Town Board Meeting
All right, it is now 7:30. I call to order the Webster Town Board meeting of March 19th, 2026. If you would all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. 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. Mern, would you like to do roll call? Supervisor Fitzal? Here. Councilman Kase? Here. Councilman Wright? I. Here. I here. I don't I'm already moving ahead.
[laughter]
It counts. Here. Attorney for the town, Taylor. Here. Well, we All right. First up, we have a public hearing. Just to refresh our memory on the flood damage prevention ordinance. Josh, would you like to just walk us through a quick high-level overview? Sure. We have a property owner in town that has applied to FEMA for an official map amendment. They performed [clears throat] a hydraulic analysis and were able to prove that the official flood plain maps for this particular area in town, which is adjacent to the movie theater, bowling alley, and the area on the south side of Empire Boulevard, also including some properties within the town of Penfield. So, we are the local [clears throat] municipalities are responsible for administering the FEMA flood plain regulations. And this, therefore, now that FEMA has approved this change, we need to amend our town code to reflect the letter of map revision. All right. So, with that, we will open the public hearing. I know no one has signed in for it, but this is a public
hearing. So, anyone who wishes to speak, please approach the podium. Nope. All right. So, we will close the public hearing on the proposed amendment to the town's flood damage prevention ordinance. We're going to begin the open to the floor. Before that, I do have an announcement about the Montante project. After lots of back and forth and talking with them, there has been an amendment to the site plan. There will be nothing on top of the landfill at this point. They have scaled back, so there will be nothing on the on the cap, nothing on the landfill, no solar panels, no inverters. But, I just wanted to bring that to everyone's attention. They will be submitting a new site plan to the board, and we look forward to viewing that and sending them back to the planning board for a subsequent approval. With that, it is now time for the open to the floor. Rules of conduct. You are speaking before the board, please speak to the board, not to the audience. Public comments are limited to 5 minutes to keep the meeting [clears throat] progressing forward. At 4 minutes, you will see me wave my hand as kind of a wrap-up, and then we will begin the next speaker at 5 minutes. Questions will not be answered. If you want your question answered, please
provide your email address to the town clerk or on the sign-in sheet, which many of you did already. Please respect the speaker. They may not say something you agree with, but they have every right to say and threatening statements will not be tolerated and may involve you being removed from this meeting. With that, up first is Bob Feeney. Good evening. Can you hear me okay? Yes. So, I'm Bob Feeney, 1620 Schlegel Road. 40-year member of Webster, living the retirement dream after 20 years as a controller, 20 years as IT project management, and 3 years as an insurance agent, um, working for my nieces who are fourth generation owners of the Foley Agency in the village. When I read the notice about I'm talking about the solar panels. So, when I read the notice about the solar panels, um, my controller voice in my head, and yes, I hear voices, um, started asking me, "What's the return on investment on this project? Will the energy savings of the project recoup the clearing costs of the site, the costs of purchasing,
installing, and maintaining the panels, and whatever support machinery they have, and when will we start generating real financial benefits?" The project management voice in my head was asking me, "Will we meet desired benefits, not only for the solar project, but that of the town's green space green green space initiatives? For the project, for sure, the energy savings will go to the occupants of the Xerox site, and in the short term, it's my understanding that any excess energy generated will go to low-income residents who struggle with their, um, with their utility bills. But, what about the long term? Residents may see their excess benefits evaporate as the occupancy of that Xerox site and their associated need grow, and then certainly the benefits of the green space itself will be lost forever. The homes of the coyotes that we hear at night will lost forever. Homes of the the birds whose songs we hear at dawn lost forever. And the homes of the frogs and the toads and the crickets we hear in the evening lost forever.
My insurance agent voice asked me, "What's going to be done to address the environmental risk of developing that site? The proposed development will expose the the contents of the landfill that's buried within within it, which will probably require, I suspect, substantial and costly remediation. So, my questions to the board, have people who are involved in reviewing this project considered my voices' questions? Were alternative plans presented, developing existing open space that would be less invasive and less costly. Uh was there a consideration not to go forward at all uh because the the cost and the risk outweigh the benefits? Uh as we as you spend the next few days uh deciding on whether to move forward with this project, please uh consider your responsibility to seek, request, and demand all the information necessary uh to do a proper and appropriate um due diligence needed to to make an informed uh decision. One of my driving lessons to my four children was just because you have the right-of-way, doesn't mean you should take it.
