Town Board Meeting
Mhm.
Mhm.
All right, it is 7:31. I am going to call to order our town board meeting of May 7th, 2026. May all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Ms. Marrone, please take the roll call. Supervisor Sheldon. Here. Councilman Keeler. Here. Councilwoman Wright. Here. Councilman Hunter. Here. Councilwoman Wagner. Here. Attorney for the town, Taylor. Here. All right, now before we begin, I'm going to invite up a couple of our staff members to join me up there as I present them with a proclamation of public service recognition week. So, Chris Lombardi and Maria DeLuca, would you please join me?
[applause]
So, this week is public service recognition week and from top to bottom, our town staff, our villages, our anyone in public service, basically, our firefighters, teachers, all of that is So, I just want to present this proclamation in recognition of public service recognition week. Whereas, the role of a public servant is to operate with dignity, pride, and determination to achieve the best outcomes for community members. These individuals are responsible for upholding the highest standards of their work. And whereas, public service recognition week is an annual initiative that celebrates the dedicated work of employees at state, county, and local levels of government. This week highlights the essential contributions of public service professionals who often go above and beyond their job requirements. Their commitment is fueled by the residents and their families who call the community home. And whereas each department within the town of Webster embodies the best of public service and consists of many people from diverse backgrounds and professions. They intentionally sought careers with the town and remain united in their purpose to support the community they cherish. And whereas the town of Webster is fortunate to have public service through organizations like the village, town and fire districts, and more. The contributions of these employees over the years have had significant impact shaping Webster's history for
generations to come. And whereas the work of a public servant is rarely easy but always necessary, the dedication of Webster's public workforce is evident in the pristine parks, clear roads, functioning sewer systems, thriving local businesses, and desirable living conditions enjoyed by our residents every day. The primary goal of our Webster teams is to provide residents with the best possible conditions and services. Our town can continue to expect the high quality standards of work delivered consistently by our public servants. And now therefore be resolved on the 7th day of May in the year 2026, on behalf of the Webster Town Board and the entire Webster community, we celebrate the public service recognition week and commend the hard work and commitment to community shown by all public servants, especially town employees. YAY!
[applause]
ALL RIGHT, WE WILL NOW BEGIN THE open to the floor portion of the evening. Uh everyone will have 5 minutes. Um And so you remember you are speaking before the board. Please speak to the board and not the audience. Public comments are limited to 5 minutes to keep the meeting progressing forward. At 4 minutes, you will see me wave my hand to wrap it up. Um I will say 4 minutes if I don't make eye contact with you. It's just a safety measure. Um and questions will not be answered. If you want your question answered, please provide your email address to the town clerk either on a sign-in sheet right at the end of the meeting. Uh please respect the speaker and refrain from disruptive behaviors or comments. Threatening statements will not be tolerated and may involve you being removed from the meeting. So, up first Carl Fitzsimmons. Am I allowed 5 minutes? Yes.
[laughter]
You can do it. Actually, for those of you who know me, this is a challenge. And a good evening. Um Carl Fitzsimmons, I'm a resident of Webster for the past 22 years. And I've been here. I'd like to take uh this opportunity to talk to you about energy tonight. I've already presented this in front of the uh special planning board. Um the opportunity right now in front of you is around the RNG opportunity. It's a decision point that has to be made by sometime uh this uh coming month of June. This is not just an energy contract. The RNG proposal would become the foundation of the town of Webster's own energy department. And more importantly, it would be Webster's first revenue stream dedicated to reducing energy costs for everyone who lives, works, and plays in this town. Webster would join towns all over the nation from Louisiana, California, to Pennsylvania who have already implemented RNG solutions for their communities. You have no um further to look for the RNG proposal as step one. The next step would be for Webster to purchase the electric lines at the street and the poles and all that. This is a process that's
well-defined. Our judge turns the cost, when completed, it will bring the life circuit of the 21st century of municipal energy ownership. We don't need to look any further for the proof that this works. The towns of Fairport and Spencerport already own their own municipal electric infrastructure. Those residents pay roughly 1/3 what neighboring residents, such as us, pay for their utilities. 1/3. I consider what that would do for Main Street here in Webster. That's why Fairport, when you drive down there, not just having good whiskey, they also have every business location filled up. There's a perfect storm coming on top of this. Artificial intelligence is no longer future technology. It's here, and it's hungry for power. AI supercomputing facilities are going to require a minimum of 40% additional energy plus fresh water. Yeah, where I'm this location here, as a matter of fact. All you have to do is look at Dresden, New York, where they have a Greenidge Generation Facility, which was a former coal plant that was converted to natural gas. It was first used in high demands of energy. Ultimately, it was sold for Bitcoin mining at a cost of $2 million in state
