Link to the PDF file of these minutes.

Town of Vienna

Town Board Meeting Minutes

October 7, 2026

 

ATTENDANCE:

Supervisor Jason Spellicy Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen

Councilman Darrin Smith Councilman Doug Jordan

Town Clerk Carol Huber Councilman Theodore Learned- Absent

 

 

6:30 - ZONING LAW UPDATES: ORRIN MACMURRAY

Planning Board Chair, Orrin MacMurray went over the draft #5 Zoning Law corrections that were asked to be made by the Board at the last Board Meeting. On page 17, under Tiny House, the words “which must meet the requirements of the NYS Uniform Code” were added. On page 26, section 507, Short Term Rentals, under subsection 1, added items 1-10 which spells out requirements under the good neighbor rules. Page 27, subsection #2, changed the hours in which the Zoning Officer is informed to 72 hours. Subsection #3, changed to two hours that the property manager has to physically be there instead of 4. Subsection #11, added “the maximum occupancy approved by the Town Code Enforcement Office”.

 

Next steps will be to have a full SEQR completed. The Town Attorney will need to be involved to look over everything and hopefully we can meet by the December meeting if not before to set a Public Hearing.

 

CALL TO ORDER:

Supervisor Spellicy called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

PUBLIC HEARING: Local Law 1 of 2026

A Local Law adopting the provisions of Real Property Tax Law Section 458-a in Relation to the Alternative Veteran Exemption was read by Supervisor Spellicy at 7:05 pm.

 

LOCAL LAW NO. 1 OF THE YEAR 2026

Town of Vienna, County of Oneida

 

A Local Law Adopting the Provisions of Real property Tax Law Section 458-a in Relation to the Alternative Veteran Exemption

 

BE IT ENACTED by the Town Board of the Town of Vienna as follows:

 

Section 1. Purpose and Intent.

 

a. The purpose and intent of this local law is to adopt the provision of Section 458-a, Subdivision 2(d)ii of the Real Property Tax Law creating alternative veteran’s real property tax exemptions.

 

b. BE IT ENACTED by the Town of Vienna Town Board, County of Oneida, State of New York as follows:

 

c. That the provisions of New York State Real Property Tax Law Section 458-a, Subdivision 2(d)ii as amended and as adopted herein shall apply only to the levy of the Town of Vienna real property taxes in the County of Oneida.

 

d. That the Town of Vienna hereby adopts and provides for the increase in the maximum exemption allowable under Section 458-a, Subdivisions 2a, b and c to eighteen thousand dollars, twelve thousand dollars and sixty thousand dollars respectively.

 

e. This Local Law shall apply to assessment rolls prepared on the basis of a taxable status date occurring on or after March 1, 2027.

 

Section 2. Authority.

 

This Local Law is adopted in accordance with Section 458-a Subdivision 2(d)ii of the New York Real Property Tax Law and Section 10 of the Municipal Home Rule Law of the State of New York.

 

Section 3. Supersession of Other Laws.

To the extent any Town of Vienna local law, resolution or ordinance is inconsistent with this Local Law, the same are superseded by this Local Law to the extent of such inconsistency.

 

Section 4. Severability.

 

Each separate provision of this Local Law shall be deemed independent of all other provisions therein, and if any provision shall be deemed or declared invalid, all other provisions hereof shall remain valid and enforceable.

 

Section 5. Effective Date.

 

This Local Law shall become effective immediately upon being filed in the office of the Secretary of State.

 

 

Supervisor Spellicy made a motion at 7:08 pm to open the Public Hearing up for Public Comments and Councilman Smith seconded the motion.

Voting Record: Motion Carried

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Doug Jordan Aye

Councilman Theodore Learned Absent

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Supervisor Jason Spellicy Aye

 

Public Comments:

Rick Mansfield-Will this increase the exemption? The Assessor explained how the exemption will be the same as the County and will not be much of an increase.

 

Supervisor Spellicy made a motion to close the Public Comments at 7:10 pm and Councilman Smith seconded the motion.

