid out.
>> Um next uh this year coming up. We're
[49:10] having a question for them to use all
irrigation and
[49:15] » burn on their cont.
>> Well, I mean there's really compared to
[49:19] years past.
>> Yes.
[49:21] » When you guys couldn't take your time,
>> this is very,
[49:25] » you know, uh uh I'm going to have them
try to use their comp first, then
[49:32] negation, then personal.
>> Y have them save your personal for last
[49:36] because that can always carry over.
>> Correct.
[49:40] And then they can also because of the
sick bank policy,
[49:42] » correct?
>> Donate some of that to the sick bank.
[49:45] » Yeah. They could also take first like 18
personal.
[49:48] » Yep.
>> They can throw that into
[49:50] » Absolutely. Any other discussion?
Be none. All those in favor signify by
[49:55] saying I.
>> Anybody opposed?
[49:58] » Motion carries.
Anything else?
[50:02] » Mr. S?
>> No, sir. I think that's it.
[50:06] » All right. Anybody got any questions or
concerns for Mr. drug.
[50:11] » All right, I will before you leave let
you know I went over to the health
[50:15] clinic yesterday and you guys got a huge
shout out for how bad it was yesterday
[50:19] morning. How quickly you got the roads
and the acres like they were singing
[50:25] your praises over there. So,
>> well, I was over there with my pick off.
[50:28] [laughter]
>> That's probably it.
[50:32] It's Yeah, thank you. And the ice is
unbelievable. Yeah.
[50:40] Yep.
[50:45] » All right, moving on um to economic
development. Um we have a meeting next
[50:50] Wednesday at noon. Um the big news
coming out of economic development this
[50:55] month um it was we were awarded $315,000
um
[51:01] that $315,000 Main Street grant um which
is being administered by North Country
[51:06] Rural Development. Um can I have a
motion to accept that grant?
[51:14] » So I'll second motion by Miss Dwire,
second by Mr. McDonald. Discussion
[51:19] being none. All those in favor signify
by saying I. I.
[51:22] » Anybody opposed? Motion carries. Um so
as that paperwork gets uh figured out by
[51:29] North Country uh Rural Development,
uh there will be some public meetings.
[51:34] Um there is actually an online job form
that people can sort of start filling
[51:38] out now um to talk about their projects.
This does go uh for any of the facade or
[51:45] building improvements up to $100,000 per
um building or business um for things
[51:52] like signs um facade improvements um or
code uh improvements, code violation
[51:59] improvements to those buildings. Um and
that will be more information of that
[52:04] will be coming out from North Country
Rural Development.
[52:08] Um, that is all I have for economic
development right now. Um, I will have
[52:13] more um that will be brought up during
the meeting. Any questions about
[52:16] economic development?
Uh, youth commission. Um, I don't know
[52:22] if anybody got here early enough to see
practices, basketball practices started
[52:26] this um this week. Um, so the gym is
being used every night by youth
[52:32] commission. Usually the practices I
think are 5 to 7. Um they will be having
[52:37] basketball games I believe starting in
two weeks which run through March.
[52:41] » How many kids?
[clears throat]
[52:44] » I don't know the number of kids but
there are four teams one at each
[52:47] division.
>> Um two of the teams are practicing here.
[52:50] Two are practicing at Bully M.
>> Um and then the ski program is up and
[52:56] running at Whiteface. Um the last couple
years it's been much easier for the
[53:00] towns because all the tickets and
purchasing um get made directly through
[53:05] Whiteface. Um and then we have uh
between us and Blackbook, we have a
[53:10] couple of people who um work to sort of
just watch the kids around the mountain
[53:16] um and help them while they're there. So
that program is really uh become a lot
[53:22] easier. Um and there is insurance for
that program that uh Blackbrook actually
[53:29] provides for that that program. Um any
questions about you commission?
[53:35] » All right, we will move on to parks.
Miss Dwer,
[53:38] » thank you. Um the parks and open space
committee met on December 18th. Uh great
[53:42] meeting, lots of [clears throat]
um work happening on exploring a dog
[53:48] park. Uh thank you Mr. Stanley for
figuring out the insurance premium
[53:51] question. That's super helpful. Um,
planning for our parks and trails
[53:56] volunteer day, which is April 25th.
Um, and then just a reminder, two weeks
[54:02] from today, January 22nd, we're having
our January parks and open space
[54:08] meeting, but we'll be advertising around
town, uh, inviting the community to
[54:12] attend. Um really emphasizing the
outdoor recreation part of our uh the
[54:19] work that the committee is doing,
especially with the comprehensive plan
[54:22] going on and the recreation economy for
rural communities uh technical
[54:27] assistance grant that is starting up um
trying to engage people and thinking
[54:32] about what that could look like and how
people could participate as volunteers
[54:36] and that kind of thing. So, um,
everyone's welcome to attend and you'll
[54:39] see those flyers going out hopefully
this weekend. Um, and we heard an update
[54:45] from our recreation economy for rural
communities folks. Um, the first step of
[54:51] that grant program is a virtual peer
convening, which is bringing together
[54:56] people from all 25 communities
nationwide that are participating in the
[55:01] program. this year um for exactly what
it sounds like just a convening to kind
[55:07] of uh share ideas, learn from each other
um and share strategies for the next
[55:13] part of this grant process over the next
12 months. Um so we have a steering
[55:19] committee of 12 people and they'll be
able to attend if they like and that'll
[55:24] help us just kind of get started and get
oriented for that whole process. Um and
[55:30] we've given them dates and availability
for um community workshop. Part of this
[55:37] program is a two-day community workshop
in the town of Jay. Um steering
[55:42] committee was really helpful in
providing their availability and we did
[55:47] let the folks at the the EPA who run the
program know that um it really needs to
[55:51] happen between May and October so that
people can be outside during that
[55:56] workshop. Uh so stay tuned for more
updates. As they set a date, we will let
[56:02] people know and get that out to the
community. Uh and that's all we've got.
[56:06] Thank you.
>> Thank you. Any uh comments or questions,
[56:11] Miss Dwire?
>> Thank you.
[56:14] » All right, moving on. Climate smart task
force, Mr. Sour.
[56:17] » Uh yes, so we got the audit of this
building back. It's a heavy document.
[56:24] Um, you [clears throat] know, we we're
actually going to have a meeting with a
[56:28] LNF engineering um to make sense of it
all. Um, and u that was January 20th,
[56:36] right? schedule that for. So, and after
that NAERTA will be part of that meeting
[56:41] and after that we're going to have to
meet with NERA to kind of um qualify
[56:47] what we really can do with it's probably
$575,000
[56:51] left of that grant. Um and u you know
some of the things that they've talked
[57:01] about is actually insulating the roofs.
um that is in the audit as a recommended
[57:07] um hot water heater is recommended to be
changed to an air source water heater.
[57:15] Um and then there's a lot of data on
windows. There's a lot of data on
[57:18] insulation. Um one of the
recommendations that they do have seem
[57:24] seem to have is actually to inflate the
walls. Um you know I don't know what
[57:30] that's where the biggest heat loss is
apparently. Um so not sure exactly what
[57:35] the cost would be. There's some data of
that is in the in the audit as well some
[57:40] cost estimates but um once we've had the
meeting with them and we have a better
[57:45] understanding of exactly what they're
saying we'll bring it to the board and I
[57:50] actually share a copy of the audit with
everybody.
[57:54] » Can you send me a copy of it too?
>> Yeah. Yeah. I got to do the RFP and
[57:59] contracts
>> and the meeting is telephone.
[58:02] » Uh it's a meeting.
>> Okay. Can I get on that?
[58:06] » Yeah.
[58:09] » So January 20th at 2 o'clock.
>> Okay.
[58:14] » And they haven't sent the link yet?
>> They did this this afternoon.
[58:22] » Yeah. Sometimes.
So yeah. Uh so we'll see what uh what's
[58:26] in that audit but um there's also an
extension which is good on the time
[58:31] frame. Uh I think that's uh was passed
through that we can have another 12
[58:36] months possibly uh so we don't have to
stress and get it all done this year. Um
[58:41] we'll get another year um and u yeah so
more on the audit as we get a little bit
[58:48] wiser uh on that. We were awarded a
complete streets policy and planning for
[58:55] biking and walking grant for $30,000.
Uh I don't know that we've gotten an
[59:00] official award letter yet.
>> So once we get that, we'll um bring it
[59:06] to the next board meeting for acceptance
of [clears throat] the grant. This is a
[59:10] grant that is a planning grant um that
requires a 50% match. Um but uh even
[59:17] though there is depending on the cost 25
to $30,000 a lot of that can be covered
[59:23] by inind hours and volunteer hours um
having a plan like that in place will
[59:30] score us much higher if we apply for
grants for sidewalks for instance. Um so
[59:35] I think it's an important uh plan to
have so that we can apply for grants for
[59:40] sidewalks and other um items that we
would or projects that we would
[59:45] undertake. Anyway, so uh and that's it.
There's a lot of the other stuff I think
[59:49] is in your report.
>> Any questions for Mr. S?
[59:56] » All right.
[clears throat]
[1:00:01] Miss Lucari is not here. Um I do know
human services um
[1:00:06] they did not meet um they met at the
beginning of December before our last
[1:00:11] meeting but have not met um this month.
I know they are continually working um
[1:00:18] with St. James Episcopal Church on the
food bank. Um they did get an email
[1:00:24] today because the federal pause on SNAP
and um a bunch of the food uh federal
[1:00:30] food programs um their uh status uh with
the Aderondac food bank is
[1:00:37] paused if you will until um that stuff
restarts back up. So, um the food bank
[1:00:43] is um working just off of donations. Um
and they will be uh receiving onethird
[1:00:52] of the money raised by during the change
round up around the holidays. So, they
[1:00:58] should be getting that. If anybody does
want to make a donation to the food bank
[1:01:02] and they want to make it via credit card
or debit card, those um those donations
[1:01:07] can still be made through um Cornell
Cooperative Extension through their
[1:01:12] website and you can actually earmark uh
which food bank you want that or food
[1:01:17] pantry um in the county you want that to
go to. Um so they're doing great work.
[1:01:22] Um I mean you never want to see numbers
high in a food bank. Um but they have
[1:01:29] been um really pounding the payment and
getting the word out and they have been
[1:01:34] seeing um triple quadruple the numbers
of what we ever saw when the food pantry
[1:01:40] was here. So um I commend them on their
work. Um
[1:01:45] anybody have any questions about the
human services committee that I can take
[1:01:48] back to um Miss Lucari?
All right. Uh Mr. Walters has met with
[1:01:55] me um a couple times about comprehensive
plan special board. I know there are a
[1:02:00] lot of stakeholder interviews um that
are going on. I put um her uh Dr. An in
[1:02:08] touch with um Bosable Valley uh this
week uh to talk about uh the school
[1:02:15] profile for the comprehensive plan. Um I
have included um our highway department
[1:02:22] along with you two on the highway
committee um to speak to her as well
[1:02:26] about our needs through the highway
department. She's already had a
[1:02:30] conversation with Mr. Mintz in water and
sewer. Um she is going to be talking to
[1:02:36] Nicole um and North Country Rural
Development about the work that we've
[1:02:40] been doing um in economic development.
So that can get in the plan as well. Um
[1:02:45] she's got a list of like 25 uh
stakeholder interviews that she is
[1:02:50] doing. Um a lot of those have been
recommended by the comprehensive plan
[1:02:54] special board themselves. Um and she
also put together and submitted to the
[1:02:59] comprehensive plan special board. Um I
think it was 180 page draft community
[1:03:06] profile. um which is um got quite a few
comments back from the board members um
[1:03:13] for updates and detail and
clarification. So they are hard at work
[1:03:19] on the comprehensive plan. We should be
seeing a draft of the plan sometime
[1:03:23] around springtime and they have their
next comprehensive plan special board. I
[1:03:28] believe it is on Monday night at 6:30
>> the night. Oh, maybe
[1:03:37] » Oh, we're a week early because first
fell on a Thursday.
[1:03:41] » So, it's on the 19th.
>> Okay.
[1:03:43] » Yeah. At 6:30.
>> Um, am I forgetting anything?
[1:03:47] » No. Just thank you to everybody that's
working with um Dr. Holland. The
[1:03:52] community is super thorough and
[clears throat] a really valuable um
[1:03:57] document for us to have moving forward.
and it's um last strong because of
[1:04:02] everybody that shared their expertise
and knowledge with Dr. Holland. So
[1:04:06] appreciate everybody making the time to
speak with her and contribute.
[1:04:11] » Thank goodness for Holy Walk.
>> Yeah.
[1:04:14] » Yes.
>> Truly.
[1:04:15] » That's been amazing work.
>> Um yeah. So um moving on to the
[1:04:24] supervisor's report. Um correspondence.
I mean, just to follow, um, actually off
[1:04:30] of the comprehensive plan special board,
um, I was contacted by the APA, um, to
[1:04:35] go present at one of their board
meetings. It was actually going to be
[1:04:39] the board meeting on the 22nd of this
month. Um, but I got bumped because they
[1:04:44] had more important business than me. Um,
but I am going to be, um, I'm employing
[1:04:51] Mr. Walters and the comprehensive plan
special board their knowledge to um help
[1:04:57] me develop about a 30 to 40 minute uh
presentation that I can give to the APA
[1:05:04] board about what we have been doing. Um
the reason I've been asked to speak to
[1:05:09] the APA is because of the economic
development work we've been doing. um
[1:05:14] the work that we've been doing with the
Essex County Land Bank and um some of
[1:05:19] the the trials that we have um with uh
the Hamlet um and I am going to be
[1:05:27] calling back to um a discussion that
Supervisor Douglas had at the APA about
[1:05:33] the possibility of Hamlet expansion
because of the buyouts of uh the FEMA
[1:05:39] buyouts from Irene and storms prior to
that. So, um it's going to be a good
[1:05:44] opportunity to really uh showcase in
front of the entire APA board um the
[1:05:49] needs of the town of Jay. So, I'm really
excited for that. It uh will probably be
[1:05:55] either now the the February or March
meetings that I will go present for
[1:05:59] that.