grants to the residents. Ask people of Dresden what they think about that facility down there. They lost all the jobs that were promised, and over $2 million in state grants that was funded by the bond from people locally. That did not sit well with the people there. When you take a look at RG&E, please understand this, that RG&E is not a public utility. It is a privately owned foreign entity. 30 to 40 cents out of every dollar you pay RG&E leaves the country. We don't even get a chance to recycle those dollars in our community, which is a loss. When you're looking for economic development, that's why community-owned energy is a bonus because you recycle those dollars internally. What I'm suggesting is the following. Pass the energy proposal, establish the town of Webster's uh energy department. When I shared this with Town Flaherty, I called it TOE, don't laugh, Town of Webster Energy Department. He laughed at it, too, at the first, but when he considered the information I laid out in front of him, he asked me to become the energy czar for the town of Webster. At that time, because of the work responsibilities I had, I could not take time up on that opportunity. I wish I had about 8 years
ago. There's no telling where Webster would be right now if we ever embarked on that opportunity. So, initiate that process. Also, acquire the Webster's electrical infrastructure, launch an opt-in opt-out solar wind opportunity for the residents of Webster. Opt-in, lower rates. Opt-out, pay what you're paying now. Choice is yours. And then do the simple thing right now. Pass the Climate Smart Community. It's just a little thing to do, and it gets you in the door for all of this. Thank you.
[applause]
1 minute, EXACTLY. UP NEXT IS REBECCA COLLINS. MY NAME is Becky Goldman, and I'm a New Webster resident since 2016. I'm a member of the Climate Smart Community and worked on the slide deck that was sent to you earlier this week in order to hopefully address your concerns about passing a resolution to become a Climate Smart Community. We I your questions and feel that concerns are valid. I hope this slide deck was useful and informative and helped alleviate some of your concerns. I know that I learned a great deal more about the program from talking with leaders in neighboring communities as they shared their experiences as part of the CSC program. I think most of us were already aware that registering greatly increases the likelihood of obtaining funding for a wide variety of town projects. As a Westford resident, I feel it's the town's duty to take advantage of these financial incentives that can offset costs and save taxpayers money.
However, in addition to the fiscal benefits, I learned that leaders in communities that obtain CSC status are committed to planning for the future by improving the quality of life for residents and strengthening their communities for generations to come. Each community had a slightly different road to to being up for the work needed to apply for CSC certification and grant application, but my takeaway is that these town leaders feel the benefits far outweigh the costs and they are dedicated to the mission. In the slide deck, you have the opportunity to see examples of projects funded by grants in neighboring CSC communities. These are just a few of the many many more. And additionally, there are some nearby communities that are part of the Clean Energy Communities program, which is run by Minnesota. And these communities also have an advantage in terms of securing funding for local projects. Take Enfield as an example. Enfield is a CEC and has received almost $150,000 in grants in the past 5 years for clean energy and related sustainability projects. You may ask, "Well, why didn't we become a CEC instead of a CSC?" Unfortunately, that ship has sailed. Um the program, the CEC Clean Energy
Communities program, is now closed. It is integrating into the Climate Smart Community program. So, registering as a CSC will make Webster competitive for receiving grant money for both ongoing and upcoming projects. All projects require funding, and securing funding requires work by the town staff. The CSC program provides technical support for both registering and obtaining funding. I would also like to mention that there are volunteer groups here in Webster, such as Color Webster Green, and there are hundreds of members in these different groups. We are well-educated, highly skilled, and very passionate about sustainability, and many of us are retired. We welcome the opportunity to be part of the process. I know that you all care deeply about Webster and want to do what's best for its residents. Passing the resolution to become a Climate Smart Community shows town residents that you are committed to protecting our environment and securing a sustainable future for Webster. THANK YOU.
[applause]
THANK YOU. UP NEXT, JERRY MCMAHON. HELLO. My name is Jerry McMahon. Uh I live on Chiquita Lane. I've been a resident of Webster for 30 years on this July, and I just want to first of all thank you to all of the people who work for the good of Webster. Thank you for those who ran for office. I've been involved in campaigns, and I know what it takes and the dedication and the hours and the effort that you put into it to run for office, and I appreciate you stepping forward in a time when that's not an easy thing to do. I'm here to speak and and as a proponent for the smart the Climate Smart Communities. I too am a member of the Color Webster Green, and for many many years I've been a member of the Friends of Webster Trails. So, I know I care very much about the environment as I know you do, too. And I know that the maintenance, the creation of the trails is is one of the things that leads to our beautiful trail system that we have in Webster. I feel that some of the grant opportunities could
add to that respect, but I also wanted to just reiterate as Becky just said said, too. That some of these communities that have used the grant money have used it for sidewalks to make the cities their their towns, their villages more pedestrian-friendly, to cut down on driving. They have used it for tree planting. They've used it for putting solar panels on top of their DPW buildings in order to generate money and generate the electricity and generate that to cut down on the cost for the taxpayers. Um we have been working on this initiative. Um Becky and Emily put together that this live presentation that you saw. And we hope that that really did address any of your concerns. As Becky pointed out, too, when we talked to each other, we are saying how much we are committed to this, how much we would volunteer our time and effort to help implement it, to work on grants, to do whatever it takes to get this going because we believe in it very strongly. I thank you very much for your attention.