Doing so may cause an accident and the primary responsibility of driver is to protect life and property. Please consider just because you have the money or given the money for this project, doesn't mean you should spend it. Doing so may be wasteful. And your primary responsibility, a fiduciary and um fiscal responsibility, is to spend the taxpayer money appropriately. Uh consider your campaign pri- promises to preserve, protect, and grow our town's green space. Consider the town residents who voted uh based on those campaign promises. And then lastly uh for the 20 acres themselves, I I'm embarrassed to uh uh who are most uh impacted by the decision, I'm embarrassed to steal songs from John Denver, a uh an a uh known environmentalist environmentalist, and ask you to please consider the wind, the water, and the wood, and those who live there, too. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Up next, Dave Malecki.
[clears throat]
Hello, I'm Dave Malecki. I live in West Webster. I've lived there for quite a while. Bridget, first heard that phrase in the '80s after the bridge across Irondequoit Creek on Lake Road was suddenly destroyed. In 1998, the existing seasonally operated I-Bay Irondequoit Bay Outlet Bridge began working. Each April Fools' Day, it it [snorts] goes away. Thereabouts, stops working. I'm here to ask everyone whether you're willing to put a better bridge there, one that works 24/7 365. I say Bridget 24/7 365. Any questions? My suggestion is to raise the existing bridge up as high as necessary and leave it there. You don't have to turn it. Read the 2018 study, please. Your silence probably means that you aren't planning on helping.
Thank you, Dave. Up next is Jason Bellish.
[clears throat]
How are you? My name is Jason Bellish. I'm from 1488 Grand Meadows Way. Uh I'd like to address the board on the subject matter of the Montante Xerox aberration solar farm, solar garden, whatever else you want to call it, which is just a horrific horrific proposal. You know, the one thing that's really good about having gray hair is you can say stuff like we have seen this before, right? The lease is for 25 years. Guess what happened 25 years ago. It was the first Xerox turnaround plan. Do you know how many more there've been? Three. How's the turnaround going? What do you do when you can't turn around anymore? You go right off a cliff. So, the promises that were made in 2001 during the first turnaround, have they been realized for the Webster town community? The people who come to you from Montante and the lanyard-wearing Xerox project
manager, what is he being told to do? He's being told to go out there and make sure that Xerox looks good to who? The money men, the money lenders. What does Xerox need more than anything else right now? Money. What does an environmental, a social, and a green governance mean for a company like Xerox who really just needs money cuz they've lost billions since the first turnaround three turnarounds ago? Then come in to to Montante. Now, there's the real scam artist. Montante makes money going out and finding companies that are in disarray, in some cases dinosaurs like Xerox, they're on their way out. Montante says, "Ooh, access to infrastructure, ease land that's not being used, right? Let's go and approach them to save them some energy usage." What does Xerox do? Xerox says, "Wow, that's great. I WANT TO BE PART OF the green initiative cuz it makes the money men happy. I want to make sure when I spend the next hundreds
of millions of dollars on the next failed turnaround plan, that I can go back to some other money maker, some other money lender. I want them to see that I am green, that I am thinking about the future, right?" Montante comes in. They make all the money on the tax credits. They get 30% of the whole development project. They get the credits. Xerox gets a a reduction in energy because right now the CEO of Xerox is like, "Geez, I got to In order to get my golden parachute, I got to I got TO GET SOME PROFIT OUT OF THIS COMPANY. I GOT TO LOOK GOOD. I GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE before this whole thing goes off the cliff cuz the turnaround didn't work, right?" So, now we think about what's going to happen 25 years hence. By the way, I heard gentleman talk about loaning low and middle income and about how that money, the solar credits, are going to be given out. Do you know what community solar is? Community solar is nothing more than an army of door-to-door knockers coming into the communities of Webster and saying, "SIGN UP FOR community solar. You'll get 10% off your electric bill." Is that what we want around here? Want a bunch of people soliciting? It doesn't neces- It's not necessarily for low and middle income. I
know how community solar works. Don't let that scam Don't let that scam fool you. That is just a way of them making money. It's a subscription plan. It's no different than HBO, right? That's what community solar is to Montante. I was thinking about this in terms of what is 25 years hence going to be. Right now, if you take what Xerox has done, they've lost 90% of the jobs in Webster, their stock price is down 95%. If a If somebody came to you and said, "I want to put a bus-sized generator on my property. I want to stop I I'm not going to be boarded up and ugly-looking anymore. I've been a terrible neighbor. I've divorced my wife, my kids have left me, my place is all boarded up." Would you let them do that? No. We caught him. You caught him. Let's not be looking back here 25 years hence going, "Wow, this was a mistake." Okay? Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you. All right. Dave Pena is up next. Dave Pena, Pena. Sorry if I am mispronouncing that. Good evening, everyone. My name is Dave Pena and I reside on Quail Creek Trail. Uh we must not overlook the fact that this proposed project will definitely destroy both wildlife and the habitat, the forested area that supports this wildlife. My request to the town board members is that you please have the good common sense and the confidence to vote this proposal down if in fact it's presented. I would hope that your loyalties would be to the residents of Webster, your constituents, and your voters, rather than 20 corporation that may be here because they may be making a profit.
Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Michael Byrne.
[clears throat]
My name is Mike Byrne and I live at 1496 Grand Meadows Way, um Webster, and I'm probably one of the three people that was closest to the hazardous landfill. So, I'm thankful that um that that's out of the this deal. I'm I'm also sad that it took so much effort by so many people to convince Xerox and Montante that that was a foolish idea. Not only foolish, but perhaps dangerous. And so, finally somebody came to their mind. They probably sat in a meeting like this gentleman talks about, looked at each other and said, "Holy crap, we really screwed up. Let's pull this out and then see if we can slide the rest of this through." So, anyways, um I did have a nice calm, focused talk, which now I'm punting, so I apologize in advance, but um you know, who exactly will benefit from this? It's not going to be me um because I don't qualify under the
NYSERDA because of my income. Believe it or not, my social security and pension is too much. So, I can't qualify for the breaks that they're talking about. And not only that, but they never actually tell you what the number is of the people have to make in a year in order to qualify, and then how much they'll actually get off their electric bill. That would be interesting to hear. Um I'm concerned about the loss of 17 acres of trees. You know, it's I just had five deer recently walking through my yard, which, you know, kind of I call it suburbal. It's rural suburban um is is kind of what my backyard is like. I kind of like it. That's why I bought that house. So, my hope is that um when you guys [clears throat] I'm getting a little nervous here. When you guys um get this coming through again, I mean, we're all coming back and uh we'll be at every meeting and uh so, uh I hope that you vote no. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Mark Williams.
Thank you, sir. Thank you.
[snorts]
Thank you. Thank you. Oops. Bad organization today. Thank you. My name's Mark Williams. I live at 1448 Quail Creek Trail. And I I'm happy to hear the announcement tonight about not putting panels on the cap. But uh I I've still got a point to uh prove with uh uh what I handed out about the cap. What you've got there is a cross section of the cap uh as built. I obtained this from Kevin. I can't pronounce his last name, but he's the project manager for the DEC and he's in Albany and he works for Lynn Winterberger. And he's been helping me with stuff. So, he got me a drawing and I kind of just
blew it up to make it easier to read. Uh but there were a couple people at the last board meeting who uh made statements about this uh cap. And they said uh the Xerox engineer, he said that there were multiple impermeable layers under the under the asphalt. Those were pretty much his exact words. And then there was a planning board member who also spoke about the cap and said that there was uh impenetrable membrane under the cap. And I just want to prove the point uh that both of them were wrong. Uh what you're looking at is the the cross section. There's two layers of asphalt. There's stone subbase and then there is geotextile uh non-woven fabric and I just stapled an example uh of geotextile non-woven fabric so you can see what it was. Water goes right through this stuff. It was used between the soil and the stone base just to keep the uh the soil from uh migrating into the stone base. That's all it was used for. Uh there are no im- impermeable, that was the word the Xerox
engineer used. Uh there's there's no layers like that. Uh clay is is uh low permeable, but it's still you it can water can go through it. So, anyway, uh I wanted to point out that there's good reason for skepticism because I've seen things on their slides that uh the Montante slides are just plain inaccurate. I've sent letters about that. And by the way, everything I I talk about, I've got documentation that I'd be more than happy, you know, I've been getting it from this Kevin uh I can't pronounce his name, but in Albany. So, I've I've got all the right documentation and uh I am uh ready more than willing to to provide it if needed. Uh but I this just helps prove why I'm skeptical and I'm hoping everybody's skeptical. Uh then the Xerox engineer talked about uh water testing every month and that sounded like a big deal, but what he was talking about was just testing the ground water that they're pumping out of the of the trench uh next to the um landfill. Uh all that is is contaminated ground water. The fact they're testing it to make sure it's not
overly contaminated and that the Webster uh public uh waste treatment plant can handle it. But that's basically what that's all about. Uh but it it was the way he said it, it was made to sound, at least to me, like, "Oh, this is, you know, something important and we're monitoring and you know, and ground plumes and and all this kind of stuff." It's got nothing to do with my testing Xerox does has nothing to do with monitoring for a contaminated ground plume moving forward towards the subdivision. And then uh there was a statement a Montante slide that had a statement, "Line of compliance well serve as an early warning of a potential issue." That's just plain wrong. The the wells that she called uh and this was the the Haley and Aldrich spokeswoman got up and spoke. And the wells she was pointing to are they are line of compliance, but they're not the early warning wells. The the line of compliance are out near the property line. The early warning wells are in between those line of compliance wells and the source of contamination in this example, the the landfill. So, uh what is the what are the early warning wells are the trigger wells. And one of them actually uh went from um