Um, next thing of correspondence I have
[1:06:05] is um the Essex County Suicide
Prevention Team has request the use of
[1:06:12] the J Village Green. Um, they would like
to um they would like to have a race
[1:06:18] beginning at the J Village Green head
towards Upper Jay on Route 9 end. Um,
[1:06:23] they asked if I knew of any events
happening on June 7th from 9 to 2 at the
[1:06:26] J Green Green. Um, asking how they can
reserve the space. Um and um
[1:06:34] they're then also going to reach out to
GEMS to to utilize the theater space. I
[1:06:39] don't know if it'll be ready by then. Um
that's a question for them. So um this
[1:06:43] was a request brought through the human
services committee um and missing
[1:06:50] um to bring to the board. So, um, we
don't really have a use policy per se,
[1:06:59] um, for the J Green. Um, and I don't,
uh, I don't foresee, um, anything
[1:07:05] happening on June 7th, unless you guys
are aware of anything.
[1:07:09] » I'm going to say we'll confuse it, but
we don't like specify correcting
[1:07:15] it. Correct.
>> So, and the thing I also um want to make
[1:07:20] clear to them is with and I'm sure
because it's being um this is actually
[1:07:25] being put on by Essex County, the
suicide prevention team, which is
[1:07:30] through um health services and possibly
the brief coalition. Uh they'll be
[1:07:36] dotting all of their eyes and crossing
all of their tees because I'm sure if it
[1:07:41] gets on Mr. Manning's desk at the
county. He'll make sure they have all
[1:07:44] necessary permits.
>> Are we going to have to sign a facility
[1:07:49] and provide insurance?
>> Yeah, we can have them sign that same
[1:07:52] exact use permit.
>> Yeah, we can cross out some of the stuff
[1:07:55] just so that they clean it up. Anybody's
heard their response. I don't know what
[1:07:59] is the race on our roads.
>> It is on state roads.
[1:08:03] » State roads. Okay. So, we're only
concerned with green,
[1:08:05] » right? So, so, um, so I will take uh a a
motion and a second to allow them to use
[1:08:13] to use the space um filling out a um a
permit and providing insurance.
[1:08:21] » A motion by Mr. McDonald, second by Mr.
Sour. Any discussion?
[1:08:28] None. All those in favor signify by
saying I.
[1:08:30] » Anybody opposed? Motion carries.
Um boy, this must be the Mr. Walters
[1:08:38] hour of the meeting. Um because he had
also reached out to me um in a memo. Um
[1:08:44] this had actually been brought up by a
couple of other residents in the town of
[1:08:47] Jay. Um it was um I know it is a concern
over in Lewis. Um but this is uh Mr.
[1:08:55] Walters actually put this in a memo in a
request uh to the town of J board. The
[1:09:02] APA is considering um a
[1:09:07] 155 millimeter hower barrel testing site
in Lewis. Um and I did not really
[1:09:15] understand what a hower was until um Mr.
Walters being a retired US Army colonel
[1:09:22] explained what a howitzer actually is.
Um it's not a line of sight um weapon.
[1:09:29] It is actually a you lob something from
here and it may land two or three miles
[1:09:34] down range. Um they are loud. Um so he
does he did um give us a lot of
[1:09:43] information. Um this project was before
the APA. um they actually pulled it out
[1:09:50] of one of their um one of their
hearings, made a hearing for itself
[1:09:56] because of the amount of comments they
got about it um and the concerns they
[1:10:00] had about it. There was supposed to be a
meeting in December which got postponed.
[1:10:05] The meeting is now going to be happening
uh the hearing is now scheduled for
[1:10:09] February 4th. Uh Mr. Walters is asking
us um as a board um as the board of the
[1:10:18] town of Jay um to
uh let the APA know that we do not
[1:10:24] support this project project. Um I do
wish he was here tonight to answer any
[1:10:28] questions. Um but um I am bringing that
before the board if we would like to um
[1:10:35] just state our um disapproval of this
testing range just over the mountain um
[1:10:44] in Lewis.
>> I'd like to make a motion that the town
[1:10:48] of Gay formally
[1:10:52] expresses its uh objection to the APA
approving
[1:10:58] That should permit.
>> Do I have a second?
[1:11:02] » I'll second that motion.
>> Second by Miss Doer discussion.
[1:11:07] » I don't know enough about it to really
comment on it tonight.
[1:11:12] » It's I'm going to abstain from any
motion on it.
[1:11:15] » I would as well, but I just I don't
know. I mean, we're in a different town.
[1:11:19] We're telling another town to
>> So, this isn't actually being done by a
[1:11:24] town. It is a private
>> I see that
[1:11:26] » testing company.
>> Yeah. Right. But I still don't know
[1:11:29] enough about it to make it educated.
>> We need to do this.
[1:11:38] » I believe it's time.
>> It is time.
[1:11:41] » It's the location is just across the
mountain range right on the other side.
[1:11:47] » I understand where it is, but I just
>> Yeah. No, I'm
[1:11:51] just saying there may be noise concerns
for town residents, number one. And
[1:11:56] number two, just in general, I think for
the rather part I don't personally don't
[1:12:03] see a need for such a facility or test
range or whatever you want to call it.
[1:12:10] » Are they making them do noise reduction
processes or anything?
[1:12:18] » So this is I uh I did email this out to
you um earlier today. I just got it um
[1:12:25] on Monday, Tuesday. Um so uh and Mr.
Walter was in my office sort of
[1:12:32] explaining um
this um and he does live off of Black
[1:12:39] Mountain Road
>> which would kind of be
[1:12:43] » Yep. So I guess
[1:12:47] » yeah,
>> I guess I would go on even though I
[1:12:51] haven't read all this yet because we
just got it. But I guess I would go on
[1:12:55] and I would vote for this only because
Walter's recommendation.
[1:13:00] I know his background and
[1:13:05] is there going to be any waste? I mean,
let's say they get this permit these
[1:13:09] things up all the time. What happens to
all the residual waste? Maybe battery
[1:13:14] assets.
[1:13:18] » So there is a there is in this uh if I
could um sort of um keep this as a
[1:13:26] discussion of the board. Um
the their permit they're asking to be
[1:13:32] able to fire 30 times per year on
weekdays between 10:00 a.m. and 400 p.m.
[1:13:38] for 5 years. The noise will be
considerable and clearly audible under
[1:13:43] noise normal conditions 15 to 30 miles
away. Um I don't know the only thing
[1:13:50] that I could sort of equate to this um
was when I was growing up when they used
[1:13:54] to blast at the quarry.
>> I knew when six o'clock in the morning
[1:13:57] was because that's when our house shook.
>> Um so um I felt like we were on Mary
[1:14:03] Poppins.
But it's it's the type of thing if you
[1:14:08] guys don't feel comfortable, we can
always if we want to hold a special
[1:14:12] meeting to be able to discuss this to
give you guys time to read it. I think
[1:14:16] anytime we try to send a letter um from
this board, it would carry a lot more
[1:14:23] weight being unanimous other than a
divided vote. So I am I am okay with
[1:14:28] tableling this um
>> and get some response put from the
[1:14:31] committee.
>> Yep. We could definitely do that. try to
[1:14:34] get people to um put in writing. I know
the APA has done this already. The APA
[1:14:40] may push this off again. Once again, it
was supposed to be on the docket in
[1:14:45] December and has been moved um moved to
February 4th.
[1:14:50] » I mean, I've heard about it, but I
haven't paid a lot of attention because
[1:14:53] it was a list. So,
>> well, I definitely want you guys to be
[1:14:55] able to read it before you make a
decision. Has it has it come up in front
[1:14:59] of the county and has the county board
supervisors discussed it at all?
[1:15:04] » It has not come up to the county. Um I
do think in part um
[1:15:12] the um outgoing supervisor I believe was
in favor of this project. Um, so I don't
[1:15:19] think it was brought up because
that's usually where a resolution comes
[1:15:24] to the county from is usually from the
town supervisor. Um, we have not heard
[1:15:31] anything from the incoming supervisor of
the county.
[1:15:34] » What about the other neighboring town
with town?
[1:15:38] » I have not heard from any other town.
>> I mean, I can also reach out to those
[1:15:42] supervisors about it as well.
>> Absolutely.
[1:15:45] » Very much. I would just say I I have
followed this story through the fall. Um
[1:15:49] I know they did aformational meeting in
the town of Lewis and um the gentleman
[1:15:55] who owns unconventional concepts spoke
and did a presentation so it may be
[1:15:59] worth inviting him to be a guest at a
meeting and share that information. Um,
[1:16:04] what I learned from some of that is the
company currently operates over in
[1:16:08] Lewis, I believe. Um,
there's a cold war missile silo over
[1:16:12] there where they do explode ordinance.
And the difference with this project is
[1:16:17] that this would be above ground. Um, so
it' be out of doors, no muffled sound.
[1:16:25] And I think it's really important for
the town of J residents to hear more
[1:16:29] about it. I share Mr. Walter's concerns
about noise. Um, there's plenty of
[1:16:34] noises in the town of Jay. I know,
especially in fall and winter when
[1:16:38] leaves start falling off the trees. I
have a friend who lives a mile away,
[1:16:42] they can hear my beagle bark. Um,
and you know, in fall when people are
[1:16:47] sighting in guns for hunting season, you
can hear that up and down at the valley.
[1:16:51] So, noise certainly carries. It's just
what kind of noise and is it appropriate
[1:16:55] for our community and our community
character and uh the way of life that
[1:17:00] people um value and want in the town of
Jay. Uh to me, this crosses that line
[1:17:06] and it's just not really um a benefit to
our community. I think it would be
[1:17:11] really unfortunate if it happens and it
would have a big big impact on quality
[1:17:14] of life here.
So the next appointment
[1:17:28] » would it make sense to request not
necessarily objective to it? Would that
[1:17:33] be something we all could agree on but
maybe request them to have the the owner
[1:17:40] operator to have a public hearing in the
town of J or something that extent? I
[1:17:45] could to I I could reach out to this
unconventional concepts. Um
[1:17:52] I believe there is possibly a town of J
resident who works for them. Um and I
[1:17:58] can reach out to them to see if we could
maybe maybe that special meeting could
[1:18:02] be an information session for us all if
everybody is good in that.
[1:18:07] » I don't even know what the purpose of it
is.
[1:18:10] » I will reach out to try to get somebody
here. Maybe maybe at the same time maybe
[1:18:14] uh get another neighboring town.
>> Yep. I'll try to reach out to do some
[1:18:18] leg work because we got the facility
here that
[1:18:21] » Yes.
>> 200 people out there.
[1:18:22] » Perfect.
>> Great idea. I will reach out to them.
[1:18:25] Everybody in favor of tableling this and
reaching out.
[1:18:28] » Yes.
>> Perfect.
[1:18:33] » All right. Next on to some updates. Um
the uh New York class update um is here
[1:18:44] uh with this month's um interest in the
amount of
[1:18:57] uh 9,929.84.
[1:19:02] for uh 2025
we made $183,461.14
[1:19:09] worth of interest
um which is
[1:19:14] if I remember we budgeted $175,000 worth
of interest or somewhere about that um
[1:19:20] for 2025
[1:19:24] um the financial report you're seeing
here is part of the supervisor's
[1:19:28] financial report Um,
this is not a final complete 2025
[1:19:35] financial report. Um,
Michelle did run through um a lot of
[1:19:41] this to do a mock, if you will, um,
reconciliation, but there are still
[1:19:47] several bills coming in through January
that are 2025
[1:19:52] um, bills. So, um, we will have a more
complete report for you next month.
[1:20:02] uh wastewater facility upgrades. I know
uh Mr. Mintz um had mentioned that the
[1:20:08] wastewater facility upgrade is
approaching substantial completion. Um
[1:20:14] we are working on the ban and grant
closeout. Um, we are really waiting for
[1:20:21] the last major general contractor um,
invoice um, which will help us uh, get
[1:20:28] the rest of the million-doll grant for
that project. Um, DFC has been on
[1:20:33] several calls with us. We've been
talking to our bonding council at ORIC.
[1:20:39] Um, and also with Mr. Manning's been on
those calls. Uh, I've tried to find
[1:20:44] every friend that I can find to be on
that call and EFC still outnumbers us.
[1:20:49] So, um, it is a heavy lift and I thank
Community Resource uh, for their
[1:20:57] extensive help. I met with Hannah Neely
yesterday. She has an Excel spreadsheet
[1:21:02] for that project that goes across eight
different pages, has money broke out
[1:21:07] between us, Blackbrook, how much we
paid, how much we've owed, what we've
[1:21:11] used to pay it. Um, it's a pretty
impressive form. So, um, that is nearing
[1:21:16] completion. Um, we will need to and
we're finding out what the final amount
[1:21:20] will be. Um, we will have to pay some
principal of the ban that we've been
[1:21:25] using for two years. It will be an
offcycle payment in April. um we will
[1:21:29] have the amounts that we will need to
pay to close out that ban um and then
[1:21:36] take over the long-term financing with
EFC would happen at the end of June. So
[1:21:42] um long story short, projects nearing an
end.
[1:21:48] uh the DEC uh water meter mandate and
water upgrades once again while Hannah
[1:21:53] was here from community resources um
talked about applying for WEIA uh which
[1:21:58] would be part of the CFA in July um we
would need to get this listed with EFC
[1:22:05] um and have a finance plan. So we would
need to go through the bonding um of the
[1:22:10] project. Um, this is the water meter
updates and all of the shortterm
[1:22:17] recommendations that were made in the uh
facility report, water upgrade report
[1:22:23] that was uh done um last February.