[applause]
DENNIS, YOU'RE SIGNED IN NEXT, BUT I'm not going to call you up because you are already presented. Um unless you have something else you wanted to say. I have some other things to say to kind of sum up the process. Yeah, you can do that when we do the vote. Um up next, Sven Bader.
[clears throat]
Good evening. Uh, my name is Sven Bader, and I've been a tax-paying homeowner in Worcester for almost 40 years. Thank you for the opportunity to share my support of the Climate Smart Communities initiative. I planned to speak at last week's board meeting, but due to a family matter, I was unable to attend. But, before addressing uh the program itself, I just want to give you a little brief background on my background. I recently retired from Nestlé, where I served as the uh the director of environmental sustainability. My team was responsible for environmental compliance, remediation activities, and implementing sustainability programs in 71 factories throughout the United States. Prior to that, I spent 21 years working in the health, safety, and environmental organization in Collab. My entire career has been spent at the intersection of environmental stewardship, operational efficiency, and cost reduction. I'm not here to debate climate change, but what I will emphasize is what's good for the environment, is good for business, and it's good for communities. At Nestlé, we are expected to protect the environment while maintaining high
levels of profitability. That required finding solutions that reduced our environmental footprint and reduced the cost. The town of Worcester can take the same approach. The Climate Smart Communities Certification Framework offers several meaningful benefits. One, supporting initiatives to reduce and lower operating costs, it increases eligibility for grants, tax credits, and low-to-zero interest loans. It provides a stronger ability to attract the environmentally conscious businesses into our town, and it provides a clear signal to to our residents that we're planning for a responsible future. Many of the the the program's core elements focus on energy, water, and walk waste reduction. The These are proven to be to be incorporated into a multi-year strategy and implemented as systems reach the end of their useful life. A few easily implemented examples include reducing traditional indoor and exterior exterior lighting with LED, replacing or transitioning from standard boilers and air conditioners to uh heat pumps where appropriate,
certainly. And then updating purchasing policies to ensure the town procures energy-efficient and environmentally responsible products and services. These are a few practical and proven ways to reduce your environmental impact and lower your long-term operating costs. One last important thought. And And I really appreciate the board's diligence in reviewing matters that are important to the town. And And Councilwoman, at the at at the April 16th meeting, Councilwoman Wright, you mentioned or noted that Westford has successfully received grants in the past without the certification. And I agree, we have we've had a really high level of success. And And I would say much of it can be attributed to the outstanding work that Josh has done. However, as any financial planner will tell you, uh that past performance is not a guarantee for future results. And with the sunsetting of pandemic-related programs, significant reductions or tightening in federal and state budgets, it's highly likely that grants will become much more competitive. In that environment, this certification strengthens Rochester's eligibility for
grants. If the board is truly committed to reducing the town's environmental footprint, strengthening Rochester's appeal to new businesses and residents, and lowering the long-term costs for the community, via performance.
approving this initiative is a logical and responsible step. And again, thank you so much for the opportunity to TALK WITH YOU.
[applause]
I'M HAPPY TO SAY I WAS ABLE TO PRONOUNCE EVERYBODY'S last names properly for the first time. Did you have them spell them phonetically?
[laughter]
Even that's a no. Well, I think it's short for Virginia. Well, and speaking
[clears throat]
I'm hoping the board will vote unanimously in favor of the Climate Smart Communities Program, also known as the CSC. And if not unanimously, then the help pass it through, let the deciding person show independent leadership, and join those in favor of the CSC program, and one of those residents who want the program to move forward, which obviously we're here. The CSC will not only benefit the town of Webster, but its residents as well. Best of all, tax dollars won't be used. I want to thank the board members and the supervisor for hearing my brief, though thoughtful, statement. Again, please do what's best for the community, and be responsible. Vote yes on the CSC program. Thank you, and I forgot to mention you, Arlene, Monica, and I live on Talbots Trail.
