This Regular Meeting of the Brant Town Board was held on Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at the Brant Town Hall, located at 1272 Brant North Collins Rd, Brant, New York at 7:00 PM.

Present were:

Mark DeCarlo Supervisor

Donna Marien Councilwoman

Janice Ross Councilwoman

Linda Giancarlo Councilwoman

Mike Muffoletto Councilman

Barbara J. Daniel Recording Secretary

ALSO PRESENT / SIGNED IN WERE:

Chad Kaczmarek Town Justice

Patty Friend Town Historian

Joe Giancarlo Resident

Cory McCandless OMNI Navitas

Lynda Ostrowski Deputy Town Clerk

Joseph Ostrowski Planning Board Chair

Debra Ritz Planning Board Member

Brian Rott Resident

Ellsworth Nolan Highway Super

Don Hepkins Police Chief

Daryl Novoa Highway

The meeting opened at 7:05 PM.

PLEDGE TO THE FLAG

RECOGNITION OF DIGNITARIES, OFFICIALS AND VISITORS:

MINUTE APPROVAL NOVEMBER 10, 2020 REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING: Councilwoman Giancarlo motioned to accept the minutes of the November 10, 2020 Regular Town Board meeting. Councilwoman Marien seconded the motion. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

SUPERVISOR’S OCTOBER 2020 FINANCIAL REPORT: Councilwoman Ross moved and was seconded by Councilman Muffoletto to accept the Supervisor’s October’s 2020 Financial Report as presented. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

BUDGET MODS: None

TOWN CLERK/TAX COLLECTOR’S OCTOBER 2020 FINANCIAL REPORT: Councilwoman Giancarlo motioned to accept the Town Clerk’s October 2020 Regular Financial Report, seconded by Councilman Muffoletto. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

COURT CLERK’S OCTOBER 2020 FINANCIAL REPORTS FOR JUSTICES GIER AND KACZMAREK REGULAR AND BAIL ACCOUNTS: Councilman Muffoletto motioned to approve both Bail and Regular Financial accounts for Justice Gier and Justice Kaczmarek for October 2020, and was seconded by Councilwoman Giancarlo. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER’S NOVEMBER 2020 REPORT: Code Enforcement Officer Gary Brecker read his November report. He stated that he has taken all exams and training. He is certified through January 21, 2022. Supervisor DeCarlo motioned to accept the report as read, seconded by Councilwoman Ross. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

DOG CONTROL OFFICER’S NOVEMBER 2020 REPORT: DCO Daniels read her November report. She stated that missing dogs are listed on the Facebook page. Supervisor DeCarlo motioned to accept the report as read, seconded by Councilwoman Marien. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

POLICE REPORTS FOR NOVEMBER 2020: Chief Hepkins read the November 2020 Police Report. Supervisor DeCarlo made a motion to approve the report as read, seconded by Councilwoman Giancarlo. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT REPORT: Superintendent Ellsworth Nolan read his November report. He said they have old scrap metal culvert pipe to get rid of. He would like to scrap them. He was told the board must declare it as scrap. Supervisor DeCarlo motioned to declare all Culvert pieces of metal as salvage, seconded by Councilwoman Giancarlo and Councilman Muffoletto. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED. Supervisor DeCarlo motioned to approve the report as read, seconded by Councilwoman Marien. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

TOWN CLERK’S REPORT TO THE BOARD: Town Clerk Barb Daniel read her report from November. Barb said that she would like to put special notices in the tax bills. Supervisor DeCarlo said that this was passed last year. Barb said that she wasn’t ready to act in September when she introduced the idea to the Board. Supervisor DeCarlo made a motion to accept the report as read, seconded by Councilwoman Giancarlo. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

PLANNING BOARD MINUTES: No meeting held

ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS REPORT: Nothing to report

RECREATION DIRECTOR’S REPORT: Councilman Muffoletto reported that the pool is closed.

PARKS COMMISSIONERS’ REPORT: Nothing to report.

TOWN HISTORIAN’S REPORT: Patty Friend said there was no meeting.

FIRE COMPANY REPORTS: No report was given.

SENIORS REPORT: Councilwoman Ross said the interior renovation of the Senior Building is now complete. They are still looking to get chairs and tables. Councilwoman Marien said she would take pictures of the items to declare as surplus.

NEW BUSINESS

SET DATE FOR 2021 ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING: Supervisor DeCarlo motioned to schedule the Organizational Meeting for Monday, January 4, 2021 at 7pm, seconded by Councilwomen Marien and Giancarlo. 5 ayes, 0 nays.

MOTION CARRIED.

Supervisor DeCarlo mentioned that the Town received reimbursement for COVID-19 related expenses from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in the amount of $14,318.06.

Supervisor DeCarlo said a Resolution needs to be passed to request Erie County to levy the sum of $1,125.00, cost of demolition of unsafe home, to the property of 10950 Southwestern Blvd. Brant, NY.

