TOWN OF FORESTPORT
PUBLIC HEARING: PRELIMINARY BUDGET AND
REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING MINUTES
WOODGATE FIRE HALL
12445 State Route 28, Woodgate, N.Y.
October 16, 2024 @6:15PM

PRESENT: Supervisor Entwistle
Councilman Addison
Councilwoman Abrial
Councilman Scouten
Councilwoman Verschneider
ABSENT: No members of the Town Board were absent.

RECORDING SECRETARY: Tracy Terry, Town Clerk

CALL TO ORDER:

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:

LEGAL NOTICE:

PUBLIC HEARING PUBLIC COMMENT:
• Ron, from the Gallery asked why pages were missing from the budget. It was answered the blank form is from the state and includes pages for towns that have villages. Forestport does not have a village, so those pages stay blank and are removed from the town budget.
• Roy, from the gallery referring to the Bookkeeper to the Supervisor position line item has a typo been made? Supervisor Entwistle stated they have two Bookkeepers at least temporarily. The former Bookkeeper made $22/hour, and they are raising that over the next couple of years. The Assistant Bookkeeper is making $20/hour, and the rate is being increased to $25/hour. The Full-Time Bookkeeper is making $22.50/hour. The board will keep bumping that up. The long-term plan is for Jeff to streamline things for the town. He is training Vicky to do the Water, Sewer and Bookkeeping. Over the next several years, he will be doing the Water and sewer and Vicky the Bookkeeping. Maintenance is another one, the maintenance position was at $19/hour, and it would be hard to hire capable people for that job.
• Ron, from the Gallery asked what $32,500 was for the line item for the seniors was for. There is $11,000 for the trips and $20,000 for the pickleball court. There is a possibility for the pickleball court to be placed at Woodgate school. Glenyce asked if it was $13,000 for trips. Supervisor Entwistle stated they discussed it at $11,00 because she did a great job with the trips. She agreed on the $11,000. Ron also asked if there was money for the ski trips and it was answered yes. Buses are provided for the Gore trip, but not for the McCauley trips.
 NYS retirement line questioned- Supervisor Entwistle stated everyone employed by the town and who belongs to the retirement system here is a certain percentage that comes out of their check and the town has to match it. NYS tells the town what their contribution will be for the year. It is not exact, but the town puts that money into the budget.
 Ron asked if the Highway Superintendent’s salary was based on a 40-hour work week. The board does not consider Town of Webb when considering salaries but include the Highway Superintendents because the roads are similar, and Bill’s salary is lower. Elected officials have to be in the office long enough to do their work. He stated Bill has a new crew and has been training them and running one guy short on purpose. He plowed and put a lot more time in. Someone mentioned to him that Bill worked in some fashion seven days a week, 365 days a week. Like the water or sewer, readings have to be done seven days a week.
• Glenyce stated a 3% raise should be for the main income, not the other jobs.
• Supervisor Entwistle mentioned the tax rate for General, Highway, Fire and Ambulance is $2.18/per thousand. It is down from last year because last year between the codes and assessors; $26,000,000 assessed value was put into the tax roll. It is a direct result of Tony and Tonya working together to make sure everything is assessed properly and issuing building permits.
• Supervisor Entwistle stated it is likely the town will be going to some type of an ambulance district because it is hard to fund the ambulance with the town budget. He has done some preliminary numbers, if they gave StaR ambulance $100,000 and Old Forge $50,000, with a $100,000 house your taxes would go up $20.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Abrial and seconded by Councilman Scouten to close the Public Hearing.
5 ayes/ 0 nays/0 absent MOTION CARRIED
ABSTRACTS:
GENERAL:
A motion was made by Councilman Scouten and seconded by Councilwoman Abrial to pay Abstract # 10, Vouchers #623- #680 in the amount of $37,120.03.
5 ayes/ 0 nays/0 absent MOTION CARRIED
HIGHWAY:
A motion was made by Councilwoman Verschneider and seconded by Councilwoman Abrial to pay Abstract #10, Vouchers #256- #290 in the amount of $86,249.40.
5 ayes/ 0 nays/0 absent MOTION CARRIED
WATER DISTRICT #1:
A motion was made by Councilwoman Abrial and seconded by Councilwoman Verschneider to pay Abstract #10, Vouchers #100- #105 in the amount of $1,623.86.
5 ayes/ 0 nays/0 absent MOTION CARRIED
SEWER DISTRICT #1:
A motion was made by Councilwoman Abrial and seconded by Councilwoman Verschneider to pay Abstract #10, Vouchers #62- #67 in the amount of $547.92.
5 ayes/ 0 nays/0 absent MOTION CARRIED
BUCKHORN WATER DISTRICT:
A motion was made by Councilman Scouten and seconded by Councilwoman Abrial to pay Abstract #10, Vouchers #26- #29 in the amount of $243.36.
5 ayes/ 0 nays/0 absent MOTION CARRIED

TOWN CLERK MINUTES:
A motion was made by Councilwoman Abrial and seconded by Councilwoman Verschneider to accept the minutes from the:
September 18, 2024: Regular Town Board Meeting
September 24, 2024: Special Meeting: Tentative Budget and Woodgate School
September 30, 2024: Budget Workshop Meeting
5 ayes/ 0 nays/0 absent MOTION CARRIED

REPORTS
WATER DISTRICT #1
WATER DISTRICT #2
SEWER
TOWN CLERK REPORTS
JUSTICE REPORT
DOG REPORT
PLANNING REPORT- Nothing this month
PLANNING BOARD OF APPEALS
SUPERVISOR REPORT
DOG REPORT
A motion was made by Councilman Scouten and seconded by Councilwoman Abrial to accept the monthly reports.
5 ayes/ 0 nays/0 absent MOTION CARRIED
NOCCOG: Lisa Bellinger went over the monthly announcements.

WATER:
• New Billing Software: The town is looking into new billing software. This could lead to text reminders, recurring payments, credit card payments, etc. There will be demos to see what everyone likes.
BUCKHORN WATER: A main valve was compromised, and it was replaced. Everything is good for the winter.
OLD BUSINESS BOARD:
• Budget: This will be approved at the regular November meeting.
• Comprehensive Master Plan: The committee is meeting tomorrow night at 6:30. They have had around 500 responses, and it is well above the normal response rate. They will be mapping out the focus groups. The survey data will be presented to see what the Comprehensive Plan will look like, and a final draft will be supplied in the early summer.
• Woodgate Building: The board is looking for ideas for Woodgate school. One option was to demo the building and build a pickleball court, pavilion and bathhouses. Jen stated there is money for these types of projects. You could be awarded close to 700,000 with 50% match. The project could be longer than one year.

NEW BUSINESS BOARD:
• Appointment for Eric Waldo
A motion was made by Councilman Scouten and seconded by Councilwoman Verschneider to appoint Eric Waldo, of Woodgate as a member of the Planning Board of Appeals.
5 ayes/ 0 nays/0 absent MOTION CARRIED
Supervisor Entwistle stated they do a fantastic job on the Planning Board of appeals.
• Councilwoman Verschneider mentioned having Vicky Palen take the Notary class to become a notary. Supervisor Entwistle stated he will ask Vicky and see if she is interested.

NEW BUSINESS PUBLIC:

ADJOURNMENT:
A motion was made by Councilman Scouten and seconded by Councilwoman Abrial to adjourn the meeting.
5 ayes/ 0 nays/0 absent MOTION CARRIED
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:52 pm by Supervisor Entwistle.
Respectfully submitted,

Tracy M. Terry

Forestport Town Clerk