[applause]
THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING THE PUBLIC SECTION. I will now move on to regular town business. I have reviewed the minutes for the April 16th workshop, and I will make a motion to consider uh for approval for those minutes. Second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Keeler? Aye. Councilwoman Wright?
Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Councilman Wagner? Aye. I have also reviewed the minutes for the April 16th Town Board meeting, and I would make a motion to approve said minutes. Second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. Councilman Keeler? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Councilman Wagner? Aye. And Jen, you have the honors this month. Yes, I did. I was in Town Hall yesterday. I reviewed all of the bills. They are in order, and I move to um approve to get those paid by the Director of Finance. Second. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Keeler? Aye. Councilman Wagner? Aye.
[snorts]
All right. I will make a motion to approve the prepaid warrant as submitted by the Director of Finance. Second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Councilman Keeler? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. Councilman Wagner? Aye. I will also make a motion to approve purchase orders as submitted by the Director of Finance. Second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Keeler? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Councilman Wagner? Aye. All right. Up first, we have a fill permit. Which does have a couple changes to it that I will have Keith explain briefly. Our town engineer. Good evening. Yes, so in front of us tonight is a fill permit for 1620 Lake Road. This is a single-family property. Essentially, in your packet was a a lot of detail information on their armoring their embankment to Lake Ontario to mitigate a significant amount of uh
erosion that has occurred and they're essentially mimicking what their neighbors to the west just have done here the last couple of years. So, this has triggered the coastal work is all approved and reviewed by the DEC. This has occurred. Um both permits have been issued. What this does result in is a significant amount of excavation and then uh redispositioning of the spoils from this work. Their intentions um the original [clears throat] application was to keep all of the spoils on site. Um what has come out through several reviews between the engineering um department as well as the engineer for this project is they are actually going to be only uh we're proposing about half of it, about 2,400 cubic yards. Um and that's going to be used to uh help level out their front front yard area. Which is quite low. The other uh 2,400 cubic yards will be shipped offsite um and is going to a resident in the town of Webster. So, that is the that is the slight change to the original application. We
reviewed this um in depth with our with this resident as well as their engineer and we uh support this application. Yeah, I just have a couple questions for that. Um will this have any different environmental impact with half of it going out or change the seeker? No. Will there be any monetary changes? No. And do you still as the town engineer recommend the fill permit? Absolutely. Okay. I just have one question. From a legal perspective, do we need to change any verbage in this resolution? Yes, so historically we used to treat it as a type two action. Um they should be treated as an unlisted action. So that actually requires a statement of resolution uh a finding uh that this is a single agency review. There's no other involved agencies and the town board would take the lead on this. Uh in reviewing the application and the short form EAF that was provided, the town board would determine if it would or would not have a significant environmental impact. If no, you would issue a negative declaration and that seeker process would end there. There would be if someone were to make that motion, there would then be a roll call on that motion. I'll make that motion. Okay. All right. I'll second. Yeah. And are you going to read out the motion first what the motion is for? Looks like someone's prepared a motion.
So I'll make the motion that this uh determination is unlisted action under seeker uh single agency review based on review and of application and EAF that will not name um will not have significant I can't hear anything. adverse effect on the environment issue uh negative declaration. Second. Councilman McKay Aye. Supervisor Sheldon Aye. Councilman Knight Aye. Councilman Hunter Aye. Councilman Wagner Aye. This negative declaration has been issued the town board can open for considering what is the issue with the program? I will make a motion to approve the cell tower permit for 1628 Lake Road. Second. Supervisor Schabilon? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Councilman Gahan? Aye. Councilman Murray? Aye. Councilman Wiegand? Aye. All right. Up next is our Climate Smart Community uh resolution rescheduled from 4/16. I would like to invite the staff that is going to be bearing the brunt of this. I want them to say a few words, Joshua Maria. Uh if you would like to address the board. Sure. Um just to recap, uh the Climate
Smart Communities program uh consists of a variety of actions, 30 of which the town is already undertaking as a part of our daily operations. Um we did query all of the department heads and found that there is unanimous support for moving ahead with this uh pledge. Um we've determined that it can be handled by existing staff resources. The town is in total control of what we pursue or not pursue. And it can help us with our upcoming grant applications, particularly for the next step after the comprehensive plan update. Um so from my professional opinion and in speaking with some of my counterparts in other towns that have made the pledge, um it's it's a no-brainer from my perspective.