Uh we do already have a GIGP grant which
[1:22:31] we were awarded for 600,000. That is a
stackable grant so we can keep going
[1:22:36] after funding. Um the one problem that
um Hannah did tell me is once we go
[1:22:44] after and correct me if I'm wrong Dan
once we actually make a resolution for
[1:22:49] bonding to the project there is a time
frame um to get that project done or
[1:22:55] started
>> I think so. Um and so we would really
[1:22:59] need to um have all of our ducks in the
row to apply for WEIA. Um which would be
[1:23:05] a 50 uh 50/50 split grant for the entire
cost. Um then once the GIGP is put into
[1:23:14] that and then whether we with the income
survey um community profile uh income
[1:23:21] survey that Mr. Vince is working on we
could get a hardship um grant which
[1:23:26] would make it 60/40 as opposed to 50/50.
Um so just wanted to bring that to
[1:23:32] everybody's attention that we are
working and looking at that. Um we may
[1:23:36] be bringing something to the board over
the next few months.
[1:23:40] Um the J and Upper J EV chargers um are
ready to be installed. Um, I do need a
[1:23:48] resolution to prepay Apex Energy um in
invoice 18624,
[1:23:56] $3,389
for the J Green, and a resolution to
[1:24:01] prepay Apex um invoice 18263,
$13,73
[1:24:08] for the upper JV charger. And these
amounts um are reimburseable from the
[1:24:15] ZEV 2022 ZEV grant.
>> I'll make that
[1:24:20] » motion by Mr. Sour. A second.
>> I'll second it.
[1:24:22] » Miss Dwire, discussion
being none. Roll call vote, please.
[1:24:27] » The one the one in the park is they
touch base with Paul on digging.
[1:24:32] » Yes.
>> Yeah. When we know get a line in time to
[1:24:36] know when they're going to go in, we
will be reaching out to Chris and to
[1:24:40] Paul so we know.
>> Week of January 19.
[1:24:43] » Is it gay date?
>> Well, you say January.
[1:24:46] » January 19th.
>> The week of next Well, not next week,
[1:24:50] week after.
>> You're going to be digging in January.
[1:24:54] » Good luck.
>> I got some ice breakers. Breakers.
[1:25:00] » Any other discussion?
Being non roll call vote, please.
[1:25:07] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[1:25:10] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[1:25:12] » No.
>> Motion carries.
[1:25:17] » That was for both of them.
>> Yep.
[1:25:25] Um just an update on the El Forks
Historic District.
[1:25:30] um letters have gone out to contributing
buildings in um historic district. Um
[1:25:35] one of the reasons I do know that those
letters have went out is one of the
[1:25:39] buildings sent an uh email um including
me saying that they were um on the state
[1:25:46] historic register.
They are for the historic district but
[1:25:52] not for an individual building like the
Graves Mansion or the Tahas Lodge. um
[1:26:00] those uh contributing buildings, that
letter um gives them information that
[1:26:05] they can contact um
Shipo at the state um to see what what
[1:26:11] benefits um are out there for their
specific contributing building.
[1:26:18] Uh River Road reconstruction. I'm just
leaving that on my supervisor's list
[1:26:22] because um we do have to go back out
there in the spring um to just look and
[1:26:28] see if we need to do any lawn repair um
and we need to um work on actually
[1:26:33] repairing the road. Um, so I did bring
that. I met with the freshwater center
[1:26:39] um and talked to Gary um and Kelly about
that that we need to um look at that to
[1:26:46] see how we can shore up um along the
river there in the road.
[1:26:54] Um next thing I have on my list um is uh
Main Street. I brought this up already,
[1:27:00] so um I'll just quickly touch base about
being awarded the $315,000 grant. Uh
[1:27:07] microenterprise grant um is the next
topic. Um
[1:27:13] we uh we need to we got we heard back
from um HCR um which approved our grant
[1:27:21] review committee. The two applications
that um qualified um for this round um
[1:27:28] went to our grant review committee. Uh
they met on Tuesday and they recommended
[1:27:36] that um Fair and Square Renovations and
Property Maintenance. Um they requested
[1:27:42] $16,65346.
[1:27:46] Um the recommendation from the grant
review committee is to uh award that
[1:27:51] entire amount of $16,65346.
[1:27:56] Um the second uh applicant was Young
Studio and Gallery requesting
[1:28:02] $12,636.92.
[1:28:05] The committee um recommended they be
fully awarded as well $12,636.92.
[1:28:15] um we just need to um pass a resolution
to award uh the applicants recommended
[1:28:22] by the grant review committee and I will
report this back to the Essex County
[1:28:27] IDA. Um they are the ones who are
actually uprunning this these project
[1:28:33] costs and then we'll get reimbursed um
from CDBG. So if I can have a motion and
[1:28:39] a second motion
>> Miss Dwer second
[1:28:43] » Mr. McDonald discussion.
>> Yeah, just curious some for what the
[1:28:48] idea what they using grant money for.
>> I don't know exactly. Um, I believe Fair
[1:28:56] and Square um is um a property
maintenance company and I believe they
[1:29:02] are expanding their business um and
utilizing that money to expand their
[1:29:08] business and I think Young Studio uh and
Gallery are expanding um product lines
[1:29:16] and all of this falls in line with the
regulations of the microenterprise
[1:29:20] grant. Um so there is still money out
there. So, I know that there are um
[1:29:27] several people who did not apply during
the first round um because there was a
[1:29:31] lot of talk that this grant isn't good
for anybody, so why did we get it? Um
[1:29:35] so, there are now some examples of
people utilizing this grant and I
[1:29:40] believe it can help grow some of the
small businesses that are in our town.
[1:29:44] So, if anybody is interested in this, I
can put them in touch with the Essex
[1:29:48] County IDA. Um, and this grant was a
$200,000 grant and we're only utilizing
[1:29:54] less than
>> the next deadline.
[1:29:57] » There isn't a deadline site yet.
>> Okay.
[1:29:59] » So, you can apply, still apply.
>> Can still apply. Yep. Absolutely. We'll
[1:30:03] be announcing that. Um, and in order to
apply, there is a a dayong workshop that
[1:30:09] gets put on by the small business
development. um in order to apply, they
[1:30:14] actually walk you through the
application, um help you work through
[1:30:18] your financials because you do have to
turn financials over for this grant
[1:30:22] opportunity. Um and then the program is
um actually it's administered by the
[1:30:29] IDA, but it is also overseen by the
Essex County IDA to make sure that all
[1:30:33] pro project guidelines are actually met
during the grant period. Um, brick close
[1:30:38] out for this would be uh in the summer
of 2027.
[1:30:44] Any other discussion?
>> Uh, businesses throughout the entire
[1:30:47] town of J. Right.
>> Correct.
[1:30:49] » And it because it was a town of J
project, they do have to reside within
[1:30:54] the town of J. Got it.
>> But the business has to be within the
[1:30:57] town of J.
>> And there's some income restrictions.
[1:30:59] » There are income restrictions. So the
income restrictions are for um the
[1:31:05] actual business owner or if it is
creating a a a low to the median income
[1:31:12] job um it is allowed for that as well.
Any other discussion
[1:31:19] being none all those in favor signify by
saying I.
[1:31:22] » Anybody opposed? Motion carries.
Uh Grove update. Gro is done open. Um,
[1:31:31] these are some final invoices. Um,
[1:31:41] and I've just seen I put one of these
resolutions under the wrong topic. Um,
[1:31:46] resolution is the prepaid H&T
engineering invoice 3109 for the sum of
[1:31:53] $1,580.
[1:31:56] 37
because the um
[1:32:05] » this should be the last one, right?
>> This is the last bill. Balance due
[1:32:10] usually takes the overall cost and
includes contingency and they probably
[1:32:16] could not um
I will check on that and get back to
[1:32:20] you. Did they take off for not spraying
the lines?
[1:32:27] » Spraying the yellow lines.
>> That wouldn't be with the engineer. That
[1:32:33] was in those bills with last month.
>> No, that um
[1:32:39] I will also double check on this, but
just so I can get prepay approval for
[1:32:44] this to pay the 1580.
>> Okay. Second. Uh
[1:32:48] » Mr. Forbes discussion
being none. Roll call vote please.
[1:32:53] » Do do you want resolution? That's more
[1:33:01] » um
roll call vote please. Tammer.
[1:33:05] » Yes. [clears throat]
>> Yes.
[1:33:08] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[1:33:11] » Yes.
>> Motion carries.
[1:33:19] So the next resolution that I have on
here I should have actually had up with
[1:33:23] our wastewater facility. Um this is when
I saw the name I was like that's not a
[1:33:29] Gro pipeline isn't doing any work at
Gro. Um so this is a resolution prepaid
[1:33:34] pipeline mechanical invoice number four
in the amount of $2.94
[1:33:42] » by Mr. McDonald. Second Mr. orbs
and I believe for pipeline this is their
[1:33:50] final invoice.
Any other discussion
[1:33:55] » being none roll call vote please?
[1:33:59] » Yes.
[1:34:02] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[1:34:05] » Yes. Motion carries.
[1:34:10] Um just an update. The solar panel um on
the highway garage is up and running.
[1:34:16] » Hey,
>> um
[1:34:18] the training has been very spotty. They
worked with the highway guys on it one
[1:34:23] day and then of course the internet was
out for a week and a half and um
[1:34:31] I sort of got told how I can log into
it. Um I did log in today at 1:00 and
[1:34:36] today um the highway garage at 1:00.
today alone had um created 37 kilowatts
[1:34:45] today for the world. So
>> um you don't want them know the days
[1:34:51] that cloud your snow.
>> No, I have I have solar panels and I'm
[1:34:54] looking at it every day.
>> One day it was 2 kilow but still 2
[1:34:59] kowatts is 2 kow.
>> As Mr. Mint pointed out it's running a
[1:35:03] uh 100 watt light bulb for 20 hours.
>> [laughter]
[1:35:10] » So,
[1:35:14] » yeah, that's great.
>> Yes.
[1:35:17] » Um, I just want to update you the salt
shed uh site plan. Um, I did sign that
[1:35:24] contract we approved last month. I'm an
MJ engineering. Uh, we'll be working on
[1:35:28] that around um the weather um fund
balance policy. Um
[1:35:35] » that that is just about done. We had a
few tweaks. We met with Councilman Sour
[1:35:40] and Mr. Manning. We met before the
meeting just made a few tweaks. We'll
[1:35:45] send out the final
final to board email before. Perfect.
[1:35:53] That's great to know. Good.
Um,
[1:35:58] next thing is the community center
energy audit which we talked about um
[1:36:02] and confirmed that that meeting is
January 20th at 2 o'clock. Um, I will be
[1:36:08] I made a note Mr. Manning to send you
the invite.
[1:36:12] » Never mind, Mr. Sour already be.
>> All right. Next, um, have uh the New
[1:36:20] York City Association of Towns Training.
Um, I need approval for overnight
[1:36:25] travel, um, for our judge, for myself
and Michelle, um, and for, uh, Mr.
[1:36:34] Forbes as well.
>> Motion by Mr. McDonald. A second.
[1:36:42] » I'll second,
>> Miss Dwire. Discussion.
[1:36:46] » Yeah, I have a question. So, for I think
I mean this New York City gets
[1:36:50] expensive. What's I mean, I think
is there's only one town board member
[1:36:54] going and that's fine but I think we
should set a policy as a town board to
[1:36:59] only allow attendance of this conference
once per term. Uh the reason why I say
[1:37:06] it is because all of that information
the training is available online and um
[1:37:13] yeah going to a city for three or four
days on how many nights it is three
[1:37:16] nights is uh quite a costly endeavor. um
and uh you know maybe for a supervisor
[1:37:24] um should be once a year because it's
good networking and so forth but I think
[1:37:28] more so for other um officers and
employees
[1:37:33] um
I I feel once once per term once every
[1:37:36] four years more than sufficient for that
training um I will just be the devil's
[1:37:42] advocate for that because I know you did
say um it is good for the supervisor for
[1:37:47] networking which I totally agree And
there is a chance um right now I sit on
[1:37:54] AOT's uh resolution committee um which
is the pipeline to get on to the AOT
[1:38:01] board. Um if I get on the board I get
paid by AOT to go down. Um but it is I
[1:38:10] can say my first year I went I was like
this is kind of um it was less than what
[1:38:16] I expected. Um, and then as I came back,
um, I found myself, um, reaching out to
[1:38:23] the people I hadworked with. Um, some of
the classes I had took, uh, really had
[1:38:29] ideas that popped into my head that were
good things for the town. Um, it is a
[1:38:33] great place in that trade show. Um, one
of the things that, um, we are going to
[1:38:38] be talking about is our accounting
system. um which our accounting system
[1:38:44] as well as the
um
[1:38:50] our budgeting software, our software for
our highway department, um our our
[1:38:57] software for our town clerk, for our
codes. There are several vendors down
[1:39:01] there. There's a vendor fair which is um
really useful for us to go to to start
[1:39:07] to get different companies to compare
quotes um to test products um to set up
[1:39:13] dates to test products as well. Uh so it
has been very informative. Um I know
[1:39:19] Michelle there is uh when she has gone
down she has sought in um New York
[1:39:26] retirement uh meetings which they seem
to change something every year um about
[1:39:32] how to report how we utilize our
accounting to report. Um she has been
[1:39:37] learning more about budgeting and
financial stuff which has been great.
