ELDRED — Last month, the Highland Town Board adopted a resolution to purchase real property adjacent to the town hall. At the time, the local law allowed room for the possibility of requiring a permissive referendum due to uncertainty of the nature of the funds. After seeking legal council, a permissive referendum has since been declared unnecessary.

This is because the property, located at 564 State Route 55, Eldred, was to be purchased for $78,000 solely from funds received through the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, after the adoption of Resolution 27 on January 14 to transform the property into at least eight more municipal parking spots. This resolution was previously determined to be subject to Town Law 220.

Under Town Law 220, “expenditures financed in whole from monies appropriated from surplus funds shall not be subject to permissive referendum.” Looking for answers to whether or not ARPA is considered “surplus,” the town turned to the legal opinion of The Association of Towns of the State of New York and the New York State Comptroller's Office – both of whom determined that ARPA funds are indeed deemed “surplus.”

To set the determination in stone, the Town Board voted on a resolution on February 11, which resulted in a 4-1 determination where board member Kaitlin Haas was the sole vote against. Haas was also not present at the January 14 meeting where the original resolution was adopted.

The reaffirmed resolution also highlighted the Towns' real property purchase's previously negative declaration in compliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), marking no material change requiring further review.

Furthermore, the resolution authorized and directed Town Supervisor Pizzolato to execute any and all documents necessary to complete the purchase of the property.

Petition still submitted

Town of Highland resident Mary Ellen Carney told the Democrat that despite the resolution's reaffirmation in making it technically an “unnecessary” part of the process, she had submitted a petition for a permissive referendum the morning of February 13. The petition had 137 signatures, according to Carney.

In the cover letter for the petition addressed to Town Clerk Susan Hoffman that was shared with the Democrat , Carney writes “as stated in the “Funding” section on page 1, “the acquisition of the Property shall be made from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds PREVIOUSLY OBLIGATED for this purpose by Town Board Resolution on 11.21.2024, as approved by the Town Board.” 

Carney goes on to state that “the Supervisor incorrectly stated that the payment was being made with surplus funds. As “surplus funds” are unobligated cash balances, that does not apply to this purchase.”