[applause]
I finished with my applause. Uh for those of you who don't know me, my name is Marie Dewar. I give many a great presentation. Um I am in support of the town becoming a registered Climate Smart Community. As the town grant liaison, I know that this will help our grant applications for DEC funding, WIIA, which is water infrastructure improvement programs, and also CFA, which is consolidated funding applications, to be stronger and earn more points. The reason being is that those grants mention specifically um those grants mention specifically ask if we are a registered Climate Smart Community. As Councilwoman Wright previously mentioned, I and I agree, we have been very fortunate in the number of grants that we have had funded. However, competition in grants is very fierce. We have not had a WIIA grant be successful since 2017. WIIA grants typically fund sewer projects like the Vosburg pump station. And finally, as the church showed during Dennis Wright's presentation, we nearly have enough tasks already completed to become bronze certified. It's my opinion that not pursuing this designation is a wasted opportunity to strengthen our grant applications. Again, I strongly
recommend we move forward with the Climate Smart Communities program. All right, thank you. Now, if the board has any questions for them, we also have the Climate Smart Community regional coordinator coordinator, Rachel Shower, here along with Conservation Board Chair Dennis Gorlick, who had previously given the workshop, so Nick, do you have any questions for them? I don't have any specific questions. John? No. Jen? No. Eric? No. All right, Nick, you have the Conservation Board liaison? Sure. Uh so, I just want to say personally, I just want to kind of voice my opinion cuz I agree very much with Josh and Maria that this is kind of a no-brainer, and it would be largely leaving money on the table. Um I want to take a step back though and just talk about like the resolution itself is talking about getting registered. That's basically filling out the form saying that we are making the pledge to be a part of it, and that's already like extra points just in that process. Uh and then on top of that we're already doing enough basically to get us to the bronze level. Um so it just kind of seems like a wasted opportunity. I hate leaving money on the table. Um so with that, I'm going to make a motion to a approve the town of Webster
uh registering to become a climate smart community. I'll second. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Supervisor Schroeppel? Aye. Councilman Cahill? Nay. Councilwoman Wright? Nay. Councilman Wagner? Nay. All right. John, you are the courts. You are up next. So I'm going to move to accept the 2025 Town Justice Court Agreed Upon Procedures report dated April 6th, 2000 2026 as prepared by Mengel, Metzger, Barr LLP. I'll second. Councilman Cahill? Aye. Supervisor Schroeppel? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Councilman Wagner? Aye. Gerrit, you are the Town Clerk. Please have the next one. All right. I'd like to make a resolution to accept the 2025 Town Clerk and Receiver of Taxes Agreed Upon Procedures report dated April 6th, 2026 as prepared by Mengel, Metzger, Barr and Company LLP. And also just to point out on this, the
good thing on both of these, these are done by outside CPA firms to check the work and there was no findings on either, which means both departments are doing an amazing job. That's That's the best part. We love these to come back home. I'll second. Councilman Wagner? Aye. Supervisor Schroeppel? Aye. Councilman Cahill? Aye. Councilman Wright? Hi. Councilman Hunter? Hi. All right. Up next is a resolution to engage with Concord HR for blue-collar union negotiations only. However, I know that there's a lot of talk about this, so if there is anyone here who would like to make the motion. And if not, then I will make a motion to strike this from the agenda and not engage with Concord HR. Second. So, it's the resolution to strike? Yeah. I think you need to you know, there just needs to be a call for a motion. If there is no motion made, it just fails.
Yeah.
Yeah, right. You can strike that. All right. Up next, 3 years ago, there was an update to the department heads funding with step system increases and pay scales to keep the town competitive with other municipalities. During that time, the department heads for the that oversaw the white and blue-collar unions were given increases in steps and COLAs to align with their departments. The police was left off of this, and for 3 years, they kept being told that it would come up again, they'd come up with it, they'd come up with it. Now, we did come up financial department and HR came up with a system to deal with the compression between the two non-union employees within the police department, but there is a lot of work that may need to go into it. I do believe that the chief fully deserves that the money that is to be paid to him is doing this, but I also believe in the board having the ability to do a due diligence in how to properly assess put this together. So, what I would like to offer for the resolution is what is a budget transfer. He under the 10% above the captain's
base salary for the chief of police which equates to $5,900 for the year of 2026. So, I will make a motion to remove 20 $5,900 from the town supervisor salary for the fiscal year and add it into the chief's base salary for the fiscal year ending in December 31st, 2026. So, before this vote goes forward, I wanted to mention that not only myself but another councilperson had lengthy discussions with the chief. Um I won't speak for the other person, but I had some reservations in the manner in which this is being done. I think there's additional conversations that need to be taken and the chief has has said he's willing to sit down and have additional conversations. Um I don't think this is the manner in which this should be done. I think it's setting a precedent. I don't I do believe that the chief is entitled to be compensated. I don't know This is not the manner in which to do it in my opinion. I think we should sit down, put the numbers together based upon the last 3 years. I think the chief was treated badly with respect to this and when you were first hired again as