Voting Record: Motion Carried

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Doug Jordan Aye

Councilman Theodore Learned Absent

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Supervisor Jason Spellicy Aye

 

No questions from the Town Board. Supervisor Spellicy made a motion to adopt the Local Law 1 of 2026 and Councilman Smith seconded the motion.

Voting Record: Motion Carried

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Doug Jordan Aye

Councilman Theodore Learned Absent

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Supervisor Jason Spellicy Aye

 

 

NOCCOG: JOHN HEALT

NOCCOG Fall Dinner Meeting is on October 29. Cyber Security Webinar is October 14 and 28, this does not qualify to meet the cybersecurity awareness training requirements under the State Technology Law Section 103. NY Bricks Round 2 offers $75 million for Community Centers. Local Bridges Conference is October 21 and 22. Grant Applications Webinar is October 22. In Person training for providing fire protection in NYS is October 27. New York State now has a Data Center & Legislation dashboard. There is funding available for Bridges and Chobani is investing $250,000 for infrastructure.

 

COUNTY LEGISLATURE: Norman Leach

Absent

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

A motion was made by Councilwoman McEwan and seconded by Councilman Smith to approve the September 2, 2026 Town Board Minutes.

Voting Record: Motion Carried

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Doug Jordan Aye

Councilman Theodore Learned Absent

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Supervisor Jason Spellicy Aye

 

A motion was made by Councilman Jordan and seconded by Councilwoman McEwan to approve the September 9, 2026 Town Board Special Meeting Minutes.

Voting Record: Motion Carried

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Doug Jordan Aye

Councilman Theodore Learned Absent

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Supervisor Jason Spellicy Aye

 

A motion was made by Councilman Smith and seconded by Councilman Jordan to approve the September 30, 2026 Town Board Special Meeting Minutes.

Voting Record: Motion Carried

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Doug Jordan Aye

Councilman Theodore Learned Absent

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Supervisor Jason Spellicy Aye

 

AUDITED VOUCHERS:

A motion was made by Supervisor Spellicy and seconded by Councilwoman McEwan to approve Abstract 10 of 2026 vouchers to be paid in the amount of $81,098.00

Voting Record: Motion Carried

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Doug Jordan Aye

Councilman Theodore Learned Absent

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Supervisor Jason Spellicy Aye

 

SUPERVISOR'S REPORT:

Supervisor's Report is filed in the Town Clerk's office and will be posted on the Web Site.

 

TOWN CLERK /TAX COLLECTOR’S REPORT:

Town Clerk read her report. Monies received for the month totaled $2511.99

A motion was made by Councilman Smith and seconded by Councilman Jordan to approve the Town Clerk Report.

Voting Record: Motion Carried

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Doug Jordan Aye

Councilman Theodore Learned Absent

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Supervisor Jason Spellicy Aye

 

Town Clerk attended the Oneida County Town Clerk’s meeting and received updated information from NYS on Games of Chance and BINGO. Fire Departments were notified of the changes and asked to verify which category they fall under, McConnellsville, Vienna, Sylvan Beach all returned information, still have not received anything from North Bay. Verona and Sylvan Beach emailed their Local Laws to look over and they look very similar to our Games of Chance Local Law and our BINGO Ordinance. John Healt from NOCCOG looked into whether our Ordinance should still be good or a new Local Law would need to be passed for BINGO and his response was the Ordinance will still be good. Councilman Smith is working on this with the Town Clerk to make sure everyone is up to date on the newest regulations from the State.

 

The Town Clerk also received information about EEAP, The New York Enhanced Energy Affordability Program which helps lower your electric bill for the next 18 months if you qualify. You can apply write on your smart phone with the step-by-step instructions.

 

ASSESSOR’S REPORT:

Filed with Clerk and uploaded to website.

Phil Amway presented a power point presentation on the Sewer District Audit Report. Sewer Districts 43 and 72 were looked at according to the Local Law 4 of 2008. Most vacant land parcels were not assigned ½ unit. He also worked with the Clerk at Sylvan Beach and consulted with the Town Attorney. Total items requiring corrective action was 87. Action taken will be to send out letters to residents and the financial impact will not happen until 2028 assessment roll.