[1:39:41] Um, yes, a lot of the stuff is online as
well. Um, but I have found that I do
[1:39:46] carry um a lot of that stuff with me um
throughout the year. So, yeah,
[1:39:50] » I just wanted to add that to the
discussion and I want to add to it. Two
[1:39:54] years ago when I went, it wasn't a full
cost of the town of Jay because I did
[1:39:58] not have a room charge in the town of
Jay.
[1:40:00] » Yeah. No, still I mean it was tax more
than going to Albany for a meeting.
[1:40:05] » I would class.
>> Yeah. Yeah, I mean
[1:40:08] I
>> if you want to make it one
[1:40:11] » per
>> board member, not per term, but one
[1:40:14] board member a year because there may be
a year that if it's your turn, you can't
[1:40:19] make it. But if it was someone else's
term, but they've already gone.
[1:40:23] » Yeah. But I don't think that board
members do need I mean, there's
[1:40:26] learning, but again, if I learn
something and I go online, uh I mean to
[1:40:31] send you know what is the cost per for
the hotel is like 300 bucks and
[1:40:36] you know, PDMS and I mean right there on
time square and you know I understand
[1:40:42] that we need a big location to host all
the people and you know maybe six to 7%
[1:40:48] of the towns are you know down south but
it's really costly for small towns like
[1:40:54] ours to send you know four or five
people and um and for what I personally
[1:41:02] feel I haven't gone um so I can't for
that But I compare it with the seen
[1:41:08] agendas and u you know the newly elected
training and all that information is
[1:41:13] available online. That's you know I'm
really interested in learning and
[1:41:16] teaching ourselves about town board and
governors and governance and
[1:41:22] let's go online and do it that save the
taxpayer some money. That's all I'll
[1:41:26] say. Well, I'll also add um as part of
the resolutions committee, we did make
[1:41:31] some changes to the bylaws um for New
York State Associations of Towns and one
[1:41:37] of the provisions that was in the
original bylaws was that it had to be
[1:41:41] held President's weekend,
>> right?
[1:41:44] » Um and it had to be held in New York. We
actually removed the requirement for it
[1:41:51] to be held in New York. We also remove
the requirement that it needs to happen
[1:41:56] um over president's weekend. Um so we
may actually see this moving around the
[1:42:01] state. Um and there may not be the need
or desire for anybody want to tra travel
[1:42:07] to Rochester or it may be less than one
year
[1:42:12] » which I doubt but it might be in Albany
like not as many people would know.
[1:42:19] There's a lure in New York City. Well,
there's also the cost of being in New
[1:42:23] York City.
>> Yes.
[1:42:24] » I'm saying for people to go.
>> Correct. Well, that's what I'm saying.
[1:42:27] There's a cost for it because there it
is also the association of towns annual
[1:42:34] business meeting. So, you have to be
there in person to vote and represent
[1:42:40] your town for the resolutions that
associations towns
[1:42:43] » and the voting person for Jay or for
Eddie Town is the supervisor.
[1:42:47] » Nope. We passed a resol as one of our
organizational resolutions. Makes me the
[1:42:52] delegate. It makes Mr. Ford the
>> author. That's great. Got it.
[1:42:55] » So,
>> but it's it's a great it's a great
[1:42:58] conversation to have and I'm glad you
started it. Um
[1:43:00] » well, I'll have one more thing too
because you're saying me to sit from a
[1:43:05] computer and listen to someone speak.
Yeah. But if you haven't been to a
[1:43:09] meeting down there, it's hard to say,
but I found that when I'm in the meeting
[1:43:13] down there in New York,
uh, not only is it what you learn in the
[1:43:17] class, but it's all the other questions
from the other towns that ask the
[1:43:21] presenter,
>> you got that wrong, too. You know, and I
[1:43:25] mean there's there's something to it in
my opinion.
[1:43:28] » Yeah. No, no, I don't doubt maybe
>> but I don't disagree with the cost
[1:43:32] analysis but
>> again I mean let them do it in all you
[1:43:37] know fair for all the towns more
central.
[1:43:41] » Yeah.
>> Any other discussion?
[1:43:44] Be none. All those in favor signify by
saying I.
[1:43:47] » Anybody opposed?
>> Uh this is the association of town here.
[1:43:52] » Okay. [laughter] We're still
>> still on the overnight.
[1:43:56] » Okay.
All in favor?
[1:43:59] » I.
>> Anybody opposed? Motion carries.
[1:44:03] Next, um is the 2026 insurance premiums.
Um
[1:44:10] I need a resolution to prepay. Uh it's
on several different invoices. I'm on
[1:44:16] invoice 45945 through 45948.
Um it's a total of $93,953.75
[1:44:26] for the removal of our policies with
NBT. Um the insurance is Nimer
[1:44:33] [clears throat] and um believe it or not
last year we had a 10-month policy and
[1:44:40] that 10-month policy
was $81,000
[1:44:46] approximately. This year, the 12-month
policy is 93,000. So, if you break it
[1:44:51] down per month, the cost of the policy
went down per month by 3%. Um, we will,
[1:44:57] because this is our second year, um,
this is our first renewal with Nimmer,
[1:45:02] we had a 14 $15,000 credit with Nimer,
um, we get 7 and a half $7,500 back um,
[1:45:11] in uh, check in April from NIMER. So, if
I can have a resolution to prepay that
[1:45:18] those invoices.
>> Mr. McDonald. Second.
[1:45:21] » Mr. Sour. Um, any further discussion?
>> Be none. Roll call vote, please.
[1:45:29] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[1:45:32] » Yes.
>> Yes. Motion carries.
[1:45:41] » I turned over the wrong sheet.
Uh, next I want to bring uh to
[1:45:46] everybody's attention um we were
supposed to have a public hearing
[1:45:49] tonight at 6:45 for the slack and scale
exemption. Um, our lovely newspaper that
[1:45:56] we have as an official newspaper um only
accepts legal ads uh certain days during
[1:46:01] the week because they only publish
Tuesday through Saturday. Um and with
[1:46:05] the holiday the public hearing notice um
the required public hearing notice did
[1:46:11] not get um into the paper on time. So
that's why we are not discussing this
[1:46:16] today. Um this is just to amend the
sliding scale exemption that we already
[1:46:21] did talk about for those um $1
increments um up through the sliding
[1:46:27] scale. So, I would like to set a public
hearing date um and time for uh the
[1:46:34] meeting next month, which is February
12th.
[1:46:41] February 12th at 6:45 uh for a public
hearing.
[1:46:48] » Well, we won't know. That's right. So
>> that may be a different
[1:46:53] » So uh February 12th, 6:45
um p.m. right before the 7 o'clock
[1:47:00] meeting um next month.
Um
[1:47:06] I wanted to bring this up uh because the
Essex County tax auction um is going to
[1:47:11] be happening later this month. Um, I sat
on a committee at the county on how to,
[1:47:18] um, get some of those properties in the
Essex County Landmake's hands um to be
[1:47:23] able to help move along the effort of
affordable housing in Essex County.
[1:47:30] Uh the problem with uh trying to get
land into the land bank's hands is the
[1:47:37] Tyler Henipin um court case um and then
the preceding New York State law about
[1:47:43] tax forclosure options that you need to
pay any surplus uh that is made in an
[1:47:50] auction back to the uh original property
owner. Um there's a lot of work that
[1:47:57] goes into that and there sometimes are
not people that you can find um that own
[1:48:04] those properties. They've just let them
go. They've been in estates that have no
[1:48:08] descendants. Um so there are two ways
for the land bank to now get uh
[1:48:14] properties from a tax sale. the land
bank can either uh bid in the open
[1:48:19] auction and that is the going rate um or
they we can pull properties off the tax
[1:48:26] sale, do appraisals of those properties
and then have the land bank pay what
[1:48:33] would be surplus um above what is owed
in taxes. Um I'm bringing this up for
[1:48:39] discussion doesn't have to happen
because there's very few properties in
[1:48:43] the town of Jay. Um, but there are a few
properties the land bank was interested
[1:48:48] in getting in and some other towns are
bringing this up to talk about doing it.
[1:48:53] Um, and that would be to
um utilize up to $20,000 worth of
[1:48:59] occupancy tax funds for the land bank to
bid on uh essentially our behalf, if you
[1:49:06] will, um, to acquire properties um, to
to purchase in that tax sale
[1:49:10] » in town. in only the town of Jay.
>> There's no buildings though, right? No,
[1:49:17] » there
two buildings. Um, one is the property
[1:49:21] we cleaned up over in Jersey on B Lane.
>> The other is the Blaze property that
[1:49:28] sits on the corner next to Jersey Bridge
[1:49:34] here on the corner next.
>> So, um, just bringing it up for
[1:49:40] discussion. I'm I don't even want to be
the one to make the resolution. Um I
[1:49:44] just want to answer questions if you
guys have any questions.
[1:49:48] » Both will be demo.
>> Um I have not done a site visit. They do
[1:49:53] come in and do inspections of those
buildings and try to decide whether demo
[1:49:59] is the way to go. And they they do have
that um same grant.
[1:50:06] » What's that? That was already down.
>> Yeah, we just removed the garbage
[1:50:10] because it was a health hazard.
>> Oh, that was we did before. That's
[1:50:14] right.
>> So, you're proposing to let them spend
[1:50:17] over 20,000 on either one of these two
properties.
[1:50:20] » That those are the only two properties
they could really bid on. They couldn't
[1:50:23] bid on the vacant land.
>> They could bid on vacant land, but
[1:50:28] there's a lot of unknowns in vacant
land. Um, these two are very desirable
[1:50:33] because they have water sewer, which is
why the property in upper J was
[1:50:37] desirable because it's on water. It's
why the property that they we they
[1:50:42] applied and won grant funding to tear
down the old cross property at Jay.
[1:50:47] They're desirable because there's a lot
of known.
[1:50:50] » I just [clears throat] worry about the
bestest.
[1:50:52] » Well, the tear down and anything
remediation of that stuff, they can get
[1:50:57] grant funded. And the reason the land
bank utilizing the land bank to do this
[1:51:03] work is they have the ability to go
after grant money to tear down a
[1:51:07] building. They also have a grant uh a
cross mod program. It's called move in
[1:51:12] New York um that they have
they have I think it's up to 32 um cross
[1:51:20] mod homes. Cross mod is just a modular
home set on a full basement. Um, and
[1:51:25] they already have been approved because
they've done one of those properties in
[1:51:29] Nukem. And that is just that money New
York State pays for essentially the land
[1:51:35] bank will pay for it. New York State
will reimburse the land bank and then
[1:51:39] they can go do another project.
>> So would there be an opportunity for the
[1:51:43] town to recoup to 20 or is this an
investment?
[1:51:46] » This would be um an investment. Um I I
Mr. Manning, as we were talking about
[1:51:54] that that policy with the land bank, was
there a recruitment amount from the land
[1:51:59] bank or it was essentially
>> the policy for the land bank has many
[1:52:03] things in it, but there is one section
that
[1:52:07] the county may appropriate monies for
those purposes and there's no
[1:52:12] recruitment. But I think uh you're not
going to get any recruitment of your
[1:52:16] monies, but you're still coming out on
the on the better end of the stick there
[1:52:21] if you have to take care of these
properties or and they're blighted
[1:52:24] properties. That's that's the main
thing. Vacant land's a good idea. When
[1:52:28] you want to do a low moderate income
housing, but we got to take care of some
[1:52:32] of our blight and these two houses are
in a mess as far as the states are
[1:52:35] concerned. It's like who's on first. You
just don't know.
[1:52:38] » I guess that's where I was going with
it.
[1:52:39] » Both of them are the abatement. they
would take care of it, not us.
[1:52:44] » We wouldn't worry about it. 20,000 is
actually cheap
[1:52:48] » because I know the the one that we're
tearing down in King Valley right now
[1:52:51] cost people 45 grand.
>> Just to let you know, the cost of the
[1:52:56] cost of the the Tom Cross property ended
up costing them $70,000 to remove.
[1:53:01] » So, I I I mean, I would hate to see them
going into some slamlord that bids and
[1:53:06] wins on it. I would rather the land bank
getting them those two properties and
[1:53:12] either converting them to something
useful or something you know taxes
[1:53:16] » it would be converted to housing
ultimately
[1:53:19] » or it may not it may just be light like
the blaze house it's on the corner
[1:53:24] » I don't know if you want to build there
right unless you want to put a clock or
[1:53:28] something there or don't want to
speculate and think you know state's gen
[1:53:34] you're gonna get a windfall but anyway
Uh so just keep in mind when we dealt
[1:53:40] with the cross property,
>> we did split what taxes what
[1:53:46] anytime there are taxes on a property.
Um if the town of Jay is not made whole,
[1:53:51] we actually uh the county makes us whole
on every one of our tax warrants.
[1:53:56] » Um so we with the Tom Cross property
when it was donated to us, we passed a
[1:54:01] resolution. spent occupancy tax to pay
half of those um taxes back to the
[1:54:06] county. So essentially we were both made
whole. So that um it cost us
[1:54:13] less than $7,000 to have a $70,000
remediation
[1:54:18] » in this instance. I mean the tax auction
is on the 21st of January.
[1:54:21] » Correct.
>> So if you want to do something with a
[1:54:24] land bank, you're going to have to do it
quickly. If they were are going to bid
[1:54:27] on one or both of these properties,
you'd want to have a contract with them
[1:54:30] and say, you know, we'll we'll give you
up for this amount of money.
[1:54:33] » Yep.
>> And then you've got to do this. You've
[1:54:35] got to tear it down within a certain
time period. You got to cart all the
[1:54:38] stuff away within a certain time period.
Uh and then you can have, you know, uh
[1:54:43] if not, we either want our money back or
or something. But anyway, the thing
[1:54:48] about the auction is, which is the best
situation, is the bid at the auction
[1:54:54] sets the bar for any surplus that's
supposed to go back to the property
[1:55:00] owner. Uh, so whatever the bid is,
anything, you know, there won't be any
[1:55:06] surplus back to the property owner. Um,
but there will be still back taxes. No.