chief and I want to do this by having discussions and do it properly. And we will still have discussions and do it properly, but this doesn't limit us to a timeline. The only person this affects is myself and I am happy to do this because I believe in the work that he is doing. I believe in what they are doing and I believe that he was not compensated fairly for the past 3 years. This can have been kicked down the road in the previous administration being told we'll deal with it after the negotiations, we'll deal with it in the next year, we'll deal with it in the next year. All I am offering is that it comes out of my budget line, my salary. It does not touch anybody else and then during that time we have the entire year to sit down and have this actual conversation without any deadlines. You can You can resolve this by the next board meeting. I make I make a motion. I make a motion The motion has already been made. There's a motion of All right. 40% Okay. Thank you, Pat. Nick, anything? Uh I mean, I I agree with you, Alex. I I think it's important to address the chief's concern. I think it's the equity thing is important in this aspect, but it's also a comfort and a philosophy of really kind of taking care of your talent when it comes to your organization. Um and I will say the chief is somebody who just from an ethical standpoint has really done great things for the police
force. I think there's been a lot of incidents in recent past that have really highlighted how important our police department is. Um but also I want to talk about the chief's budgeting aspect and his acumen of when it comes to budgeting and how that comes into every single thought that he has and how the police spends their money and how do I make it optimized for the taxpayer? Um so for all of those reasons, I think it's just crucial to maintain the talent um and to help support the chief through this process. And this Yeah, and this again has no impact on the taxpayer. It has no impact on anyone other than myself. Well, nobody is saying that we don't value not only the chief, but the captain and all our officers. Nobody is saying Oh, no. I'm not suggesting that. I'm saying that right now this is going to be
you. Let me have my say, okay? Please. There's a way to do this properly in my opinion and there's a way to not do it properly and I think this resolution is not doing this properly. We will make the chief whole. There's no two ways about that because he's deserving. So I'm going to vote no because I want to get this rescheduled and do it in the proper manner subsequent to my my conversations and other board members conversations with the chief and the captain. Well, they're still waiting on a second for the motion. I second the motion. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Councilman Keeler? Nay. Councilwoman Wright? Nay. Councilman Wagner? Nay.
[snorts]
All right, we are moving on then. Um Do we make a motion to reschedule right now or do we have to wait till the end? I'll make a motion to reschedule. So, there's there's no need to to make a motion to reschedule. The motion The motion that was made has failed. Um and it's not a productive motion to be putting to make, so there's no need to reschedule. We can put another resolution together subsequent to our conversations with the chief. Yeah, you you can put it on the agenda for Yeah, you can put it on the agenda Yeah, can I just like they didn't like make it clear that that is the goal of the no vote is to reschedule this for next time immediately. Well, there's no way You don't need to make an official motion. No, it's good to get that on the record. But, I just want to clarify clarify that Kyle like that is our intent. All right. Uh up next, I cannot do this one cuz this is my It is not authorized me to sign, but this is a renewal for Secure Controls Technologies. They operate our uh security system for the town. Uh this is our annual renewal and thank you Councilman Wagner for catching that we made $125 off from the original $13,000. You better see Dave in the workshop. Calculators. So, I'll move to authorize the town supervisor to sign a renewal agreement
with Secure Secure Us Technologies for service and support for the town hall, um the police and the town court buildings not to exceed $13,000. $13,500 annually. Yeah, mine says $13,000. Yeah, he needs to get that. He just said that. Yeah, he would just he just bought it like an hour ago. Okay. 13,500. Yes. I'll second. Councilwoman Keeler? Aye. Councilman Hunger? Aye. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. Councilman Wegner? Aye. All right, Janet. This next one is all you. You want to give us a little explanation of the MRB situation and Pat Cielenski is here to Is Pat here? I didn't see him. He got the the letter. The wonderful killer? Well, Pat, I will let you do I will. Towards the end of last year, there was an invoice from MRB. It was part of a highway project. There was a number of other line items that the town was charged for. The town had questions about the charges and the viability of the charges, the approval for those additional charges. And as a result, we
sat down with MRB. Pat went through and scrubbed the list of of costs. It was approximately $40,000 that was reduced down to 6,300. And um we worked with MRB to settle um that invoice for $6,300. And um and the the motion on the table today is to approve that settlement payment. Yeah, I just want to thank Pat, yourself, and MRB for working together to resolve these issues. I know it's been on the table for quite some time. Um Pat, you're very astute when it comes to this, and I appreciate all the work you're doing on that. So, that's all I have to say. Any other questions? I got nothing. Jim filled me in on this pretty well. I mean, it's like echo John's comments. You know, I appreciate that. That's why we pay attention to things. We watch these things. You know, we're responsible for the taxpayers' money, all of us collectively, and this is the hard part sometimes. You do a lot of work, but it's really important. So, thank you, Pat. So, um with that, if there aren't any other