The Supervisor read the Resolution:

REQUEST ERIE COUNTY to LEVY OMITTED TAXES AGAINST PROPERTIES in the TOWN

WHEREAS, in any given year, when the owners of properties fail or refuse to maintain their properties, the Town of Brant must maintain or demolish the properties, AND

WHEREAS, if the owners of these properties refuse to reimburse the Town for expenses incurred by the Town for landlord fines and the maintenance or demolition of said properties, the Town must place special assessments against these properties, AND

WHEREAS, pursuant to the Town Law of the State of New York, the Town must notify the County of Erie of these special assessments which are considered omitted taxes under the law, AND

WHEREAS, in 2020, the Town maintained and demolished various properties in the Town and the expenses for same were not paid by the respective property owners, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby requests the Erie County Legislature to levy the sum of $1,125.00 against the applicable property (10950 Southwestern Blvd), AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED, that the Assessor is hereby directed to deliver to the County of Erie the master computer assessment roll file, AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED, that the Town Supervisor be and hereby is authorized and directed to execute a Letter of Authorization to the Erie County Real Property Tax Department to enforce the various unpaid accounts/omitted taxes mentioned above.

Councilwoman Giancarlo motioned to accept the Resolution as read, seconded by Councilwoman Ross. A Roll-Call vote was taken. Councilwoman Giancarlo -aye, Councilwoman Ross -aye, Councilman Muffoletto -aye, Councilwoman Marien -aye, Supervisor DeCarlo -aye. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

PUBLIC HEARING:

Fire Protection and Ambulance Contracts Public Hearing 7:30pm

Supervisor DeCarlo motioned to open the Public Hearing at 7:30pm, seconded by Councilwoman Giancarlo. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

Town Clerk read the legal notice:

TOWN OF BRANT

LEGAL NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Pursuant to Town Law Section 184, notice is hereby given that a public hearing will be held by the Brant Town Board in the Brant Town Hall, 1272 Brant North Collins Road, Brant, New York on the 10^th day of December, 2020 at 7:30 pm local time for the purpose of considering the proposal of the Town of Brant to enter into the fire protection contract and general ambulance and emergency service contracts as follows:

1. Fire protection contract with Brant Volunteer Fire Company No. 1, Inc. covering calendar year 2021 for the annual amount of $129,627.00 for 2021.

2. Fire protection contract with Village of Farnham/Farnham Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. covering calendar year 2021 for the annual amount of $115,300.00 for 2021.

3. Fire protection contract with village of North Collins/North Collins Fire Department covering calendar year 2021 for the annual amount of $11,530.00 for 2021.

4. General ambulance and emergency service contract with Village of Farnham/Farnham Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. Ambulance Squad covering calendar year 2021 for the annual amount of $47,035.00 for 2021.

All interested parties will be given an opportunity to be heard.

By order of the Brant Town Board

Barbara Daniel, Brant Town Clerk

Councilwoman Ross asked if these are the same prices as last year. Supervisor DeCarlo said they are.

Supervisor DeCarlo motioned to close the Public Hearing at 7:34pm, seconded by Councilman Muffoletto. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

FIRE AND AMBULANCE CONTRACTS: Supervisor DeCarlo motioned to approve the Fire Protection Contract, General Ambulance and Emergency Service Contract as presented, seconded by Councilwoman Giancarlo. A Roll-Call vote was taken: Supervisor DeCarlo -aye, Councilwoman Giancarlo -aye, Councilman Muffoletto -aye, Councilwoman Marien -aye, Councilwoman Ross -aye. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

I.T. REPRESENTATIVE TO DISCUSS PROPOSAL

Supervisor DeCarlo addressed a Representative from the IT Company SynchroNet to present a proposal. The representative stated he took a look at the IT systems around the town and spoke to some of the people. He stated that some things need to be addressed: A lot of the IT systems are out-of-date, they’re not secured. The stations themselves have pop-ups and viruses. The backup and security for those devices are unknown. He said he wants to put a solution in place and manage all the technology for the Town day-to-day support, give them solid back up and virus protection. Upgrade the hardware and put some of the hardware that has been provided to the Town from the State In to place so the Town workers can use the systems effectively.

Councilman Muffoletto asked how long it might take to do the upgrade and will anyone be losing service during the time of the upgrade. The representative said he will get everything backed up and secured because the system is pretty fragile. He feels that nothing should be taken down. Councilman Muffoletto also asked if he will be using any of the wires that are being used and remove ones that aren’t? The representative stated that the wiring in the closet is pretty much in disrepair. He said if it’s not being used they will abandon it. He doesn’t think they will need to add new at this time. He wants to put up a functional rack because there items on the floor with no shelf area. He said the way the Town has been managing the IT is project by project and it’s evident that things have just been piling up through the years. It’s at a point that things are in pretty rough shape. Councilwoman Giancarlo asked if this will offer all of us a working email. The CEO said yes. Town Clerk Daniel asked if they were going to change the Court Server because that is brand new. The Supervisor said that is a separate project at this point. Town Justice Kaczmarek stated at this point it’s just the Court and Police Departments. He said our Tech guy doesn’t have the technology to help out the court system. He also said that when the computers go down, they are down for multiple days. He also stated that the firewalls that Dave put in do not play well with Albany’s. The Supervisor asked what other towns he works with. The representative said West Seneca Police and the Town of Dunkirk. Chief Hepkins said the Police do not use the Town’s server. They have their own server off-site except for the emails and the security system. Supervisor DeCarlo said the Board will look over his proposal.

