Last Chance to Volunteer for Esperance Comprehensive Plan Committee

ESPERANCE — During the regular Esperance Town Board meeting on February 19th, Town Supervisor Earl Van Wormer III announced the time to volunteer for the Comprehensive Plan Committee is coming to a close so that the Committee can be finalized and begin doing their job by the end of March.

Van Wormer has described the Comprehensive Plan as something every town’s supposed to have to base zoning regulations on. Big changes in zoning laws aren’t expected as an outcome of the Committee, who will report to the Town Board and Planning Board with recommendations for changes. Updating the plan has been deemed a “key factor” by Van Wormer in applying for grants that would benefit the Town and communities with infrastructure and road improvements.

At this meeting, Van Wormer gave examples of what’s expected of the Comprehensive Plan guideline; determining what they’d like to see be put in certain areas, would rather not see in other areas, and what areas are possible locations for encouraging more small businesses.

Once the plan’s complete, zoning rules & regulations will be looked over for mirroring of the plan. It’s meant to be a long-term plan that will continue to be reviewed occasionally. 

The volunteer list has grown over the last few meetings; one new name and a couple sought-out name confirmations were added most recently over this last month. No prior Town meeting involvement is required to volunteer and the Board would like to see diverse representation of Esperance residents from the Town, Village, Sloansville, Central Bridge, etc. Those interested in being considered, call Town Hall (518-875-6109) or email clerk@esperancetown-ny.gov or supervisor@esperancetown-ny.gov. 

Van Wormer’s aware that many residents want to know more about how Town money is handled and wants you to know this information is accessible in packets when you attend regular monthly Town Board meetings and these detailed updates of accounts’ totals taken in and expenditures paid out are always detailed and discussed in his monthly meeting Supervisor’s Report. 

This was Amanda Fagan’s (Town Clerk/Tax Collector) 2nd meeting and 1st time giving her Tax Collection Update. Currently, net collected is $1,232,109.19 and total unpaid is $369,795.83.

Because of how their fiscal year aligns, Van Wormer explained this is the first month of the year of 2026 budgets.The Highway Townwide snow removal account has $187,970.72 with 38.7% in expenditures. “For being only a month into the year, that’s significant,” said Van Wormer. They’re anticipating a bit more revenue to come in for this account, but still have winter months of February, March, April, and November for it to cover (any December 2026 snow removal expenditures will come out of the 2027 budget). Van Wormer admitted it’s a  bit of a concern not knowing how much will be needed for the rest of this year’s snow removal, then eased worries with, “I think we’ll be OK,” and referred to the current $187,970.72 in the bank for that account as a, “Pretty good, healthy surplus.”

Typically, Superintendent of Highways Michelle Brust delivers her Committee Report, but wasn’t present at this meeting due to an emergency. She left copies of her Report for The Board; Van Wormer read off mentions of road inspections, continued work on the 2026 plan, DOT filling in potholes, and contacting adjoining towns, like Schenectady, to determine if they have an interest in a shared services agreement (which Van Wormer called a good idea). 

Town Board Member, Harold Conklin, followed up on last month’s discussion about trucks on Sanitarium Road concerns. Van Wormer explained that schedules haven’t matched up for both him and Brust to meet with the County yet, but Brust plans to set something up for this next week so they can talk about those concerns and about snow removal services with the County.

The Code Enforcement Officer Report mentioned receiving plans from CenterLine Communications for a cell tower at 187 Mountain Road. Conklin’s Planning Board Report updated they still haven’t received a new cover letter with errors removed that they’re waiting on from CenterLine Communications.

While the Dog Control Officer had nothing to report, Fagan said he told her he plans to be at next month’s meeting.

Town Assessor Erin Smith's report updated that a public hearing about exemptions discussed during January’s meeting hasn’t been scheduled so they can go into effect at the same time Schoharie will consider adopting them for 2027. These exemptions are, “RPTL 467 (1)(b)(4), chapter 581 - municipalities have the option to increase the exemption percentage of the Senior Citizens Exemption to those seniors whose income falls below the upper limit. The previous maximum was 50%, this new legislation raises the maximum to 65%.” And, “RPTL 458-A (11), chapter 672 - the primary residence of a veteran who has a 100% service-connected disability, and meets several other qualifying factors, may be made fully exempt from taxation, special district charges, and special ad valorem levies, at local option.” 

Conklin asked for an update on the formation of an Assessor Committee of representatives from Esperance and Schoharie with Smith (who is the Town Assessor for both towns). Because both Conklin and Town Board member Barbara Sharpe volunteered for the Committee, Van Wormer plans to suggest they both represent Esperance in the Committee.

Esperance Town Board meetings start at 7 PM every 3rd Thursday of the month at Town Hall (104 Charleston Street). Your Town Board Officials include Town Supervisor Van Wormer and Town Board members Conklin, Sharpe, Benjamin Gigandet, & Michael Keller. You can share your questions, concerns, and voice during privilege of the floor and review the Correspondence Folder, which excludes advertisements and contains relevant town business communications for you to view and have photocopies made.

At the February meeting, the Correspondence Folder contained save-the-date flyers for the Saturday July 11th Town of Westerlo 250th Celebration of our Nation which will start at noon and include a parade, live music, food trucks, beer vendors, kids games, dunk tank, and fireworks will begin at 8:30 PM at Veterans Memorial Park (950 Westerlo Road, Westerlo). Their website is www.TownOfWesterloNY.com.

See you at the next Esperance Town Board meeting on March 19th and at the next

Esperance Village meeting (every 2nd Monday of the month; 7 PM at 115 Church Street) on March 9th!