uh non-detect since 2011 to detect in 2023 and she had that up on her picture, except she ignored it completely. She says, "Oh, these these wells on the outer uh uh area, they're they're all non-detect the last 10 years. There's one right in the middle. Uh it's well B13 and it's showing a detection and she skipped right over it. So, I'm very skeptical uh of uh everything that Xerox says, that Haley and Aldrich says, and that Monte Montante says. All right, Mark, your 5 minutes is up though.
That's all Okay, well, that's good. I'm done. But uh please do not approve this project and now you hopefully you understand my skepticism. Thank you, Mark.
Thank you, Mark. All right. Up next is Ken Tennis. Good evening. My name is Ken Tennis. My address is 606 Pine Lakes Trail. Over the last few months, people have spoken here, sent emails, perhaps made phone calls, and maybe even had one-on-one conversations regarding their opposition to the proposed solar farm on Xerox property. The companies involved in the project, Xerox, Montante, and Haley Aldrich, have had meetings and work workshops to sell their idea to the town and to the general public. They want us to believe that there will be no negative impacts to the surrounding area. Some individuals have done some extensive research on the information presented at these meetings and found some of it to be either not entirely truthful, misleading, or omitting some of the facts. This is especially true regarding the
test wells, testing being performed, and the containment of the toxins in that the sales tactic is done for one reason. They have something to hide. Their plan is to minimize public opposition to the project so the resolution will easily pass. Last fall, current members of our town board elected um positions were out campaigning. During the campaign, some of us stated they were in opposition to the solar project. When the vote occurs, the opportunity will come to show whether their words were said just for election purposes or that they have the integrity to act as the public servant that people who voted for them should expect and stand by the words that were stated while campaigning. My hope is that when voting on the Solar pri- farm would defy the ever-increasing national trend of elected officials acting as politicians and will instead act as the public servants that we should expect. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right. Last on the sign-in sheet, Shawn Hannah. Good evening. Thank you very much for listening in advance. I'm very pleased by the supervisor's announcement that there has
been an amendment to the plan so that solar panels will not be placed on the asphalt surface, but I have to admit I'm a little bit confused because all along Montante has been swearing up and down that that was not possible. That that's that asphalt surface was one of the keys to this entire project. Well, I guess some people say things that just uh should not be believed. And we'll talk more about that later. Uh but for now I want to say that there's a school of thought uh that provides that uh when uh an application checks all of the boxes before the planning board uh that the project ought to be approved. 99% of the time I agree with that. In fact, 99% of the time those applications don't appear before the town board uh because uh the pro but the project uh doesn't require it. This is different. This is before you because it is different. We're not talking about somebody who wants to build a shed in their backyard. And we're not talking about a farmer's daughter wants to build a house on the back 40 acres of the farm. We're talking about a Connecticut corporation that deliberately contaminated a large
portion of pristine land. And deliberately is the operative word here. We're not talking about a train wreck uh that happened accidentally or a burst pipe. What they did is they went and they took hazardous waste and they dumped it on pristine land. And then they went out to other companies and said, "Give me money and we'll allow your hazardous waste to be dumped on our pristine land." Against that backdrop, do you think that I have any problems with putting reasonable regulations on what they can do with their property? Not a chance. And you shouldn't, either. So, you guys have a choice to make. You have a choice to make between Xerox Corporation and the neighbors who are sitting here in this room. A choice between corporate polluters and innocent people who just bought their homes not knowing that they were next to a hazardous waste site because the town doesn't talk about it and certainly Xerox doesn't. And that's really what elected office is all about. It's all about choices. The petitions that we're doing now, the door-to-door, the rubber chicken dinner circuit, all of those are prices that you pay to put yourself in a position where you can do what's best for the
