THOMPSON — After a year of holding virtual Zoom meetings, the Town of Thompson held its first in-person hybrid town board meeting on Tuesday, July 20.

After Town Supervisor Bill Rieber Jr. lifted the state of emergency at a previous meeting, the town board has instituted a hybrid model to exist at the town hall for the foreseeable future.

As of now, in an effort to keep people safe, there are a limited number of seats available in the Thompson courtroom, where the town board meets on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.

The board will continue with the public participating via Zoom.

“We are following the CDC guidelines, and we haven’t had any issues,” said Rieber.

The Thompson planning board also wants to implement a hybrid model of allowing the public during specific meetings, like public hearings, while still providing a virtual option.

Rieber said on allowing the public back to in-person meetings and a year of Zoom meetings, “It’s refreshing to see faces.”

LED conversation beginning
The LED street light project has started to mobilize this week and will soon convert Thompson’s street lamps to more energy-efficient LED light bulbs.

Recently, the town was awarded a Smart City Grant of up to $120,000 from the New York Power Authority (NYPA). The Smart Street Lighting NY program was created to help communities convert their street lights to LED technology. The program has a goal to transform 500,000 street lights state-wide by 2025.

LED lights bring features that do not exist with regular high-pressure sodium street lamps. With LED lights, the town will control each lamp’s brightness and help reduce the cost to operate the lights, as previously reported by the Democrat.

Thompson will have the option to add Wi-Fi nodes on top of the lamps to help with internet service in some areas, like in the Rock Hill business district.

Thompson Superintendent of Water and Sewer Michael Messenger said it was good that the work was starting because he knows of around 17 streets lamps that are out.

Rieber said that residents should be aware that if a street light is out, they will be replaced soon with the new LED lamps.

“They are coming,” he said.