[1:55:10] And back taxes will also be correct.
>> So that's that's the best of both
[1:55:14] worlds. Yep. And so I mean I really
would recommend if you want those two
[1:55:18] places torn down that that we hop to it
with them.
[1:55:21] » Yeah.
>> And uh we develop a contract that
[1:55:23] protects us but also incentivizes them
to to bid at that auction because if if
[1:55:29] it goes if it if there isn't a bid at
the auction but we do it the other way
[1:55:33] where we get the appraisal the whole
nine yards. Um
[1:55:37] » there could be a yeah there would be a
more of a surplus
[1:55:41] » and that's the best way to handle it.
And if you've got that 20,000 from
[1:55:46] roost.
>> Yep.
[1:55:47] » Uh
I think personally uh two things. I
[1:55:53] think it's great that you'd be removing
that blight and it also looks great for
[1:55:57] you as a political board. Come to that
and that's a great idea, Matt.
[1:56:02] » Yes. Yeah. I I would I would like to
propose a resolution that we authorize
[1:56:08] Matt to sign an agreement with the land
bank to
[1:56:13] utilizing our tax money and I guess
10,000 to bid on up to 10,000 on each of
[1:56:20] those properties
uh and sign an agreement the issued by
[1:56:25] attorney Manning
>> and I have to protect the town's
[1:56:28] interest
>> and I have talked to the land bank they
[1:56:31] would actually bid have the money bid
the money they would only
[1:56:35] » ask for
>> ask for the money reimburse them if they
[1:56:39] want
>> do they want is it better to divide it
[1:56:43] » I would say
>> better to ear market 10,000 for each
[1:56:46] property or just say 20,000 depending on
[1:56:55] it don't matter to us
>> but it's
[1:56:58] I know how to count
>> yeah [laughter]
[1:57:01] and so there's no tax is paid and those
are
[1:57:05] » I think it cleans two properties up.
>> Yeah. and
[1:57:08] » can I have a
>> and they defaulted so they can't come
[1:57:11] back and say you know the motion the
motion is to authorize
[1:57:17] Matt Stanley Supervisor Stanley to sign
an agreement with the land bank to
[1:57:22] utilize up to $20,000 of reimbursement
up to $20,000 of occupancy tax money to
[1:57:28] bid on those two specified properties
and enter into an agreement and authorly
[1:57:34] attorney Manning to you know protect the
town of
[1:57:38] and ensure that work gets done within
certain time frames that
[1:57:43] reasonable um
which I'll lead to
[1:57:49] » leave up to the money until they're all
done with
[1:57:52] » correct.
>> So I'll second that. question is how did
[1:57:55] you come up with the 20 reason or
>> um I came up with the 20 because uh
[1:58:01] talking to um Nikki at Essex County Land
Bank looking at previous tax sales um me
[1:58:10] knowing the condition especially of Bert
Street and this one um we think that
[1:58:15] both of those properties um she feels
confident that she she doesn't want to
[1:58:22] bid more than that especially on either
property.
[1:58:25] clean,
>> right? So,
[1:58:28] » but it comes down to $2,000 more or
something, they're going to kick in for
[1:58:34] it. Does it set a limit for them to bid
only that much money on?
[1:58:38] » It does kind of set that limit because I
mean, they've got 17 other towns that
[1:58:45] might have the same idea, but maybe not
because I know we talked about the land
[1:58:49] or the county seating some of the money.
That's why it's in the policy. But I put
[1:58:53] May,
>> but it's too it's too it's almost too
[1:58:58] late for this one for the policy.
>> Yeah, there is no money in the budget
[1:59:02] this year. Correct.
>> And I use the word may there because
[1:59:05] right
>> I don't account.
[1:59:06] » So if no other tenants put money in, we
do. They still may kick in extra money.
[1:59:10] They may. They absolutely may because
what I will what I will tell you is they
[1:59:16] have
>> they were kind of overwhelmed with how
[1:59:18] many properties they had
>> expecting to get some out of this tax
[1:59:22] sale. Right
>> now that we it's almost there.
[1:59:25] » This is the time to jump on this. I'm
telling you right now, you're never
[1:59:28] going to have this kind of
>> deal. And that's a good idea came up.
[1:59:32] » Well, I'm wondering should we go 25? I
mean, I don't know if we're that close
[1:59:37] and lose out for
>> bucks or something. I don't know. uh
[1:59:40] » go up to 25, but I don't know.
>> Why don't you uh go 20 with them?
[1:59:47] » You can authorize Matt if he wants to go
to the tax sale
[1:59:52] to say, "Yeah,
I think you're gonna the one on the
[1:59:56] corner."
>> My supposition is shot. I mean, and it's
[2:00:01] not very big. And who the heck wants to
live on that corner?
[2:00:04] » Yeah.
>> Maybe Mr. deal with like a play for a
[2:00:08] yard, but he'd have to tear it down. It
cost him 50,000 for us, especially if it
[2:00:13] was asbestous.
>> So,
[2:00:16] sees it online. I mean,
>> yeah.
[2:00:19] » That is kind of the problem with we do
have there are a couple of properties.
[2:00:26] Tom Cross property is a great example.
It what came up in a tax sale. He bought
[2:00:32] it, noticed that it was going to cost
more money to renovate it or do anything
[2:00:38] with it, didn't pay any of the taxes,
and it essentially was going to go back
[2:00:41] on the tax sale until we intervened and
and were able to remove that. And it was
[2:00:46] a land bank um thing that we knew it was
having um talked to uh the funeral home
[2:00:53] operators who bought that patode
building and torn that down. that cost
[2:00:58] them as a nonprofit $35,000 and other
people in J are very happy that it's
[2:01:05] gone.
>> Yep.
[2:01:06] » The fact that I mean he
>> we had to fight with some of the
[2:01:11] supervisors to be able to fashion it
that way because
[2:01:17] » you know the taxes were much more than
what was paid. Uh, another thing to to
[2:01:22] note is, uh, even if it goes through tax
sale auction and let's say you bid on it
[2:01:28] and you bid 20,000, the board can say,
"We're not going to allow you to bid on
[2:01:33] that. Uh, sorry, it's in the terms and
conditions. We feel that we want to do
[2:01:37] something else with it." Then they can
park it, do it all over again. Uh so
[2:01:41] that if you feel you got a slum lord
hanging out there um hate that
[2:01:47] discriminate against you slum lords
[laughter]
[2:01:51] but you can make that known of the board
say [clears throat] no we I went to the
[2:01:57] television with a case like that and won
it
[2:01:59] » um I won't say who it was but it was a
guy with a lot of money like a
[2:02:04] millionaire but um
>> so that's an option too if if you get
[2:02:08] out bid all is not lost you tell the the
board says because when we do the tax
[2:02:13] sale the board has to pass and say yes
these we accept these but we don't
[2:02:17] accept this one that one and that one
because we have uses for them or the
[2:02:20] county J may have uses for them or we
don't think we got a lot enough money or
[2:02:24] we don't we just don't like the
situation and you don't have to say why
[2:02:30] » awesome any other discussion
>> reimbursement up to 20
[2:02:34] » correct
>> yeah just if they get them for 10 it's
[2:02:37] even better
>> so just to summarize everything we
[2:02:39] talked about here. This is Roose or this
is occupancy tax money. So money that is
[2:02:44] paid by visitors to town that stay at
motel, correct?
[2:02:48] » Airbnbs, BRBOs's
>> comes back to Jay, remember from that
[2:02:52] county policy of how to spend this fund.
Blighted properties is one of the uses
[2:02:58] for this. So it's an appropriate use of
the funds. Um, as far as you know what
[2:03:02] we've heard from the community, I know
we've all heard it going through
[2:03:05] election cycles in the last five years
and specifically during the
[2:03:09] comprehensive plan process which is at
what two years. Um just I think this
[2:03:15] really hits um the persistent concerns
of our community which is of course
[2:03:19] number one affordable housing um main
street revitalization removing blight in
[2:03:24] the downtown core um and what's really
come through in the
[2:03:29] uh comprehensive plan like you said
supervisor Stanley is this idea of
[2:03:33] hamlet infill where oable corks J upper
J um are the places in our town where
[2:03:38] the most development is allowed by the
APA it's the place where we have
[2:03:41] services available
um it's beneficial to all of us if we
[2:03:45] can get more users in those using those
services. I know from Mr. Mintz we have
[2:03:49] plenty of capacity for new users. Um so
we're putting people where we can where
[2:03:55] we want them and um land bank are owner
occupied houses only. So we're bringing
[2:04:01] people maybe a family right into town
and um just bringing life back to
[2:04:07] downtown. So I like this idea a lot. I
think it's fantastic.
[2:04:12] Austin, any other discussion?
>> I just thought I was going to make this
[2:04:15] point. These houses will come out, come
out, come out, come out and Matt and I
[2:04:18] have tried to figure out a way to get to
them, but it would there was no other
[2:04:22] way. This is the best option. There's no
other way that would cost us not. And I
[2:04:27] remember everybody there people, why
don't you take care of this house? They
[2:04:31] don't have money, you know?
>> Yeah. I'm I'm all I can go forward and
[2:04:36] go do all this stuff, but in the end
you're going to be out 60 70,000
[2:04:42] » and occ the occupancy tax is less than
10 years that it's been in effect. Is
[2:04:46] that right? Oh, no. It's been in effect
22 years,
[2:04:50] » but initially it wasn't shared with that
and it was only
[2:04:53] » right
>> 2% then became 3%.
[2:04:57] » And when it became 3% 5 years ago, they
shared 1% with towns or something and
[2:05:01] then the%
>> well it used to be 3% they added 2% so
[2:05:04] it's a total of 5%.
>> Yeah. When the towns get back the other
[2:05:08] 2% and that's based upon a formula. It's
based I don't
[2:05:14] if you want to know about the formula I
can sort of Yeah. I've read about it and
[2:05:17] I forget it every time. I'll read about
it again.
[2:05:21] » No, I just think it's great to your
point. Um, this has been a longterm
[2:05:26] problem and now we have res resources to
deal with it and we're dealing with
[2:05:30] that. So, that's great.
>> Yeah, this is a good way to handle other
[2:05:33] pieces of property that come down. We're
just having
[2:05:40] » if there's no other discussion. Any
other discussion? I'm sorry. Be none.
[2:05:44] Roll call vote, please.
[2:05:48] Yeah.
>> Yes.
[2:05:51] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[2:05:54] » Yes.
>> Motion carries.
[2:05:55] » Nice job.
>> Next, we have just resolutions. Um the
[2:06:00] next uh bill um is for
uh to prepay New York State retirement.
[2:06:10] $955
for the annual bill. Just to tell you
[2:06:15] about this, this was where we chose last
meeting to pay the bill early so we
[2:06:21] wouldn't pay an extra like $1,500. It
was um we postmarked, we sent the check
[2:06:27] out the day after the meeting. It was
postmarked, wasn't received by New York
[2:06:31] State Retirement before the date of
December 15th. Um they tacked on this uh
[2:06:39] $955.
we want to pay it down now because if it
[2:06:44] goes in any later than February 1st,
they tack on another 5.9%
[2:06:50] um
daily interest. So, we just would like
[2:06:54] to get this out now, get it paid for.
It's $955.
[2:06:58] » Make it
motion by Mr. Forb, second by Mr.
[2:07:04] McDonald. Um, any further discussion?
[2:07:12] » Well, I told Michelle I said next year
we don't pay this early. We keep the
[2:07:17] money in New York class and then we'll
send the check out in 26 like we posted.
[2:07:22] Uh, any other discussion? Being none,
roll call vote, please.
[2:07:30] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[2:07:33] » Yes.
>> Yes. Motion carries.
[2:07:36] Um
[clears throat] a resolution to accept
[2:07:40] the fourth quarter of 2025 sewer billing
in the amount of
[2:07:48] $18,375.
[2:07:52] » Motion by Mr. Sour, second by Miss
Dwire. Any discussion being none. All
[2:07:57] those in favor signify by saying I. I.
>> Anybody opposed? Motion carries. Um we
[2:08:03] did a resolution to move personal to
sick roll over sick time payout comp
[2:08:08] time from 2025 for the highway. Um this
is to do the same um for my office. Um
[2:08:18] » if I can get a resolution
motion by Mr. Sour second by Miss Dwer.
[2:08:24] Uh any discussion?
>> Yes. So Mrs. Carol Greenway actual has
[2:08:29] 572 hours
>> of sick time.
[2:08:33] » And how long can one that just continues
>> continues to build? Um and then when you
[2:08:39] retire with New York State um it can add
to your years of service retirement.
[2:08:48] » It can also be donated to our our land
or our sick bank if at some point in
[2:08:52] time she will cash out on it. Right. at
some point.
[2:08:57] » Um,
one would better off,
[2:09:04] I guess, a policy issue, but at some
point in time, there's an impetive they
[2:09:08] accumulate a certain amount of hours and
just pay them out.
[2:09:10] » Sick time I don't think gets paid out.
It goes to your years of service for
[2:09:15] depends
>> what your policy says, but generally
[2:09:17] sick time doesn't vacation get paid.
>> Okay. So, it doesn't get paid out. No,
[2:09:22] but I I mean different policies are
different, but generally ones I've seen
[2:09:26] is vacation, you can keep up to 30.
>> Uh I sick you don't
[2:09:33] » and uh and then a lot of policies say,
look, you know, you got 565 hours of
[2:09:38] sick time, you're not using it all.
You're not going to just be sick because
[2:09:43] you want to follow through with it
before,
[2:09:46] » right? Yeah. I mean,
>> but that depends on what your policy
[2:09:48] says. I I don't know what
>> Okay.