town of Webster. What you can do what's best for your constituents. So, you have a choice to make between Xerox and the neighbors, between corporate polluters and innocent parties. And for some of you, you have a choice between whether you're going to honor your word or not. This is a big opportunity for you. It's a big opportunity to do what you're put in office to do, to do what you worked so hard to put yourselves in a position to do. So, don't blow it. Do what's right for Webster. Put [snorts] the corporate welfare aside. Tell the folks in Albany and Washington and the county office building that the people of Webster come before political agendas and uh green energy cult. Thanks very much. Thanks, Shawn. Thank you. All right, that was the last person on the sign-in sheet, but we would like to offer it up if anyone else wants to get up. I don't have any questions. Um I I just want to make a statement on behalf of the the residents that have been coming up and speaking to this topic for
quite some time. There's one thing I've learned sitting on this board um representing the people of Webster. When they're passionate about something, they come. But before they get here, they do their research. And I'm pretty sure we've all over the preceding weeks and months heard from these residents and the factual evidence that they have submitted. And in doing so, you have allowed us to make an educated decision, whether it be pro or against um this project. And I'm just saying thank you to all of you. I appreciate it. Thanks, John. Yeah. All right. Um with that, I will close the open to the floor. Uh we are now moving on to regular town business. I have reviewed the minutes that were put together for the March 5th, 2026 workshop and I make a motion that we approve the minutes. Second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman [clears throat] Hunter? Aye. Councilman Kehoe? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. I have also reviewed the minutes for the
town board meeting of March 5th, 2026 and would make a motion that we approve them as well. Second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Kehoe? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. All right, Nick, how are you? I reviewed the bills and found them to be in order. Um and I'll make a motion to consider to approve the bills as submitted by the director of finance. Second. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Councilwoman Wright?
Aye. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman [snorts] Kehoe? Aye. I would like to make a motion to approve prepaid warrants as submitted by the director of finance. Second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Kehoe? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. I would like to make a motion to approve our purchase orders as submitted by the director of finance. Second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Councilman Kehoe? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. All right. So, I will make a motion that we amend local law number one of 2024 flood damage ordinance to reflect the recent letter of map amendment affecting certain map panels. Second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Kehoe? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye.
[snorts]
All right, it's got to be one of you guys for the uh stormwater coalition. Well, and we we all heard during the workshop today about the intermunicipal agreement that we enter into in with Monroe County and a bunch of surrounding municipalities. Great thing to be a part of. So, I move to authorize the supervisor to enter into an intermunicipal agreement with Monroe County stormwater coalition regarding cooperation to reduce stormwater pollution and protect water quality in Monroe County, New York for a 5-year term with a not to exceed amount of 11,348 dollars and 75 cents to be exact per year. Mhm. Second. Councilwoman Wright?
Aye. Councilman Kehoe? Aye. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. All right. So, the next one I'm going to introduce um you know, we're looking forward to the comprehensive plan update. So, I just want to introduce uh you know, the idea of this moratorium that we've thrown around and discussed. Uh you know, we're we're looking into this. We're making sure that you know, we want to see what Webster is going to be in the future so that we're not in a spot where we look back and we went, "Oh, no." Um as we update this comprehensive plan. So, I am very proud to make a motion that we set a public hearing for Thursday, April 2nd, on 2026 at 7:30 p.m. on a proposed development moratorium in the town of Webster to be advertised in the Wednesday, March 25th, 2026 edition of the Webster Herald. I second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Councilman Kehoe? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. Supervisor, on on the last resolution, if I may, I just think it's worth noting that the full text of the proposed law will be available on the website for citizens to review. Absolutely. Um it should be up on that moratorium. townofwebsterny.gov/moratorium.