CDBG GRANT UPDATE:

Supervisor DeCarlo talked about the grant. He said to date, we have used $27,308.00 of the grant for the Senior Building. Just over $5,500 of that is basically salaries that were budgeted for. The grant is for $100,000. He stated that there are things they still need to get like new chairs and tables and maybe screening in part of the porch. He also got an estimate from Joseph Builders for siding. That estimate is about $17,000. This has been tabled until they can look everything over.

TOWN BOARD REPORTS:

Councilwoman Marien: nothing to report

Councilman Muffoletto: He reported that the Brant Fire Dept. has cancelled the annual Spaghetti Dinner

Councilwoman Giancarlo: BRANTFEST DATES SET: She mentioned that the people from the Car Show would like to set something up for next year at the Brant Festival. She would like to set the date for Friday June 18. She would like to keep Brantfest for Friday & Saturday June 18 & 19, 2021. Councilwoman Giancarlo motioned to hold Brantfest on June 18 & 19, 2021, seconded by Supervisor DeCarlo. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

She also talked about donations received from GOYA for Brantfest Fireworks that went unused because of COVID. She would like to be sure that this money would be available for 2021. The Supervisor said they can do a budget mod for Celebrations for all the money that was donated.

Councilwoman Ross: She asked if we can do some type of open house now that the Senior Building is finished. She would like to have a walk through or set up appointments. The Seniors would like to see the building. Supervisor DeCarlo said we should post the pictures on our website and Facebook pages. Lynda Ostrowski offered to help with the pictures. The Supervisor also suggested to have a thank you to Joseph Builders and a thank you to the seniors for their patience. The Supervisor thanks Councilwoman Ross for helping with this project.

Supervisor DeCarlo: Saturday at 5pm the Tree Lighting will take place. They will also have a movie using the FM transmitter. He also said that Sammy Sicurella donated his time and equipment to put more lights on the tree.

RECOGNIZED PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR:

SOLAR PROJECT: Cory McCandless from Omni Navitas Holdings, LLC spoke about the Solar Project. She said they did get CPL Engineering Co. on board as the independent engineer. She said the fee for reviewing everything would be $5,000 which is steep so she said they could start the escrow account at $3,000. It has been 6 months and no progress has been made. She would like to schedule a special Town Board meeting where the engineer and Town Attorney would be able to attend. They would like to set the meeting for January 4^th before the meeting.

CORRESPONDENCE: The first of three December sales tax remittance is in. Current transfer is 8.75% below the corresponding 2019 amount. Year-to-date transfers are running 4.2% below last year at this time.

ABSTRACT 12 of 2020 and Prepays of Abstract 1

Supervisor DeCarlo read the abstract.

ABSTRACT 12 of 2020

*Prepaid and unpaid as of 12/08/20 Total Claims $96,066.54

Gen Fund Town wide Vouchers Totaling: $22,650.24

Gen Fund – Part Town Voucher Totaling: $8,328.12

Highway T.W. Vouchers Totaling: $4,976.07

Highway P.T. Vouchers, Totaling: $1,346.40

Street Lighting: Voucher Totaling: $408.03

CD Special Grant Fund: Totaling: $58,357.68

PAYROLL (2 payrolls):

General Town Wide Payroll 10/25/20 TO 11/21/20 – Totaling $53,877.69

General Part Town Payroll 10/25/20 TO 11/21/20 Totaling: $867.98

Highway Payroll TW 10/25/20 TO 11/21/20 Totaling: $7,461.44

Highway Payroll PT 10/25/20 TO 11/21/20 Totaling: $0

ABSTRACT 1 of 2021 (PREPAYS AND EARLY DUE DATES)

*Prepaid and unpaid as of 12/08/20 Total Claims $4,982.20

Gen Fund Town wide Vouchers Totaling: $572.20

Brant Water Dist 1 (SS2&SW): – Totaling $4,410.00

Councilman Muffoletto motioned to approve Abstract 12 of 2020 and Prepays of Abstract 1, seconded by Councilwoman Giancarlo. A roll-call vote was taken:, Councilman Muffoletto -aye, Councilwoman Giancarlo-aye, Councilwoman Marien-aye, Councilwoman Ross-aye, Supervisor DeCarlo-aye. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

Next meeting will be Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 7:00 PM.

At 8:09 pm Supervisor DeCarlo motioned to adjourn the meeting in the memory of Jerzy Zieba, seconded by all the board members. 5 ayes, 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED.

Respectfully submitted by,

Barbara Daniel

Brant Town Clerk