[2:09:54] » Yeah.
>> Yeah.
[2:09:56] » Yeah.
>> Uh any other discussion?
[2:10:00] » Be none. All those in favor signify by
saying I.
[2:10:03] » Anybody opposed?
>> Motion carries. Next resolution is a
[2:10:08] resolution to prepay EMR, the November
invoice for patient revenue um for 1,00
[2:10:13] or yeah, $1,7514.
[2:10:18] Take it. I'll
>> second.
[2:10:19] » Motion by Mr. Forb, second by Mr.
McDonald. Any discussion?
[2:10:24] » Be none. Roll call vote, please.
[2:10:29] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[2:10:33] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[2:10:35] » Yes. Motion carries.
>> Um,
[2:10:42] I want to bring this up um just now to
your attention. It was one of our
[2:10:47] audited bills. um for the 2026 uh PubW
works which is now GWorks which is
[2:10:53] moving from um it's moving from being
computer-based to being cloud-based. Um
[2:11:01] this invoice was for $2,556
for the yearly license for that program
[2:11:08] there. Uh I am going to be bringing back
to the board as it moves into the cloud.
[2:11:14] Um there is going to be a two-year
commitment. um which is going to um cost
[2:11:21] $10,000 to complete this program over
the next two years. $5,000 a year. So,
[2:11:26] it doubles in price per year. Um this is
just something I want to plant a seed
[2:11:30] with you guys. Um software costs are
starting to um explode. Um I did get a
[2:11:38] uh we went through a software trial
during the summer. Um it was for
[2:11:44] accounting, budgeting, um highway. It
had an interface on our website um so
[2:11:51] that uh people could actually put
requests into the highway department
[2:11:54] from the website. It allowed people to
pay um bills to the town clerk to get
[2:12:01] building permits and pay for them online
and and there was a lot huge amount of
[2:12:06] stuff in the suite. The original cost
was uh $50,000 and that was to uh
[2:12:11] migrate all of our current information
into that system. Um I did talk them
[2:12:17] down to $35,000 and I've been letting
them sit [snorts] and simmer um because
[2:12:24] if they can go from 50 to 35, they can
go lower than that. Um, so I just wanted
[2:12:29] to bring this to your attention that I'm
out there sort of shopping for softwares
[2:12:33] software uh programs um to be able to
provide better and more accurate service
[2:12:39] um to our to our town. Um
oh there was one more thing I wanted to
[2:12:48] bring up. Oh yes, did you?
>> Yeah.
[2:12:51] » Um uh procurement policy. Uh two years
ago, we updated our uh procurement
[2:12:58] policy um just to allow the highway
super um attendant to uh be able to
[2:13:05] purchase things without board approval
um from $1,500
[2:13:10] up to
um $2,500.
[2:13:13] I'm just asking um that today we
actually update uh with a resolution um
[2:13:21] to update the town of J um procurement
policy that those amounts are actually
[2:13:28] put in and not just separated by
highway. Um it allows department heads
[2:13:35] um or authorized purchasers to provide
um within their budget purchases up to
[2:13:41] $2,500.
Um and so on page three you will see
[2:13:47] that amount used to be 0 to $1,500 and
then the second thing was 1,500 to
[2:13:53] 5,000.
uh just asking to make through the
[2:13:58] entire
um procurement policy that it's 0 to
[2:14:03] $2,500 251 2500 and 1 cent to 5,000 um
up for um goods and materials,
[2:14:13] professional services, um and public
works contracts.
[2:14:18] Matt I what I did is I made that
ubiquitous throughout the whole of
[2:14:22] sections three four and five which are
pages three four and five that amount 0
[2:14:27] to 1,500 then change 0 to 2500 for
purchase of goods for uh uh public works
[2:14:34] contracts which you really want have to
worry too much or professional services
[2:14:39] so it's the same so part of head or you
be able to make purchases up to $2,500
[2:14:45] of the initial threshold of each each
one of these
[2:14:49] I'll I'll move resolution
>> motion by Mr. McDonald. Can I have a
[2:14:53] second?
>> Mr. Forbes. Discussion.
[2:14:58] » Being none, can I have a roll call vote,
please?
[2:15:03] » Yes.
[2:15:07] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[2:15:09] » Motion carries.
That is all I have for my supervisor's
[2:15:14] report. Um, does anybody have any events
um that are coming up?
[2:15:20] » Uh, our outdoor recreation community
meeting January 22nd, Thursday, 700 p.m.
[2:15:27] here.
>> This is for the work.
[2:15:30] » Uh, this is the parks and open space
committee inviting the community to come
[2:15:34] in and learn about everything we're
working on.
[2:15:36] » Okay.
>> From work to dog park to conference plan
[2:15:39] to volunteer parks and trail day in
April.
[2:15:43] » Perfect. Any other amendments?
Uh, we'll go around and do board
[2:15:48] comments, Mr. Ford. Um, I touched on it
last month about the the U property over
[2:15:54] here where we have our sand pen on
Johansson property. Hadn't had much luck
[2:15:59] in the past month with holidays and
whatnot. I also didn't have all the
[2:16:03] information they wanted. Um, I know
Dan's been busy. he was going to get me
[2:16:07] over the
um
[2:16:10] description of the properties and all
that that their lawyer wanted.
[2:16:15] I'm asking if it would be easier if I
just gave the information to Dan and let
[2:16:19] him do it or do you want me to take
another month and try to but I need more
[2:16:24] information though.
>> Dan, would you like to take that project
[2:16:28] on?
>> Yeah, I told Steve that I was
[2:16:30] » Okay, I'll give you a copy this.
>> I'm okay. and and that you know if we
[2:16:35] did get something like that that's
something you touched on earlier with
[2:16:38] John about expanding the
>> handlet
[2:16:42] property is within that
>> correct and um I know you and I had
[2:16:49] talked about there is some of that
property that sits within the hamlet
[2:16:52] correct
>> um I have reached out to the Essex
[2:16:54] County IDA reached out to the land bank
um pretty much anybody who would listen
[2:17:00] um because it is in the hamlet it would
be a good property to find um some
[2:17:09] investor to come in to build some sort
of housing um to expand because we all
[2:17:16] know the biggest problem that we have
not only within our town but within our
[2:17:21] school district is we are losing
families and by losing families taxes
[2:17:27] are going up. Um we're not be able to
provide the same services at the school.
[2:17:31] So these are opportunities we need to be
looking at to try to expand not only the
[2:17:37] town of Jay but the OA Valley school
district.
[2:17:42] » Other than that, that's all I have.
>> Perfect. Thank you very much, Mr.
[2:17:45] McDonald. U we talked about changing the
polling allowance which we switched to a
[2:17:53] a company, but we don't need to change
anything the personnel policy because we
[2:17:57] never set an amount there. Uh when Adam
and I put this together, so it just
[2:18:03] states that they get a it'll be set at
this meeting here, which we did, which
[2:18:07] is still a 100 bucks. Perfect. So
nothing in the personnel policy needs to
[2:18:10] be changed.
>> Perfect. Uh do speaking of the personnel
[2:18:14] policy or the uh employee handbook, do
we want to look at that this year to
[2:18:19] make sure all the all the resolutions
that we have done thus far since that
[2:18:24] update get put in the book? I believe
it's Olivia and I
[2:18:27] » uh I think it's just you.
>> It was me.
[2:18:31] » Yeah, [laughter]
>> it's you and me. I actually took her
[2:18:35] out. That way that way I can make some
of the calls for you during the day. Um
[2:18:40] and we can work with those companies. Um
I know Carol has taken every single
[2:18:45] resolution we've done. She's got a book
that's got them inserted.
[2:18:49] » So
>> yeah, these guys will just add them and
[2:18:52] make it
>> correct. An updated book. Yep.
[2:18:56] » Perfect. Good. You got anything else?
>> Mr. Sour,
[2:19:01] » uh, couple things. Uh, hopefully quick.
I'm looking at the operating statement
[2:19:05] as of December 31st.
>> Uh, sorry.
[2:19:10] » Talking about Roost. Um, I think they
owe us some money. No, that uh so the
[2:19:18] the operating statement the way Roose's
money works is that money those checks
[2:19:24] come in and it's not Bruce who owes us
the money. Bruce never even actually
[2:19:27] touches the money and everybody refers
to it as Roose's money. It all goes to
[2:19:31] the Essex County Treasures and it's when
the Essex County Treasur feels like he
[2:19:35] has time to be able to pull together all
the reports and send out the checks.
[2:19:39] They're supposed to come out quarterly.
Um
[2:19:43] we got I think the first or second
quarter I think we got the first quarter
[2:19:47] in June or July. Um the second quarter
might have came in September, October.
[2:19:53] Um so that money
the way it shows up on the operating
[2:20:00] statement and the way we now budget it
that money has to be kept separate in a
[2:20:06] fund that is of itself so that you can
track the money. So, what really needs
[2:20:11] to happen is when we budget that, we
should be taking $100,000 or $150,000
[2:20:18] that we budgeted that money out of that
fund, put it in the general fund, which
[2:20:22] offsets everything within the budget.
>> When those checks come in, those checks
[2:20:26] go directly into that account and we
have an accounting of how much money we
[2:20:30] get from them. Um, because we get a
report at the end of the year of how
[2:20:33] much occupancy tax money to us for the
year. So,
[2:20:36] » um, and then we actually need to file a
report with the county with what we've
[2:20:40] spent that money on and how it is
actually accounted for.
[2:20:42] » So, how much did we get last year?
>> Um, one of them mistakenly got put in
[2:20:48] there.
>> Yeah. Okay.
[2:20:48] » The entry was never put in at the
beginning of the year for the $100,000
[2:20:52] taken out of that account and put into
the general fund.
[2:20:57] » So, we got 125.
>> I think we got 150 last year, but I can
[2:21:02] get you that exact amount from the
report. There you go. Uh, which is a
[2:21:08] followup question, but the other issue
now is aim related payments.
[2:21:12] » Now, can I stop you for a second?
>> Yeah.
[2:21:13] » Occupancy tax funds. Now, the new
reports um since Kathy um retired and
[2:21:19] Michelle has taken this over um doing
the supervisor's report in your
[2:21:24] financial statements you get from me,
there is a breakdown of all the accounts
[2:21:29] of how much money is sitting in the
multifund and how much money is sitting
[2:21:33] in New York class.
>> Um and then it adds up how much
[2:21:38] » we have in that fund.
>> So, you can look at that amount there.
[2:21:42] » Yeah. I know, but it doesn't say how
much you actually did get last year.
[2:21:45] That's
>> correct. It has a running running total.
[2:21:49] » Yes, you have.
>> Yep.
[2:21:51] » Uh the second one on the AIM related
payment looks like you got paid double
[2:21:55] last year. Was that because didn't you
didn't get the year before that was late
[2:21:59] or did you get one this year or
>> That's what I would assume. What was
[2:22:04] your question?
>> The aid related.
[2:22:07] Oh, you know,
>> state uh state money. We usually $25,000
[2:22:12] a year. We got 650 last year.
[2:22:17] » That payment probably came late last
year, so it got put into this year's. I
[2:22:21] will double check that for you.
>> Okay.
[2:22:26] » Um and then just quickly, I know that
Upper J talking about Roose
[2:22:33] talking about occupancy tax money. I
know APJ Arts Center and I think Liby
[2:22:39] mentioned it. Did you mention it last
month? But
[2:22:42] » yeah, they Yeah. No, I was just gonna
say I know that they are um severely
[2:22:48] financially strapped and they probably
sending a proposal. This is a heads up
[2:22:54] um you know for maybe some kind of
call it.
[2:23:00] » So I will I will expand upon that.
>> Okay.
[2:23:03] » They invited me. I had a meeting um and
I explained to them um we can definitely
[2:23:11] pay for services that they provide to
the community. Um so um like we we
[2:23:18] agreed today uh to $7,500 that goes to
GEMS. That $7,500 is for the uh 10
[2:23:27] summer concert series and the
administration of that concert series.
[2:23:32] Um, so I had recommended to them, is
there something you guys do that can be
[2:23:39] a free admission to um, Town of J
residents um, that they can go to a
[2:23:45] production there, see what it's like.
They may actually get something out of
[2:23:49] that by finding new investors. They may
uh, be able to do 5050 sell like I know
[2:23:56] gems at the concerts. they will they
will sell for donation food or I think
[2:24:02] they do a 50/50. Um so those types of
things I feel in having gone to um the
[2:24:09] upper J Art Center I think people need
to get through the door and understand
[2:24:13] it's a hidden gem.
>> Oh it is
[2:24:15] » um and I I feel there's a lot of people
in our town in our surrounding
[2:24:20] communities that don't know that. Um, so
we can create um a service from the
[2:24:26] upper J Art Center offering um open
houses that we maybe they can utilize
[2:24:33] those funds to pay for a band. They can
put on a show or any of those types of
[2:24:38] things. And once again, as uh Miss Dwire
um had actually pointed out, those are
[2:24:43] uses for those occupancy tax funds um to
help encourage growth within the arts um
[2:24:50] within programs that happen within the
town. Um so you are correct. They are
[2:24:56] supposed to bring to the board. Um and I
have invited them if they would like to
[2:25:00] present to the board um to be able to do
that so that we can see how and what
[2:25:05] service the town um really really does
like to see or want to see. Um one of
[2:25:12] the things I sort of I mean I just threw
out there we have the summer concert
[2:25:18] series at the J Village Green on
Saturdays. You have the Saturday
[2:25:22] concerts or the Thursday night concerts
in Wilmington. um as we start to build
[2:25:29] out the Upper J parking area and I mean
I could see that place being a great
[2:25:35] place for Upper Jay to sort of
congregate. Um maybe there's a concert
[2:25:39] series or there's more of an event um
mini shows that happen during the year
[2:25:44] there. Um those are things that I think
we as a board should be helping promote
[2:25:50] um and encourage um within our town.