Yes. Okay. Jen? So, the next motion is a procedural requirement as it relates to the renewable natural gas proposed project at the wastewater treatment plant. And it is for seeker and for the town to act as lead agency on this project. And um I will make the motion declaring the intent of the town of Webster to act as Do I need to say something else? Maybe uh we'll just uh the first uh motion will be to classify as a type one action and then subsequently to have the town board designated lead agency. Okay. combined motion would be for this project classified as a type one Okay, make a motion to classify this project as a type one action as defined by the State Environmental Quality Re- Review Act in 6 NYCRR part 617.4 and that the intent of the town of Webster is to assume the role of lead agency for purposes of conducting the seeker assessment for this project. And
what I will say about this motion is like as I mentioned before this is a seek it's a procedural requirement to move forward with this project and I will say that it doesn't necessarily um mean that I am in support of this project but I am in support of this project moving forward and I am in support of understanding the additional costs that we are not aware of yet as it relates to RG&E and the connection fees and other things that are integral to this project. So um I just I wanted to qualify that the seeker motion is to move it forward and I am in forward of continuing to make forward progress on this project but as it it's extraordinarily important that we understand the full extent of the cost and the extent of the tax credits I guess they're credits.
Or the potential thereof. And the the potential thereof for that as we continue to move forward with this project. So that is my I will second that very very well thought out idea. So I'm I'm going to chime in here because while it may be procedural I actually read all these pages and I I have maybe a question or two and then I've got also a concerning statement I want to make but if you go to page three of 13 and Josh if you can help me with this would be great. Under D1 section D there's a well is a subdivision so it says no there's no subdivision in that area. And then if you go to section G I I found this to be quite interesting. um Does the proposed action include new residential construction? While I it's and they said yes. Now my question is are they referring to the R RG&E hookup buildings? I I'm confused. John are you looking at a section G? Yeah. It's a non-residential construction. Okay.
And I I I think that that refers to the the four buildings. Well guess what? Guess who didn't know about the four buildings before I found this from Navitas. I didn't did anybody on this board know that we were going to put four buildings up for the connection? I thought it was just one. And to your point Jennifer this is a sort of thing that's been consistent with the buildout. We find out information after the fact rather than before the fact. And I I'm just I'm just concerned about that. And then it says if you go down to D2 um project operations does the proposed action include any excavation? How are you going to put four buildings up with no excavation is my question. Can you help me with that Josh? I would struggle to explain how that could take place. Well exactly and and and this is inherent with with a lot of information that has come through on this project over the years which is why I am adamantly against against this RNG project not only because of these problems and the history of problems but this is an optional project estimated at 6 to 8
million and we still don't have numbers of what this connection and the buildings are going to cost us. So John you're right in that this is an optional project but it's also a project that has a lot of potential to bring us revenue. It's not I appreciate you interrupting me when I'm talking. It's very important. I and I apologize for for that. I just want to make sure that we we clear the bases cuz I will say this documentation was sent out to us I believe a week ago and none of these questions have come up so it's hard in a public forum cuz I think it it puts the residents on on the back side. This is a procedural aspect as Councilwoman Wright said we're in the fact-finding aspect. We are not approving of this project we're trying to understand if it is going to be worthwhile for the residents. So we I do understand that you're you have opposition to this and that's been made clear but I think for sake of where we're moving right now in the fact-finding mission I think it's worthwhile moving forward with the motion. Well I'm going to disagree with you with respect to bringing this up in a public meeting because these are residents that pay taxes in the in the town of Webster and in my opinion they have every right to know what our concerns are. If you If you If you Please don't interrupt me. If you elect not to have those
discussions or to bring it to the attention of the residents that's up to you. I have the exact opposite philosophy that not only should the residents know as much about this project we should know as board members making decisions but we should have this information on a timely basis. There's there's information that is coming to this board that in my opinion should have come to this board a long time ago because it's important information so that we can research and we can ask questions. And we're we're just we're going down the road we're finding out in my opinion we're finding out information that we should have known months ago. So thank you. Sorry about that Alex. No you're fine. These are the types of things that we do need to discuss but you know this is thankfully we're not agreeing to spend any money at this point. Or further money. And that's the point John I apologize cuz it's not my point to to try to interrupt you. I I just think we're at a point where we recognize the opposition. It is absolutely important that the residents understand but there's also a a factor that I think gets lost in that we as the board largely rely on our department and our
department heads who are the experts in these fields and they provide this information and provide us with the direction. So from my standpoint going into the specific seeker contract is not my expertise so I am going to look to the experts to point me in the right direction and recognizing that we're in a fact-finding mission right now and that we're gathering all of this so that we can make the right decision down the line I I just think it it's worthwhile to have some of these conversations in a different forum. So I apologize for any I I I'm going to respectfully disagree with you.
Okay well that's fair. Okay. All right well the motion has been made. So Ms. Mayor would you like to Unless John do you have anything you want to add? No. Not at this point.
