North Salem Town Board Special Meeting: Budget, Capital Plan, and Resolutions – November 18, 2025

The Town of North Salem held a Special Town Board Meeting in person and via Zoom on November 18, 2025, beginning at 5:30 PM. After a lengthy executive session, the board reviewed 2026 budget/fee proposals and a draft five-year capital plan, then resumed the regular meeting to approve minutes, reports, and a series of resolutions. The board entered a second executive session on personnel around 9:50 PM, reconvened, and adjourned the meeting.

Consent Calendar

• Minutes of the August 12, 2025 public hearing and the September 9, 2025 regular meeting/worksession were approved as delivered.
• Building Department monthly report for October 2025, Recreation monthly report for October 2025, and the revised Tax Receiver’s monthly report for September 2025 were accepted.

Discussion Items

• 2026 Budget and Building Department Fee Increases: Building Inspector James Duhigg presented proposed increases to the building fee schedule, noting fees had not been raised in 13 years. He reported building fee revenue of $227,000 as of September and $283,000 as of the end of October, with a possible year-end total around $300,000, compared with roughly $435,000 in department salaries and benefits. Duhigg said the goal was to cover operating costs, not generate a profit, and that he based the proposed fees on an analysis of five or six surrounding towns. He also said contractors had commented that local fees were low compared with other towns. Examples included a $50 plumbing permit that did not cover the cost of an inspection, a $200 variance fee with about $174 in paper and advertising costs before labor, and an increase in 10-year special permits from $200 to $700, with some other towns charging $1,000. The proposal included increasing building permit fees from $12 to $14 per thousand dollars of construction cost, raising the filing fee from $50 to $100, and other smaller fee adjustments estimated to generate an additional $60,000–$70,000 annually. Board members Cynthia and Martin questioned whether planning department fees should also cover costs and whether the increases were large enough. The discussion reaffirmed the expectation that applicant-specific fees should cover costs rather than be subsidized by general taxpayers. Board sentiment was that Duhigg’s proposal was reasonable; officials planned to bring a formal fee-schedule resolution to a later meeting and increase the budget’s building department revenue line by at least $40,000.
• Capital Planning Summary: The board discussed the draft August 2025 five-year capital plan, which still lacked final year assignments and cost figures. Members agreed to prioritize finishing Delancey Hall, including interior renovations, heat pump/HVAC work, and security and smoke alarm improvements. A possible propane boiler was discussed but did not gain support; the existing oil boiler could not be reconnected because the building has no chimney and the exterior power vent was removed. For Lobdell, members identified the front porch as an urgent safety item because existing bracing was temporary and not designed for snow load. Elevator repairs and interior painting were priorities, while many other items were deferred to 2027. The board also called for needs assessments of town-owned structures such as Lobdell Barn, Cable Barn, and the Croton Falls depot, and for a proactive maintenance plan for water-district infrastructure. At 3 Owens, the board reviewed electrical upgrades, grant-funded heat pumps, a solar installation at 250 June Road, and replacement of theater lighting. The current theater grid holds roughly 1,500 pounds of lighting, including about 40 750-watt fixtures totaling about 30,000 watts; LED replacement was estimated at under $70,000 and could potentially be grant-funded. Courthouse needs included replacing the police department generator, with a state senator reportedly seeking available funding, and technology upgrades for the meeting room, including a microphone, PCs, and possibly replacing the Granicus hardware, estimated around $10,000. The board also discussed bonding constraints, noting the Delancey project may require bonding within 12–24 months, that the building’s useful life without a sprinkler system is 15 years, and that annual debt service could be about $96,000.

Resolutions Approved

• Acknowledged the resignation of Melissa Cole from the Conservation Advisory Council and announced the vacancy; board members also congratulated the school’s boys soccer team on winning the state Class C championship.
• Set a public hearing on the 2026 Town Budget for Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at 7:00 PM at the meeting room, 66 June Road, and via Zoom.
• Authorized the Supervisor to sign a revocable land use permit offer letter (Permit No. 9877) with the City of New York for NYC-owned water supply land to connect an existing Croton Falls well to the pump station. The initial pro-rata fee of $68.31 and estimated annual fee of $4,506.44 will be charged to the district.
• Authorized an additional expense of $1,500 for a tariff imposed on a Freightliner cab/chassis purchased from Tracey Road Equipment, increasing the previously approved $164,534 purchase to $166,034.
• Approved Change Order No. 2 with Tundra Contracting Group for $33,045 for additional frame-restoration work at Delancey Hall.
• Approved Change Order No. 3 with Tundra Contracting Group for $9,732 for removal and restoration of the Palladium triple window at Delancey Hall.
• Authorized payment to Tundra Contracting Group of $169,468.57 as payment No. 3 under the July 8, 2025 contract; the earlier Tundra contract was reported complete.
• Approved a Type II SEQR declaration for the Pabst Water District PFOS mitigation project after revising the resolution to describe the new well house and cite SEQR §617.5. The project serves 73 homes; a 2024 bond resolution authorized $850,000, and state EFC grant funding was noted as roughly $826,000, covering 70% up to $578,000, with the district paying 30%.
• Approved a filming license for FourTwelve Films Inc. at 114 Delancey Road on Monday, November 24, 2025, from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM, with one police officer present.

Key Outcomes

• The board approved all listed resolutions with no opposition.
• The 2026 budget discussion will continue: officials planned to circulate a written summary of requested changes, including an estimated $161,000 for highway machinery and vehicles and another $191,000 in highway-related requests, and to increase the building department revenue projection by at least $40,000.
• A formal resolution adopting the building department fee schedule is expected at a future meeting.
• The board entered a second executive session on personnel around 9:50 PM, reconvened, and adjourned the meeting.