Agreed. So,
[2:25:57] » uh, one more thing. So, short-term
rentals is becoming a really, um,
[2:26:05] big issue. [clears throat] Um, you know,
a lot more people speaking up, you know,
[2:26:09] against the town. Um what is you know
maybe Manning attorney Manning or you
[2:26:15] can tell [snorts] us what was the my
understanding was that the state law
[2:26:19] that the county had until the end of the
year to opt out of the state law or
[2:26:25] something. So where are we at or where's
the county act? Um
[2:26:29] » so you if you don't opt out you're in.
>> Yeah.
[2:26:32] » Uh we already have a a hotel motel
occupancy tax law which uh covers
[2:26:39] everything basically. And I revised it
years ago to include I I didn't know
[2:26:43] they were called SDR, but uh by
definition includes that. Um we that law
[2:26:50] at the county level. It is going to
expire in April. Um I was going to amend
[2:26:56] that law to just as a belt suspenders
put in the states. Well, I have I
[2:27:01] actually dictated on put in the states
language as to what SDR is to include it
[2:27:07] just as suspenders although I don't need
it. Uh and there was some other changes
[2:27:10] I made mimicking the states law also put
in a u sort of belt suspenders clause at
[2:27:16] the end of our law that says you know
all terms and conditions of the existing
[2:27:20] state law such and such a chapter law
blah blah blah uh not here not
[2:27:24] consistent with this law here why
incorporated into this law so they write
[2:27:28] whole damn state law and our law um and
so we're in the process of doing that um
[2:27:34] I've kind of held off I've spoken to
other counties what they're doing and
[2:27:38] I've also spoken to Airbnb and the RBO.
Um, you know, they're actually going to
[2:27:45] have to right now they're putting up a
little bit of a, you know, they're
[2:27:51] resistance to providing us with exact
names of people and you know where it's
[2:27:58] crazy because the state law said they
say, "Oh, that's unconstitutional
[2:28:01] violation of the 14th amendment." I'm
like rolling my eyeballs on the phone.
[2:28:06] You know, okay, fine. Right out with the
state. the state has passed this
[2:28:08] statute. It is law. So, we're getting
there. Um, we're not opting out. Um, you
[2:28:15] know, there's debate as to whether they
should opt out, stay in. Some some
[2:28:18] counties are not. They're opting out.
They're saying, "What what is your good
[2:28:22] to us?" You know, u, but there I think
it's better to opt in because these
[2:28:28] short-term rental people have to pay
their sales tax to the state. That's all
[2:28:31] monitored. So, the state's going to get
that information and we strengthen
[2:28:34] numbers. if there's if they're still
walking and giving us names of people
[2:28:38] this they must be giving it to the state
so they'll be so anyway it's better to
[2:28:43] op not opt in stay in opt out uh so
we're around that thing um I think they
[2:28:49] extended the time it was the end of
December to opt out but I think they
[2:28:54] extended that time to next year but
there's not it's doesn't matter to us
[2:29:00] » and the Essex County Board of
Supervisors also um agreed to enter into
[2:29:06] an agreement with Decker um
>> Decker Industries, which is a company
[2:29:12] that monitors um reser or uh
>> it monitors short-term rentals. Yeah. So
[2:29:20] that the county when the county is
starting to do enforcement of the county
[2:29:25] local law,
they will know who is not registered,
[2:29:30] which the New York state law says they
need to be registered with the local um
[2:29:35] authority that has a registry, which is
the county,
[2:29:38] » right? And if they don't comply with the
state law where they're barking at
[2:29:40] certain little things in the state law
and in our what I put in our a lot is
[2:29:46] then you don't get permits. your people
don't get permits. I won't look to the
[2:29:50] to those bigger companies.
>> So,
[2:29:52] » and technically Airbnb VRBO as part of
that law, they are not supposed to be
[2:29:57] renting any short-term rental um through
their platform that is not registered on
[2:30:03] the local authority.
>> Right. So there there are some
[2:30:06] » so in terms of regulations it would be
good we don't have to go through it
[2:30:08] today interest of time but it would be
good to get like a summary sheet of
[2:30:12] exactly what does this state law
obligate
[2:30:17] or require regulate in terms of
short-term rentals? Does it regulate
[2:30:25] you know registry and you know having
somebody within a caretaker within an
[2:30:30] hour's drive? Yeah. No,
>> you know what?
[2:30:33] » This is just what they have right now.
It's just a registry law. So, it doesn't
[2:30:37] have anything that about three things I
think they have, which uh I'm counseling
[2:30:41] the county to get invol to have one is
what everybody's got to have a exit map
[2:30:47] on their place. Another is you got to
have fire extinguishers. Another one is
[2:30:50] you got to have insurance. And I might
be
[2:30:53] » and you have to self-certify that you
are code compliant.
[2:30:56] » That's what I want to do for the county
because I don't want to be
[2:30:59] » the state law says that. uh that you
have supervisor. Okay. Well, I I don't
[2:31:05] want to be
my point I explained to the supervisor
[2:31:10] is that we're not getting involved in
going out and you got your fire
[2:31:14] extinguisher because it's not we don't
want to get involved in that. It's a
[2:31:18] registry. I don't know why they flew in
three or four little silly they're not
[2:31:22] silly. They're important. Insurance is
important. Safety is important. An exit
[2:31:27] is not important because it'll be dark
and it's
[2:31:34] the hell out.
>> You could exit the first window.
[2:31:36] » That's right. That's right.
>> Oh, wait a minute. Let me check the map.
[2:31:39] » Yeah,
>> you got to go that way. [laughter]
[2:31:42] » Well, I would say I mean two of us.
>> So, there are no there are no real
[2:31:45] regulars. two of us at a forum before
the election uh were in favor of some
[2:31:51] sort of you know town regulation um
supporters of myself who said Republic
[2:31:58] and said we were in favor of some sort
of regulation safety regulations and so
[2:32:03] forth. So I'd like to make good
personally on my commitment I made which
[2:32:09] I've stated before too that you know I
don't know how we have a committee and
[2:32:14] you know we all maybe the town committee
um you know residents or business owners
[2:32:21] for the rental owners should be part of
it but uh at some point I mean this year
[2:32:26] I think it's it's getting
pretty tough out there in terms of you
[2:32:32] know it's becoming an issue in town and
uh a divisive issue we don't want to get
[2:32:37] to the point where it's
overly divisive either so
[2:32:41] » so it sounds like you would like us to
make a short-term rental task force And
[2:32:45] it sounds like you were volunteering to
be the chair.
[2:32:48] » Not volunteering to be the chair, but I
that's why I'm careful with what I'm
[2:32:52] saying that I think, you know, maybe
it's a community task force. Obviously,
[2:32:57] we have mediation with it. But
yeah,
[2:33:01] » I definitely think if we're going to be
looking and making recommendations to
[2:33:05] this board, um there should be somebody
from this board on that task force as
[2:33:09] the chair
>> who wants to retire early.
[2:33:13] » [laughter]
>> So, I'm just going to put that out
[2:33:16] there. Anybody who who would like to be
>> as that that chair, I think it's a good
[2:33:21] conversation to have, but I also think
that Tyler needs to have people who are
[2:33:25] both sides of the issue.
>> I think that conference special board
[2:33:29] has functioned really well with Wall-E
as a chair and he's not a board member.
[2:33:34] » So, I think there's possibility that a
qualified volunteer could um chair that
[2:33:39] task force and do a really nice job. Uh,
I'm curious, you know, short-term
[2:33:43] rentals are businesses. Are there any
members of ARPA that are short-term
[2:33:47] rental
of them there? And and I I know quite a
[2:33:53] few short-term rental. I know a lot of
people on the acres property owner
[2:33:57] associations that are really um pushing
for regulation. I'm not one of them as I
[2:34:03] mean not to that extent. Um, but you
know, there's there's it's becoming a
[2:34:08] divisive issue and uh I would
absolutely, you know, we need to have
[2:34:12] Main Street businesses on there because
they benefit from it. We need to have
[2:34:16] short-term rental owners on on the task
force and uh I think the town board
[2:34:21] should identify and seek out, you know,
or solicit but make a decision on who
[2:34:27] goes on it. They don't want to leave it
to the task force themselves to uh
[2:34:32] » a lot of these people just plain don't
want that.
[2:34:35] » Yeah. You know
>> those are the ones
[2:34:38] and sometimes it's the homeowner that's
the problem.
[2:34:40] » It's not about regulations. They don't
care about regulations. PL don't want
[2:34:44] that.
>> Well, and those are the people that are
[2:34:47] there [clears throat] are there are some
opponents that
[2:34:52] with any, you know, you got some bad
short-term rental hosts, but you also
[2:34:55] got some homeowners that are the problem
of the short-term rental host. I I
[2:34:59] agree. And that's why we need, you know,
>> so what I would recommend um so we don't
[2:35:04] sit and debate this all night here. Um,
I would like at least one person to come
[2:35:09] back with a good idea of how we want to
structure a short-term rental task
[2:35:14] force. Um, then we can put out for
volunteers. If nobody here wants to be
[2:35:19] that chair, maybe we can, um, look for a
champion who does want to. And I think
[2:35:26] that person who would be the chair of
that board would be somebody who is
[2:35:30] neither for nor against. Um, that way
they're very impartial to the subject.
[2:35:34] Um, so think good over this this month
and uh let's bring it back up. I'll
[2:35:39] actually put it on my supervisor's
report so it can be a topic of
[2:35:43] discussion.
>> Thank you.
[2:35:45] » Anything else, sir?
>> And I'm done.
[2:35:48] » Wow,
>> that was short.
[2:35:50] » If I could give you pneumonia
pneumonia, you wouldn't talk so long.
[2:35:54] » You're right. You did.
>> Miss Dwire.
[2:35:56] » Um, happy new year. looking forward to a
productive 2026.
[2:36:06] » Wow.
>> She is. I was a little [laughter]
[2:36:11] » forgot everything.
>> All right. Um,
[2:36:16] one thing,
>> Mr. uh, I don't want to sound like a
[2:36:19] church lady, but you guys all now have a
copy of the procurement policy. So,
[2:36:23] bring it to you every day. Make sure
Chris gets one, too, so that we And I
[2:36:28] know I I know you know what's going on,
but it's good to have just in case.
[2:36:32] » Email to us as well.
>> Yes, I can because to be honest with
[2:36:36] you, every time I go to look for it,
>> I email it to you for the meeting.
[2:36:46] [laughter]
>> Perfect. Uh, any more audience comments?
[2:36:51] » Yep. Come right on up, sir.
[2:36:56] you were talking about or whatever about
the range.
[2:37:03] It's not just the noise that I'd be
worried about. I'd be worried about what
[2:37:07] type of rounds being sent down range.
There are explosive ones, non-exlosive,
[2:37:14] radioactive,
[2:37:17] armoring. And the other thing is who's
going to clean up the mess? I've lived
[2:37:22] in two areas, not where they had it, but
it ended up affecting people further
[2:37:29] away because of ground contamination and
then they ended up
[2:37:34] having the taxpayers have to clean up
the mess. Who's going to remove it?
[2:37:41] And who's going to clean it up if it
don't explode?
[2:37:45] » Thank you.
>> Thank you. Thank you very much.
[2:37:57] Um, okay. So, I have some questions.
You're talking about the short-term
[2:38:02] rentals and um since they are a
business, do they have to have a New
[2:38:08] York State inspection?
[2:38:12] You know, like for safety, do they have
the fire um extinguishers and all that?
[2:38:18] Are they on the coal and whatever? Do
are they required to have those?
[2:38:25] Because I actually have cleaned children
rentals and there's nothing posted in
[2:38:31] there. There's nothing. No inspection,
no New York State anything,
[2:38:37] no fire exits, nothing. So that's just
one of my questions. Um, another one,
[2:38:46] the EV station in um, upper J or in J. I
was here for the town hall meeting with
[2:38:53] Michael Cashman and he said going
electric in the north country is a total
[2:39:00] waste. So why do we have to have a
charging station?
[2:39:06] Nobody stops and spends the night in
Upper J. They want to go to Lake Placid,
[2:39:12] you know. I I mean even motel in Upper J
is closed
[2:39:17] so there's no place to stay in Upper J.
>> Did he specifically say total waste or
[2:39:23] was that your interpretation? Was those
the words you used?
[2:39:27] » Total waste.
>> You said
[2:39:29] » I said
>> you said that Mr. Cashman said
[2:39:32] » Mr. Cashman did say that. He said to go
electric here in the north country would
[2:39:37] be a total waste. That's exactly what he
>> had EV chargers with him and
[2:39:41] electrification in terms of the
buildings.
[2:39:45] » No, he was talking about electric
vehicles. So it total if electric
[2:39:50] vehicles are a total waste up here
then why would you want an electric be a
[2:39:55] little charging?
>> Well, if if that's what he said, which I
[2:40:00] I don't necessarily
>> ask Mr. Stanley. He was there.
[2:40:04] » I would totally disagree with him.
Well, another thing I was brought up was
[2:40:10] electric buses. And he said it would be
difficult for our bus to get to Shay and
[2:40:17] back home without it being charged. He
said electric buses are not something
[2:40:22] you can look at for around here in the
north country. It's just not feasible.
[2:40:27] » Agree 100%.
Just like the the the ban on on gas
[2:40:33] stoves and so forth which was repealed.
I agree both both that and and that the
[2:40:40] you know the ban of you know whatever uh
fossil fuel burning heat and um cooking
[2:40:49] that was repealed and those were stupid.