Would you like to continue with the vote? Councilwoman Wright. Aye. Supervisor Sheldon. Aye. Councilman Kehoe. Nay. Councilman Hunter. Aye. All right. [sighs] That was fun. Next one is well here we are at the sewer again. Now Kyle um you wanted to give a Yes I I reviewed the Barton & Loguidice contract for the preparation of the bid packet relative to the paving at the wastewater treatment pro- plant. I'm satisfied with the contract. Okay. Great. This is our John this is your department. No I'm good. All right. John. Oh I'm all set yeah. I I can't make a motion for myself to sign an agreement. All right. I'll make the motion to authorize the town supervisor to sign an agreement with Barton and Loguidice Loguidice to prepare or to prepare the bid packet to solicit bids for the paving needed in connection with the wastewater treatment phase two project at a cost of $49,500.
Second. Councilman Hunter. Aye. Councilwoman Wright. Aye. Supervisor Sheldon. Aye. Councilman Kehoe. Aye. All right. Up next now this is one that has actually as I learned today has never actually come before the town board because these would just get signed off in the summer. Um they are budgeted for in Josh and Keith's budget um but before we authorize this summer intern positions and make a vote Josh do you have anything you want to say about this? Sure. Um as most of you know we this will be the fifth year of the uh program to bring in approximately two to three summer interns. Um they have done a tremendous amount of work. We we've really been lucky to get a good crop of candidates each year and we're looking to replicate that for this upcoming year. As Alex mentioned we did include funding in the budget but neglected to add the temporary intern title to the authorized position list. So that's what tonight's resolution is
about. Does anybody How many years have we brought um interns in? I believe the first year was in 2021. Yeah. Cuz I always thought they came for the board. Was it just a talking topic or something? Yeah, it typically at the end of each summer we would have them present to the town board
No, before they come, I mean. No. Okay.
No, we have not.
But they've been instrumental in helping your department. I know that. They have definitely helped us catch up on a lot of activities, for sure. Very valuable. Jen? I got it.
No, I think it's a great program. I believe we hired a few people too from the program. Uh yes, over the years we have uh retained some of the interns that have stayed on for part-time work and in some cases full-time. Nice. Well, I would like to make a motion that we add two part-time summer intern positions to the 2026 list of authorized positions.
Second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. Councilman Cahill? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. All right. Uh we are now coming back to the ones that were rescheduled for a couple weeks ago. We have the uh authorizing the AI policy submitted into the uh employee handbook. For those of you who need a refresher, it is uh basically states that no AI is to be used unless it is approved by your department head, who will then go to IT to vet it for security concerns, after which uh then it gets approval and still needs to be checked by a human. Um we did run it through our insurance carrier. There is nothing that violates any of the cybersecurity insurance that we have. We added that uh in there that it complies that we comply with the Shield Act of New York State. Um and but if you have any other questions from the board, Kelsey is here to answer them. So. Nick? Or John? Nope. Jen? All right, then I make a motion that we add the Town of Webster employee handbook under operational policy section number 524, artificial intelligence, as submitted by the director of human resources. Second. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman
Hunter? Aye. Councilman Cahill? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye.
[snorts]
All right. I move to authorize the town supervisor to sign a purchase of service agreement with Lifespan of Greater Rochester um to provide eldersource care management services at the cost of 3,000 um $380 for 2026. Second. Councilman Cahill?
Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. And I just want to add that this is an important service to seniors that um that they're able to engage with Lifespan at the Parks and Recreation Department. And I believe last year, Chris is here, but the number of services seen service seniors who benefited from the services was well over 400. So, um it's it's something that is um great for the community and our Parks and Recreation Department does a ton to support seniors in our community and I think this is a just one of those many great services. Awesome. All right. Last thing. So, I'm going to move to approve the items on the asset forms plural for recycling from the sewer department. I will That's quite a list. I will second unless John wants to read them all. No, thank you.
