Minutes – August 11, 2025

The Village of Franklin held a Public Hearing and its regular board meeting on August 11, 2025, at the Village Hall office (141 Water Street) at 7:02PM. Present: Mayor VanDeusen, Trustee Martin, Trustee McLean, Clerk/Treasurer Niebanck, Deputy Clerk Martin, Superintendent Kingsbury, and guests recorded on the sign-in register. The meeting was streamed and recorded on the video platform Zoom.

Public Hearing

The board held a public hearing to discuss an amendment to the 2025-2026 budget to add a line item for “1480.0 – Public Information and Services”. The line-item amount would be $4200 to pay for Regroup Mass Notification software and is a 3-year plan. This software will enable the Village to notify residents of emergencies and other municipal information via phone, text, email. This line item will increase the General Fund expense budget to $181,079.33. Revenue will come from appropriated fund balance. This ties in well with Emergency Action Plan.

Board Meeting (CTO at 7:09PM):

Minutes: Minutes of the July 2025 board meeting: McLean moved, and Martin seconded approval of the July 2025 board meeting minutes. So passed.

Treasurer’s Report

Date: July 31, 2025

General Fund	$148,531.69
– Reserve/Maint Equip (Checking)	$16,603.59
– Sidewalks (Checking)	$19,956.68
– Trees (Checking)	$2,512.92
Water Fund	$72,470.27
– Water Project	$6.96
– Reserve-Water Tank	$1,500.21
Trust & Agency	$0.00
Grant Fund	$59.34
Recreation Commission	$32,675.59

McLean moved and Martin seconded approval of Treasurer’s Report of July 31, 2025. So passed.

Correspondence/Clerk’s Report: 1) Letter from resident who wishes to remove water meter/access to apartment building. More information about curb stop is needed; cost to remove is $100. 2) NYSEG: regarding increased costs of electrical supply. 3) Steve Lawton prepped and delivered a new Clerk PC. What shall we do with the old PC and two laptops (speakers)? He said old computers would need to be erased and checked to see if they would support Windows 11; for the current network, we need a commercial grade Firewall and mesh network at an estimated cost of $2000 (it is NYS approved). McLean moved, and Martin seconded purchasing commercial grade Firewall and mesh network. So passed. McLean moved, Martin seconded scrubbing and scrapping old computers. So passed.

Superintendent’s Report: 1) Letter from resident who wishes to remove water meter/access to apartment building. More information about curb stop is needed; cost to remove is $100. 2) NYSEG: regarding increased costs of electrical supply. 3) Steve Lawton prepped and delivered a new Clerk PC. What shall we do with the old PC and two laptops (speakers)? He said old computers would need to be erased and checked to see if they would support Windows 11; for the current network, we need a commercial grade Firewall and mesh network at an estimated cost of $2000 (it is NYS approved). McLean moved, and Marting seconded purchasing commercial grade Firewall and mesh network. So passed. McLean moved, Martin seconded scrubbing and scrapping old computers. So passed.

Old Business

Tabled Items: Water meter grant; Main Street crosswalk; Water Street repairs (waiting on update from Delaware Engineering).

Fence Install: completed; Taggart electric bill will be reimbursed 50% by Poly Fence.

Website: .gov transition in the works; Clerk will contact Gibson Hill about .gov and new phone system.

Emergency Action Plan: Mayor is going to start moving forward with this.

Water Bill Waiver Policy: Board members will review current Water System Regulations and determine what should be added regarding billing and giving residents a break on billing.

New Business

Budget Amendment:  Martin moved, and McLean seconded amending the 2025-2026 General Fund budget to include line item 1480.0 – Public Information and Services at an amount of $4200 (covering a 3-year period). So passed. We plan to schedule a training session for a Friday afternoon in September.

Yard Waste Dump:  How is the process working? People are calling for access or carrying in around the gate which is working okay. What is long-term solution? We will stick with what we are doing right now.

Speed Limit:  Village could change to 25mph; article in Municipal Matters magazine regarding cameras in School Speed Zone areas. Mayor will investigate school zone.

Citizen’s Comments: None.

Around Town: Old Franklin Day on August 23.

Approval of Bills: McLean moved, and Martin seconded approval to pay bills. So passed.

Mayor VanDeusen adjourned the meeting at 8:25PM

Respectfully submitted,
Paula Niebanck
Clerk/Treasurer