questions, I will make a um motion to authorize the town supervisor to approve payment for the settlement with MRB for $6300. Second. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. Councilman Kehoe? Aye. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Councilman Wegman? Aye. All right. Up next is a very fun one. Um so, for those of you who are not aware, um last year there was a joint public hearing with the village, and the discussion was about our municipal lines. Currently, um at the Xerox campus, the line between the village and town runs directly through some buildings. Um so, the idea is that we move the municipal line so that the west campus is entirely within the village, and the east campus is entirely within the town. Um but in order to do that, we have to have a joint public hearing with the village. Um they have a referendum on their schedule for June 16th, and uh we will be voting after that. Uh not the same day after, but uh first we do need to set a public hearing. So, I would like to make
a motion to set a joint public hearing with the village of Webster for Tuesday, June 2nd at 7:00 p.m. to be published on the Webster Herald uh before the 13th of May, 2026. Second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Kehoe? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Hi. Councilman Hunter? Hi. Councilman Wagner? Hi. All right. Up next is a license agreement to allow fence within a town storm water easement. Keep that you were packed for this one. And after the resident is aware that if we need to get in there, that fence is going bye-bye. Yeah. Yep. Jen, this is you. All right. I [snorts] will move to approve a license agreement to allow a fence within the town storm water easement located at 1194 Scandia Drive, tax ID 065.05-1-49. Second. Councilwoman Wright?
Hi. Councilman Hunter? Or I'm sorry, Councilman Cato? Hi. Supervisor Sheldon? Hi. Councilman Hunter? Hi. Councilman Wagner? Hi. All right. Garrett, you are clerk. So, the next two are only if you want to give a brief explanation of credit cards at town hall. So, we're looking at lot 15, right? Yes. Yep. So, for 15 here, this is to add a credit card processing machine to the clerk's office to receive taxes. Is that correct? Well, fees and taxes. So, these would cover things like um building permits, uh mulch deliveries, uh marriage licenses, peddlers' licenses, marriage licenses. Yes, pretty much the gamut of all kinds of fees that the town clerk's office collects.
Perfect. And it makes things a little easier for the residents. IT, insurance, accounting will sign off on this. So, I make a a motion to make a resolution to authorize the supervisor to enter into a service agreement with CSG Fort Payments Inc. to provide additional credit card processing services for Webster Town Hall transactions performed in the town clerk/receiver of taxes office. Second. So, this is this has been a long time coming. It's going to benefit our residents a great deal and I'm very happy to see this come come about. So, thank you for all the work you guys put into it. I'm very excited, too. Councilman Wegman? Aye. Councilman Wright? Aye. Supervisor Scheltzow? Aye. Councilman Cahill?
Aye. Councilman Humpfer? Aye. So, you Councilman Wegman? All right. Next up, once again, raising work by the name focusing on how we can help our residents in our busiest times. So, this is a resolution that one temporary part-time office clerk position for the town clerk receiver of taxes department to the 2026 list of authorized positions. You've done an amazing job guiding us through our questions, going through this, planning for budget responsibly. So, once again, thank you. I just want to mention that we are down a person, which is the reason we are doing this and it's only emphasize this is only temporary. I can speak to it if you The merit. So, in early January, we had our full-time tax who experienced a very serious, life-altering medical emergency. She is still out. She We're hoping and praying for a full recovery. We're estimating that she may be back to to work early summer. She still has a long road of recovery. She just got released from physical therapy, but she's still working on occupational therapy and speech therapy. And what we're trying to do is to plan for our busiest time of year, which is
school tax collection. It's very fast, very furious, it's We're We're just going to be completely understaffed in order to be able to keep up with the demands of the residents coming in to pay their taxes. With our town and county tax collection, we have used other employees within town hall that have past experience and we thank them for the opportunity to come and help us out when they were in a busy time season, but unfortunately, that's not going to be something that's going to be available to us during school taxes. So, this is the way that we will be able to support the current full-time and part-time employees so they do not get burned out. And hopefully, that's something that will be approved. And if you do have any other questions, I can certainly answer them. I don't have any questions, but I just want to have a brief comment that um I appreciate greatly um your responding to our to our direct questions and they you articulated very well um the job, the duties, who's tracking the hours. And also, for the additional help that that you called upon and that you you ladies helped out. I mean, it to use other resources when you're down
is uh shows a lot of uh cooperation and cross-training, so Absolutely. And it was felt by the residents during our town and county tax collection season being down a full-time employee, you know, with the phones, the phone calls, dealing with a lot of callbacks, you know, longer lines, longer wait times, you know, it was really felt by people and we just hope to try to prevent that during school tax collection. Great call. Thank you. Did you make the motion, Garrett? I did. I'll second. Thank you. You're welcome. One thing is that she knows this better than I do.