[laughter]
They are available for copies though. Councilman Cahill? Aye. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilwoman Wright? Aye. Councilman Hunter? Aye. All right. So, we have our round table from our board members here to discuss items going on within their departments, their liaisons to or just stuff going on around the town. But Jen, would you like to kick us off? I sure would. I have a very, in the words of Tom Flaherty, robust list to go through. I couldn't I couldn't resist. Um in the Highway Department, the leaf compost and wood chip delivery will start in early April. That is a great service. You can just call the town and order wood chips or mulch. You don't have to go pick it up yourself, and they will deliver it in a 10-wheel truck for $50. That's a heck of a lot of mulch for $50. And that starts in early April. And in late April, it will be available in certain places around town to um pick up yourself. Um the snowplow damage is going to be they're going to start working on the repairs over the next couple of weeks. They certainly don't intend to um destroy people's frontages or mailboxes,
but sometimes they are unintended casualties of the snow we receive here, and there the Highway Department will be making those repairs. And the salt barn will be starting soon. Um for the Assessment Department, there will be a reevaluation meeting in this board room on March 26th. And on March 26th, the assess the assessing department will be exactly halfway through that project on that very day. So, if you are interested in understanding or learning more about that reval project, that would be a good time to come. It's between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. And for the Parks Department, um Mike Herbst has joined as the new Parks Director. He's been there for 3 weeks and he's doing a great job, and we're happy to have him here. Um the restrooms and outdoor spaces will be opening soon, which is very exciting. It doesn't feel like spring is right around the corner just yet, but knock on wood it is. And um we were talking about senior services, and over 55 people attended the St. Patrick's lunch. So, the Parks and Recreation Department does do regular senior luncheons, and uh it's a great opportunity to connect with
seniors in the community. Nice. Uh I would like to announce that we have a partnership with Monroe County. Earlier this month, uh new ABOD guidelines went into effect for EBT and SNAP benefit review re SNAP benefit receivers. Um there are new guidelines to take in place to receive your SNAP benefits or able-bodied to where to find work, volunteer hours, cuz the goal of this is to get people back to work, get people back moving and not lose their benefits. Uh the town the town and county will be partnering for this uh alongside the Webster Central School District, and it will be advertised with the Chamber of Commerce. Uh it will take place on March 28th at the Rec Center from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. That is it for me. Well, I think we've talked about uh my projects this [snorts] evening. Had a robust conversation. Um you know, I have my opinions. Um but I base my opinions upon research that I do. And some of the research I do is based on information that I get from my department heads. But I don't rely 100% on my department heads. I like to take additional steps to get additional information. So, that that's just what I do.
But I I along with everybody else, I'm sure we want to make the most educated decision we can make because at the end of the day, whether it's going forward with a project, we need to take into consideration, in my opinion, the debt load that the Town of Webster taxpayers are carrying right now. And it is significant. And if we have a project that's optional versus one or two that aren't, you know the direction I'm going. So, that's all I have to say. Thank you. John, I always appreciate your opinion. And we are certainly can have disagreements, and we will. So, I I I just look forward to working with you. Same here. Um I'll just give a a quick update with regards to the Communications Department. Just a quick reminder, March 30th, the survey is going to go out to folks just to get some feedback on how you like to hear from the town, whether it be social media, how you obtain information, just so we can help fill in that blank. Um please send me an email, reach out if you have any further questions, but thank you. All right. If no one else has any business to bring before the board,
Well, what about round table for Paul and Josh?
Our department heads have expressed they don't wish to do the round table as much as they
Oh, I'm sorry.
[laughter]
Don't be shy. You don't get to do the round table.
You want Do you want to do the round table?
I could say a few things. I would love to hear from you. I I've I've been busy working on the town annual report, which is a a requirement that New York State has in place. It's about a 150-page report. I've got the first draft done. Our auditors just wrapped up, so I don't think they came up with uh too many material adjustments, so the numbers should be pretty pretty close to good at this point. Fantastic work. It's good news. All right. And since Josh, you're there, do you want to say anything? I mean, you've spoken multiple times tonight about upcoming projects in yours anyway, so I'll just um mention that uh we reached a milestone with the Fairlife project a couple weeks ago.
Awesome. Um they were issued a temporary certificate of occupancy for a good portion of their facility. And we're currently working with them to get the remainder of the facility uh all ready to go for their uh production. Yeah, your team's done a wonderful job. Mhm.
It really have. And people don't really understand the lengths that her that that your department has to go to with respect to inspections, holding Fairlife accountable, which they've been doing a fantastic job, leading them down the road, letting them know exactly what we need to help them to get the temporary certificate of occupancy. It it it's been arduous, and your your not only you, but your entire team has done a fantastic job. So, thank you for that.
you. I appreciate that. All right. Uh with that, I would like to make a motion to adjourn so John can get his dinner. Second. Thanks. Supervisor Sheldon? Aye. Councilman Thea? Aye.