>> Yes, they were
[2:40:53] » completely stupid. completely because
she doesn't know anything about what
[2:40:58] she's talking about above all. So
everything is in New York City. And
[2:41:02] that's exactly what he said was New York
City could benefit from going total
[2:41:08] electric vehicle over any other place in
New York State because there are so many
[2:41:15] people, so many vehicles and they only
do hop skip and jump. They I don't they
[2:41:20] don't travel 30 miles to Platsburg or
anything like that and then have to
[2:41:24] charge a vehicle. They could, you know,
just roll around the corner and they've
[2:41:29] got everything they need. The other
question I have is um where you want to
[2:41:34] put that EV station in Upper J that is
considered a flood zone. And the reason
[2:41:40] I know is because my house used to sit
where you have that park and I was
[2:41:46] bought out by the federal government
to move to be out of the flood zone. So
[2:41:52] why would you put
>> it's an elevated spot and it's that the
[2:41:56] EV charger head is going to be
approximately on top of that four or
[2:42:02] five feet four feet above the ground.
There's nothing wrong with having
[2:42:07] electric wires. electric wires in pools.
There's electric wires in rivers, in the
[2:42:11] ocean. The you have ingground electric
wires. So the electric wire is not an
[2:42:16] issue. The head of the charger is about
4 feet over that on this spot there,
[2:42:22] which is an elevated spot, well above
the flood level.
[2:42:25] » Okay. So I was flooded out twice in that
area. The first time the ice went
[2:42:33] through, totally wiped out the walls in
our mobile home. just wiped them right
[2:42:38] out. The second time we were flooded, we
had over 4 ft of water, just water
[2:42:44] inside the mobile home.
And and you're telling me that that's
[2:42:49] » your your objections your objections
have been registered. We disagree. Thank
[2:42:54] you.
[2:42:57] » Okay. Um
I would like to comment on this
[2:43:01] gentleman's concern about Lewis.
Um,
[2:43:06] Councilman Duer, you seem to be more
concerned about the noise than anything
[2:43:11] else. And and he brought up several
things that were much more important
[2:43:17] than noise level because like you said,
there's so much noise here in town,
[2:43:23] but we don't tell people, well, you
know, you got to slow down. You have to
[2:43:26] do this or that. But anyway, I was
concerned that um you were more
[2:43:32] concerned over noise than anything else.
Um the other thing I wanted to know is
[2:43:39] what is to become the Hollywood Theater?
I mean, they I don't know what they've
[2:43:44] done to it. I heard it was gutted. I I
don't know because that's a business on
[2:43:50] Main Street and it could be utilized
>> privately owned. Nothing to do with us.
[2:43:55] privately owned. They spent a lot of
money. They gutted it and they put um
[2:43:58] inflation in there and part of the drag
show was a fundraiser so they can spend
[2:44:04] more money because they need to raise
money to get that business open.
[2:44:09] » And what would that business be? Do you
know
[2:44:12] » theater or kind of a community
>> performing arts
[2:44:15] » performing arts center?
Um so the microenterprise grant is that
[2:44:23] um can the business use that for payroll
if they're creating a job within their
[2:44:29] business?
>> Yes, they can. Yep.
[2:44:32] » For a low to moderate income job that
they are creating with the use of the
[2:44:36] grant.
>> Okay. Um I have been to the Upper J Art
[2:44:40] Center. It is a wonderful place. Um they
also have a liquor license. I don't know
[2:44:45] if anybody knows that, but that might be
something that
[2:44:50] I don't know. Bars draw people. I'm not
a bar person, but they do draw people.
[2:44:54] And I went to a play that they had over
at the Methodist church there in Upper
[2:44:59] J. There was absolutely wonderful. So, I
I have been to a couple of their shows
[2:45:04] and I I would defin I have supported
them. I will say that. Um, I would like
[2:45:10] to know what the cost was for the solar
panel on the town of the town of Jake
[2:45:15] Garage or wherever it is.
And it only generates enough energy for
[2:45:21] one light bulb.
>> That's one specific one specific day.
[2:45:26] Uh, in December, January, February, the
solar production is very low obviously
[2:45:32] because of the shorter days and the snow
potential on the solar panels. Um but uh
[2:45:39] on average um if it meets the if it if
it you know like others it's going to
[2:45:45] generate about between 65,000 65 and
70,000 kilowatt hours uh saving the town
[2:45:52] at the today's electricity rate u
potentially between 15 and $20,000 a
[2:45:58] year. The cost to the town was about
$45,000 net somewhere on that number.
[2:46:04] So, we expect we expect to break even
within three years. And then we have and
[2:46:09] it's 25 year 30-year warranty that we're
going to be benefiting the taxpayers of
[2:46:15] the town of Jade are are going to be
saving about $150,000
[2:46:21] over the life of that system.
>> Okay. So, I I actually asked someone
[2:46:25] that has solar panels, and I mean they
have solar panels, and they're very
[2:46:34] coste effective people. Let's put it
that way. They want to know where the
[2:46:38] money's going. And I So, I asked them
about their solar panels, and on
[2:46:42] average, it takes 10 years for so solar
panel to pay for itself.
[2:46:47] » On average, without the grants, we got
grants. The cost of the system was of
[2:46:52] $165,000.
The town of Jay's out of pocket cost was
[2:46:57] roughly 45. Don't quote me on the spec
exact numbers. They're available if you
[2:47:00] want to do request it from the town
office. You can do that. Uh but based on
[2:47:05] that exactly the 10 year break even and
we pay a third of typical cost. So about
[2:47:12] three year break even
>> plus the size of this panel make more
[2:47:16] electricity.
>> Yes. So, talking about properties that
[2:47:19] are in disarray, um there's a property
over here on the corner by the bridge. I
[2:47:24] believe it was owned by John Patnau, and
I'm pretty sure it's condemned. I have
[2:47:30] not gone up to the window and looked at
what's written on the papers or typed.
[2:47:34] And then, of course, the one that's on
the corner of Forge and Church Lane that
[2:47:39] John Patnau also owned at one time. Um,
I was just wondering if maybe those are
[2:47:45] properties that the Essex County Land
Bank might be interested in. It's you
[2:47:51] got to demolish them. There's there's
just
[2:47:53] » wondering if they get on a tax sale most
likely. But I will say that place over
[2:47:58] here next to TOPS has been purchased.
They came in, got a building permit to
[2:48:04] uh remove the garage, and I believe
they're going to start work on the
[2:48:07] house.
[2:48:12] Okay. Um,
>> New York City trip.
[2:48:17] I don't know why four people have to go,
but then I'm questioning what Mr.
[2:48:23] McDonald brought up. I think it was you.
Why do you need so many people to go?
[2:48:29] And if you you didn't bring it up. Okay.
I'm sorry. Um, so whomever brought it
[2:48:35] up.
How many rooms? And I want to thank you
[2:48:39] for paying for your own room. I really
do. Thank you very much.
[2:48:42] » We split it with room to
>> So, um, do you share a room or does
[2:48:48] everybody have their own individual? I
mean, Michelle would have to have their
[2:48:52] own room, of course. But I mean, did two
guys share a room? I mean, you can get
[2:48:56] two beds.
>> I stayed in Wilmington's room with my
[2:48:59] wife last time.
This time, on the reciprocating end,
[2:49:05] she's going to be staying in my room. So
they reap the benefit of not paying for
[2:49:10] him this year.
>> And to clarifying
[2:49:17] her
>> and Tina Tina did that as well with
[2:49:19] Wilmington
spot. So both towns are paying full.
[2:49:25] » Well, I appreciate that because
>> we should all get a spous neighboring
[2:49:29] town.
[2:49:33] » Okay. Um, I
>> Oh, you took a lot of notes tonight.
[2:49:38] » Yes, I did. Um,
>> I wanted to become more involved and the
[2:49:43] only way to do that is to take notes and
to ask questions.
[2:49:46] » You said something about the New York
State retirement. They said they um you
[2:49:51] didn't they didn't receive the check
until after the date. But if you're a
[2:49:56] business in New York State and even the
federal government, they go by the
[2:50:00] postmark. And I know that because I used
to work for the post office and there
[2:50:05] were certain people in Upper J that
would come in and say, "I have to have
[2:50:08] this postmarked today. It's my quarterly
income tax. Make sure it gets
[2:50:12] postmarked." So why wouldn't they
recognize that postmark? The
[2:50:16] » problem that is things aren't postmarked
in your town anymore.
[2:50:22] » No,
>> they go to Connecticut. They've changed
[2:50:25] a lot. The post United States Post
Office has sent out a communication
[2:50:30] recently. Yeah,
>> I said you can't count. You're not going
[2:50:32] to get your
>> mail postmarked at the local post
[2:50:36] office. They're going to close down. I
guess they have 200 hubs. I don't know
[2:50:39] if it was all in New York State or but
they're now going to be 60. And you're
[2:50:44] right. Instead of going to Albany, which
only would mean a day that you a day or
[2:50:48] later that you get your mail and it gets
postmarked. It has to go to hundreds of
[2:50:52] miles away, which could be three, four
days before it gets postmarked. So
[2:50:57] there's tons of problems that poses for
government, for taxpayers, the IRS, for
[2:51:02] things like this. So it's probably
that's the situation here. Uh so my
[2:51:07] recommendation to my because I have a
lot of deadlines where I have to have a
[2:51:11] postmark. Uh it won't get postmarked,
but I will get the damn post office to
[2:51:15] stamp something on there and give me a
receipt so that I could say, "Hey, it's
[2:51:20] not my problem." So there is there is
this is going to be a big problem. I've
[2:51:23] been noticing in my business half of the
stuff that I'm getting doesn't even have
[2:51:27] a postmark on it. [clears throat]
[laughter]
[2:51:30] So
>> when it goes machines, it's just flying
[2:51:33] in two or three letters that go through
and you know, but okay. So that was my
[2:51:38] question there.
>> You can look it up online. They've got a
[2:51:41] new circular walks right through the
whole you know basically it's too bad.
[2:51:48] Well, post pretty much
[2:51:54] » Yeah. The night did all the food mailing
for people for dinner for Christmas. We
[2:52:00] were afraid that they weren't going to
get them before Christmas.
[2:52:02] » Yeah. They got their letter January.
>> Yeah.
[2:52:06] [clears throat]
>> So, okay. Thank you very much. I
[2:52:09] appreciate it. I I appreciate the county
new york.gov so I can go there and um
[2:52:16] read about what's going on.
And um
[2:52:23] this might be a bad question.
Did you want to become a councilman
[2:52:30] because you wanted to do something for
your town or for the money?
[2:52:36] » That's an easy one.
>> I won't answer that. I I hope you have
[2:52:41] seen and if you go on the town website
like you referenced that the activity,
[2:52:47] the work that this town board is putting
in, you know, all of us and the town
[2:52:52] employees
uh and and and the passion that we bring
[2:52:57] to this to this town and and and the
amount of time um is sufficient to show
[2:53:04] you that we're here because we care
about the town and we're passionate
[2:53:08] about the town and we want to see the
town thrive and I think the town board
[2:53:12] has done a good job um as a whole
including the town employees.
[2:53:17] » Okay. So I volunteered
as a Cub Scout master and a Cub Scout
[2:53:24] leader and well they don't call them
dead mothers anymore but um for nine
[2:53:29] years in this building we held scouts.
Okay. And I volunteered for nine years.
[2:53:36] I didn't say anything to anybody. I
didn't ask for anything. I didn't get
[2:53:40] paid for. I also was part of the upper
Jire Department auxiliary when they had
[2:53:46] one. I didn't get paid. I was president
of that twice. I didn't get paid. I
[2:53:51] didn't get any glory, nothing like that
because of the work I had done. Um, I
[2:53:57] volunteered at the thrift shop in
Wilmington. Again, I don't get paid. I'm
[2:54:02] not looking for
>> I want to stop you there. This is not
[2:54:04] the only
I would say you call it job or whatever
[2:54:08] you want to call it engagement that we
all have. We all have full-time jobs the
[2:54:12] town council and I can assure you that
everyone here is doing a lot more other
[2:54:19] volunteer work aside from our town
duties. So what you were just describing
[2:54:24] I'm sure many of us are engaged in many
other organizations or I know for a fact
[2:54:29] they are as we all are. So, so
>> you think that it's okay for you to
[2:54:35] collect that 6,000 whatever?
>> I believe so. Yes.
[2:54:40] » Otherwise, otherwise
and and and you can run for office. Do
[2:54:47] you have anything else other than other
>> I go around on the roads in the spring
[2:54:53] and summer and into the fall and I pick
up trash.
[2:54:57] I [cough and clears throat] don't I have
an adopt a highway sign on Springfield
[2:55:00] Road, but I go all the way around.
>> You're not the only one.
[2:55:04] » And I would also say if you aren't
already aware the highway department
[2:55:08] will come and collect that trash so that
you don't have to pay to dispose of it.
[2:55:12] I know we do that for
>> I know I I have talked to the highway
[2:55:16] department or
>> I just want to make sure you're not
[2:55:18] incurring expenses for
>> I leave it at the um station in um just
[2:55:24] outside of St. to park and um I have
actually left bags a number of bags on
[2:55:33] the side of the road and called the town
and said I did this you need to help me
[2:55:38] out with picking this up if you would
and they have done so
[2:55:43] but I just wanted you to know that I
don't sit on my butt all the time and
[2:55:49] complain you may think I do later so I
appreciate the time you put in and I
[2:55:56] hope you have a good evening.
>> Thank you very much. Any other comments?
[2:56:02] Being none, our next meeting, regular
board meeting is February 12th, um 2026
[2:56:06] at 7 p.m. here. Uh we do not need any
executive session tonight. Um so I will
[2:56:13] take a motion for adjournment. So move,
>> Mr. McDonald. The second,
[2:56:17] » Miss Dwire. It is 9:55.
We are adjourned.