[laughter]
Councilman Victor? Hi. Councilman Kahan? Hi. Supervisor Sheldon? Hi. Councilwoman Ray? Hi. Councilman Hunter? Hi. All right, Paul, would you like to give a brief explanation of the Epic Fund here? Yeah, I'll give a little background. The town is looking to open an investment account with Empire State Liquid Investment Cooperative. Uh it's essentially an investment-based It's almost like a mutual fund for governments. They invest in US Treasury bills. Uh the advantages of this very good rates, and uh you can take the money in and out every day if you want to save. You're not locked in for any period of time. Um in fact, uh the town has had a similar account uh with a company called New York CLASS since about 1991. And it's worked very well for us. So, this will just give us another choice. We'll continue to use New York CLASS, but uh we'd like to use Epic as well. So, there's one resolution to authorize us to open the account, and another one to uh amend the investment policy to add Epic. Yeah. I'm just wondering if you have any questions. I do.
Let me first preface this by saying, Paul, you've done an amazing job as a director of finance. I I trust you 100%. Um what do you envision from a investment standpoint in dollar wise for this account? Uh I think I've authorized them The investment policy authorizes them up to $25 million. I think I would probably start out with $5 million. Okay. About 50% of that. We have quite a bit more with New York CLASS. Uh we're The amount of cash we have currently is pretty high because we borrowed money to do this waste water treatment plant project, the highway building. So, we're sitting on more cash than what we would normally have. And uh we we do invest that. And the money from that currently accrues in the debt service fund which can be used in future years to offset some of the principal and interest cost from the debt. Thank you very so for saying. Yeah. Anybody else? It's pretty straight forward. Yeah. Yeah. I'll make a motion to authorize the town
of Webster to participate in the Empire Public Investment Cooperative Fund of New York. I'll second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Councilman Keeler? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. Councilman Wagner? Aye.
[snorts]
And I will make a motion to revise the town's investment policy to add the Empire Public Investment Cooperative Funds of New York.
Second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilwoman Wright?
Aye. Councilman Keeler? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Councilman Wagner? Aye. All right, we are reached the end of surplus destruction and recycling, all the good stuff. Councilman Wagner, you're up first. Let's see here. All right, so we got some bookcases that are gone, folks. I'll make a resolution to approve the following items for recycling from the town clerk's office clerk's office, three bookcases. Second. Councilman Wagner? Aye. Councilman Keeler? Aye. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye, but it's not three, it's a three-shelf bookcase. Oh, thank you. Thank you, Jessica, for the clarification.
It's an important clarification. Yes, it is. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Wait, can I change my vote since it's not three bookcases, it's only three shelving? All right. Councilman Hunter? Of course. Um so, again, transfer surplus items. So, I make a resolution to approve the following items for transfer surplus from the police department including a a Glock 47C0A patrol vehicle roof lights, lot weapon accessories, and mobile license plate reader. Second. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Keeler? Aye. Councilman Wright? Aye. Councilman Wegner? Aye. Jen, you got the best one.
I got the best one. I got the best one. This this is this is not a very frequent motion. Um there probably won't be another one of these for another 30 or 50 years. Um I would like to approve the following items for destruction. Um 1005 Pitcher Parkway original highway garage with an asset tag of 528. And highway garage improvements asset tag 933. We will be clearing that out to make way for asphalt barn and a truck wash bay and uh our new highway garage will not be encumbered by those other things. Second. Councilman Wright? Aye. Councilman Wegner? Aye. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Keeler? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. All right, we will not be having a round table tonight. Um we do I do need to invite some people into executive session. So Um I just want to talk to you. Uh based on public officers law 105D, I would like to invite um the town board, uh town attorney
Charles Taylor, director of community development Josh Artuso, HR director Kelsey Feeney, planning board chair Tony Cushaney, um and uh town clerk Janine Marsh pending litigation. Second. That's your motion, right? Yes. Second. Supervisor Sheldon? I. Councilman O'Connell? I. Councilwoman Wright? I. Councilman Hunter? I. Councilwoman Wegner? I. All right. Everyone else who I did not call on, you can go ahead and have a good night.