 

Some questions asked were if any of these issues were caused by subdivisions and the Assessor explained how since he became Assessor, he has been making sure subdivisions were charged correctly. Are there any Real Estate Laws for non-conforming lots if they can never be hooked up and the answer was, our local law says any vacant land is to be charged. All these fees are based on the maintenance of the treatment plant. The maintenance fees cover the repair and maintenance of the plumbing and pipes along the road.

 

CODE’S REPORT:

Filed with Clerk will be posted on Web Site. The Codes Officer hours are posted on the door and on our website. His position is only part-time.

 

HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT: Superintendent Clayton Conover

Mowing brush with the grade-all, the garage roof is done. Campany’s ladder came down and damaged the generator and the estimate was $1500 which was taken off the bill. They have been working on Bridge applications and the McConnellsville bridge over Fish Creek needs badly repaired, but they need to find out if it is shared with Annsville. The new pickup is in. There is a yearly OPP Class on Friday.

 

Fuel Bids: There were not any bids received. Working on an application for “Piggy Backing” with the State for contracted pricing for fuel. Supervisor Spellicy has the application ready to submit.

 

COUNCIL REPORTS:

Councilman Smith: The Planning Board meeting is October 15th at 7:00 pm. Nothing new with the ZBA. Received complaints about Adirondack Broadband and Verizon Towers. Verizon needs to be called about dropping coverage around the area with just having a new tower operational.

 

Supervisor Spellicy: Steve Carpenter wants to have a 225th Birthday Celebration for the Town of Vienna. He wants funding set aside every year to be able to have a really nice celebration. He would like to be part of the committee. Adirondack Broadband had sent out a letter to residents which lead them to believe they would be losing service permanently. Messages were left with the CEO and Planning Commissioner. The wiring that Adirondack Broadband attached to National Grid poles are not conforming to codes. Legal action was taken for 21 violations against Adirondack Broadband. A contractor was hired to remove wiring from poles. UDIG tickets went out and flags have been placed and boring will start under roads to make connections underground. There might be a few days of interruption. Vienna has been added to the email list.

 

One Resident spoke out and said her internet is out a lot and Supervisor Spellicy suggested to leave a voice mail anytime this happens.

 

OLD BUSINESS:

4-way stop is still in the study phase with no time frames.

Tentative Budget was handed out on 9/30/26.

The Town Hall dusk to dawn lights is on the to do list.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

Budget Workshops are scheduled for October 14th at 6:00 pm and October 21st at 3:00 pm.

Budget Adjustment: Bookkeeper asked for approval to make the following adjustments.

 

 

 

 

Councilman Jordan made a motion to accept the budget adjustment and Councilwoman McEwan seconded the motion.

Voting Record: Motion Carried

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Doug Jordan Aye

Councilman Theodore Learned Absent

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Supervisor Jason Spellicy Aye

 

 

Councilman Smith made a motion to add check number 12814 and 13052 from 2022 back into the General Fund Account, and Councilman Jordan seconded the motion.

Voting Record: Motion Carried

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Doug Jordan Aye

Councilman Theodore Learned Absent

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Supervisor Jason Spellicy Aye

 

PUBLIC CONCERNS/COMMENTS:

Mr. Carpenter asked for the Town to save money a little each year for the 225th Town Celebration and consider getting a committee together.

 

William Graham from Canastota had concerns with what has been posted out there regarding your political. I want to know about your back door and your basement dealings of previous administrations. For the record, I would like to know who, what and where and who was involved.

 

Supervisor Spellicy responded that he will not discuss political banter at a Town Board Meeting. If he would like to discuss his issues outside of this public setting they can. We will not go back and forth, so does anyone else have a question?

 

EXECUTIVE SESSION: Not Entered

 

ADJOURNMENT: Supervisor Spellicy made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:15 pm and Councilman Jordan seconded the motion and all were in favor.

 

Respectfully,

Carol L Huber

Town Clerk